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SUPER HERO/COMIC CHARACTERS
Adam West Batman 9 inch
The base for this figure was the Target exclusive 9" Batman. The cowl was tooled to look like the 60's style cowl as in the series. The cape was replaced with a longer, fuller version. The cowl was retooled over Hasbro's Bruce Wayne head using Sculpey III.
Clark Kent/Superman 9 inch
The base for this figure was the Target exclusive 9" Superman. Not much was done to the figure itself except the correction of the collar line and the addition of a fuller cape gather. The suit was borrowed form another 9 inch figure and slightly reworked to fit.
Christopher Reeve 12 inch
This figure was a labor of love from the start. I can't take credit for the head as that was produced by another individual. One of the most stunning and beautiful sculpts of Christopher Reeve ever produced in my opinion. The head was dowell mounted and strung onto the original 12.5 inch Mego Superman figure body. Other 12 inch bodies were tried, but none had the right frame size for this version of supes. The outfit was all hand tailored and the S-emblem was hand painted on the front of the top. The boots were modified from the JLA Flash figure.
DC Direct SHAZAM! II Custom figure
This is my second version of Captain Marvel! This one is more a hybrid of the classic 1970's version and the more recent Jerry Ordway version that made him a little more human. The head is a reworked DC Direct Aquaman and the body is a heavily retooled DC Direct new Superman body. The cape is from Dc's last attempt at 'ol SHAZAM! They just never could capture the Big Red Cheese the way he deserved. At least they nailed the Alex Ross version for their Kingdom Come Line due in stores in September!
DC Direct Aquaman Custom figure
The DC Direct Aquaman 2 pack with Aqualad was nice but he was WAY too happy! He had a face much more fitting for, well...see above. But for me, I much preferred the head from the Legion of Superheroes figure Lightning Lad. He had a certain sterness to his face that worked. I retooled it using colored Sculpy Super Flex and painted a pearl glaze over it to match the paint apps on the rest of the figure. I think it turned out swimmingly! UGGGH!!!
DC Direct Superman Custom
Superman was the first DC Direct custom I did and was really a no-brainer. The absense of the Man of Tomorrow from DC's lineup was depressing and had to be dealt with! The head is a re-tooled Scott Hall head from Toy Biz's WCW line and the body was from WCW's "crunch" series Goldberg. Accents were sculpted including boots, belt, and belt loops and he was painted in a more muted style for realism. A cloth cape was added to top him off!
DC Direct Batman and Robin Customs
The Batman was the 2nd DC Direct custom I did. This one uses the DC Direct Green Lantern figure as the base and incorporates a retooled head and cloth cape. It again depicts the Dark Knight Detective in all his late '70s glory!
Robin was a combination of DC's Aqualad and Cosmic Boy. The hair was retooled and the mask was added. The tunic was sculpted as well as the belt and cape collar. A cloth cape was again added for uniformity.
DC Direct Batgirl Custom
WWF's wrestling figures provided the body for Batgirl. She was modeled on WWF's Tori figure. It was such a great sculpt, the face was left intact only having the cowl added and hair modified. The costume details were sanded off the Tori figure to make way for resculpted boots and belt.
DC Direct Joker Custom
The Joker is easily one of the baddest villains ever created and this figure pays homage to a cross between the live-action Cesar Romero Joker and the 1970's style Dick Giordano made famous. It was customized from a DC Direct Saint of Killers figure and the Major from the Army Men line. The head was almost completely re-sculpted and the shoulders and waist were built up to make the overall height in scale with the DC Direct Batman Custom Figure.
DC Direct Penguin Custom
Penguin is actually a Toy Biz WCW Mean Gene Oakerland figure with a retooled head and added top hat. The belly was added and cummerbund was added. The umbrella was borrowed from DC Direct's Death figure. To complete the package, his famous monacle and cigarette holder were added.
DC Direct Supergirl Custom
Super girl is a pretty periferal character in the DC Universe, but once the Tori figure was used for the Batgirl, it showed how, with only a little work, she would make a great figure. The head is almost 100% Tori. The original detailing of the figure was removed and the boots, belt, and skirt were added. And what's a hero without a real cloth cape? VAVOOM!
DC Direct Lex Luthor Custom
Lex Luthor has never been done well in just his plain 'ol tux before and this figure features him that way. The base was a Toy Biz Michael Buffer body with a retooled and reshaped Professor X head. His recognizable red eye brows were added as well as his deadly Kryptonite ring. He is a fitting foe for Big Blue!
DC Direct SHAZAM! Custom
Another side-line character from the DCU was the Big Red Cheese here! Captain Marvel was made out of a Toy Biz WCW figure. The head was retooled and body customized. The cloth cape features gold edging and rope. The Legs are donated from Hasbro's DC Heroes 6 inch Captain Marvel attempt.
DC Direct Lobo Custom
Lobo is one of those loose cannons in the DCU and this interpretation was based on the WCW Sid Vicious action figure. His mouth area was retooled and Lobo's mane was added as well as his Bounty hunting tools. As homage to Sid and WCW he features a NWO shirt. Most people wouldn't get it, but the fraggin' fan boys would and that's enough for me!
Marvel Legends HULK II Custom figure
Toy Biz did try with their Hulk figure, but still missed the mark for fans of the classic greenskin. I used the head and hips/legs from the Toy Biz figure, but retooled the head to have a more animated expression. The hair was also retooled to show more flow and action. The torso section is from the Chaos! Lucifer figure as with the first version I did below.
The Thing Marvel Legends Custom figure (model kit)
OK, this isn't really a custom figure per se', but it does go with the scale of the Marvel Legends. He is sculted 100% from scratch and features an exacting likeness to our rock man of choice! It is a little more classic in scale to the other figures and he doesn't have monkey arms like the Toy Biz version.
Incredible HULK Custom Action Figure
This was a custom using the Lucifer figure from the Chaos! line of figures. After much trimming, re-tooling, and the removal of accessories, Hulk started to shape up. The cloth pants were added for that nostalgic Mego look, but the figure fits perfectly with the Spiderman line on shelves now!
PUNISHER Custom Action Figure
This figure utilized the current Spider-man DAREDEVIL figure for the body and features a re-tooled head and re-painted body/deco. The base was scavenged off the black costumed spidey in the same line. Only minor retooling was needed for the face, but I did decide to bulk up the chin a little to make it look a little different from the Daredevil. Between that, the hair, and the ears, you can't tell they were the same figure. I know they'll probably do one eventually, but any line that features Spidey and the Daredevil NEEDS a vigilante cop in the mix immediately. Next we need a Captain America!!!
Mego 8 inch Punisher Custom
WOW, Two Punishers in a row!!! This figure was originally commissioned by ToyFare for their Twisted Mego Theater. The head is an original sculpt and the cloth costume was custom designed. The chest logo was hand-painted and the accessories were borrowed from the Playing Mantis Action Jackson figure. The body was a Flattword figure body the guys at Toyfare wanted to give the figure ample articulation. He's appeared in several issues of Toyfare to date!
Mego 8 inch Kang Custom
Kang was another 8 inch figure commissioned by Toy Fare. He features an original headsculpt and custom outfit. You can still see him from time to time in the pages of one of the greatest toy mags out there!
Mego 8 inch Namor Custom
Namor was another Toy Fare recruit and features an original headsculpt, cloth outfit and even has his ankle wings! Avengers, Assemble!!!
Toy Biz 10" THING Custom
This version of the THING was simply a repaint of the horrid Toybiz version. I added a brown basecoat and drybrushed orange over that until it began to look rocky. The drybrushing really added alot of depth and helped to bring out the texture.
MOVIE/T.V. CHARACTERS
Die Hard John McClaine 12 Inch Figure
Yippy Ki Yay, mother @#*&%#! Here is Bruce Willis in his heyday as Detective John McClaine from Die Hard. The head was an original sculpt and the body is BBI Toys Andromeda figure. The clothes are hand tailored and all the accessories are mostly 20th Centurey toys weapons. He has the machine gun, pistol, radio, wristwatch and the Cigarette (of course!). Bloodied and battered, he just wouldn't be complete without the wrappings around his foot! "Welcome to the party, Pal!"
Unbreakable David Dunne 12 Inch Custom Figure
I was on a bit of a Willis run with this one! The head was a retooling of the Diehard one I did only all the hair was removed. The poncho is hand done and he includes his trusty security radio and ball cap. His body is a Dragon Import body with bendy fingers.
BRUCE LEE 12 INCH PROTOTYPE ACTION FIGURE
Bruce Lee here was a commisioned piece to be used as a prototype for a mass-market figure several years ago. Due to politics with the toy company giants, this figure was never produced and a lot of bad ones were! This version featured the best head sculpt of Lee and would have featured cotton and silk style outfit. Sadly the collecting world will see very few of these great figures.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN TOM HANKS ACTION FIGURE
Saving Private Ryan rewrote the book on war movies and this figure is based on the Captain Tom Hanks brought to life for the movie. It features a head that was available through toysyndicate.com but it was re-painted for more realism. The outfit and accessories were a combination of 21st Century Toys uniform packs and custom tailored pieces to add authenticity to the tribute. He is detailed down to the Rangers 2nd battalion insignias and battle fatigue.
LARA CROFT TOMBRAIDER CUSTOMIZED FIGURE
Lara Croft was customized from the Playmates toy. Her brow was retooled and made a little more furrowed. The outfit was ripped in a few choice places and hairs were punched in and slicked to appear more battle-mussed. Cuts and scrapes were also added and the separated hairline was re-tooled. After a quick repaint and a little "sweat" was added to our heroine, she's looking like she just walked out of the jungle and in to your hearts!
Universal Monsters THE MUMMY 12 inch custom figure
This custom figure preceeded Sideshow's recent version, but was far superior in execution. The face has that sleepy just-awoke-from-the-dead look as he truly was in the movie and the bandages were aged very similarly to the way Jack Pierce did it in the 30's. In Sideshow's defense, you just can't give individual attention to a figure when you produce 5000 of them.
Fredderic March HYDE 12 inch custom figure
This is a wish list figure for me. I sculpted the head from scratch and patterned it after the later scenes from the 1930's classic interpretation of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. The clothes were mostly made from scatch with some taken from the Buffy 12 inch Gentlemen figures.
DRACULA CUSTOM SIDESHOW FIGURE
Dracula was not going to be produced by Sideshow when I did this piece. This one uses the Phantom body, but was drastically retooled for the Prince of Darkness. The head is a repainted Flattworld head and the cape, candlestick, and coffin (not pictured) were purchase from Flattworld online. The Phantom base was modified with red velvet "carpet" for that old castle look.
MR. HYDE CUSTOM SIDESHOW FIGURE
Mr Hyde again used the Phantom for his body, but that is where the similarities end! The Frederick March head was an all-original sculpt and the clawed-hand cane was also custom made for him. His base is an Aurora-esque stone-cobbled base with obligatory sewer and rat thrown in for good measure. the silk cape and old-fashoined tassletie top off this one of a kind monster!
KARLOFF LIFE SIZE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER
Big Frankenstein here isn't so much a custom figure, but he IS a custom monster. He actually stands a staggering 6 1/2 feet tall and features CineArt's beautiful Karloff monster head atop a customized manaquin. The body is bulked up to the correct proportions in the same techniques used by Jack Pierce back in the day. The suit was custom tailored as Monster Wear is not available off the rack! In person, you'd swear he was the real deal...He even has real glass eyes! The hair was laid on piece by piece just like they did in the 30's and his boots are filled with 50 lbs of concrete...EACH!
He has been used in two Halloween events as a part of a monster museum. If you are interested in purchasing the CineArts bust, contact me for details...We are a dealer for their Karloff Frankenstein and Lon Chaney Sr. Phantom busts.
SIDESHOW customized FRANKENSTEIN FIGURE
The Frankenstein on the right was modified in a couple of ways; First, the head was painted a little better (Sometimes you have to think of mass-market figures as cheap model kits!) The legs were lengthened for hieght and the jacket was redone to be fuller and dyed black. You can see by comparison with the original on the left that the paintjob on any figure will make a big difference!!
SIDESHOW custom-painted COLOR YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN FIGURES
This is another example of making a figure your own! As you know, the Young Frankenstein figures Sideshow put out were in black & white, no offense (See movie trailer on the Young Frankenstein DVD if you don't get it!) I preferred them to be in color to match the other Sideshow Monsters so I went by old rare color stills for the paint guides. As you cas see, the result wasn't too bad! Now they're really "PUHTTN' N DUH RIIIITZ"!!!
MEDIEVAL ASH CUSTOM ACTION FIGURE
Medeval Ash was customized from McFarlane's Movie Maniac in his traditional Deadite fightin' armor. It also employs the metal hand included with the Movie Maniac and will look great with the Evil Ash due out from McFarlane and available here fall of this year.
CUSTOM ASH FIGURE
This ash was of my own design to go with the first wave of McFarlane's Movie Maniacs. It was a little less detailed as I wanted it to fit in with the first wave. He has his famous Boomstick and Necronomicon that can actually be placed in his hand. He was featured several times in ToyFare as a Wish-list figure before McFarlane got smart and produced their own!
Customized HAN SOLO 12" Figure
Let's face it, Hasbro has a bad track record in putting out quality 12" Star Wars figures. The headsculpts aren't usually that bad, but the bulky bodies and poorly detailed paintjobs make them pale in comparison to the 21st Century and Dragon action figures. With this Han, (head courtesy the 12" Stormtrooper Han) only a little re-tooling was needed to get the hair just right. The headsculpt itself wasn't too bad for a 70's era Harrison Ford, but their hair and palor stunk! (I know, not a good writer's description but what the heck!) I chose to put this on a 21st Century body (one of the Misfits--Note the Hands) and dressed him in the Episode IV togs Hasbro put out. The Vest is still not perfect, but it will do until I decide to re-work it.
Custom re-tooled ARNOLD T-2 McFarlane Figure
Well, McFarlane almost got it right, but because of supposed likeness approval problems, the Giant from Austria lost the likeness on the otherwise fantastic McFarlane figure. This was fixed with a little Sculpey III and some resourse material. The result: ARNOLD IS BACK! (side note: by the time he was this messed up in the movie, he was missing most of his left arm, but the sculpt just wouldn't have looked so good with a nub!)
MODEL KITS AND MORE!!!
Jack Nicholson Wolf Model Kit
Jack Nicholson put a new spin on the lycanthrope mithos in his portrayal of the man-wolf. This was a 1/4th scale garage kit I did when the movie came out and featured and incredible likeness as well as a 1:1 scale wolf's head medalion. It has been out of production for several years, but is still a sought after kit.
GODZILLA 2000 Custom Diorama
This diorama employs the Bandai Godzilla figures Godzilla and Orga thrown right in the middle of an N-scale city corner in Tokyo. Miniature cars and a bus were added as well as lights and a sound chip featuring a snippit of audio from Godzilla 2000 (or millenium for you G-purists) complete with his wonderful growl! Go Gojira!!
REAL FOLKS!
This section will feature customs of regular guys (and eventually gals) who requested to be imortalized in plastic! If you'd like a custom figure of yourself or someone you know, email me for info!
This is "Scott" (no relation to yours truly). He was a comissioned piece that was ordered to be a gift for a client's wedding.
I tried to find an exsisting action figure with his proportions and size. The head was close (it was a WCW Eric Bischoff figure), but I wound up re-tooling it to get a closer likeness and proper part in the hair.
With ample photos, I was able to get a pretty good likeness in 6" scale.
He wanted a particular pattern on the shirt, so that was also duplicated in miniature. Originally, I was going to make a small stamp for each design. That didn't work so each one was done by hand.
This figure utilized the current Spider-man DAREDEVIL figure for the body and features a re-tooled head and re-painted body/deco. The base was scavenged off the black costumed spidey in the same line. Only minor retooling was needed for the face, but I did decide to bulk up the chin a little to make it look a little different from the Daredevil. Between that, the hair, and the ears, you can't tell they were the same figure. I know they'll probably do one eventually, but any line that features Spidey and the Daredevil NEEDS a vigilante cop in the mix immediately. Next we need a Captain America!!!
I chose to put this on a 21st Century body (one of the Misfits--Note the Hands) and dressed him in the Episode IV togs Hasbro put out. The Vest is still not perfect, but it will do until I decide to re-work it.
With ample photos, I was able to get a pretty good likeness in 6" scale.
He wanted a particular pattern on the shirt, so that was also duplicated in miniature. Originally, I was going to make a small stamp for each design. That didn't work so each one was done by hand.
