What is the KAWS CHUM character? CHUM is one of KAWS's signature characters, a rotund, segmented figure with X-eyes derived directly from the Michelin Man (Bibendum) mascot. First appearing in Brian Donnelly's late-1990s subvertising of bus shelter Michelin ads, CHUM became a cornerstone of his collectible figure lineup — rarer in 3D form than COMPANION and prized for its overt corporate-mascot critique.
Origins: From Michelin Ads to Fine Art
KAWS — born Brian Donnelly in 1974 in Jersey City — built his early reputation by hijacking advertising. Working as a Disney animator by day, Donnelly spent nights prying open bus shelters and phone booths across New York, Paris, and Tokyo, painting over ad campaigns with his own characters. The Michelin Man was a natural target: a corporate mascot already abstracted, segmented, and humanoid. By inserting CHUM into Michelin ads, KAWS performed the exact subversion that defines his career — taking a piece of capitalist iconography and recoding it as art.
CHUM made his first official figure debut in 2002 with the OriginalFake release, executed in collaboration with Bounty Hunter. That inaugural drop established the visual template still used today: rotund segmented body, oversized arms, crossed-out eyes, and a palette anchored by cream, black, and red. Gauntlet Gallery, founded in 2012, has tracked CHUM's secondary market evolution across more than 160,000 comparable sales of street art and contemporary collectibles.
Visual DNA: Why CHUM Looks the Way He Does
CHUM's anatomy is a one-to-one critique of Bibendum:
- Segmented body — Michelin's stacked-tire silhouette, recast as plump rings.
- X-eyes — KAWS's signature substitution, signaling cartoon death or unconsciousness in place of Bibendum's beaming eyes.
- Cream colorway — the default release tone, a deliberate echo of Michelin's pale rubber.
- Oversized gloved hands — borrowed wholesale from early-20th-century mascot design.
CHUM vs. COMPANION: Rarity and Pricing
COMPANION is KAWS's flagship character — the Mickey-Mouse-derived figure that anchors his Brooklyn Museum retrospective and his $14.7M Sotheby's Hong Kong 2019 record (The KAWS Album). CHUM, by contrast, is the connoisseur's pick. Fewer CHUM editions have been produced, and the character carries sharper cultural commentary for collectors who care about KAWS's anti-advertising origins.
| Edition | Year | Size | Retail | Secondary Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHUM OriginalFake (Bounty Hunter) | 2002 | 11" | $80 | $3,800 – $7,500 |
| CHUM Black (KAWSONE) | 2009 | 11" | $160 | $2,200 – $4,400 |
| CHUM Grey (Medicom) | 2016 | 17" | $320 | $2,800 – $5,200 |
| CHUM Pink (Medicom) | 2016 | 17" | $320 | $2,400 – $4,600 |
| CHUM Yellow (Medicom) | 2016 | 17" | $320 | $2,300 – $4,500 |
Across the CHUM canon, top editions have delivered 5x to 20x retail appreciation — comparable to early COMPANION colorways but on lower absolute volume. Lower volume cuts both ways: smaller liquidity pool, sharper price moves on each sale.
Most Valuable CHUM Editions
The 2002 Bounty Hunter OriginalFake remains the apex CHUM. Sealed, first-run examples with intact backing card and outer brown shipper now clear $7,000+ at auction. The 2009 Black CHUM — released through KAWSONE in a tighter run than the cream — is the next tier. The 2016 Medicom 17" trio (Grey/Pink/Yellow) is the most liquid, with regular comps across Heritage and Phillips.
Cultural Commentary: The Subverted Mascot
CHUM matters because he is not a neutral character. COMPANION wears Mickey's gloves but reads as melancholy; CHUM wears Bibendum's segments and reads as a direct attack on advertising's friendly face. Every CHUM in a collection is, in effect, a 1990s subvertising gesture frozen in vinyl. That cultural payload is part of what supports CHUM's premium against pure-aesthetic editions in KAWS's catalog.
Authentication: OneCOA and NFC for KAWS Figures
The KAWS market carries one of the highest counterfeit rates of any living artist — fakes appear within 72 hours of major drops, and CHUM is no exception, especially the 2002 OriginalFake. Gauntlet Gallery authenticates every KAWS figure that enters our inventory through our OneCOA framework: an embedded NFC chip in the certificate links each piece to a tamper-evident digital record, alongside high-resolution macro photography of paint application, mold seams, foot stamps, and packaging seals.
For a full walk-through of KAWS authentication, see our KAWS Collector Guide. To browse currently authenticated KAWS and contemporary inventory, view the Gauntlet Gallery collection.
Investment Outlook
CHUM is unlikely to overtake COMPANION at the very top of the market — institutional demand still concentrates on the Mickey-derived flagship. But CHUM offers two structural advantages: lower entry prices on early editions and a tighter supply curve that compresses upside. Collectors building a thesis-led KAWS portfolio should weight CHUM alongside COMPANION rather than chase the flagship alone.