Tuesday, June 23, 2009

GI Joe SWAT Team

Who do the Joes call when they need help? They call their SWAT division!

Here's my little group of Bullhorn, Shockwave, and Surefire (with added goatee):



Here come the reinforcements!



Here's the group shot of my custom figures. That's my counterfeit convention Long Arm, Shockblast, fan-fic Ram, and Low-Light.



There's no way that I can afford these particular club exclusives. To create Ram, I used the Low-Light torso and Shockwave legs that I had left over making Shockblast and the head from Salvo.

Here's the whole gang all together. That's the V1 Surefire figure there in the middle, I renamed him Breach. He drives the SWAT Hammer.



I picked up the SWAT accessories pack from the Gunrunners at Marauders, Inc. Great stuff!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

A Few GI Joe Customs

Here are a few GI Joe custom figures I've put together over the past couple of years:



First up is Agent Deming. This is truly a LBC or lazy-bastard-custom, HISS Driver legs and waist, Baroness arms and torso, with a Bombstrike head. I was going to match the red portions of the legs and waist to the blue of the torso but then I either decided I liked it this way or I got lazy. Probably I just got lazy. Perhaps I'll revisit this one later on.

Cadet Deming was the ill-fated Cobra trainee from the Sunbow cartoon series. I figured she got herself some head-shrinkage and got back to work.



Next up is a figure that I'm not entirely sure I'm keeping. I call him Cast Iron and have him as the Commander of the Viper units. He's made with the body of a Cobra Officer V2, the head from a Skull Squad Trooper, and a hollowed-out cast of a Viper head. In retrospect I should go back and hollow-out the helmet more and match the color better.

Cast Iron is a Viper that rose through the ranks and served with distinction (mostly he didn't get his ass killed). Cobra Commander rewarded him with a new post as Commander of the Viper units.



Here's a quick little Cesspool tweak - a head-swap to give this character a bit more dignity. Cesspool head on a Cobra Commander body.



This is my counterfeit or "tribute" figure of the Cobra d Aco figure. That's a Snake Eyes head on a Flash body. I really need to get a Cobra Sigil sticker.



Finally comes my Skystriker figure with new helmet. I always thought it was weird that while the original Skystriker figure has Wild Weasel's body that he's got a combat helmet instead of a flight helmet! I fixed that and added some cute whiskers to boot. Well, cute or French - you decide!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

SDCC Hal Jordan DCD Lantern Exclusive figures

I don't usually feel bad when I can't make it to conventions - if I did I'd feel bad year-round! However, this year I'm bummed that I won't make it to the San Diego Comic-Con. This is partially because I'll actually be in San Diego right around that time, but I'll miss it by a few days. Mostly though it's a pair of exclusive deals that I'm going to miss out on - the Hal Jordan figures as different Lanterns and the 30-inch Anti-Monitor figure from Mattel.

Here's a look at the Hal Jordan DC Direct figures:



That's the normal Hal Jordan as Green Lantern figure in front, then from left to right - Red Lantern, Agent Orange, Blue Lantern, and finally Sinestro Corps. Each day at the Graphitti booth a different figure will be available (limit two per person). Each figure comes with a wearable replica ring. I have no idea what the price point is on each of these, but I'm betting the eBay price will be around $60 to $80. I'm planning to make custom versions of some of these figures - definitely the Red Lantern, I'm not entirely sure on when/how exactly I'll do the others. Of course if anyone can hook me up with these figures, let me know. :)

The second deal is the Anti-Monitor figure:



Now, this appears to be a picture of the smaller version that will be available as a mail-order later on, but you get the idea. A 30-inch Anti-Monitor would tower over my six inch DC related figures in a really pleasing manner. So much so that I will likely pick up one of those Batman or Superman giant figures and customize one of my own.

The 30-inch figures will be raffled off at least one per day during the convention. I'd pay $100 at retail for one of these but there's no chance of seeing that happen.

On a side note I'm elated that Mattel will make a Wonder Twins 2-pack of figures available to the general public after SDCC but they will not include the Gleek figure that is an SDCC exclusive.




UPDATE on the Green Lantern figures: I have to admit that I've been tempted at some of the pre-order auctions on eBay, but even the cheapest one is going for about 50 to 60 bucks PER figure! I decided that instead of spending that kind of money that I'll just customize a few of my own. The cost of 4 DCUC Green Lantern figures = $56. The Sinestro Corps variant Sinestro is going for about $35 so a headswap with that figure for the Sinestro Corps Hal Jordan wouldn't be out of the question. Better articulation this route for less than a third of the overall cost.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Group-shots and Backgrounds (Part 3)

I haven't done any backgrounds for a while, but I had a few minutes and figured that I'd do some "real-world" backgrounds. Here is my New York City Skyline at night:



I didn't add anything to this shelf as it really doesn't need it. Also I didn't want to tie this in to any one particular group of characters since New York City is basically a character in itself. This shelf is really a work-in-progress. I originally intended it to be a straight-up Spider-Man Shelf, but then I decided to go down the Dark Avengers/New Avengers route.



I've got Captain Marvel (standing in for Marvel Boy), then Hawkeye/Bullseye, Sinister Spider-Man/Venom (Gargan), Iron Patriot, Ms. Marvel standing in for the current Ms. Marvel, Sentry, and Ares. I'd really like to make a classic Ms. Marvel but that'll have to wait for another day. I'm on the look-out for a brown-suited Wolverine but I figure I'll have to chop off his hands, boots, and head to put on a different figure to stand in for "Dark Wolverine."

On the right I've got Luke Cage, Wolverine, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Captain America, and Ronin. Obviously I need to flesh out my Avengers, but it's good enough for now.

Next up is my X-Mansion. This actually is the same building used in the X-Men movies for the exterior shots. Oddly enough it's also Lex Luthor's house from the Smallville series.



I added the little X-Jet on this one for a bit of whimsy I suppose. I populated this shelf with a few of my current favorite X-characters.



Sabretooth (classic), Blob, Yuriko, Magneto, Mr. Sinister, Mystique, Juggernaut, Pyro, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Wolverine, Angel, Professor X, Beast, Ice Man, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, and finally Jean Gray.

My last new group for the day is my Hulk collection. I didn't make a background for these guys as really this is just temporary. I'm planning on selling off about half of these figures sooner or later. They're just taking up some space right now.



Hercules, She-Hulk, Abomination, shorty She-Hulk, Spider-Hulk, The End Hulk, Wendigo, Wolverine (1st App), Bi-Beast, Hulk, Leader, Grey Hulk, Red Hulk, King Hulk, Iron Clad (mostly hidden), Other Hulk, and Absorbing Man.

Here are some updated (and much larger) pictures of my earlier group-shots:

Batman:


Superman:


Green Lantern:


Hall of Justice (Justice League of America):


The Bad Guys: