NITE OWL!!!!!

NITE OWL flies high... on eBay!!!



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Modulok!!!!!! Again...

Second time's a charm. After a listing error this auction was removed last time, so let's try it again, shall we?


Custom Vintage Filmation-style MODULOK Action Figure!

And da winna is...

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)

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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!

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!

I'm sorry...

... but it just doesn't get any better than this:



Bask in the glory of this... thing...

Ruthless

I finally finished a figure I've had on the workbench a loooong time. I think I started him a few months ago, but left him unfinished when a big pile of work came in. He's another Wrarrl figure from the Legendary Comic Book Heroes Conan two-pack. He's a bit over 7 inches tall, and is fully poseable. I added a feature where you can swap out his right hand, so he has weapons like in the old She-Ra cartoon. I also made a demented version of Imp to go along with him. He's up for sale on Ebay if you want to see some additional pictures:

On summoning the Dark Lord of Destruction...

So I, like everyone else, am really digging the new Masters of the Universe Classics series of figures. I don't actually... um... own… any of them... but I do think they are the bee's knees. I just can't bring myself to spend $20 (plus $8 shipping) a piece for 6 inch action figures, no matter how cool they are. But they are cool no matter what-- I'm just a cheap old coot.



I like Skeletor just fine as he is... but I kinda wanted a bit more in my Evil Lord of Destruction.

Enter the Dark Wizard Wrarrl. He's a figure that came in a two-pack of Legendary Comic Book Heroes action figures by Marvel Toys along with Conan.

I honestly don't even remember the guy from the Conan comics... I just know he stands a full inch taller than the Conan figure, and that speaks volumes to me.



I always imagined Skeletor being a LOT darker than the old cartoon portrayed him. The little mini-comics that came with the first few Masters of the Universe figures painted a pretty bleak picture of life on Eternia. Skeletor was a real threat, and I wanted to capture that threat in plastic as best as my big, goofy mitts would allow. Wrarrl did most of the work, so I can’t really take much credit.

I sculpted a head with Sculpey, drilled a channel in it, and placed a plastic plug inside to give it stability and to allow for it to fit on the peg in the figure’s neck. I used the armor, the Havoc Staff, and the feet from the 2000 series Skeletor and added them to the base figure after painting it up. I attached the sword and scabbard from Wrarrl as well. I added a fabric hood and layered capes and KABLOOEY!!! My new, improved Skeletor was born:








Wrarrl is such a well-sculpted, excellently articulated figure that has such a dynamic, expressive presence that he was a natural for Skeletor. I hopefully have created a Skeletor that can look down on He-Man and make him tremble inside when he speaks.

I have set my sights on my next custom Masters of the Universe figure… Once again, Wrarrl has sacrificed himself to make another dark creature from the He-Man’s universe come to life. I wonder who he could be… hmmmmm...

Full Circle: Plundor and Batros II

Well... It has been a long time since I posted last. I think that's going to change.

Last time I posted, Plundor and Batros were just head sculpts sitting on a shelf gathering dust. All that changed about a month or so back, when a kind gentleman contacted me inquiring as to whether or not I would be willing to finish the custom figures for him.

Fast forward to now, and ZIPPITYPOW! Here are Plundor and Batros fully realized:










I personally believe that these two are some of the best customs I have ever done. They turned out a lot better than I would have imagined, so I blame that on the awesomeness of the good, old Masters of the Universe base figures I used. I just broke em apart, added some parts, slapped paint on em, and glued em back together. Mattel did the rest.