What was the KAWS HOLIDAY Taiwan release? KAWS HOLIDAY Taiwan was the second stop on KAWS' global HOLIDAY tour, staged in January 2019 at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall plaza in Taipei. It featured a 37-meter inflatable Companion hot air balloon installation and accompanying limited-edition vinyl figures in Brown, Black, and Grey colorways produced with AllRightsReserved.
The Installation: A 37-Meter Companion Over Taipei
In January 2019, the second stop of KAWS' globe-spanning HOLIDAY series landed in Taiwan. A 37-meter Companion balloon — the largest of any HOLIDAY iteration to that point — was anchored to the plaza outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in central Taipei. The installation ran from January 18 to 22, 2019 and drew tens of thousands of visitors daily.
Where the HOLIDAY Seoul 2018 debut (a 28-meter floating Companion on Seokchon Lake) had introduced the world to the concept of a touring inflatable KAWS sculpture, Taiwan scaled the spectacle up. The figure was tilted on its side in the Companion's now-iconic resting pose, paws covering its face — a posture that has come to define the HOLIDAY identity across every subsequent stop.
Why Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall?
The location choice was deliberate. The memorial hall plaza is one of Taipei's most-trafficked civic spaces, with sightlines from Liberty Square and direct accessibility via the Taipei Metro. Producer AllRightsReserved — the Hong Kong creative house that has staged every HOLIDAY activation — selected the site for maximum public engagement and photographic visibility.
The Vinyl Figure Releases
Tied directly to the Taipei activation, KAWS and AllRightsReserved released a Companion vinyl figure in three colorways. The HOLIDAY Taiwan Companion measured approximately 11.5 inches (29.5 cm) and replicated the resting pose of the inflatable. The figures shipped in printed boxes referencing the Taipei event and were sold via the DDT Store (AllRightsReserved's retail arm) and a limited number of on-site distribution windows.
| Colorway | Release Window | Original Retail (USD eq.) | Distribution | Current Secondary Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown | January 2019 | ~$170 | DDT Store / on-site Taipei | Documented secondary market range; consistently the highest-trading of the three |
| Black | January 2019 | ~$170 | DDT Store / on-site Taipei | Documented secondary market range; second strongest after Brown |
| Grey | January 2019 | ~$170 | DDT Store / on-site Taipei | Documented secondary market range; entry point of the three |
All three colorways are stamped with the standard KAWS production marks under the foot, dated 2019, with copyright attribution to KAWS and the HOLIDAY series identification. AllRightsReserved oversaw production and distribution; Medicom Toy is associated with other KAWS figure lines but was not the producer on this specific HOLIDAY Taiwan release, a distinction collectors should note when authenticating.
Why Taiwan Is Among the Most Sought-After HOLIDAY Editions
1. Limited Geographic Distribution at Release
The HOLIDAY Taiwan figures were primarily sold in Taipei at the event and through DDT Store's online queues, which were geo-throttled and sold out within minutes. Unlike later HOLIDAY drops that benefited from broader international online distribution and warehouse stock, Taiwan's allocation was tight from day one. Buyers outside Asia were generally locked out at retail and forced to enter the secondary market.
2. First-Tour Status
HOLIDAY Taiwan is widely considered part of the original HOLIDAY tour, with Seoul (July 2018) being the launch and Taiwan (January 2019) being the second stop. For collectors building a complete HOLIDAY series, the early stops carry historical weight that later drops — Hong Kong, Japan Mt. Fuji, Singapore, Indonesia — cannot replicate.
3. The 2019 KAWS Market Inflection
HOLIDAY Taiwan released only three months before the seismic April 1, 2019 Sotheby's Hong Kong auction, where The KAWS Album (the artist's 2005 acrylic-on-canvas reinterpretation of Sgt. Pepper's) sold for HK$115.97 million (approximately US$14.7 million) — a record that re-rated every piece of KAWS inventory worldwide overnight. Taiwan figures purchased at retail in January 2019 were sitting in a fundamentally different market by Q2 2019.
4. Pose and Color Resonance
Among collectors, the resting-Companion pose introduced at HOLIDAY Seoul and refined at Taiwan has become the most recognizable KAWS silhouette of the late-2010s era. The Brown colorway in particular reads as the canonical HOLIDAY finish and consistently outperforms the other two on resale.
Authentication and Counterfeit Risk
KAWS is among the most-counterfeited living artists, with an estimated 40–60% fake rate on open marketplaces. HOLIDAY Taiwan figures are no exception — counterfeits began circulating within weeks of the original release. Authentic Taiwan Companions exhibit specific tells: the box artwork uses a particular Mandarin-character lockup referencing the Taipei event; the stamping under the foot is crisp and properly aligned; and the vinyl finish has a consistent matte sheen with no seam flash on the limbs.
Because the figure was not authenticated by a third-party authentication house at the point of sale, post-hoc authentication relies on comparable-sales matching, box and figure forensics, and chain-of-custody documentation. Gauntlet Gallery's 160,000+ comparable sales database includes verified Taiwan HOLIDAY transactions across all three colorways and is one of the most granular reference sets available for this specific edition.
Where Taiwan Fits in the KAWS HOLIDAY Series
The HOLIDAY series, conceived by KAWS (Brian Donnelly, born 1974, Jersey City, NJ) in partnership with AllRightsReserved, has toured to:
- Seoul, July 2018 — Seokchon Lake (28m floating Companion)
- Taipei, January 2019 — Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (37m resting Companion)
- Hong Kong, March 2019 — Victoria Harbour (37m floating Companion)
- Japan, July 2019 — Mt. Fuji area (40m resting Companion)
- Singapore, November 2021 — National Stadium float
- Indonesia, August 2022 — Jakarta resting Companion
Each stop has produced its own vinyl release, and the secondary market consistently prices the early-tour stops — Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong — at a premium versus later activations.
Buying KAWS HOLIDAY Taiwan: What to Look For
- Original packaging — outer shipper, printed inner box, and any DDT Store documentation materially affect value.
- Condition — vinyl is sensitive to UV and heat; yellowing on Grey colorways is the most common condition issue.
- Provenance — original purchase records, AllRightsReserved order confirmations, or chain-of-custody from a recognized dealer.
- Comparable sales — pricing should be benchmarked against verified recent transactions, not aspirational listings.
For a broader overview of the KAWS market, vinyl releases, and authentication framework, see our KAWS Collector Guide. Gauntlet Gallery, founded in 2012, specializes in authenticated KAWS, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, and contemporary street art secondary-market acquisitions.