The original Companion that started it all. Produced in 1999 with Japanese Streetwear brand Bounty Hunter

Retail Price: $100
Edition Size: 500

In 1999, KAWS moved his cartoon-meets-human language into three dimensions with the first Companion, produced with Bounty Hunter in Tokyo and widely credited alongside realMadHECTIC. The eight-inch figure carried the now-familiar skull head, X-eyes, gloves, and slouched posture, tightening his visual DNA into an object that felt equal parts street, gallery, and design. Offered in grey, brown, and black, it arrived at a moment when Japanese street culture was shaping global taste, and KAWS met that energy head-on.

Each color released in an edition of 500 and sold through immediately, cementing the figure as a cult artifact and a launchpad for the broader Companion lineage. Listed at around one hundred dollars at the time, it bridged accessibility with intent, and it still reads like a mission statement: a toy that behaves like sculpture, and a sculpture that understands culture

RESOURCES:

• 10 things to know about KAWS — Christie’s

• Generation XX: How KAWS Short-Circuited the Art World — GQ

• Companion (Black), 1999 — Artsy

• Companion Set of 3, 1999 — Toy Tokyo

• Behind the HYPE: KAWS Companion — Hypebeast