Colorful Monsters

A few years ago I posted a blog about a couple of monster coloring books I bought online. These books were written and drawn by a superb artist by the name of Terence E. Hanley. His first two coloring books were Monsters and Aliens of America and Mothman, Aliens, & Flying Saucers. Both books are fantastic and fun pieces that harken back to a time almost lost these days... I fondly recall sitting down in the floor coloring in coloring books for hours as a kid. I don't really plan to color these books up because the art is so good as it is. The linework is wonderful and the included biographical information about each monster is a great bonus!

Well, today I received a copy of Mr. Hanley's latest coloring book in the mail. I present to you Monsters from the Mountains, a fantastic look at cryptids and aliens from the mountains of the Eastern United States.

Each page is lovingly crafted by an artist who truly has a love for the subject matter; it shows in each brush stroke!

Along with the images there is a section inside the front cover that gives brief histories for each montser in the book. In addition to that, there's a set of portraits on the back cover of famous Cryptozoologists and UFOlogists with biographies inside the back cover! It's a great starting point for doing some fun research about the unknown!

Mr. Hanley was nice enough to autograph the book and included this awesome Mothman sticker! Whatta nice guy!

I really don't think any searcher of the unknown can claim to have a full collection without these fantastic coloring books in his or her collection! They are a great introduction to folk stories and legends for kids who love monsters-- and really-- what kids don't love monsters?

Mr. Hanley hasn't set up a webstore just yet, but you can order the books from him directly.

His Blogspot site features all of his available products, and I've included his email address so you can contact him to order books if you so wish. Don't pass up an opportunity to own these super books and support an artist at the same time!

Mr. Hanley's Blog

Mr. Hanley's E-Mail

I did it all for the ooze...

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:

Attack of Pheyjira!!!

Hey guys, check it out! Pheyjira attacks!!!



Check out the Glyos blog for more info!!!

At work...

Trolling Around

I've had this piece since Christmas, but I haven't had a chance to snap some pics of it until today. In addition to a really freaky ceramic statue my friend Billy Parker gave me, he gave me a piece he made by hand.






In case you haven't seen the movie Cat's Eye, here's a little idea of what this critter is all about:

In this scene, a Troll (voiced by "Mr. Megatron" himself Frank Welker) attempts to steal the breath of a little girl (Drew Barrymore). A heroic cat named General must come to the rescue!



It's a freaky scene from a freaky movie. My nephews, Billy, and I all dug this movie when we were younger (we still do!), and the troll was always something that freaked us right out. We always wanted to see the troll made into a figure. I think there were some garage kits made, but they're usually pretty hard to find and expensive. Billy made me this troll statue, and I don't think I could be more impressed if the troll from the movie hopped out of my closet.

If I know Billy, he sat at his desk cramped over this thing for countless hours watching the DVD over and over trying to capture every detail-- the guy's a madman with his sculpting skills... it knocks me over thinking that he's only been sculpting for a couple of years now. The figural element of the statue stands about 4 inches tall, and the base stands about 6 or so inches tall. The bells really jingle and he has cobwebs all over him just like the character in the movie (when he makes his first appearance he steps out of a crack in the wall-- hence the piece of wall on the base of the statue). I'm so proud to have this little monster-- I've always been impressed with Billy's raw talent and am always glad to share it with others.

If anyone finds Billy's work as impressive as I do, keep an eye out on my Etsy account, as I'll be listing some statues Billy made over there in the next few weeks.

Moving Picture Fun Time Show!!!

My good friend Eatmoretoys (I love all these secret code names we all go by online-- it's like some kind of ninja spy club!!!) posted a review of one of my customs on Youtube! I gave him a custom painted Bellhedz toy for Christmas, and he really enjoyed it. He's making a series of 1 minute long toy reviews that are reallllly cool... check 'em all out!



The idea of quick, to-the-point toy reviews is something I like a LOT! Some toy reviews go waaaaaay too long!

Thanks, Eatmoretoys!

Natural born killer

Just posted a new figure on the auction block. Clickie the piccie to see more stuff:

Behind enemy lines...

Just posted an auction for a new Clone Infiltrator Trooper figure I made today. Click the pic for more pics and information:

Hazardous Materials

Just posted a new auction on ebay:



Click the image to see more pictures and some information about the character.

Rollin, rollin, rollin!

So recently Tenacious Toys and artist NEMO put out a call for artists to submit pieces for a show at the graffiti supply boutique All The Right. The show was called The Rollie Show, and the idea was to make unique toys out of cheapo roll-on deodorant bottles! Such a cool, economical idea for a show!!!

So I made this little guy here which I named the Hell Roller:



He's mounted on a light-up base so you can make his flames glow!



Tenacious Toys posted a Flickr album today with some pics from the show!



Here is the full display with over 40 customized rollies! Look at all that talent gathered there!



Here's my piece next to an awesome Ganesha and a little guy putting on ROLL-ON DEODORANT!!!



Be sure to check out the Flickr Album here for more great pics!!!

Thanks Tenacious Toys, NEMO, and All The Right for allowing us all to have this opportunity!!!

Godzilla gets his nails did.

Regular readers will recall that I recently purchased a bootleg Bandai Godzilla figure.



I was torn about the figure: the vinyl color and the paintjob were goofy and very "bootleggish," but the sculpt was exceptional. If it had a goofy looking sculpt, I would have kept it as is for the LOL factor. As it was, I couldn't stand to see such an awesome sculpt go withought a better paintjob. So... well... here ya go:






I tried my best to bring out the sculpt with some drybrushing and washes. I hope I did the Big G justice.[/quote]