Monsterforge

A Pretty Little Announcement!

2012-01-27T14:49:00.004-05:00

OK, guys-- I promised I would post an announcement about the upcoming release of my exclusive artist's colorway of Multiskull and here 'tis:

click to enlarge

Next Friday (February 3rd) at 9PM EST I will launch the artist's colorway of the Multiskull figure... or as I like to call it, "Pretty in Pink" Multiskull! You will be able to purchase the figures here on this blog for $3 each, and shipping in the US will be $3 (still working on how much it will cost to ship internationally, but it shouldn't be much more because the figures are pretty light-- both domestic and international packages will ship via First Class Mail -- the price is a flat fee... so it's the same if you order 1 or 3 pieces). There is a strict limit of 3 figures per customer because of the extremely limited numbers. Each figure comes individually bagged with a goofy, cheapo header card-- this was mainly just for fun... I just love packaging stuff!-- so don't feel obligated to keep them packaged unless that's your thing!

And just to be clear: They're yours when you buy 'em-- trade 'em, sell 'em, fire 'em out of a cannon, set 'em on fire, customize 'em, eat 'em (not really), or whatever! The main thing is to have fun with 'em!!!

And like I said before... after the launch... keep those eyes peeled for something.... special.... Muah ha ha ha ha!!!

NOTE: In the next few days I'll be testing the cart feature out for buying the figures; PLEASE don't click on the button until the launch next week... I'll have to cancel any orders placed before the launch anyway. Thanks!!!

Blushing Beauties

2012-01-24T05:09:00.003-05:00

Sooooon....

Popping up all over!

2011-12-14T22:31:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share a couple of links to sites covering stuff I've worked on in the past:

My pal Connor posted this review of one of my Kawaiiju figures on Plastic Graveyard:

And Ridureyu posted a review of the OMFG! minifigures over on Michael Crawford's Review of the Week site:

Click the pics to check 'em out!!! Thanks, gentlemen!

Awesome Anomalies!!!

2011-12-03T00:27:00.002-05:00

I had a busy day in town today, but when I got home I found that I had a package waiting! I love packages!

NiStuff's Anomalies came in! Wooooooo!!!!

In case anyone hasn't seen these yet, here's a little run-down: Ni, a member of the October Toys Forum, has been making really cool Glyos custom figures for a good little while now, but only recently did he start making totally new figures that are all his own. He eventually sent them to a factory in China and had them made as production figures! There's something just ultra-cool about doing that!

These little dudes are called the Anomalies, and they are 2-3 inch solid PVC figurines that you can get in packs of six representing different races of aliens in his own universe. Each set comes with the Laion, the Ancient Astronaut, the Adaman, the Slir, the SEG and the Strugg. I'm still learning who is who, but I'll tell you this much: they're ALL awesome! If you want a set, check out Ni's store here. At only 15 bucks a set, you can't go wrong! Fantastic figures and a great deal! While you're there check out his more limited custom figures as well!

They're tied in in some way to the Glyos System universe, but I'm not 100% sure how exactly... I'm just getting into the story. They look really cool along with the Glyos figures!

One keen extra cool bit about this six pack is that it comes with a Glyos compatible head of a character called the Subject. How creepy is that? The head is a perfect match colorwise to the gray that has been used for Glyos figures in the past.

The alien races are as follows:

The Laion

The Strugg

The Slir

The SEG

The Adaman

The Ancient Astronaut

The detail is amazing... even the bottoms of the feet are sculpted. I can't rave about them enough!

As you can see the figures are statically posed figurines much like MUSCLE figures. They're a bit bigger, but would look really cool with almost any mini figures.

I can't wait to get some free time to paint these suckers up!

I D.K. My BFF Jill

2011-12-01T13:36:00.003-05:00

Here's another little "3-D sketch" figure I made. His name is D.K. and he's kinda creepy but still sorta cute. I drew a sketch of the little nugget a few days ago, and it has been an itch in the back of my brain ever since. Sometimes you just have to make something or go nuts.

He's made of polymer clay, and his noggin is painted with glow in the dark paint for extra creepiness. He stands 2.25 inches tall.

Caged MOH-TOOS!!!

2011-11-07T17:59:00.003-05:00

Stinkor has something to say:

That's all 8 MOH-TOOS boxed up... I've shuffled the boxes about 6 times so far, and totally forgot what was in each box (I kinda didn't keep track when I was putting them in-- just making sure they were packed securely), and I'll probably shuffle them a few more times (want to make sure these are as random as possible) then slap mailing labels on them.

They'll ship out tomorrow morning-- thanks so much, guys!!!

MOH-TOOS HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING!

2011-11-06T21:21:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who made this a fantastic release! You guys seriously ROCK!!!!

MOH-TOOS ARE GO!!!!!!!!!!

2011-11-06T20:51:00.002-05:00

All right, folks! Here it is:

To order your MOH-TOO send an email with "MOH-TOOS" as the subject to this email address:

I'll send a Paypal invoice directly back to your email account for $40 ($35 + $5 S&H). If you are an international buyer and would like any extra shipping services (IE: upgraded to Global Priority or EMS) please inform me in the email, and I will adjust your shipping cost accordingly.

There is a strict limit of one MOH-TOO per person. All orders will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis. When all 8 slots have been filled I will post an announcement here.
MOH-TOOS will ship out blind boxed fashion to be fair to everyone, so you won’t know who you’ll get until you get him! I will try my best to have figures in the mail by Tuesday.

Thanks, and good luck!

MOH-TOOS are MOOving in position!!!

2011-11-06T15:52:00.002-05:00

Just a few more hours to go!!!

See you guys at NINE!!!!!!!!!!

Moh MOH-TOOS infoos

2011-11-02T14:25:00.003-04:00

Welcome, true believers! Here are some details about the release of the MOH-TOOS:

MOH-TOOS are 2 inch tall hand-sculpted and hand-painted polymer clay figurines that were made as a tribute to my love for all things Masters of the Universe-- mainly the bad guys! Each figure is a truly one-of-a-kind original piece of fan art. These are not resin castings, so each one is the ONLY one made. That's it... when you have one you own the ONLY one! Each figure comes bagged with an individually hand-made header card explaining the story of the MOH-TOOS!

The characters are:

Skullet
Fishbait
Monkeybutt
Claptrap
Seemore
Pinchfists
Breakneck
Fartblossom

On Sunday November 6th at 9pm EST I'll post an email address where you can send me an email with "MOH-TOOS" as the subject line, and I'll send invoices back to you on a first-come-first-served basis. Because of the extremely limited nature of these figures I'll have to limit one per customer. These will be sent out blind-packaged to be fair to everyone, so you won't know who you'll get until you get him!

Each figure will cost $35 plus $5 for shipping with tracking in the US. I can ship it for $5 globally, but there won't be any tracking... if international buyers want to have the package insured and/or tracked we'd have to go with a different shipping service, but rest assured you will NOT be gouged for shipping-- that's one of my big pet peeves.

Feel free to trade your MOH-TOOS over on the October Toys Forum-- it's a great place full of great folks! Come on over and share a few laughs, and you just might learn some new stuff in the meantime!

Thanks, everyone, and I'll be seeing you SUNDAY NIGHT!!!

What's my MOH-TOOvation?

2011-10-31T22:05:00.003-04:00

Well... I know I've been away from this blog for a while, so I figured I'd pop back up with a neat announcement.

These little guys are called MOH-TOOS, and they stand about 2 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide on average-- the one styled after Whiplash is a bit taller and wider than the rest. They are hand-sculpted and hand-painted one of a kind pieces-- these are NOT resin castings. Just like the Kawaiiju when you own one of these you own the ONLY one. You'll be getting an original piece. Additionally, just like the Kawaiiju these are unrefined sculpts that show the hand of the artist. They'll be packaged blind, but I figure if you guys are as crazy as I am about the Masters of the Universe you won't mind getting any of them... I tried to pick the most recognizable fan favorite characters starting from the first waves and moving forward.

A couple of years ago when I did the first wave of Kawaiiju figures I was talking with Phil Reed (mastermind behind Battlegrip.com), and he suggested that I make a run of Masters of the Universe themed Kawaiiju.

All this time later, and TA-DA! Here they are!

Stay tuned here-- more details are coming very soon about release time, packaging, price, shoe size, etc. :wink:

Pray for Japan

2011-08-22T15:55:00.003-04:00

Stu Levy, the founder of Tokyopop, is making a documentary about the devastation and recovery after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan recently. A very good cause that is worth a look. click the picture below to see how you can help make this possible:

The project has raised $11,262 of its $20,000 goal. It only has 12 days to go, so let's all hope it hits the mark by then! We all know how fast this money can be raised, so let everyone know about it on your blogs, your Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Etc... just get the word out!!!

Thanks, guys!

Building for building's sake

2011-08-08T15:58:00.003-04:00

My buddy Matt Doughty of Onell Design passed along some of his newest figures to me the other day. The latest design is a figure called the Glyan. A military character, the Glyan is armored and armed and ready to kick butt! Each figure comes with an extra head and a gun. Now, that might not seem so impressive until you consider the fact that each set is made up of 25 interchangeable pieces! That means one thing: BUILDING TIME!

Needless to say, I have been building like a madman! Take a look at the kinda stuff you can build with these figures and a few extra bits and pieces from the collection:

Happy building, kids! Matt should have more of the Glyans in stock soon... keep an eye on the blog for updates and two eyes on the store for more great Glyos goodies!

OMFG!!!!!!!

2011-06-13T02:01:00.002-04:00

Ever wanted to get in on the ground floor of something big? NOW YOU CAN!!! Help support the OMFG! project! By kicking in monetary support for the production costs of this exciting new line of mini figure toys you can get exclusive items and the satisfaction of knowing you helped something AWESOME happen!

These are the OMFG! (Outlandish Mini Figure Guys) series one figures, created by the members of the October Toys Forum.

Check out the video below and then click the picture below that to show some love for the toys, the artists behind them, and for awesome things in general!

Click the pic to see how YOU can help make this happen! If you love me you'll do it! ;)

IT'S A fireTRAP!

2011-05-16T13:50:00.002-04:00

So I found another one of those Transformers Scout Class figures on sale for 5 bucks, and I just couldn't resist.

This is Firetrap. His card says he's some kind of Autobot weapons enthusiast. Whatever. He has guns and turns into a truck... what more do you need to know?

I'm not sure if this is a real type of truck, but I want one. I've always said I needed a cattle pusher on the front of anything I drive-- combine that with big freakin' cannons on top, and you get my perfect vehicle.

The bot mode is REALLY nice-- the main reason for getting the figure, in my opinion.

He has a really cool helmet and gas mask kind of face going on. Not exactly sure why a robot needs a gas mask, but who cares? He looks awesome. You can't really make it out in any of my pics, but the dark spots where the eyes are are quite recessed and have little goggle-type eyes inside of them. Pretty darned detailed for such a small figure.

As you can see, he has a very dynamic sculpt with lots of personality. He looks like a bruiser. He's a tad shorter than the other Scouts, but I think that gives him a certain charm. His color scheme and diminutive nature make me think about the old Generation 1 Transformers character Brawn. He's kind of like Brawn meets Ironhide.

Now... about those guns: this guy has 'em! He has two wrist-mounted cannons that can swivel on their bases and pivot up and down. This works in both modes, and it is awesome. The cannons aren't really meant to be removed, but you can pop them out of the sockets. They just look better on the wrists, and there's really no where else to store them anyway. He's poseable as all get out... he has at least 16 points of articulation in bot mode that aren't solely for transformation, so he can be put in all kinds of crazy poses!

And best of all? He looks great with the other Scouts. I've pretty much pledged that I'm only collecting Scouts from here on out (unless it's Optimus Prime-- that's a whole other issue). I mean, these little dudes are super awesome, super detailed, and super affordable-- what's not to love about 'em?

Cheap and Classy!

2011-05-11T09:50:00.001-04:00

The other day I got my latest Transformer figure. Walmart is having what appears to be a regional if not nationwide price cut on their TF figures. The Voyager sized figures are $13, the Power Core Combiner 2 packs are $7.50, the Scout class figures are $5, and the Legends class are $3.50. Not the greatest sale ever, but it makes each one just a bit more attractive to the thrifty TF fan!

I picked up one of the Scouts that I had been wanting to get, but the price kinda kept me from pulling the trigger. Scouts aren't the biggest Transformers (they stand roughly 5 inches tall), but they are very nicely made. Seeing one for $5 is much better than seeing one for $10.

This is Hubcap. He's an Autobot warrior (I guess-- they used to give them neat titles like "spy" or "commando", but now they just call them "Autobot" or "Decepticon.") who transforms into a classic hot rod. My dad says it looks like a 35 or 36 Ford... they can't really mimic some cars exactly due to licensing issues, so they sometimes get really close without being exact.

The car mode has a lot of style. I love classic cars, and it's really rare to see a Transformer who turns into one.

The car has a LOT of detail hidden here and there that didn't really need to be addressed in such a small toy. The door handles, gas cap, rumble seat handle, and even the tire air nozzles are sculpted in minute detail. On the front right tire there is even a sculpted tire balance weight that isn't sculpted on the others. That's a really nice bit of detail that really makes the toy stand out!

He's perfectly scaled to the Classic Voyager Prime, so that's nice. I love scale, but I've learned to live without a set scale in the Transformers toy universe!

The robot mode is just fantastic. He has a very dynamic build with just enough bulk to make him look adequate as a warrior, but with a lean enough frame to make him look like a spy.

Curved forms are rare on Transformers, so it's always nice to see it used well.

He's very poseable with at least 17 points of articulation (not including the parts that move when he transforms). So he can take on great action stances...

... as well as more subdued poses.

He looks great with other Scouts...

... and even better with the larger Voyager class figures.

Pretty spiffy!

The only drawback to the figure is a blatant lack of weaponry of any kind. His hands are molded open, and he can't really hold any standard TF weapons, which kinda sucks. I'd have been happy with guns molded into his arm panels, or the exhaust pipes pointing straight back in the car mode so they could be arm cannons in the bot mode... instead they bend outward, so they can't really be used that way.

Other than that, this is one cool little dude. If you dig little toys, robots, Transformers, and/or classic cars, take a look at Walmart while they last. $5 ain't bad at all for a super poseable action figure that's engineered to turn into a classic ride!

Billy's been at it again...

2011-05-04T14:09:00.001-04:00

My friend Billy Parker has been VERY, VERY busy! Check out just a few of the crazy things he's been up to:

Marvel Universe scale Pitt:

Marvel Universe scale Apocalypse:

Marvel Superhero Squad Deadpool:

These will soon be available for sale on eBay... I'll keep you updated!

Delta X-11

2011-04-29T19:48:00.003-04:00

I finished this little guy up this afternoon. It's an Exellis figure from the Glyos System line of figures by Onell Design. They're great figures to collect, display, play with, or customize. Check 'em out!!!

Hope you dig!

He travels the shifting wastelands of Yvo looking for the lost stellar courier Shadow's Light. Legend has it that the craft contains the Codex of Sarvo, an ancient digitext that is said to hold secrets of the origin of Sincroid life. Delta X-11 is an older model Sincroid who developed independent thought ages ago and has sought the fabled digitext ever since. His every day is a struggle against biting sand storms, the blistering heat of the triple suns, the ravages of the desert creatures, and the constant attacks by mechscavengers, but Delta X-11 carries on hoping that one day he will hold the archaic datafile in his weathered, rusting hands.

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By the way... I wanted to share this little bit as well for you guys who follow this blog: the fantastic site Tomopop (check 'em out-- they rock!) had a little feature about some of my TMNT custom repaints! Check it out here:

The TMNT customs just keep coming, this one from Monsterforge

A Bump in the Night

2011-04-26T02:19:00.002-04:00

I got a neat package in the mail today. I got one of Super7's Ghost Land figures by Brian Flynn. In case you don't know what these guys are, it's a blind boxed series of 5 different rotocast vinyl figures in several colorways. They retailed at $15 each when they were released-- if you look around a bit you can get them for a good bit less (I got mine for $8.88). This series was released in 2006, so it's not exactly the newest toy I ever got, but that's OK... it's still pretty darn awesome! The line is centered around the idea that when wayward spirits leave this plane of existence they go on to a place called Ghost Land. Each character has a story about what led to his demise. The characters aren't really kaiju, but you can certainly tell that their roots are in that world.

Check out the package!

This puppy is made of tin! How crazy is that? How often do you get a sweet box like this with your blind boxed figures? Next to never, that's how often!

Flynn designed everything about the line from the figures to the box art. It's a beauty of a package!

Even the inside of the box features Flynn's characters. WICKED!

So this is my guy, BUMP. According to the pamphlet that comes with the figure, Bump is, "A shy and introverted goliath, his hairy head was the last thing that went bump in the night." Awwwwww!

He's such a cute little guy! He's molded in translucent yellow vinyl with silver painted eyes and mouth.

He features one point of articulation at the "neck." Doesn't seem like much, but this style of mini-figure usually only sports the one joint. Think back to when you were a kid... did you really care about thousands of joints on your figures? Nah... you just hopped them along and played like a goon!

The sculpt is nice and smooth, much like Flynn's artwork. He's not overly cluttered with details-- it's a very stylized look and feel. When you hold this figure it just feels "right" in your hand.

The figure stands 3 inches tall and is 2 inches wide. The vinyl it is cast in is fantastic... it's that thick, dense Japanese vinyl that just can't be topped. Japanese mini-figures this size and quality often cost you 25-40 bucks (and some cost more)... so you're getting a steal of a deal with these guys!

See his widdle boo-boo? How adorable is that? :D

Here you can see how he stacks up to some of his other Japanese vinyl toy buddies.

And here he is with some more common figures.

If you have been wanting to get into Japanese vinyl collecting but have been holding back because of the cost, check these little dudes out. They're a steal at this price, and they're pretty easy to find. You might even find them at some online stores on sale. Once you get one in hand you'll be tempted to get more... I know I just ordered my second one! Weeee!

It's Raining (little plastic) Men

2011-04-24T22:26:00.006-04:00

I was doing my usual eBay searching thing earlier this week and saw this unusual lot of figures:

Some of them I immediately recognized as M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, but then I saw something that made me cut backflips: M.U.S.C.L.E. sized Masters of the Universe figures! WWWWHHHHHAAAAAA?????? I was unsure about some of the others... and the pic in the auction wasn't that great.

So they arrived today, and wow... what a crazy group!

Here are the official M.U.S.C.L.E. guys... they're pretty dirty, but nothing a good cleaning won't fix:

Now these are something I've never seen before... I believe they are bootleg M.U.S.C.L.E. figures! They are made of a really soft, rubbery plastic (maybe rubber) and have none of the markings that most M.U.S.C.L.E. figures have, just a small stamp that says "CHINA" on their backs.

This guy is a bit different... I don't think he's a M.U.S.C.L.E. figure, but he's made of similar material and has the words "HONG KONG" stamped on the back of his forearm. He's my favorite of the whole bunch... looks like a orc wearing Samus' armor from Metroid!

This is one of those weird Star Wars rip-off toys from the late 70's/early 80's that used to be in grocery stores at the checkout aisle to make kids to beg their parents to get them. I had a buttload of these when I was a kid. It's like a combination of R2D2 and the robots from Silent Running.

And here's the real reason I bought this lot:

How crazy is this? I never even knew these toys existed.

They captured almost every detail in miniature-- even the fasteners on the harnesses!

They're molded in the same rubbery material as the bootleg M.U.S.C.L.E. guys, so getting them to stand is almost impossible. I learned from a friend on the October Toys Forum that these were quarter capsule toys back in the day. I'd buy that for a quarter!!!

All in all a really cool set of figures!

The best part? The whole set was only $1.99! YIPPEE!!!!

Kaiju For Japan

2011-04-21T16:09:00.004-04:00

Artist Troy Stith held an open call for artists to contribute custom toys for a sale to benefit the victims of the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan. Kaiju For Japan will be live on Friday, April 22nd 2011 at 4PM EST. The benefit features a drove of fantastic artists who make my work look like a joke! I'm extremely honored to be helping out along with these gifted creators! 100% of all proceeds go directly to disaster relief. Take a look at the poster for a list of the contributors:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

This is my piece that I have contributed to the benefit. I know the Armodoc isn't really a kaiju, but Troy has opened his arms to welcome any custom figures that will be donated to the cause. I call this custom the Rising Sun Armodoc-- I wanted to give it a feeling of being a battle-worn and time-ravaged juggernaut that refuses to stop no matter what the world throws at it. The resiliency of the Japanese people has always impressed me greatly, and I hope my meager contribution helps them in some small way.

The customs will be available for purchase at Troy's online store here.

Eye see you!

2011-04-19T23:41:00.003-04:00

This is a Mini Eyezon from Mark Nagata's Captain Maxx Mini Kaiju series. This little dude is a 4 inch tall rotocast soft vinyl kaiju (Japanese for "mysterious beast") toy from Max Toy Co. Mark created a whole line of crazy critters to honor the toys that he played with as a kid. He named his company after his son Max, a move that I approve of greatly!

You can check out all of his stuff here: http://www.maxtoyco.com/

The first release of these mini kaiju figures were cast in this crazy pink vinyl... and when I say pink I mean "mind-melting toxic pink!" I have yet to see someone capture on film just how abnormally pink these things are!!!

The character was designed by Mr. Nagata, and the toy was sculpted by Yoshihiko Makino. The sculpt is so darn good, but the pink doesn't really allow you to see all the awesome details on this tiny guy... so I decided to paint it up!

It took me forever to get some extra time to do it and to decide how I wanted it painted. I blame the final results on my nephew Daniel and my friend Stefanie who both suggested the idea of a molten monstrosity. Thanks, you two! I guess great minds think alike!

I loved painting this little dude up! Mark Nagata's design is so much fun, and the sculpt by Yoshihiko Makino just lends itself to being painted. The vinyl was great too... I was kind of worried about paint adhesion at first because the vinyl felt kind of slick, but it took the paint without a problem at all!

If you can get your hands on one of these figures I can't recommend it enough for customizing! YAY!!!! This is going to be a custom I keep... I have fallen in love with the actual figure, and I think it would be nice to keep this lil' guy in my collection!

On the desk...

2011-03-31T11:33:00.004-04:00

I've been extremely negligent about updating this blog of late. I just wanted to post some pics of what I've been working on these last few days. I took some shots of my temporary work space at my brother's house. I'll be back in the madhouse soon enough for more makings of the things.

These are some more of those M.U.S.C.L.E. figures I've been painting up for my buddy George:

I did it all for the ooze...

2011-02-26T20:13:00.002-05:00

I just finished a custom that I have wanted to do since I was a kid (I say "kid", but I was 17 when the figure came out). Mutagen Man was a character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy line from Playmates Toys. I never had Mutagen Man, but my nephew did, and I always thought he was an awesome figure. He was so horrific in concept-- a man twisted by dark science-- a man who unwillingly had to fight the city's heroes to keep himself alive... if you can truly call his existence "life." The idea was always awesome, as was the sculpt of the toy itself. What was not awesome was the lackluster paint job that the toy received. This is what the original toy looked like when it was released in 1990:

Great sculpt, great concept.... but the paint job... meh.

So when a friend from the October Toys Forum asked me to customize a Mutagen Man for him-- oh, you bet your buttcrack I hopped on it! He had a love for the character that matched the story I had in my mind from day one, so it was a snap deciding how I wanted to approach the figure.

Execution was another story. I have never had a figure put up a fight like this one did! First of all, if anyone ever decides to re-do a Mutagen Man... beware of that clear plastic torso. It is a nightmare. The 20 year old plastic is brittle like you wouldn't believe. I sat there at my desk with sweat trickling down my forehead as I slowly split the two halves apart... two pieces cracked off during the process, but I was able to salvage it. I cannot stress enough for you just how brittle that clear plastic is! I had originally wanted to paint up the innards and suspend them in a fluid, but I knew it would be risky... the figure is going to travel across the ocean, so I have my doubts about it being airtight and staying that way across different time zones/climates. I opted to keep it dry inside with a gunky haze. I left my friend with the option of filling it with water, as the stopper up top isn't glued in place.

The rubbery harness that fits around the figure was a nightmare as well... it seems these old TMNT figure accessories either want to fit the figure too snugly or too loosely. I had to do some alterations to it to get it to fit just right, and it was so floppy and unruly that I decided to glue it in place. Other than those hitches, though, the rest of the process went swimmingly! I love painting these figures, because the sculpts are just so darn nice! They do most of the work for you!

So... I hope you dig it as much as I dug working on it! I give you Mutagen Man 2.0:

I've been a busy beaver!

2011-02-18T00:13:00.003-05:00

Man... this has been a busy, busy, busy month-- and it looks like it'll be busy right on through next month! I just wanted to share some stuff with everyone, so grab a cold drink, sit back, and enjoy the show... there's a LOT to see!!!

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My good friend George asked me to paint up some of those old one inch tall M.U.S.C.L.E. figures from back in the day. He didn't have any particular color schemes in mind and pretty much turned me loose on them. I'm working an another batch of the now! These guys are a LOT of fun to paint up... everyone should give it a shot!

My friend Jamison commissioned me to repaint his Wingnut and Screwloose figures from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure line produced by Playmates toys. The sculpts on these things are amazing and just beg to be painted. It's a shame that the old toys had such lackluster paint jobs. These guys were a LOT of fun as well. If you have any old, beat-up TMNT figures give em a go with your brush-- you won't regret it!

Connor, another friend of mine, asked me to make him a Gaiking Dunny. Gaiking was one of the old Shogun Warriors characters from waaaay back in the 70's. I tried to incorporate the Dunny ears, but decided to just scrap them in favor of the sculped horns. Dunny's make the cutest little heroes!

Last (and certainly not least!) are some Glyos customs.

This is Pax, and he's an alien space Marine. The fin on his helmet is a tribute to the mohawks you sometimes see service members wearing in combat.

This is Malec, and he's a cyborg warrior. I used the head from a Johann Kraus action figure from the Hellboy movie line. I added a sculpted brain and lots-o-tubes for all kinda wacky fun!

This is Purge Govurom, and he's a super powered villain. His gauntlets are actually the hands of a Transformers: Robot Heroes action figure. The bulbs in the palms of his hands are made of glow in the dark material.

And this is one of the few customs I made just for my collection. From day one I've wanted a Glyos Ultraman, so I decided to make my own. His eyes glow in the dark!

Phew! Lotsa stuff! Hope you had fun looking! Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Got any joints, man?

2011-01-30T15:56:00.002-05:00

My friend Matt Doughty, the crazy madman behind Onell Design and the father of the Glyos System, sent me a Christmas gift this year that I'm enjoying like a kid in a candy store. He sent me a box of Glyos goodies including a bunch of the new Axis Joints that he has just released on his web store. The sets sell for $4, and I have to say that they TOTALLY change the game when it comes to Glyos. The Glyos System toys have always been known for their interchangeability, but these joints make building a whole new experience. I haven't built this much stuff with Glyos parts since I started collecting them a few years ago. Below are a few of the many things I've built with the new joints. I've tried to take images that allow you to see how the builds were made, but if anyone has any questions about building with these joints please feel free to ask. I also recommend that you check out the Glyos Forum hosted on the October Toys Forum... there are tons and tons of much more talented builders there making fantastic aliens, monsters, robots, and vehicles with these parts, and they are a friendly bunch!

The standard Axis Joint set comes with a small disc, two large ball joints, two small ball joints, and two male/female connectors. The actual ball joints are made up of two pieces that are useful to build with individually. A single set will increase your ability to build exponentially.

These joints allow for sturdier builds with a massive range of movement. All of the builds here are able to bear their own weight quite well, even in the exaggerated poses I have them in.

I wanted to make a Bio-Govurom (a nod to Matt's Bio-Pheyden from his blog)... these joints helped out a lot! The figure has a grossly mutated left arm that is hyper-poseable!

My favorite character from the Glyos System is Scar Pheyden. I wanted a beefy, well-articulated version of him... combining several Axis Joint sets allows for a nicely jointed figure that is pleasing aesthetically. The disk that comes in the set allows you to extend the torso of the standard Glyos figure to better match the length of the limbs.

This is a character that I call the Stalker. I imagine him kind of like an alien tracker that uses his huge sniffer to detect his prey wherever it may hide. Once again, the Axis joints provide for very sturdy construction that allows you to pose them any kind of way.

This figure is pretty much the culmination of all the things I've learned about the Axis Joints so far. I wanted an ED-209 type battle droid, so I started building this mech (which I named the Ectodrone). It's a sturdy, flexible build with a rigid core. The last illustrations show how to make the core.

Matt sent a couple of Rigs along with the other stuff. The Rig is the latest rotocasted vinyl vehicle from Onell Design. It's composed of 4 parts (an upper control module, a lower leg/thruster unit, and two gun arms) and can hold a Glyos figure inside. Before I had one of the Rigs I can honestly say that I wasn't that impressed by it. I thought it looked awesome, but was limited by how much you could build with it. Well, after playing around with this one I have to say that I was VERY wrong. The legs on the lower half of the Rig are sculpted in such a way that they can grip the arm units perfectly and allow you to put the Rig in all kinds of configurations. Add to that the fact that the holes for the arms and torso are compatible with the Armodoc, and you have hours of building fun on your hands!

Just having a little fun here... mixing and matching colors of the new Traveler figures and playing around with weird proportions.

So, if you haven't picked up a set of the new Axis Joints give 'em a try... they are tons of fun and will really get your creative juices flowing! And keep your eyes open for the next version of the Rig... word is there will be a release early in February... stay tuned on the Glyos blog for upcoming news!

Poster Praise!

2011-01-15T14:37:00.005-05:00

I'm slacking off! Just a short while back a poster for which I provided the artwork was released by the guys at Toy Break! GAH! I should have mentioned it here, but I done goofed! The poster features the wacky Toy Break crew and some of my Kawaiiju critters!

The poster is still available here, and here's a spiffy review of the poster from DesignerToysUK:

This art is going to walk all over you...

2011-01-15T00:05:00.003-05:00

When my friend Billy Parker says to me on the phone that he has made something, I never know what it's going to be. Trying to predict what he's going to make is an exercise in futility. So I wasn't really shocked when he said he had painted a pair of shoes. Now... when I actually saw what he painted, I was blown completely away. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. He did this, as usual, completely freehand... no templates or transfers... all by hand. The boy never ceases to amaze me.

Eatmoretoys eats more toys... news at eleven!!!

2011-01-07T23:56:00.004-05:00

My good buddy Eatmoretoys posted this awesome blog post about my custom toy work. The photos were edited by my other pal Krakit:

Monsterforge turns toys into art

Thanks so much, guys! You really know how to make a guy feel good about his work!!! Folks like you two are why folks like me keep making art!

BTW: If you folks out there aren't reading EMT's blog you should be ashamed of yourselves! It's a GREAT blog with all kind of crazy pictures and stories:

X was here

Make sure you add it to your feeds/following lists!!!

I smell savings!!!

2011-01-05T15:59:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since I did one of my Cheapo Toy Reviews, so I figured it was high time I did another one!

Yesterday I had to go to town to run errands, and I ran across some fun stuff on the cheaps.

First up is this Hot Wheels Custom Motors Batmobile Starter Set from Mattel

I had been wanting one of these sets, but I'm too cheap to buy one for 8 bucks. There was something about the way it looked in the package that made me wary of paying over 5 bucks for it. If the building gimmick wasn't all that great, I'd essentially be buying a small Batmobile toy for 8 bucks. But 5 bucks is a bit better. Thank God for Walmart's after Christmas clearances!

"100+ Combinations!" "Easy-Snap Customization! Build and play your way!" How can you go wrong with that intro?

These are certainly some interesting combinations! I particularly like the second one down on the first picture up there-- the "wheels in the back, tank treads in the front" version. I was all psyched to build that one!

So you basically get this roughly 4 inch long plastic (it looks diecast in the package) Batmobile "Tumbler" from the newest Batman movies and a buttload of extra parts to customize it.

You can have the tumbler in its standard open windowed version...

... or in its hatch-closed, armored version. It's a subtle difference, but it's really cool that you can do it this way.

You can see here that it's a beefier toy than the standard Hot Wheels vehicle.

That the Batmobile from the Hot Wheels 2010 series by it. Both of these are nice toys in their own right.

You can see that the Tumbler is a really nicely detailed toy... not quite worth 8 bucks by itself, but pretty nice indeed.

This is the fully armed Tumbler. It has a turning cannon on top with what appears to be an additional cockpit and side-mounted missile launchers. They too can pivot, if only slightly. This is a really fun configuration. I imagine this is the "riot control" version of the Batmobile!

This is the tank version of the Batmobile. The treads don't really move-- there are tiny wheels under the treads to suggest movement. I found that kinda lame, but so few toy companies make toys with working treads anymore. I miss the old tank I had when I was a kid. It had rubber treads that really rotated. This version is really cool looking, all things considered.

BEEP BEEP!!!

So I decided I wanted to make the "wheels in the back, tank treads in the front" version from the back of the package. This is where my disappointment began:

The tread parts are totally incompatible with the wheel parts... the wheels rely on the vehicle being flat, and there is no way to elevate either end of the Tumbler when it is connected to wheels.

What you end up with are weird "up in the air" treads that don't even let you use the tiny wheels under them. The treads are locked in the position they are in, and you can't rotate them down to better touch the ground. I was pretty hacked off when I found out about this.

It's the same story when you reverse the set-up. Again you have floating treads that don't even roll.

I'm pretty angry at the people at Mattel for putting pictures on the back of the box that show something that you can't actually make. To me, those pictures are a selling point, and playing with a buyer's wants to sell a lackluster toy is the lowest of the low. But, honestly, I should have expected something like this from Mattel. They didn't get the name of being the most corrupt toy company in the business without working for it.

Still... I'm glad I bought the toy at the price I got it. $5 is a very nice price for a well-made Batmobile that you can reconfigure several ways. Just don't expect to make that many different types of vehicles with the set. The way it is configured doesn't give you many options for building random shapes. You're pretty much bound by the wonky way the thing is made.

So... worth it? Not for $8, but definitely for $5!

Now... onto the other thing I found:

Right now Family Dollar stores are having an after Christmas clearance on their toys priced $10 and above. You get 50% off any of these toys! So when I snagged this Megabloks 6" Magnetic Buildable Iron Man 2 War Machine Figurine for $5, I was all kinds of happy!

I had had my eye on this set for a while, but I'm a cheap, cheap, horribly cheap person, so I just couldn't make myself part with 10 bucks for it. When I saw it for 5, I grabbed it faster than a ninja.

So basically you get the Terminator and some armor. Woo Hoo!

This is the core figure frame that holds the armor. It's actually my favorite part of the whole thing! It's poseable as heck, and the waist, shoulders and neck are all magnetically connected, so you get a really nice range of movement. The only drawback is that the waist and neck are REALLY loose. The shoulders have rubber resting cups for the metal balls and keep them from flopping all over the place-- the waist and neck needed these same cups to keep things from going all goofy. Still, it's a super awesome looking figure, and the ball joints allow for some crazy action stances.

Magnets rock.

So here he is all armored up. The set has 10 armor pieces and two weapons. The plastic is really sturdy and should hold up to lots of rough and tumble play.

The backside of the figure is kind of lacking in the armor department, however. They really needed at least a piece to cover up the back of the torso. But it's still a pretty cool looking figure without the back stuff.

He's still pretty poseable all armored-up, but the movement in his hips and waist are really hindered by the torso armor. Still... he looks nifty with his armor on. You can get some neat poses out of him.

AGGHHHH!!! IT SEES ME!!!

So... is the figure worth buying? Certainly not at $10... but if your Family Dollar store has him for $5, I'd say to definitely snatch one up! If nothing else, that crazy Terminator core thing is worth the $5 alone!

Until next time, happy bargain hunting, kids!

SNEAK ATTACK!!!!!

2010-12-18T02:29:00.002-05:00

OH NOES! The Kawaiiju are back!!! Click the pic below to see how you can get in on it! Hurry! Time is limited!

Explosive Art!!!

2010-12-12T22:41:00.006-05:00

My good friend Kyle Thye asked a bunch of us toy goons on the October Toys Forum if we'd like to help out with an art show that his friend was putting together. The show is called Fire in the Hole and is currently on display at Finders Creepers in Des Moines, Iowa

The idea was an art show based on toy grenades. I love toys, art, and explosions... how the heck could I pass that up?

The piece I made is called "Warsaur" (which I already posted about before here)... it was made using a toy grenade with pieces from a handful of different Kids' Meal toys.

This was a ton of fun to make, and I was quite thrilled to have my stuff in a show.

Kyle posted a link to his album tonight, and I wanted to share that here... everyone who participated in the show made killer stuff! Here are a couple of pictures...

... but you can (and should) see them all on Kyle's album here. A big hand to Kyle and to everyone who took part in the show. If you live in the area, be sure to stop by Finders Creepers and see the show in person! I know I would if I could!

The Art of Billy Parker

2010-11-12T23:44:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned my friend Billy Parker on this blog before. Recently I posted about his house burning down and the awesome folks from the October Toys Forum who were so awesome to him. I decided that it would be cool to share some of his work here for everyone to see. Billy is honestly one of the most talented people I know. Almost everything he knows how to do he has taught himself, so he gets extra credit for that.

Anyway... enough of my rambling... I need to let Billy's work speak for itself. The first few sets of images are from fairly recent projects. The rest are from all over the place!

It is my pleasure to present to you:

A custom painted bike with an Afro Samurai theme:

Another bike, this time with a gargoyles versus zombies theme:

Another bike job done with characters from the film The King of New York

An 8 by 4 foot mural featuring the Monkey King

A custom painted guitar featuring Jimi Hendrix

Various projects over the years:

Paintings:

Drawings:

Custom Figures:

Well, that's only a small taste of the amazing stuff that Billy has done. He's one of my favorite artists and most definitely one of my favorite people in the world. I hope you enjoy his work as much as I enjoy sharing it!

Fire in the Hole!

2010-11-11T15:21:00.004-05:00

I just finished this piece for an art show coming up in December. The show is based around plastic toy grenades. The main portion of the critter's body is the grenade with all kind of parts added and a new paint job.

I call this piece Warsaur:

I'll post some more information about the show when I know more about it.

Jumping Madness

2010-11-10T04:50:00.004-05:00

For those of you lucky enough to be going to Designer Con this year (I'm quite jealous of you) there's a little extra treat, and I had a small part in it. Smash Tokyo Toys, makers of the awesome Seismic Ace figure asked me to team up with them for a small run of custom mash-up figures based on the smaller version of the Seismic Ace character. Cram that guy together with Emilio Garcia's Jumping Brain and the result is just plain weird-- but it's a lot of fun too!

These little dudes will only be available as exclusive giveaways at Spanky Stokes' booth at the con. Check his latest post for some more info about these toys and other exclusive items from Smash Tokyo Toys!

From the ashes...

2010-11-06T13:42:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago my friend Billy's house burned to the ground. No one was hurt in the fire, but Billy lost almost all of his personal belongings. I don't know about you, but I can't imagine losing everything I own in just a few minutes. I take all my stuff for granted waaaay too often.

Billy had a massive toy collection that was impressive in ways I can't begin to describe-- and almost everything was mint in its original packaging too!. He had so many packaged Transformers, G.I Joes, and other stuff that his place looked like an insane-o toy store!

Ladies and gentlemen... I present to you... the results of a fire burning your toy collection to the ground:

AAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

That's just a few of the G.I. Joes that actually sort of made it through the fire.

I posted these pictures over on the October Toys Forum just to show what can happen to your stuff in a fire, and the great guys and gals there not only sent their love, care, and prayers to Billy... they sent their toys to him as well-- they didn't even know the guy either! They're just honestly some of the kindest, most generous, caring people I have ever known. In the weeks after I posted those pics I was contacted by a handful of the posters there who wanted to share their toys with a fellow collector who had lost his collection. Boxes from as far away as Australia and Brazil kept my mail carrier busy! When a good chunk of packages arrived I decided I'd make someone's day!

I went to my nephew's house where Billy has been staying and completely surprised the crap out of Billy-- he literally had NO idea I was even coming to see him, so it really knocked him down when he saw what I had for him.

The box... I had to really work my butt off to fit all this awesome in one box. Wanna know what kind of box it was? It was a meat box. Meat boxes are cool. I guess.

Billy had never had any Sigma Six figures... he was QUITE impressed!

Bag-O-Goodies! These are some of Billy's first designer toys, so expect to see some cool customs coming from that bag. I'll break his legs if he doesn't make some.

WHOOOSH! PEW PEW PEW!!!

KALI MA! KALI MA! KALI MAAAAAA, SHAKTHI DEH!!!!!!

Billy in one of several speechless moments during the whole thing.

My nephew walked in at that moment... look at his "Whaaaaaa?" expression! Gotcha, dork!

This one hit the spot! Billy had this movie before the fire! Good call!

Mystery gift from Rio de Janeiro...

Success-- you managed to give him a G.I. Joe he never had! Yay! He was really blown away by that!

Lookit all that awesome stuff!!!! And my camera strap!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

The October Toys Forum guys are THE BEST!!! Some guys even sent original art! YOWZA!

Remote control R2D2?

OH YEAAAAHHH!!! BEEP BOOP BEEP!!!!

Billy was totally blown away and he truly appreciates all of the wonderful things these guys sent and all the thoughts and prayers that everyone contributed. You guys went above and beyond to make things a lot better for him.

I want to thank all of the people who cared enough to share their time, toys, and art. You guys are some of the very best people in the world. I love all of you dudes and dudettes!

A BIG hand for the boys and girls of the best toy forum in the land!!!

And keep your eyes glued to this blog in the next week... I'm putting together a big blog post featuring some of Billy's fantastic artwork... including some never before seen pieces! YOWZA!

Combat Critters!

2010-10-26T14:55:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine commissioned me to customize some of his Battle Beasts. If you don't know what Battle Beasts are then I'm sorry... you missed out on a lot of fun. Here's a crash course. Battle Beasts are still quite popular and kinda hard to find these days, so I've never customized any before. Wow-- what a lot of fun! These little dudes just beg to be reworked into stuff... or in some cases just augmented in their original color schemes, which is what my friend wanted with two of these figures. I figured everyone would like to take a look, so here ya goo:

This is Pirate Lion. I had been asked to just repaint him in his original scheme, only a bit more gritty and battle-worn.

And here he is with the injury that caused him to wear the patch in the first place-- GORY!!!!

I call this one the Magma Lion... he's kinda hot.

And this is the Ice Lion. You get the joke.

And this is Panzer Panda reworked into Samurai Panda!

Hope you enjoyed seeing these as much as I enjoyed making them!

Monsters and Aliens and Crayons-- OH MY!!!

2010-10-21T19:29:00.004-04:00

I got a really cool package in the mail today. (I love it when a store throws in extras like stickers and postcards!)

In a thread in the kaiju section of the Octorber Toys Forum (best forum EVAR!) someone mentioned a store called Monster Worship, and, while browsing for toys there, I came across a wonderful coloring book by artist Terence E. Hanley called Monsters and Aliens of America. I managed to snag the last one in stock at the time, but they have restocked, it appears! They have another of his coloring books that I'm probably going to eventually grab called Mothman, Aliens, & Flying Saucers

It's illustrated in a very classic style that makes me think back to the old coloring books I had when I was a kid. Have you guys seen coloring books these days? Most of the ones I've seen lately are just photographs that have been digitally wonked around with until they look like line drawings-- it's pretty sad. There used to be quite a bit of artistry in the making of coloring books

The way the creatures in the book are presented reminds of old episodes of In Search Of, a show that pretty much was responsible for 99% of the nightmares I had when I was a kid.

20 pages of fun critters and brief stories about each one. This is definitely one of those coloring books that will never be touched by a crayon, pencil, or brush-- the line work is just too perfectly beautiful to me to sully with any color. Not too shabby for 5 bucks, huh?

I looked up Terence E. Hanley, and he has a website for those who are interested in hearing more about him. Unfortunately it seems to be in its infancy with very few links or pages. Hopefully that will change. On the good side, it provides contact info for the artist!

If you like his stuff, let him know! Artists need to know they are appreciated! Sometimes we feel all alone, scratching away at our drawing boards like madmen!

Sketchbook Mega-dump!

2010-10-20T17:39:00.004-04:00

My father has been in and out of the doctor's office and hospital for tests and such lately. I have been driving him there, so I have been in waiting room after waiting room sketching like crazy to avoid watching Doctor Phil (is it a law that all waiting room TV's HAVE to be tuned to Dr. Phil???? I really hate that guy).

Enjoy:

Tag it Up!

2010-10-18T16:37:00.004-04:00

The last time I went down to Georgia (kinda like the Devil) I made some gifts for my friends there. My friend Pablo just sent me some pictures he took of the gift I gave him. I have been so busy lately I had completely forgotten about it-- what a nice surprise!!! Here ya go:

You should all go check out Pablo's awesome blog here, his great videos here, and his cool toy collection here

A Little Bit of Marvel

2010-10-15T17:00:00.003-04:00

I picked up something pretty cool at the Dollar Tree today. I figured since the theme of today's cheapo toy review was decidedly Marvel, why not have two of our good friends from the Marvel Universe help with showing these bad boys off.

Say hello to The Hulk and Iron Man:

"RAAR!"
"'Sup?"

Today's toys are the Marvel Heroes Ultimate Collection from Preziosi (A company that I know NOTHING about!). They're blind-bagged, but it's not too shabby for a buck! With the multi-lingual and multi-currency packages that don't feature U.S. Dollars, I assume these were European releases originally.

"What in bags, Metal-Man?"
"Not quite sure, Jolly Green. Let's open them up and find out!"

"RAAR! Hulk hope this not like Cracker Jacks!"

"..."
"TWEAKIN' TRANSISTORS!!!"

Each package has a mini-figurine with a stand and two packs of stickers that remind me a lot of the old Panini stickers that I used to get when I was a kid. Each sticker pack has 6 stickers, so you wind up with a tidy stack of 12 stickers with each purchase!

"What this, Metal-Face?"
"Looks like a little toy of the Thing."

"RAAAR!!! HULK HATE ROCK-MAN!!! HULK SMASH ROCK-MAN!!!"
"Chillax, dude! It's just a toy!"

The Thing stands exactly 3 inches tall. He's really nicely sculpted, and the paint's not bad either. The inclusion of the stand is a really nice touch, but not necessary in his case, because he has huge foots to keep him standing.

"Hulk collect them all?"
"Well, only if you live in a Marvel Universe that's populated with mostly Green Goblins."

Yeah... out of the 5 I bought, 3 were Green Goblins. That was kinda my fault, because I was trying to feel the figures in the packages to see what I was getting (which is pretty much impossible, because the smaller framed figures feel almost identical through the package. I should have just grabbed the first five that were in the box. No matter... I'll find some use for the other two Goblins-- that or trade/give them away!

You can see that the Thing really looks nice standing next to the figures scaled to his size. The sculpts and paint on both of the other figures is just as nice as the Thing, with Spidey scoring extra points for having a nice black wash to bring out the web-lines on his costume.

The little catalog that comes with each figure shows that there are 12 figures in the series including The Hulk, Wolverine, The Invisible Woman, The thing, Silver Surfer, The Green Goblin, The Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic, Spider-Man, Dr. Octopus, Captain America, and Iron Man. I'll definitely be going back to Dollar Tree for more of these suckers... I really want The Hulk for my Hulk collection, and the others are really nice. I'm not really crazy about the low number of villains-- I think Doctor Doom and Venom would have been nice in there.

So for 5 bucks you get 5 figures and 60 stickers. Not too shabby at all! The stickers are really nicely done, and are broken up into three types: ID File stickers, shaped stickers with goofy sayings like "Fire and Ice" on an image of the Torch and Ice Man (har, har, bleh), and puzzle stickers that you put together to make one big sticker.

"RAAAAR! Hulk find good poster for wall in Avenger's Mansion!"
"Yeah... I think this one will look great in the foyer!"

So there ya have it! If you live near a Dollar Tree, hit it up to see if they got any of these gems in! You never know what you're going to find at that cheapskate's paradise!

Fresh Blood

2010-10-04T08:34:00.003-04:00

I can't really say anything that this opening sequence doesn't say for itself:

This isn't the official opening for AMC's The Walking Dead that debuts October 31st, but it should be-- the piece's creator Daniel M. Kanemoto poured a lot of love into this one. It's the perfect nod to the comics, and it creates a moody, tense feeling from the start. AMC, if you're paying attention to the internet, this should be your opening sequence!

War Buster

2010-10-03T20:44:00.003-04:00

I just listed this dude over on eBay. The idea was my good friend Pete's-- I just threw it together! Can't really take credit for too much of it!

Click the picture to see more pics of the figure!

The greatest place in the world...

2010-10-03T15:07:00.004-04:00

My friend Michael just shared this video with me. I can honestly say that I will not be a happy person until I can go to Ultramanland.

I'd embed the video, but embedding is disabled (grumbemumblegrumble). So just click to see it:

ULTRAMANLAND!!!

I don't know what I like the most-- the fact that the main building looks exactly like the Science Patrol headquarters in the original Ultraman series, the Ultraman bumper cars, the vehicle museum, the giant statue of Ultraman that you can climb on, the crazy puppet show, the massive stage battle, or the Ultra de Restaurant where Ultraman comes out to serve you food. AAAGGGHHHH!!! MUST GO NOW!

Disneyland? HA! You have NOTHING on Ultramanland! When was the last time a giant Mickey Mouse fought monsters intent on eating Tokyo? I thought so.

If I have to rob a bank, I am going to Ultramanland. This is my destiny.

Mega Monster Madness

2010-10-02T00:34:00.002-04:00

So, everyone pretty much knows I'm a Japanese monster junkie. I love Godzilla and all his kin-- but I'm finding more and more that I like Ultraman more than almost anything else. I've only ever seen the first series of Ultraman-- I watched it in reruns as a kid, and I bought the recent release of the series on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment (you should definitely go pick this up... it is a steal at $9 from Wal-Mart or $9.49 from Overstock.com). There have been about a bazillion Ultraman series since the original, but each one tries its best to stay in continuity-- there are flubs here and there, but what over 40 year old franchise doesn't have a few glitches? I am only recently learning the history of the series and about the many heroes and monsters that have popped up over the years. I make mention of this for a very specific reason.

I just saw the most EPIC Ultraman movie ever made.

This is Daikaijū Batoru Urutora Ginga Densetsu Za Mūbī

Which translates to Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie. Try saying that fast ten times.

My first exposure to this film was when my good friend Spencer told me about a rather interesting Ultraman character by the name of "Belial." I had heard the name Belial before, in reference to a demon in the Bible-- he's supposed to be one of the princes of Hell. When I heard there was an Ultraman monster named after a prince of Hell, I was kinda freaked out! I had to find out more about this thing! Spencer tipped me off to this YouTube video trailer of the movie:

Needless to say, after seeing that trailer I HAD to track down a copy of the movie. Doing so wasn't easy, because it hadn't had a wide release at the time we were yacking about it, so i kind of put it on the back burner for a long, long time.

And then, just last week I found it. Bandai Visual released the movie with English subtitles, so i could finally see this crazy movie so many people on the internet were gushing about.

What did I think of it? Well, let's see...

The plot's pretty simple: When an evil exiled Ultraman named Belial returns for his vengeance against the society that cast him out, there's hell to pay. Belial takes the artificial sun that gives the Ultramen their power, and only the combined efforts of a few remaining Ultras, a plucky bunch of humans, and another exiled Ultraman can prevent Belial from ruling the universe with his army of 100 giant monsters.

Sounds kinda fun? Well it is a BUTTLOAD of fun... with some conditions.

1. You must understand that Japanese sci-fi movies are budgeted far below even the average Hollywood action movie. This means that special effects are usually done on a comparative shoestring, and studios often use cheaper CGI stuff that doesn't look as sophisticated as the stuff most American audiences are used to seeing. That said, what they did with what they had was pretty darn great. One thing I love about Japanese movies is the enthusiasm they have for just going out and making a darn movie. "We don't have the budget to make a mechanical dinosaur monster that is 30 feet tall and breathes flames." "No problem! We'll just spray paint some trash bags green and slap them on Dan from accounting! The kids will love it!" You gotta love that can-do spirit!

2. This movie is ALL OVER THE PLACE. If you're one of those unlucky saps who can't keep up with a movie that flips from location to location rapidly, this movie is definitely not for you.

3. This movie is ALL OVER THE PLACE. No, I'm not repeating myself... in this instance I'm referring to the plot. It doesn't go into a lot of back story initially, so you kind of have to roll with the punches for a while. Eventually they give you a crasher course in all things Ultra, but sometimes it's really easy to get lost. It helps to know a bit about the Ultraman universe before you watch the movie, because there are literally a billion Ultramen in this movie. Seriously. There are even Ultra chicks in this movie. And Ultra children. If I'm lying, I'm dying. And because they all pretty much look like the same guy, it's REALLY hard to keep up with who is being beaten to death by Belial at any given moment. (And yes... I know that you, just like me, will look in EVERY scene to see if the original Ultraman is in there.) It helps to go online and do a bit of research as to who everyone is. It's not necessary to the enjoyment of the movie, but when you start griping to me about not being able to tell one guy from the other, don't say I didn't warn you.

4. Japanese actors are REALLY enthusiastic. This is one of those things you either love or hate. I love it-- I would seriously hug anyone who worked on this movie, because they looked like it was about the most fun thing in the world to do besides farting in the bathtub. I know you do it. No need to lie about it... sinner.

5. Japanese movies are more about themes than the details. This pretty much means that if you watch a Japanese movie and get the main idea behind it, you had a successful viewing experience. If you sat there and tried to figure out every little detail and tried to figure out the science behind this and that, you have just achieved epic fail. It's like trying to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks and then write a thesis on the adverse effects of cinnamon on the livers of Chipmunks. Translated: Japanese movies are really weird and kinda goofy, and you'll get nowhere trying to figure out all the quirky stuff. Get used to it.

OK... so.. was the movie good? YES. The movie made me feel like I was 5 years old again. It's not a particularly original or deep story, but it's done really well for what it is. Like I said before, the CGI is not great CGI (there are shots of spaceships and stuff that look like bits from video games), but they never really try to pretend that it is... it's just another way they have of telling a larger than life story. Once you get into the movie it's really not distracting, because you start digging the heroes right away. If you have a beef with moral absolutes, this movie isn't going to be your bag, because the Ultraman code is all about right and wrong. But in that service to justice, these big guys are willing to give their all. The movie deals with themes of honor, justice, sacrifice, respect, family, and redemption. I really didn't expect that going in, after having read several reviews online. Most people get hung up on the fact that the movie is 90 minutes long and has a lot of fighting. Well, duh, Sherlock... it's a freaking Ultraman movie. Ultraman fights monsters... it's his day job and his part time job he keeps on the side. Did people honestly expect a 2 hour rom-com with Ultraman trying to woo Jennifer Love Hewitt while simultaneously trying to impress his boss at his new office job? (admittedly, this is a movie I'd probably watch).

Yes, the movie is a long, relentless battle, but that's kind of the point. The Ultras live to protect the innocent. They'll die doing that. They don't care who it is they are protecting either, as long as they are unable to defend themselves. When you take up the job as the defender of the universe, you never get a vacation. Heck... you don't even rate a staycation.

There's an underlying theme in the movie about the allure of absolute power. I really like how they deal with the fact that the actual power itself isn't the corrupting part... it's the willingness to disobey everything one knows to be good and true to obtain it. It implies that the problem was with the seeker in the first place as opposed to the sought after item. The power in this case has the potential to be extremely positive-- it is just the decision of the user as to which ends he will use it.

Nothing in the movie really seems like a throw away item... all the parts make sense to the story, and even the humans, who normally make monster movie fans groan, play a significant and welcome role in the film. They are our ticket to understanding what the heck is going on. When the main human character stands there slack jawed like we are when we watch the movie, you can bet there's about to be a helping portion of exposition. But it's always right at the time you need it... it never becomes annoying or unwanted. That's a tough feat to pull off.

There are some things that don't really make sense timing-wise and a few things that happen way too conveniently, but anymore that's the norm in movies. I'm not saying it's a good thing... it's just there. I'm sure someone could explain to me why a certain character pops up EXACTLY when he's needed in one particular scene, but I know that person would be pulling the explanation right out of his butt. It's just one of those things, I guess.

Would I recommend this movie? Not to certain people. If you're looking for an Oscar-worthy film, I'd tell you not to watch it. If you are looking for a kick-butt, sci-fi action movie that has lots of cool looking good-guys, crazy looking bad-guys, some of the most insane martial arts wire-work you've ever seen, and a really good moral -- then YES. I couldn't recommend it any higher.

You know... a twisted, freakish lump in my brain kinda wishes that a big Hollywood studio would take the Ultraman franchise and make a really nicely-crafted special effects masterpiece, but the rest of my brain went on a bloody rampage and killed that malignant pustule for having a really bad idea. Hollywood would suck the very life from Ultraman and spit out a shiny, polished, industrial-strength turd of a movie starring Ryan Reynolds as the wise-cracking, foul-mouthed Ultraman, who, of course, looks like Ryan Reynolds with a silver CGI costume.

You laugh... that's exactly what it would look like.

Give me my goofy old Ultraman any day of the week!

Best part of the movie? When Hayata (played by Susumu Kurobe, the actor who played him in the original Ultraman series) lifts the Beta Capsule into the air and the Ultraman theme music plays for a brief few seconds. I was literally squealing with geek joy.

You know... it really doesn't take much to keep me happy does it?

Dunny Time!

2010-09-23T23:47:00.003-04:00

Finished this little bugger up today... He's a 3 inch Dunny that I started painting in my tutorial post:

Blasted

2010-09-21T02:30:00.002-04:00

And the winner is...

2010-09-18T23:41:00.002-04:00

Thanks for all you guys who entered my impromptu Win a Kaiju contest! Not a single entry failed to make me chuckle! It was hard to pick a winner, but I had to go with the one that made me actually laugh out loud-- it kinda caught me mid-sip as I was drinking, and it just worked for me. Sometimes simple jokes are the best ones, so I picked this one for the winner:

Mysty, thanks for making me spit my drink at the screen when I read the entry! To me it just fits perfectly with what's going on in the picture.

Email me (monsterforge@yahoo.com) your address so that I can send you your prize package!

Thanks again, everyone! You guys are THE best!

Brusha, brusha, brusha!

2010-09-17T19:30:00.004-04:00

I've been asked by more than a few people over the last year or so if I'd post a work in progress or tutorial piece to share some of my tips 'n' tricks. Now... I don't know if I really have any authority to be giving anyone advice, but I figured I'd just show some of techniques I've learned over the years. I'm not the most knowledgeable guy in the business, so don't take what I say to be the end-all, be-all of customizing information. I'm just sharing what techniques I've used over the years I've been working with toys.

One of the most effective techniques a toy artist can employ is drybrushing. Drybrushing is the act of applying a very small amount of paint lightly across a surface so that only the slightest amount is transfered from brush to surface. It allows you to build up and blend colors to give depth and weight to your work. The most effective drybrushing is done over a slightly textured surface; the raised portions of the surface will grab the drybrushed paint and allow the color in the lower portions to show through. It's a really cool effect that's super easy to achieve.

First off... you're going to want to give your paint a slightly textured surface to which to adhere. The easiest way to do that is to prime the surface with a layer or two of paint. I use acrylic paint because it adheres to virtually any plastic used in toys--there are a few exceptions, but most designer vinyl toys are great surfaces for painting. Using enamels or oil paints can result in poor adhesion, and a paint job that will remain sticky FOREVER!!!!! BOOGAH!!!

I like to work from dark to light-- I don't know why I do, but I just like it. I've base coated this toy, a 3 inch tall Dunny from KidRobot, with flat black acrylic paint. Flat paint will give you a more textured surface, and texture is your friend!

Ignore my messy work area-- I'm one of those quirky weirdos that can't have a tidy work-space... I tried it and it sucks. I use almost any small, shallow container I can get my hands on to mix my paints. I find that the caps of those capsules you get out of bubblegum machines to be PERFECT for this. I also use the trays that action figures come in. Bottle caps, medicine cups, and cut-off paper cups will do just fine too.

OK... so I realize that it's hard to see my paint for the clutter, so I brought out this piece of craft foam to mix paint. One neat little tip: using craft foam is a REALLY good way to help clean excess paint from your brush as you work; while you are mixing the paint the foam is absorbing it-- you wind up with a pretty dry brush when you do this.

To build up from black you have to use a little black. The idea is to blend the color on your brush from black to red. The reason for doing this is to create a gradual color gradient from dark to light. So I take a little black and a little red and apply them close to each other. This allows you to quickly grab a tiny bit from each and mix it as you go along. It also serves as a visual guide to the history of the values you've created as you go along.

Using your brush, snag a little bit of black and a little bit of red and mix them up. You want a color that's almost black with a hint of red. Use a paper towel to wipe all but the tiniest amount of paint from the brush. You see that brush there? I've been using that brush for about 8 years. It's a cheap-o Wal-Mart special. It came in a bag of 15 brushes for 5 bucks, and it is still the best brush I own for doing dry brushing. I've had brushes that cost three times what that bag of brushes cost that didn't work as well as this one does. It looks like it has been to hell and back, but it still works like a charm. In later pictures you'll see how it has adapted to a curved shape from being scraped across surfaces over the years!

Using the color you mixed up, lightly brush the surface of the toy. If the new color barely shows up, you did it right. If you get globs of paint on the surface, you might want to lighten your touch or wipe off some more paint from the brush-- maybe even both. You're only wanting to lay down the smallest amount of color.

Grab some more red and mix it into the last glob of paint you mixed. You're building up from black to red, remember?

Here's the next few applications of paint that has been built up from black to red. You'll want to paint a slightly smaller area than the last you painted each time you paint... you're not building up the color; you're building a transition to a smaller highlighted area. This gives the object you're painting a depth that makes it pop visually. Darker colors are perceived by the brain to be farther from the eye while lighter colors do the exact opposite. So, in a sense, you are toying with people's minds-- you're a magician!!!

Now that you've built up the color to a vibrant red, you want to just knock it out of the park! To really make the surface look like it's going to jump out at you, use the tiniest bit of white! See that snaggly brush? The veteran of a bazillion drybrush attacks!

And here you have it... you've given the Dunny a glowing belly!!! But more than that you can see how the surface is no longer flat black... without sculpting any details on the toy, you can trick the eye into believing there's more there than a flat surface.

Try it with different colors and try blending them together. Experimenting is the best way to learn everything you can. Just remember: you can't really mess up! If you do, just paint over it with flat paint and go back at it again. Each layer of color you paint over gives your work a bit of extra character... you never know what kind of crazy stuff you'll find sitting right below the surface of your toy!

Hope that helps! If any of these tips helped out, please let me know, so I can help out more in the future. If any of these tips caused your head to explode like a balloon full of chili, please let me know and send video or pictures. I'm sick and twisted that way.

Caption This!

2010-09-15T20:19:00.003-04:00

I got a really cool package in the mail today, and it had an extra kaiju toy that I wanted to share with one of my readers here. This little goon is called Gaigareid-Neo, and he's from one of the Ultraman series:

He's made of soft vinyl and stands about 4 inches tall. He's a really cool little dude that you don't see everyday!

To win him and a few other crazy things I'll throw in your package, just caption this picture:

I want to laugh... so make a caption for this picture that's as funny as can be! The funniest caption will win the prize package! Post your entries in the comments section below! You have until Saturday night to enter, so go for it! One entry per person, but feel free to tell your friends! Have fun, kids!

THUNDERPANDA!!!!

2010-09-15T11:31:00.004-04:00

A little while back I posted a sketch that I did... I had hoped I'd keep up with my sketching, but I've been too busy with commissions to have time to sketch (I know... I need to make time to do it), but it seems one of my doodles inspired my good friend Eric Wirjanata to draw his own version of one of my sketch characters.

The critter in the middle of this sketch:

inspired Eric to create this one:

WOW! I don't know about you, but this one knocks it out of the park for me! Eric really took the doodle and made it his own character!

I love Eric's work... he has a talent that has hints of Robert Crumb and Gary Baseman with a unique blend of other influences. You can (and should) check out his site to see more of his stuff. Not only is he a great artist, he's a great guy!

Besides... anyone who can make a turd with crab claws look cool is a master in my book:

S.C.U.M.!!!!!

2010-09-03T20:42:00.003-04:00

Well... it has been a loooong time since my last installment of HORRIBLE TOYS I SHOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT, so I figured I'd post this for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure... these things are awful!).

I went to the Dollar Tree today looking for good, cheap crap to waste money on. I found something that matched 2 of those traits: cheap and crap.

Meet the men and woman of S.C.U.M.:

This is a 3.75 inch toy line produced by the good folks at Greenbrier International (AKA: the people who make the horrible crap they sell at Dollar Tree) called S.T.O.P. vs S.C.U.M. I'd go into explaining it all, but it really doesn't matter because it's... well... horrible. Here's the card back so you can see what it's all about:

This is, from left to right, Lady Lead, Cyclops, and Skull Hawk:

Cyclops is the leader of the baddies:

He's utterly, magnificently disappointing-- if you were looking for a good action figure. If you were looking for something stupid to make you laugh at the massive amounts of fail, then he's pure gold!

This is Skull Hawk. I have NO idea what he does for the team, because mine came on Cyclops' profile card:

I imagine that his official position in the S.C.U.M. corporation is "Suck Master." I love how his eyes are painted so far off from where they were supposed to be that he has this comical "SAY WHAAAAAA???!!!!" expression by accident. AWESOME. You'll notice that none of these pictures feature the guys without their guns. That's because they are made with the guns in their hands... yeah... S.C.U.M. soldiers are hardcore... they NEVER let go of their pieces.

This beautiful dame is Lady Lead. She's this psycho man-hating hired assassin. I think I'm in love:

With a face like this, you can only hope that the little disclaimer about the likenesses being fictitious is terribly wrong. Hubba hubba! Ugh. She has the absolutely worst construction out of the crew, and that's saying a LOT. It took me a good 50 tries to take the pictures of her standing up, because she was intent on falling down. Seriously, her legs swing back and forth like a bell clapper.

These figures are one fall from a height of one inch from shattering into a million pieces. The plastic is of a truly awful quality, and I believe that inhaling the fumes from it has caused me to become infertile. So, guys, if you were thinking about paying to get a vasectomy, just go to Dollar Tree, buy one of these suckers and huff away at the fumes. You'll be as sterile as can be in no time!

To be honest, the sculpts on these guys are actually pretty decent. It's the final product that's so bad. The detail and articulation is pretty decent for a dollar toy. It's a shame that they were made out of toxic plastic and painted by a pack of rabid baboons.

As bad as these suckers are, I can't help but love them. They're truly magnificent abominations cast in plastic. If you see them make sure you collect them all... they're worse than bad!

Sketchbook

2010-09-02T18:29:00.002-04:00

I got a new sketchbook for my birthday yesterday, so I've decided I'd sketch a bit each day and post what I've done here. Here ya go:

Rok 'n' Roll

2010-09-02T01:32:00.003-04:00

I just finished a new custom Star Wars figure. He' up on eBay now... Click the picture to see many more pictures and information about the character!

Yes... the background picture is from a Gears of War screen shot. XD

If it bleeds...

2010-08-27T00:15:00.004-04:00

Silent Warrior

2010-08-26T18:21:00.003-04:00

Death Watch

2010-08-19T14:26:00.002-04:00

I'm not a huge fan of the new Clone Wars cartoon on Cartoon Network. I think the show is beautiful... don't get me wrong. I think it's one of the most cutting-edge animated features on TV. I'm just not happy at all with the overt preachiness of the whole thing. They take every opportunity they can to cram some of their world-view down the viewer's throats-- that's fine if you dig it-- I don't. That's just my gripe-- it's distracting to me. Classic Star Wars was a LOT more subtle about its social commentary.

That said, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the show was the injection of Mandalorian awesome that came this last season. The introduced the Death Watch, a group of Mandalorians who wanted to return Mandalore to its warrior past directly conflicting with the (hyper-unrealistically) pacifistic leadership of the Duchess of Mandalore. The leader of the Death Watch was the governor of the moon Concordia, Pre Vizsla. For those of you who may not know it, Pre Vizsla was a baaaad dude. If you can find episodes online, try to watch the episodes The Mandalore Plot, Voyage of Temptation, and Duchess of Mandalore-- trust me... the way they handled the Mandalorians was just awesome.

Enough back story... people don't come here for TV show reviews... they want TOYS!!!

I found the Pre Vizsla figure in town last night. I've been waiting for this figure since those episodes aired. So... how is the toy? Let's find out!

This is the new packaging for the latest line of figures. Yawn. I throw packages away anyway, so this isn't really my thing. It's a pretty darn busy looking card and bubble though... a lot going on here, mostly pitching the game that you can now play with figures. You know... when I was a kid I didn't need a game to play with my figures. I wonder how much of this game thing is the company trying to pitch games because they think kids like them or because the company just wants to sell game junk. I dunno... kids are weird these days. It's not their fault... everyone else is doing their thinking for them.

The package uses a LOT of plastic. the bubble is just gargantuan. Everything that comes in the package could fit in a MUCH smaller bubble. Seeing the new vintage styled figures sitting next to these on the pegs makes me laugh... they look so much better than these. Just a tiny little bubble over to the left with a HUGE picture of the character on the right: EPIC.

I hate how they only show a few figures on the backs of packages anymore. You want to sell stuff to kids? Give them a flippin' checklist like we used to have on old-school Star wars figures. For years I had a box of old Star Wars card backs with the little pictures of the figures I wanted circled. You know what? It made me want to collect them all. Seeing 3 or 4 pictures of figures doesn't give me much idea of how many are in the series so I can COLLECT ALL THESE AWESOME CHARACTERS!!! Sheesh, Hasbro... do some darn marketing research that doesn't involve asking execs who never collected toys what they think sells toys.

So here he is in all his glory. I think he's a pretty spiffy looking figure. He has some issues, but I'll get to those in a few. You can see the parts of the game that come with him. The display stand doubles as a holder for the game card and you use the included die to roll for all of his abilities. Yawn. If anyone wants his card, stand, and die, just let me know... I don't need them. I'll mail it to you free.

Here's one of my big beefs with the figure: the cape is just horrible. It's huge and the way it's made it never wants to sit correctly. This is one of those few instances where I think a plastic molded piece would have been better. I like the fact that they're doing more fabric pieces, but this one would have benefited from being more rigid and form-fitting.

Still... he looks darn smexy with his sword and cape... when you can get it to settle on the figure properly... annoying thing...

He's a pretty darn poseable figure... this is one of the VERY few Star Wars figures with pin and post hips, so he can be posed in more dynamic stances.

See what I mean?

He has two really well-sculpted and painted blaster pistols that fit in holsters on his thighs. Nice touch!

PEW PEW!!!

Here's another one of my big issues with the figure... the jetpack falls off if you look at it wrong.

The back is made with this big concaved section where the jetpack is supposed to fit.

Unfortunately, the pack wasn't made with the concave section in mind, so the peg baaaarely fits into the hole on the back. I'm probably going to have to put a new, longer peg on it, which is a fairly simple procedure, but when I'm paying 8 bucks for a tiny little toy I shouldn't have to do anything to it to make it work properly. Shame on you Hasbro!

Here he is with other figures. You'll notice he's more in line with the Clone Wars cartoon figures (unless Boba Fett is just a really short dude). That makes sense... since the toy is of a character from the cartoon... duh!

All in all, this is a REALLY nice figure. It has a couple of flaws, but nothing that should prevent anyone from buying it. I wish Star Wars figures cost a couple of dollars less, but it looks like Hasbro is setting the price of 1:18 scale figures right around the 7-8 dollar mark. It's not bad when you buy one or two figures out of a line, but collecting a whole set gets pricey. I guess there isn't much to be done about it. Toy prices are going to keep going up as the costs of making them go up. I'm happy with my purchase, because it's a well-made figure that looks great and poses REALLY well.

Do I recommend the Pre Vizsla figure from the new Clone Wars figure series? Yes... yes I do!

I'm holding out hope that they'll release an animated version of Boba Fett using this mold. We need a sleek Boba Fett like this!

You don't know the power of the Dark Side...

2010-08-17T19:18:00.003-04:00

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away"

2010-08-14T20:49:00.003-04:00

Clarity of thought before rashness of action.

2010-08-14T01:38:00.003-04:00

It's always winter on Nemica...

2010-08-12T12:33:00.004-04:00

...The right of all sentient beings...

2010-08-12T01:34:00.004-04:00

From the Ashes...

2010-08-11T16:25:00.003-04:00

Big Brother

2010-08-10T17:42:00.004-04:00

This was originally posted on the October Toys Forum, but some apparently haven't seen it-- so I decided to share it here:

We join our brave hero Pheyden as he explores a vast wasteland...

It feels like I've been walking for days...

Oh-Ho! What is this?

::GULP!::

SLAMMAJAMMA!

I decided that if a teensy tiny Pheyden was so cool, why not have a BIG one?

Made this guy using a Truth Detector Batman figure with the lower legs from one of those M.A.R.S. Heroes walking robots from Walmart. I got both on eBay for less than 5 bucks. I sculpted the head and painted him up. Added a scarf, and BAZOO! Big Pheyden.

Enjoy!

NEW RECRUITS!!! Say whaaa???

2010-08-03T19:08:00.002-04:00

I've said before that I grew up with modest means. That pretty much means that if there was a cheap, knock-off toy line I probably had more of those than the real deal. One toy line I had several of as a kid was The Corps! from Lanard toys. They were cheap, simply made, crudely sculpted military action figures constructed almost exactly like the G.I. Joe figures of the 80's. As the Joes evolved The Corps figures pretty much stayed the same. All the way into the late 90's Lanard was pumping out copies of the same figures they made in the 80's. You gotta love a company that just sticks to what works for them. In recent years, The Corps line started to slowly evolve. Gone were the rubber O rings holding the torsos together. There were no more ball-jointed hips. The Corps figures started being made with simple cut joints at the waist, hips, and neck. This limited the articulation, but the focus started moving toward better sculpts and paint applications. The packaging was starting to reflect the company's dedication to the line-- awesome illustrations of the characters by comic book artist Leinil Francis Yu started covering the fronts and backs of the cards. Suddenly the characters had personalities and backgrounds-- there were clearly defined good and bad guys. The figures still weren't up to the standards of the Joes of the same time, but they were getting there. The bodies of the newer Corps figures were a lot bulkier than Joes-- they dwarfed the Joes, and the accessories and the hands that held them were massive compared to the smaller Joe weapons and hands. Being a custom action figure maker, I liked where the toys were going, but I still couldn't use a majority of them because the parts just didn't look right mixed with Joes.

That all changed today.

I was in Wal-Mart checking out the action figures, picking things up and putting them back because, honestly, everything costs too darn much. Then I happened upon a section I usually ignore when scoping out potential custom fodder. There they were... The Corps! figures with their bright packaging featuring Yu's artwork. I started to walk past when something struck me as odd... there were NEW Corps characters...

These are the "New Recruits." Evidently there are 6 new characters in the line, and the figures are pretty darn exceptional for a toy line that has always played second fiddle for the Joes. I only picked up one pack, because I wanted to see how they were.

It appears the artwork on the profiles of the new characters isn't Yu's, but at least it's nice stuff. Good packaging art is always a plus in my book (I'd rather see artwork than pictures of the toys... I don't know why-- I guess Mattel spoiled me back in the He-Man years). There's a whole new team known as "Shinobi Squad" with new characters "Rain," "Mirage," and "Decoder" ; The "Flying Force" gains "Spade" ; The "Covert Commando" unit gets "Bolder" ; and the bad guys known as "The Marauders" add "Roadrash" to their roster.

Now... how are the actual figures? Not bad at all!

In my pack I got Slash (mysteriously he's called "Decoder" on the back of the package) and Bolder. Slash is a ninja type guy with big arm blades, and Bolder looks like the road warrior. I guess he's supposed to be some kinda ex-cop or something. The sculpts on these guys are really darn good for what I've come to expect from The Corps. There is a lot of sculpted on detail, and the sculpts are surprisingly sharp. The faces are nice touches as well, because they each have their own personalities that come through. Slash has a really sly, crafty look on his partially exposed face while Bolder looks suitably brash and cocky. He has a smirk that Harrison Ford would be jealous of.

They're fully detailed from head to toe with all kinds of interesting gear and doo-dads sculpted onto their uniforms. Bolder's sculpt is a bit soft, but Slash's sculpt is almost as nicely done as anything from Hasbro or Mattel in the 1:18 scale. The paint apps are nice and clean with very little slop or overspray. A few of the lines are weak, but I found similar if not worse paint apps on the Iron Man 2 figures I saw a few feet away from these figures.

The package claims that the new Corps figures have 15 points of articulation, but I have yet to find point number 15. No problem, though, because the newer articulation is a MAJOR improvement.

The articulation breaks down like this:

-cut neck
-pin and post shoulders
-pin and post elbows
-cut waist
-cut hips
-hinge knees

They've managed to trim down the joints on the figures so that they can have slimmer limbs. This allows for a lean, dynamic look that older Corps figure lacked. The older figures had big, wonky joints that required the rest of the figure to be bulked up to match-- this is one of the main reasons why the older figures looked so bizarre next to G.I. Joes. Now you get a much more streamlined figure that fits in much better with G.I. Joe figures. I had JUST been talking to someone last week about how the Corps figures needed to be trimmed down... my wish is granted!

Each figure comes with two accessories: Slash has his two arm blades that clip onto his wrists, and Bolder has a nightstick and a sawed off shotgun. The coolest thing about Bolder's design is that both of his weapons can be attached to the figure when he's not using them. NICE! Slash's arm blades can be turned around on his arms to give the appearance of being folded back-- not quite as nice as having a holster, but it works for me.

As you can see, these new guys look pretty good with other 1:18 scale figures. They're still a bit bulkier than G.I. Joes, but they fit in really well with Star Wars and Marvel Universe figures.

Are they perfect figures? Not really. Are they worth buying? You better believe it. This two-pack cost only 3 dollars. 3 bucks for two decently made, 1:18 scale, fully-articulated action figures with accessories is pretty much unheard of. Combine that with the fact that they have improved the design to fit in better with other lines, and you have a winner of a toy. I'm going to grab the other new guys when I go back to Wal-Mart. The guy called Mirage looks so insanely weird I have to have him. A ninja with a coolie hat? Oh, my!

If you see the new guys, give 'em a try. You just might dig 'em enough to collect 'em all!

Check check check check it out

2010-07-24T20:23:00.003-04:00

I want to direct your attention to my good friend Michelle Jones' new blog. She's a fantastic artist with a unique eye for the uncommon in common things. She's a beautiful person inside and out, and I owe her more than I can ever repay. She was a anchor when I was going through the horrible storm that my senior year was in college.

Be sure to check out her work, and give her a warm welcome to the blogging community:

She is just starting out, so she hasn't posted much yet, but keep an eye on her blog. She's one of my very favorite people, and a great artist as well!

Now, Michelle... you better start posting some of those kick-butt photographs I love so much!

Real Custom Head

2010-07-22T00:14:00.003-04:00

So a friend of mine asked me to customize one of his RealXHead figures...

Now... I don't know if you know anything about RealXHead stuff, but it's a tad pricey. I don't think I'd have the heart to buy a 60 dollar toy and put paint on it. So when someone else has one and asks me to do it I consider it QUITE an honor. It's not every day that someone says "Hey, man, can you lay paint on my expensive plastic monster?" So I jumped at the opportunity. This is the first RealXHead figure I ever modified in any way whatsoever, so be gentle with me.

Thanks for looking, and thanks for the opportunity, man!

Clearing OUT!

2010-07-19T22:29:00.003-04:00

I just got back from a trip to Columbia. I was house and puppy sitting for my brother. On the way home I stopped by a few places and picked up a few things.

Of course they were cheap... you all know me!!!

You may recall this Skull King figure I got when I was in Georgia...

Now... watch my monster GLOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!

How did I do this? I stuffed him with glow in the dark Airsoft pellets.

You can get a big bottle of 5,000 of them for 10 bucks at Walmart. I still have over a third of the bottle left. I wonder what I'll use them for.... mwaaaa haa haa haa!!!!!

I have so far resisted buying any of the Transformers RPM (Robot Powered Machines) toys from Hasbro. For one, they're really not that impressive. Second, they cost too much. Are they worth 3 bucks? No. Are they worth 2 bucks? Nah. One? Yeah!

I stopped at a Dollar Tree on the way home and snagged this Optimus for a buck.

They're basically Hot Wheels style vehicles of the Transformers movie characters.

On the bottom of each one there's a sculpted representation of the robot form. See Optimus looking at you from the bottom of the truck?

They had a TON of these suckers. The characters were Optimus, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Jolt, Megatron, Long Haul, Mix Master, and Sideways. If you dig 'em hit up your local Dollar Tree... you might get lucky! I already have a nice die-cast Optimus Prime vehicle, so I'll keep mine in the package... it's a swell looking package!

I grabbed a couple of civilian clothes Wolverine figures from the Walmart next door for $2.50 each to use for customs. They're really nice bases for regular dudes.

I was getting ready to head out on the long trip home when I heard a little voice in my head say "Go to K-Mart." K-Mart isn't exactly on the way home, but I decided to go anyway. Boy... I am so glad I listened to the little voice!

They were having a HUGE clearance sale. I don't know if this is a nationwide thing or not, but this one had all their regular clearance prices slashed in half! I grabbed some stuff I would never have paid full price for.

Here's the recent Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Goldar figure I had wanted when I first heard about it but changed my mind as soon as I saw it. It's a horrible, horrible toy if you pay 6 or 7 bucks for it. But when you pay the $2.50 I did... well... it's still a crappy toy, but it's a little bit easier to justify owning it.

See those shoulder pads and that skirt there? They're solid, hard, ABS plastic. That basically means that the ball jointed shoulders and hips are pretty much frozen in place. Sheesh! On top of that, he has no knees or elbows. He's pretty much a statue... a really static, neutrally posed statue.

The sculpt is not totally bad with some nice little details here and there, but this guy is still a horrible, horrible toy. I mainly bought it because it was Goldar.

See how good he looks with the other Goldars I own? OK, so he still looks bad, but I'm glad I found him!

Another toy I'd never buy at full price: The Wolverine Stasis Chamber.

It's basically the big glass box they used to put the metal in Wolverine's body. Right. More custom fodder. I dunno how much this thing cost originally, but it's freakin huge.

It has a wheel on the side that you turn, and Wolvie smashes the glass out. Sure. It's going to be dismantled and used for custom projects. It cost me $2.50. Yay, K-Mart!!!

Here are the other Wolverines with the derpy looking Wolverine that came in the stasis set. He has a nicely sculpted body... I might make a small He-Man with that body.

I'm not really a Pokemon fan-- I never have been. I find the show to be annoying and the cards to be vomit-inducing. What I do like, however, are some of the character designs. Let's face it... some Pokemon are just darn cute.

I picked this little guy up.

His name is Mantyke, and he is A-FREAKIN-DORABLE.

His retail price was 6 bucks. I paid 99 cents for him. Booyah.

I love how he has the option to display him on his big stupid water base or on a smaller transparent one. He was well worth the price. I dunno about 6 bucks, but 99 cents? Oh yeah, baby.

And then there's this guy:

I have been looking for a decently priced Optimus Prime Mighty Mugg since before they ever hit stores. I never was crazy about paying 10 and 12 bucks for these things, but seeing how hard it is to track down a regular Prime I would have been quite happy paying full price for him. When I saw him in the clearance section I literally yelped. There was a lady at the end of the aisle with her daughter-- she grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of there faster than I have ever seen a human being move. I ran over to the price checker and this is what I saw on the screen "CHECK SHELF TAG FOR PRICING INFORMATION." Whaaaaaa? I hunted down someone in toys for some help but I couldn't find a soul (go K-Mart!). I brought the little guy up to the service desk and asked the lady to check the price-- I wanted it, but I'm cheap... sue me (don't! I don't have the funds!). She had to go find a manager who wouldn't answer the calls to the service desk (go K-Mart!), and told me that if I wanted to keep shopping she'd keep the figure at the desk until the manager surfaced. I went back and grabbed a few more things that I can't show here (Ooooo! Secrets!!!) and made my way up to the desk a few minutes later. I asked the lady how much it was, and she said the manager had priced it at 5 bucks. I almost yelped again, but kept it down this time. The best part of this whole deal? When she scanned it it automatically applied the clearance discount... that's right: I got it for $2.50 (YAY K-MART!!!)!

Looks nice standing there in my Optimus Prime collection, huh?

Yeahyuh!

I love deals.

The moral of this story? Keep your eyes open right now... there's a lotta clearing going on!

And da winna is...

2010-07-12T20:46:00.003-04:00

Let me say this first before anything else: This was a HARD decision. Every entry was astoundingly original and brilliant. Although I wasn't judging on the basis of artwork, each entry was superbly rendered-- I couldn't have asked for better entries!

That said... I had to pick a winner. This is always the toughest part of a contest, but that's the whole point. To me the entry with the most interesting and most thought-out design and story was the key to winning.

We have 2 armless characters-- one who uses his head as a weapon and the other who uses his torso-- the similarity in concept just shows me that great minds think alike. We have a cross-over from the Glyos universe, something I never would have thought of-- such a great idea! We have a saucy bachelor with an impressive... weapon-- Ralph, you always crack me up! We have a rotting corpse driven by bitter anger-- a kind of zombie juggernaut of destruction. Fantastic ideas all! I'd buy each and every one of those toys if Mattel would have put them out!

Ultimately I had to go with the characters of Hip-Nor and Octor by Jason Milsteed and Brian Lowe for the win.

The back story on these guys is just a perfect tie-in with the character of Brawlor and the gladiatorum and makes perfect sense in the scheme of things. I love the fact that Skeletor gave Hip-Nor his amplified powers and that He-Man and Brawlor took them away. As far as the figure design goes the idea of a big figure carrying a smaller figure on his back just makes me all kinds of happy! It would be easy to think of them as two characters, but the two depend on each other and function better as a whole. Congratulations, Jason and Brian! (email me your address, and I'll get the figure off to you ASAP)

________________________________________

Excellent work EVERYONE! I have enjoyed this contest so much, and I thank all of you for the hard work and great ideas! If you didn't win this contest don't fret... I am planning on having a contest regularly on here for customs and other stuff. Be sure to keep an eye on the blog for more chances to win my stuff!

The Six Sinister Foes of Brawlor!

2010-07-12T11:40:00.006-04:00

As promised, here is the gallery of foes that you guys created for the Brawlin' With Brawlor Contest. 6 entries... 6 horrific threats to the mighty four-armed grappler. I'll pick a winner later on this evening, but I wanted to give everyone a treat by posting the entries here. This has been a very rewarding contest for me; I love seeing original creations from great artists. It is going to be so hard to pick a winner, because each entry has its own special charm. Some are creepy... some are funny... some are just downright scary! I can say with 100% honesty that I would buy each and every one of these guys if Mattel were to make them! Thank you so much for entering and giving it your best!

Tune back in tonight for the winner!

Now... enjoy the entries!

Note: some entries have been edited for size and clarity. Some pieces are works in progress, but I accepted them on the strength of the concept. All images can be seen in their full glory by clicking the thumbnails and enlarging them.

Bytor the Mighty Mangler of Men
by Spencer Morrison

In the darkest places of the land he waits. He waits for that
rare moment in your life when you are unwise and decide to
travel his black territory. After you've exhausted yourself from
pushing past knots of wild plants and traversing the slippery
mounds of mud you finally see the edge of this cursed land
and that's when . . . . . HE BITES!!!

BYTOR, the mighty mangler of men was a gladiator by choice
on the Dark Side of Eternia. During a battle with BRAWLOR
he bit off the enslaved gladiator's lower face, but lost his
arms when BRAWLOR removed them with a crystal axe.
Using dark magic BRAWLOR was able to attach BYTOR's
arms to his own body and since then there has not been
a hold that BRAWLOR could not free himself from. BYTOR
teamed up with SKELETOR's forces to have his body fitted
for the return of his arms and since then has been planning
revenge...revenge with a BITE!

Ches-Tor - Evil Master of Unarmed Combat
by Tom Freak

Although he was a normal human in Eternia Ed-Gar Torsus
was born without arms. All the other kids taunted him for
being different and Ed-Gar soon turned bitter. He started
training his body (what he had, anyway) and after nearly
killing one of his classmates he was spotted by one of the
Talent Seekers (evil little robots commissioned to
Tri-Klops) of the Gladiatorium. There Ed-Gar soon realized
that he just wasn't powerful enough to fight with the
greatest and decided to trade his loyalty in exchange for
a cursed living armor. With the aid of his armor (it has a
name but only Ed-Gar knows it) he climbed to the top among
the deadliest fighters in Eternia, when he reached his goal,
he changed his name to Ches-Tor. He then met Brawlor, a
being that had too many arms for his taste, fighting was
too easy for him so, in his mind, he was a fighter without
honor. When He-Man destroyed the Gladiatorium, and Brawlor
joined forces with the Heroic Masters, Ches-Tor found his
way to Snake Mountain and joined the evil ranks of Skeletor,
he doesn't always agree with his new master but he vowed to
beat Brawlor and that's everything that matters to him.

Hip-Nor and Octor
By Jason Milsteed and Brian Lowe

Hip-Nor the maniacal manipulator of minds

Hip-Nor is a Trollan the same race as Orko. His main
ability is to hypnotize subjects and bend them to his
will. He did this for a long time in the Gladiatorum,
running it's day to day functions and keeping the
slaves ready to do constant battle with one another.
This was all purely for his and Skeletor's benefit,
Skeletor in particular had come to appreciate the extra
income to keep his armies well supplied. Long ago
Skeletor had found Hip-Nor on the streets of the dark
side of Eternia running small street scams and hustles
usually involving some sort of street fight. Skeletor
saw the opportunity to bring in unrivaled income from
the small time hustler by building him a giant colosseum
which amplified his natural hypnotizing abilities.
Hip-Nor with his new found power quickly established a
fighting/gambling world unrivaled on all of Eternia. He
would use his only truly loyal slave (Octor) to help
keep the slaves in line. Any sign of resistance would
instantly entail a sound lashing from the beast before
Hip-Nor turned his gaze upon his helpless slaves. While
in power over the gladiatorum he lived a life of leisure
and comfort with many gaudy proclamations of his riches
about. With the gladiatorum destruction by He-Man,
Hip-Nor lost his ability to hold so many creatures to
his will or effect the moods of the audiences that had
surged to his brutal games. Skeletor angry and disgusted
with the loathsome self serving creature refused him any
help until he struck a major victory in the friendship
of He-Man and Brawlor.

Octor the eight tentacles of doom

Octor was a loyal soldier in one of Eternia's many
under sea kingdoms. Trained from birth on to be loyal
to only one commanding officer he enjoyed life among a
small group of his people all serving in a centuries old
war. It was during one of the many conflicts that Octor
was separated from his people and his homeland by a
terrible tropical storm. Washing ashore on the dark side
of Eternia he began to wander the area, lost and in a
daze. With no direction or real concept of the strange
culture around him he eventually found himself fighting
in an illegal tournament as a means for survival and some
purpose. During this time he ran into Hip-nor with his
hypnotized slaves who were fighting in the tournament.
Hip-nor meanwhile swindling bets his way saw a huge money
making scheme in the powerful Octor. Octor smashed through
the contestants ranks in quick order grabbing them with
his powerful tentacles and pulling them into his suction
cups where he held them prisoner as he beat them without
mercy. Hip-nor while watching realized Octor's needs for
a leader and direction and started putting suggestions
into his brain to take that place. As a team they started
making lots of money, none of which Octor felt a need for,
he was Hip-nor's perfect ally. The money making scheme
being so successful drew the attention of Skeletor and his
devious schemes. He quickly put the Gladiatorum into place
which boosted Hip-Nors natural abilities. Octor was put
into service as the main enforcer. He kept peace at the
Arena, made sure the other slaves stayed in line and helped
gather new participants. He had a clear mission with a
purpose and clear order. As He-Man and the escaped slave
Brawlor brought everything smashing around his head he
desired a new mission. A mission Skeletor and his beloved
Hip-Nor barely needed to seethe out of their mouths, the
destruction of He-Man and Brawlor.

MUTANOST: Traveler from the Otherverse
By Kevin Dufrene

Mutanost is a Traveler from another dimension known as the
Glyoverse to his people. In that place, he was known as
Phanost and was a great and mighty warrior. Upon escaping
the tyrannical rule of his former home, Metran, he crossed
over to Eternia’s dimension seeking power and a new life
with his personal bodyguard, Vixxorag, who is also known
as Brawlor now on Eternia. While Phanost was battling the
interdimensional being known only as the “Star Child,”
Brawlor set to work sabotaging Phanost’s ship. After
absorbing the Star Child and his powers, the new Phanost,
now calling himself Mutanost, after absorbing his foe,
faced a usurping and mutinous bodyguard. Battle ensued and
they crashed on the planet of Eternia with Brawlor escaping.
Having found his ship’s dimensional drive and engine
irreparably sabotaged and himself doomed to this planet, he
has vowed to seek out and destroy his old comrade, Brawlor.

Shlongdor: Evil Eternian Bachelor
by Ralph Niese

Shlongdor is an evil Bachelor commanding a league of
firewater drinking madmen but one helping hand he still
seeks to put a hand on something...something that has to
be dealt with a reckless abandonment like only Shlongdor
himself would do it. But having an eye on Brawlor he wants
this abandonment felt on his..something... FOUR TIMES!
Also with a striking similarity in looking like He-Man he might
achieve what he wants...

Thrax the Foul Scented
by Steven Patt

A gladiator on the dark side of Eternia, he was a ruthless
killer and fought for his glory. In a battle with Brawlor he
was slain with a piece of his own horn. Thrax was stripped of
his glory, laying dead beneath the crowd's cheers at his
mortality. Thrax's soul did not leave his corpse's side
awaiting a manner in which to return. Evilyn sent by Skeletor
to bring him the great warrior cast his soul back into his
rotting flesh.

Thrax is back-- dead, rotting, and bloodthirsty, with a vow to
regain his glory and slaughter the man who slew him.

And there you have it! Check back in later tonight when I announce the winner!

Georgia on my mind...

2010-07-11T20:46:00.004-04:00

I was gone all last week. I went to my brother and sister-in-law's house in Georgia to visit with them a while. I had a blast going to the zoo and the aquarium, hitting all the stores we don't have here, and plundering the antique stores of Braselton. I also got to hang out with some good friends from the area. It was a pretty wicked awesome week.

While I was in Georgia I picked up a few things at Toys R Us, and I received a few things from my friends. Just thought I'd share the haul here:

This is the War For Cybertron Cybertronian Optimus Prime figure from Hasbro. It pretty much rules. He's based on the in-game character design from the Transformers: War For Cybertron video game.

It's a deluxe figure, which means it's about 6 inches tall and costs around 12 bucks. This is the first time in a long time I have felt like I got my money's worth in a Transformer this size. He's well articulated and looks pretty darn dynamic in just about any pose.

His weapon stores on his body when not in use, which is a big plus for me... I always dug it when they designed them to do that.

Prime has ball joints all over the place, so he's able to stand really well. The gun he comes with stores on his back...

...or on the back of his forearm. It folds up and is spring-loaded so that it snaps back into shape with the touch of a trigger.

There are several ports on the body that the pegs on the gun fit, so you have all kinds of options for storing/displaying the weapon. The ports are sized to fit classic Transformers weapons, so you can deck him out like crazy!

See what I mean by poseability? He looks so awesome!!!

The design of the figure is deceptive... you think he's going to be easy to transform... and then...

SCIENCE!!!

This is his alternate form... some kind of Cybertronian lowrider.

It's a really powerful looking vehicle with exhaust pipes and extra wheels.

The kneepads fold up to become the tail lights, which is kinda cool. I wonder if they blink when he turns left in robot mode...

It's nice to see the windshields through the armor there. It suggests slightly the big truck Prime would eventually become without being overly earth-vehicle-like in nature.

A very nice figure that's well-worth the price. Grab one while you can... these suckers are hot right now!

A few days later I found a figure I had been looking for since it came out, but I had always missed it in stores.

This is the Mighty Mugg Boba Fett. I'm not really crazy about Mighty Muggs, but I am nuts about Boba Fett. He's a cute little chubby guy, and he makes a great addition to my Boba collection.

I was kinda shocked when I saw him on the shelf. It's the old figure... the package had a fine layer of dust on it, which makes me think it had been in a store room or something. I got him for about half the price of a new one, so YEAH! Oddly enough he didn't come with a gun... that's pretty unusual in my book. I'll have to make him one.

I met up with some friends, and they had a few things for me. We always send stuff to each other because we're pretty much awesome. Yeah. They surprised the crap outta me when they handed me all this awesome stuff...

This is Dark Zagi, a character from Ultraman Nexus. I haven't ever seen any episodes of Nexis, but this dude just looks unbelievably awesome.

He's all armored and shiny black... what a cool looking guy! Evidently he's the master of dark evil or something. I bet Ultraman can whupp him!

This is Skull King. He's one of the Kaiju For Grown Ups from Wonderwall. Japanese artist Touma designed this wicked dude, and this version was released in an extremely limited quantity.

He has a really cool bone-like texture over his body, and he appears to be made of individual bones.

He has a very distinctive look that marks most of Touma's work. He has very sharp, curved lines and a saw tooth grin.

He stands about 8 inches tall and is clear blue rotocast vinyl. I have him stuffed with glow in the dark Glyos parts right now, but I'm going to replace it with glow in the dark Airsoft pellets as soon as I find some. It looks great glowing from the inside out!

This is Armada Optimus Prime. Another friend of mine gave me this this past week because he knows I dig Prime.

It's a really ruggedly awesome looking robot with nice, chunky body parts.

He has electronic features, but the button cell batteries are dead, so I'll have to get some new ones.

He comes with a trailer, but I forgot to get pics of it. Maybe I'll post those at another time. He's so cool looking!

My sister-in-law's son has grown out of his toys, so he let me rummage through his stuff and pull out what I wanted. I snagged this awesome 5 inch Goldar figure...

... and this pretty spiffy American Godzilla. I've never really liked the American Godzilla, but seeing as he appears in Godzilla: Final Wars I couldn't pass him up!

He has a whipping tail, moving jaws, and a roar sound effect. He actually looks really nice sitting with my other Godzillas!

This isn't all the goodies I got on my trip... I just thought I'd show the highlights! Hope you enjoyed it!

Just a reminder...

2010-07-06T21:52:00.001-04:00

Ok, kids... time is ticking away! You have until Sunday to win Brawlor! Click the pic below to find out how you do it!!!

Keep the pimp hand strong, ladies and gents.

Mailbox Mayhem

2010-07-01T22:03:00.007-04:00

So yesterday was a pretty good mail day... I got two packages; one teensy tiny and the other was HUGE! I love packages!

The huge one was huge mainly because it was so well-packed. ***ATTENTION EBAY SELLERS*** : packing your items properly means putting them in a box that is appropriate for the size of the item and a goodly amount of packing material. Shoving it into a tiny box with nothing to cushion it from being beat to hell and back is NOT appropriate. Thank you.

These fantastic critters were nestled in a bed of protective tissue paper and crumpled newspaper. They arrived in beautiful condition and are in much better shape than any other Power Rangers monsters I have ever bought online. I already had the fish guy (Pirantishead), but this one is in so much better condition... he takes his place in my collection.

Look at this guy! His name is Bones, and he's a doctor not a shuttle pilot, Jim. He's the tallest of all of the Power Rangers aliens mainly because of that rad hat up there.

He's supposed to have a sword and he even has a little hook to hang it on... I guess I need to find him a sword now.

Check out that snazzy cape! Real men wear pink.

You gotta love a dude with a grill like that. I'm so glad to have this sucker in my collection.

This is Squatt. He sucks.

He's short, fat, blue, and ugly. I have nothing good to say about him. He was just in the lot I bought. Ugh.

Now this dude is the whole reason I bought this lot. This is Rhino Blaster. He is a bad dude.

Peep that shnoz, people! He's packing nasal heat!

He's a gorgeous figure only made more handsome by the fact that he's in such great shape. There's barely a scratch on him!

He looks so good with the other kaiju, especially with his arms outstretched like this! I was lucky to snag this lot... even luckier considering I got it for less than a buck!

I have almost all of the big vinyl Power Rangers baddies that I want now... I think the only one I have to look for is King Sphinx. The rest of them just don't do anything for me.

In the small box was something i was looking forward to even more. I got this little dude:

It's a Scar Pheyden mini from Real X Head and Onell Design. I had wanted one of these guys since I first heard about them on Matt Doughty's blog.

He stands about 3.5 inches tall, and I want you to know that that's a full 3.5 inches of pure, unadulterated awesome. Mori Katsura, the guy behind RxH, does an outstanding job interpreting Matt's characters in his own style.

Even though this little guy is squatty and cute, he has a ton of details that beg you to explore the figure with your eyes. The paint job by Goto-san is, as always, excellent. The figure is molded in this glittery, shimmering vinyl that sparkles when the light hits it. It's a neat effect that adds to the total package!

There's just something awesome about a spaceman with a scarf... it just works, darn it!

Everything about these little figures is just right. They're chunky and cute, but they have a presence that makes them a pleasure to look at and a lot of fun to goof around with.

That... and they make great monitor buddies!!!

Moving in for the Kell

2010-07-01T14:27:00.003-04:00

Just posted a new auction on eBay. Click the pic to see more!

I need armor... armor for Busting Hulks!!!

2010-06-30T18:54:00.004-04:00

Cheapo Toy Review: Hulkbuster Iron Man

Why is this listed as a Cheapo Toy Review? Well... when you can get a beefy, highly detailed, well-articulated 1:18 scale action figure for about 7 bucks I consider that to be a good deal. I mean, look at the crap Mattel has been putting out in that scale. And the Bandai 1:18 product costs almost as much and has the articulation of a rock. So I definitely would consider Hulkbuster Iron Man to be well worth the 7 bucks he costs.

So... what's this all about? In the comics Iron Man has always had the burden of cleaning up after the Hulk when he went on a rampage. Hulk is an Avenger from way back, but he's not always the most stable guy. When he freaks out cities crumble to the ground. Tony Stark is a bit of a worrier about the image of an organization he's invested so much in, so he often tries to contain the Hulk situation before it gets out of hand. To deal with the immense power of the Hulk, Stark built a massive, heavily armored Iron Man suit that was designed to both protect him from the Hulk's might and give him the strength to neutralize the Hulk before things got weird. More often than not, the Hulk hands Iron Man his armored butt on a platter despite the millions he pours into fancy suit designs. Still, you gotta love a guy who tries and tries again. I think I can.. I think I can...

When Hasbro started with the Iron Man 2 line they pulled the same stunt they did with the Wolverine line-- two lines within one line. One is based on the movie designs, and one is based on the comic book designs. I like the design of the Iron Man movies, but the comic book line lets them go crazy nuts with stuff like this Hulkbuster suit.

So... what do I think about the figure itself? Read on:

Sculpt: The figure has a beautiful sculpt with lots of intricate details. The sculpt is open enough that it allows for good movement of the joints. The hands are wonderfully done with lots of sculpted joints and the repulsors in the palms. He has a bunch of these cams that jut out from the arms and back that really give the figure a unique look. You get the idea that every part of this suit is built to produce mounds of power. The only problem I have with the sculpt is the fact that they used hard plastic on the shoulder pads... those things needed to be soft vinyl and they needed to fit closer to the body. I think that might be one of the modifications I make to this guy.

Paint: The paint is actually really nice. There are only a few slight sloppy areas, but that's pretty normal with toys made in a sweatshop. They even went the extra mile and painted the chest light a brighter yellow than the gold bits on the rest of the figure. It's not anything really amazing, but the little things matter to me.

Articulation: This dude has really good articulation in every area except for one... those darn hips. Hasbro continues to hack me off with those diagonally mounted hip joints. Instead of mounting the ball joints at a ninety degree angle with the center line of the body, which would allow for a fantastic range of leg movement and an ability to pose the legs easier, Hasbro continues to make figures with ball joint posts mounted at a 45 degree angle into the center line. This makes you have to swing the leg to the side, roll the ball joint around, try to find the sweet spot, and then angle the leg forward. With a 90 degree mount you could just swing the leg forward. Hasbro... why do you keep doing this to your toy lines???

The shoulders and elbows are nicely done and have a great range of movement... despite the thickness of the figure, you can pose this guy all kinds of ways. Those forearm guards look like they'd be a colossal pain in the butt, but they're soft vinyl so they bend out of the way when you move the arm. The knees are double pin joints, so you can put a really good bend in them for nice stances. The figure has a ball jointed waist, which is the only joint to really be hindered by the bulk of the figure, but it's not really that bad. He can twist to the side to draw back for a punch, so I'm happy.

Accessories: His only accessory is a stand that isn't really necessary because this sucker has such large feet and well-articulated ankles that he stands perfectly on his own. He comes with some armor cards as well. Bleh.

Scale: The figure stands about 4.5 inches tall. That puts him in line with the Marvel Universe Hulk. Meh. I don't really like that Hulk, so that doesn't really matter to me. I like having my Hulkbuster facing off against a big, BIG Hulk, so I use my favorite small-scale Hulk, the Hasbro movie version from a couple of years ago. He's about 6 inches tall, so he towers over the Hulkbuster figure. The Hulkbuster is well-scaled with other Marvel 1:18 scale figures.

Quality: Now, this is the only area where I have a really big problem. When I opened the package I noticed a distinctive rattle when I moved the figure. He has a loose piece of plastic rattling around inside his lower torso, I believe. This doesn't really hinder any movement or detract for the great sculpt... but it drives me nuts.

Another issue is the looseness of the hips. At the point where the hip joint connects with the crotch, this sucker is looser than a theater major. You can hold it by the upper body and move it side to side and watch the legs flail about like wind chimes. It really sucks, because it makes keeping a pose a real challenge. I haven't seen anyone online mention this defect on their figures, so it's probably just a random factory fluke (it might explain that rattling I keep hearing inside the figure, too).

Overall, I'm VERY impressed with this figure. He's bulky, well-articulated, and looks fantastic with any of your 1:18 scale figures. He's pretty darn hard to find right now, so grab him if you see him. He's well worth the price!

A Freaky Review

2010-06-28T00:50:00.003-04:00

A big thanks goes out to Tom at Freak Studios... he just posted a wonderful review of the Golden Ticket Big Daddy Kawaiiju figure he won a few weeks ago. Click the pic to read his thoughts on the matter:

Thanks, Tom!

The Argentinean Beastman Appears...

2010-06-25T19:42:00.003-04:00

I mentioned a while back a contest to win a Fuerza-T figure on the Freak Studios blog. I wound up winning the contest with my Brawlor figure entry. Well, today I got this awesome package in the mail with my prize inside! WOO HOO! Tom, the guy who runs the blog asked that the winner take some pics of the figure with his collection, so here are some shots I took as soon as I opened the shipping box:

Here's Pantano with all his bootleg brethren.

Here he is with Beastman and Brawlor.

Say "CHEESE!"

Just wanted to give you some shots of the package, front...

... and back.

And here he is on the wall with the rest of my figures of questionable origin. I normally open my toys, but this one is staying in the package... bootlegs are so much more fun in the package-- the art is always just he best! I love bootlegs!

Thanks, Tom! You're the man, man! I will always treasure my funky Beast-Brother.

_________________________________

I was taking pics of the Fuerza T figure and decided to snap some shots of the rest of my collection as it stands now:

Kaiju crazy times! I'm running out of room on top of my drawers.

THEY'RE TAKING OVER!!!

I snagged this DVD case at the flea market for 5 bucks. I think it's a snazzy place to display my Glyos collection.

Top Shelf: Real Head stuff and Real Head x Onell stuff.
5th shelf: Pheydens and the Glyos Guides

4th shelf: Exellis figures and others
3rd shelf: My silver and glow in the dark figures

2nd shelf: Armodocs
Bottom shelf: Buildmen

Assorted superheroes, aliens, movie characters, and G.I. Joes

My art toys and "weird" toys

Superheroes!

All kinda stuff!

Star Wars and Optimus Primes

Transformers

And still... Christopher Walken watches over everything... EVERYTHING.

It's official: I have too much stuff. But I love it all! :D