# # Lurchi the Salamander

Brother, I Can See Your Skull.

Brother, I Can See Your Skull. - The Coreyshead Blog

Lurchi the Salamander

(part of a series on the advertising character toys of German shoe maker Salamander AG)

Lurchi the Fire Salamander.

Allow me to introduce (at least to my blog) Lurchi, the fire salamander and main advertising character for the German shoe company Salamander AG (get it? get it?).

Introduced in 1937 as a way to distract children during their parent’s potentially protracted perusal of the proprieters products (cough), Lurchi is the alpha dog of a motley crew of animal characters whose tales are told in small booklets entitled “Lurchi’s Abenteuer” (Lurchi’s Adventure); humorous, sometimes moralistic tales written in simple rhyming couplets for a target audience of primary-school children.

I first caught site of Lurchi in the never-endingly disturbing and amazing Flickr photoset of toy-collector extraordinaire, JetJimbo, then had the opportunity to behold it in person when he brought an extra he had to a toy-enthusiast get together in San Francisco earlier this year.

Beyond its stature (approximately 13 inches tall), and composition (cheap, stinky vinyl, baby!), I was attracted to its relative obscurity (German shoe advertising chracter?!?), sculpt, and … those dang shoes! I mean, he’s unabashedly naked but for his shoes – brown oxfords!

Of the six toys produced in this series, Lurchi remains my favorite and, to my eye, stands out not only as the main character but also via its styling and presentation, which seems more sophisticated than the others; the lines are cleaner, more graceful, the attitude of its stance and expression more alive, less basic.

Maybe it’s just me, though; that it was the first of the series I saw and took home for my own. I mean, really, can you ever forget your first Salamander?

Look at that face! *You* put your fingers near his mouth – I don’t wanna.

Good delivery of the natural color scheme.

Now he doesn’t look quite so snarky – friendly even! –
– maybe it’s cause he doesn’t see us …

Lurchi displays his maker’s mark – Salamander AG.

So stylish – you’re never naked in a nice pair of oxfords.

“Kaufen sie einige schuhe oder ich beiße Ihr, weg gegenüberzustellen!”

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4 Responses to “Lurchi the Salamander”

  1. Ivan says:

    Wi kan ich das kaufen?

  2. […] Lurchi, the Hopps sculpt is a clean sculpt – unexciting, perhaps even unremarkable but nicely done. […]

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