Toys as Art

Micro Bears

2011-08-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

These figures were based on the classic Microman toy line by Takara. To see a write up on the replica reissue figures that these are based on please go here. A special thanks to Paul L. for the Microforever site.

These are colored like the original M101 George, M102 Jack, M 103 Jesse & M104 John in the barefoot Microman line.

You may notice that these resemble the Time Travelers in the Micronauts line that was produced by Mego in the late 70's. The reason for this is that the Microman line basically gave birth to both the Micronauts line and Transformers.

The background also resembles the the building sets of the Micronauts, but I based the background on the Microman Police Keeper Build Base. You can see the design here.

As a child, Microman and Micronauts really helped nurture my creativity. The interchangeable aspects of this toy line really inspired me and kept my imagination working overtime.

Destiny of the Endless

2011-07-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Destiny is the oldest and the tallest of the Endless.

It might seem like an easy task to make a figure in a brown cloak with a book chained to his wrist. I did want to make him the tallest of the endless figures. He stands in at around 14 inches tall.

I had the cloak made a few years ago, but I have been taking my time finding the right pieces to complete this figure.

Because Destiny is blind I found an unpainted resin head and I painted the flesh tones, but kept the eyes white with no cornea or pupils.

The book is hand made with a print out of leather pattern and bare metal foil matte aluminum.

Please note that the chain is an actual chain that I picked up when I worked in the craft business.

When I finish all of the endless, I will post group pictures here.

Netifer Lord of the Underweb

2010-08-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

I have contributed a custom Munny to the Milk Munny Show. All the proceeds go to keep-a-breast.org. Check it the details here.

Here is more information on the charity keep-a-breast.

Here is the name card. On the back, I printed out some instructions on how to change his battery.

My contribution is a little 7 inch Munny that I call, Netifer. He is the Lord of the Underweb. More on his origins below.

Netifer has an crystal heart and eyes that can light up with the flick of a switch.

He is the nemesis of the technology god.

I was inspired by reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I read about a god of technology, and I thought that there should also be a techno devil.

Netifer is the demon who inspires the creation of computer viruses and technical glitches.

At best, he is annoying and can cause applications to crash and users to lose work due to computer failures and errors.

At his worst, Netifer likes to devour data and sometimes destroys hard drives completely.

He inspires hackers to write viruses and malware. He can be found lurking in jpgs, video files, phishing schemes and certain email attachments and links.

Netifer has an insidious way of surviving. Once a virus is patched, he becomes a hacker's inspiration to become another virus or worm. He can also hide out in spyware or corrupted preferences.

Although Netifer is a horrible little demon or devil, he is being sacrificed to a good cause.

Thanks to Red Hot Robot and Trevor of Acrylic Squid for putting on this show. If you will be in Arizona in October of 2010. You should try to catch the show and buy a Munny for a good cause.

Destruction of the Endless

2010-06-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

Here he is the prodigal sibling. The one who left his post and his responsibilities.

Destruction of the Endless. Do not seek him because you just might find him.

This figure is a kit-bashed interpretation of Neil Gaiman's character from the end of the Sandman series.

This figure stands 13 inches tall and towers over most other 1/6 scale figures. I plan on customizing the rest of the endless. When I have completed these I will post a few family portraits.

Delirium of the Endless Kitbash

2009-10-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

Delirium of the Endless. She used to be Delight but something happened to her that made her into Delirium. She is the youngest of the Endless.

My interpretation of the anthropomorphic personification of Delirium has the odd blue and green eyes and multicolored hair that Delirium exhibits in some of the later comics. I also chose to make her less of a hippy and bit more of a riot girl.

This figure is actually about 9 inches tall which makes her look considerably younger than the other Endless. I will post a group picture when I have enough of the Endless customized or kitbashed to do so.

Here is a view of the back of her head to show that there are actually many colors in her hair. My version also has a couple of random braids made from different colored strands of hair.

Here is a close up. I may add an eyebrow and ear piercing later on. Of the Endless, Delirium's appearance seems to change the most.

Death of the Endless Kitbash

2009-10-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

I have a great appreciation for well written comics. One of my favorite is Neil Gaiman's Sandman. I decided to come up with my own custom Death figure in 1/6 scale.

The body is a Volks doll painted white. I also used various clothing from other figures that I had for the boots, pants and shirt. I found the Ankh at a bead store.

Here is her profile. Although Death's appearance changes slightly from chapter to chapter of the Sandman. It also changes depending on what time period she appears in. I tried to be as true to the comic as I could.

Here I have posed to the figure as if she were saying, "Take my hand."

My plans are to kit bash or customize a figure of Delirium. I think it would be great to someday have figures of all of the Endless in this scale.

Shiny New Toy

2009-09-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

Here is another Microman custom. I decided to do this one because the Command 2 or Pharoid figure was one of my favorite figures when I was a child.

I was surprised to find out that there was a fantastic Command 1 figure released by Romando for the 20th anniversary called M150 Edge. He is the figure and the capsule on the left side of the picture. You can see my friend Paul's write up on him on his site microforever.com

I really wanted a shiny Command 2 figure so I decided to make one by simply changing parts around from different Command 2 figures. I will provide a list of the figures that I used below.

Here is the back side of the figures together. Here are a list of the parts that I used (and links to pictures of them on Paul's site) to create my shiny Command 2:

M164 Sammy and Gold Capsule
M164sp Puzzle Figure
M:I:S 04 Microman Command 2

I hope that this inspires people to mess around with their figures to make something that they really want.

More customs from others

2009-07-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here's another custom that was purchased from ebay ages ago. I like the creativity even though the creator simply dismantled and reassembled the figures and mixed up the color schemes.

The back view shows the sticker that was chosen to go on the upper back of the torso.

Here's a final view of this custom.

I believe that this one was done by the same artist. It is done to match the color scheme of the Microman Robotman.

Here is the back view. I like the addition of the sticker because it mimics the color of the treads on the back of Robotman.

Here is the size comparison. I choose not to display the figure in the cockpit of Robotman because it is the same color scheme and just gets somewhat lost.

Here is the back view so that you can see what I mean by the treads.

Customs from others

2009-07-02T14:00:00.001-07:00

I actually purchased this custom from another collector through ebay. I did this quite some time ago, but I haven't had a chance to share this figure with the public. It is a great custom and I would never dare to paint a Titan myself, but I am glad to have it just the same.

I actually have a lot of gothic industrial Micros that are in black and jewel tones and some metallic color schemes. For all those out there that may not be aware, goths don't just wear black. They often mix in a bit of some other color as well. The metallic tones go well with the industrial look. I'll post more or these later.

New Acroyear with Cast Parts

2009-04-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

I have had this New Acroyear for a few years now. It was missing a claw, beak, and a missile.

Here is a back view showing the existing missle that has some chrome loss next to the missile cast in white resin.

Each different color of New Acroyear had a different beak and a different chest. Although the beak was cast from one found in a complete green New Acroyear, it is still good to have a beak that works at all.

To see more about the New Acroyear series, please see my friend Paul's site microforever. You can also go directly to the New Acroyear page.

Lobros Restored

2009-04-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

Pictured on the left is a complete vintage Lobros. The one on the right is modeling some casts pieces.

The antennae, left cuff, and shield are all newly cast pieces that have been cleaned up and painted. They are not perfect, but to me they are good enough to display. It also makes me feel like I have two complete figures.

Fun with Molding and Casting

2009-04-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of some parts that I have cast. I attempted the Anubis mask that fits vintage Pharoid figures and Microman Command 2 figures, Lobros antennae, Lobros shield and Lobros cuffs.

I also tried to cast the Kronos gun, the beak from a green New Acroyear, the claw hands and missiles from a New Acroyear, and the head from a Super Microman Dash Wing.

As you may be able to see with the shield and some of the guns, the casts were often plagued by bubbles. All of the Anubis masks were plagued by small bubbles. In fact most were plagues by small bubbles which may render them useless. Fortunately the Microman head and a couple of the missiles are minimally affected.

Henshin Cyborg Microman Custom

2009-03-29T01:48:00.000-07:00

Here si a custom that I created using a Microman military force figure and a Henshin Cyborg gashapon figure. I wanted to do this one because Microman started off as a version of Henshin Cyborg that was resized to 10 cm tall.

Here it is from another view. I actually painted the inside of the Microman figure to get the chest effect.

Here is the figure with the outer head taken off. To see more about Henshin Cyborg, please see the link below:

Microforever Henshin Cyborg

Lady Command Microman

2009-03-29T01:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple custom that I made from using a Microman material force figure and combining it with a repro Lady Command figure.

I wish that Takara had decided to reproduce the old figures from the 70's and 80's and then added on designs that were compatible with the older figures.

The reason I did this one is because it would also have been great if they had released the older figure designs and updated them with the material force bodies.

Microman Raptor Rider

2009-03-20T15:49:00.001-07:00

I found these toys on clearance at Toys R Us over a year ago. This one was probably about $5 and it seemd to be the same scale as the Microman figures I collect. Since I have always liked the Microchange series (many of which became the first Transformers) I decided to customize one similar to the Microriders of old.

Here it is transformed into bike mode. I think it looks good in both modes. While I like Transformers, it is important to me that they look good in both modes. If not, I just won't purchase it.

Here is the view from the front. I used some paint and some foil decals to change up the Raptor. I used an existing Microman head, foild decals and some Microman material force figures to create the Rider.

To see more about the original Microrider or Microman in general, please see my friend Paul's site:

Microforever.com

Here is the direct link to the Microridor page:

Micro Ridor at Microforever

Thoughts on Customs and Blind Box Toys

2009-02-24T23:53:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to work on some ideas for my own toy line. I always have to be working on several projects at once when I work on my own stuff. I sometimes need to stop what I'm working on and step away so that I can go back with a fresh view. I can only do this by taking my focus away for a little while. It's like painting or drawing. Sometimes as an artist, one needs to stop and step back to view the artwork from a different vantage point. That way he or she can see some areas that need work that may not be noticed when he or she is working on that art piece.

Right now, it has been hard to get motivated and work on my own sculpts. It is much easier to practice technique my building customs of characters that I already know. It is much harder to come up with my own characters and designs. I'd like to do this so that I can develop my own line of blind box toys.

It would be a dream for me to work with toys. I also wouldn't mind building models and dioramas of buildings and architecture. I feel that I have the technical skills for this. I have been sculpting and painting for many years. I just need to get my thoughts in order to come up with some original designs.

Lady Cilicia of Spartak

2009-02-20T15:20:00.001-08:00

This custom is also going to my friend who will be getting the Shaitan. Cilicia is made from Microman material force, a gashapon figure, styrene, beads, parts from military force and plastic piping.

The boot tops are made from the plastic piping. The rivets on her chest and the side of the boots are made from metallic beads that were cut in half and sanded down. I also used Mod'lers Mastic for the shoulder detail.

I looked through several of the comics and viewed several interpetations of Lady Cilicia when I made this. In some pictures there are two rivets on the outside of the boots like I did here, and in some pictures there was one on the inside and one on the outside.

Here's a slightly overhead view. You can see that the ponytail is long and flowing and not curly like in the comics. She also has silver bands on her thighs. I saw this in one of the pictures and tried it. I like the way that it looks so I left it like that. I hope my friend likes it.

Prince Shaitan of Spartak

2009-02-20T15:11:00.001-08:00

Here is a nice little custom that I made for a friend of mine. Prince Shaitan brother to Acroyear is made from paint, styrene, beads, Microman material force and a Palisades Micronauts Acroyear sword that modified with styrene.

Here's another pose. It took me a while to do the boots and I ended up doing the feet over again because I wasn't happy with the results. One of the hardest parts were the abs. In the comic Shaitan has similar armor to the Acroyear 2. Since it is sectioned there on the material force it posed a slight problem.

This is not the best pose, but it does show you the detail of the abs, boots and the circles that Shaitan has on the legs and arms. I used brushed aluminum Bare Metal Foil and a hole punch to create these. I had to paint over a coat of clear coat so that they would not fall off.

My Views on Art Toys and Customizing

2009-02-04T11:30:00.000-08:00

I was always the type of child that enjoyed making stuff. If I got a toy or gadget and it had visible screws in it, I would take it apart and put it back together. I liked building models and trying to make them better. I was always curious, inquisitive and most of all creative.

I found some of my mother's drawings when I was a small child and it inspired me to draw. I never really stopped drawing which then lead to painting and sculpting. This is combination with tendency to take things apart lead me to customizing toys and making my own toys.

I tend to combine toys with art and art with toys. I always welcome screws in toys and even if they don't have screws, I sometimes have to dismantle them. I like unique things and I love creating things. While I appreciate designer vinyl and art toys, I know I'll always have to mess with them and create my own. I guess it just speaks to my individuality and creativity. I like mass produced toys, but they just don't compare to the customs that I create that I deem successful.

On Customs and Size Comparison

2009-02-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

Bug and Pharoid together to show the size comparison between my Micronaut Microman custom figures and Micronauts released by Palisades Toys. Microman Material Force are slightly bigger but they fit in pretty nicely as far as scale goes.

I recently was told by someone in reponse to a question that I asked in an online group, that they weren't much into customs and that I should make these for myself. I actually do make these for myself, but given the opportunity to make these for others I would. That is if I could make them for what they are worth. They are one of a kind, hand-made customs. Even if I made another of the same character, it would be slightly different.

I understand that some people are into mass produced toys and want their toys to look like one of thousands or millions. I even understand that some people aren't into customs, but to me, being an artist, I need to use this hobby as an outlet for creativity and I happen to like unique things. Whenever I see screws on a toy, I am tempted to take it apart. If I see a blank Dunny, I have to paint it. It leaves me wondering why that person even responed to my post.

Anime Girl

2009-01-29T10:28:00.001-08:00

I made this figure from some spare parts that I have. It isn't really modeled after any particular character. I guess it's just an anime girl.

I did paint the miniskirt red. The rest are just parts from the Microman material force and a gashapon figure's head.

Sculpy Sculpts

2009-01-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some sculpts that I have done in Sculpy. I haven't baked them yet and I don't know if I'm going to at this point.

I do these in between doing customs and designs in the computer. At times I have to step away from what I am working on and work on something else. This helps me step back and look at my work anew.

Notice the Dunny and the Dunny parts. I plan on painting and customizing that later.

Micronauts - Works in Progress

2009-01-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

I am currently working on some customs for a friend of mine. Please see the pictures below.

These figures are not finished yet, but I decided to post them here to get feedback. As you can see, they are of Prince Shaitan and Cilicia from the Micronauts comics. Specifically from the planet Spartak.

They are definitely works in progress at this point. I hope you like them so far. I'll post the finished pictures when I am done with them.

Current Works

2009-01-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

Up until now, most of the customs I have been showing you have been done quite some time ago. Now I am working on finishing up some long past projects that need to be done.

Back in November 2008, I lost my job working as an Art Director. It was very sad because the decision was made solely due to financial reasons. With many large companies doing massive lay offs right now, many of my friends are fearful for the stability of their jobs.

I have been working like crazy to get my portfolio together and to find a new opportunity. I spent most of my days looking for job postings and applying to them. Unfortunately, my area of expertise is in packaging, product, and trade show materials, and the retail industry is being hit hard.

I do get a chance to work on artistic endeavors when I take some brief breaks. I am currently working on a couple of figures that I owe a friend. I will post them when they are done. I am also working on developing a line of toys that I can sell to the public. Stay tuned!

Micronauts Group Shot

2009-01-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here is a group shot of my Micronauts Microman custom figures. I really wanted to do the whole team, but I still have to start working on a Microtron custom.

These shots show the size difference between the Material Force figures and the custom Biotron.

Biotron Custom

2009-01-21T14:21:00.001-08:00

This figure is a work in progress. Biotron from the Micronauts comics is made from a Ryukendo figure from Bandai and a vinyl figure. I'm still working on the arms, legs and hands.

I made this figure to be in scale with the Micronauts customs that I created earlier.

Dark Phoenix Custom

2009-01-19T16:40:00.000-08:00

Here is my custom of the Dark Phoenix from the X-men comics. It is another combination of a gashapon figure and a Microman material force body.

I also used the background from the Microman release of the Street Fighter figure Chun-li with the clear stands to make this appear to figure float above the flames.

Biker Devil Toyer

2009-01-19T16:35:00.000-08:00

Here's a Qee blank figure that I customized using just some colored sharpies. I thought it would be nice to experiment using these markers.

As I was working on this, I came to realize that it is difficult to color figures that you can't take apart. It is a challenge to get the marker to go where you want it to without accidentally coloring some other part of the figure.

Don't fear the Mini Reaper

2009-01-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

I really appreciate the irony of having something so terrifying be so small and cute. That's why I created this Mini Reaper. That and the fact that I'm not willing to spend the money to buy a Kid Reaper from Kid Robot.

This figure is very small because it was originally a Dunny. I resculpted and hand-painted it, and I also sewed a cloak from some scrap black velvet. Every goth should have some scrap black velvet lying around.

Shown here without his velvet cloak. I plan on creating a scythe for him very soon. My wife likes the Day of the Dead feel that this figure has.

The Real Mister Boo

2009-01-14T15:25:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of Sasha. We often called him Socks. He was such a wonderful companion, and his personality seemed bigger than his little body could contain. He was mischievous and incredibly intelligent. He often liked to make me to chase him down our hallway. We knew him so well that I could tell if something was bothering him by the look on his face.

Unfortunately, Sasha passed away a few years back. We spent a small fortune on surgeries in his last days, but despite everything we did to save him, but eventually he died in my wife's arms.

This custom is a dedication to Socks. I named him Mister Boo from an illustrated web story that my wife and I started called Gods, Heroes and Monsters. The character named Mister Boo was modeled after Socks and would appear suddenly and often lead the heroes out of danger or to someone or something that they would need.

Unfortunately, we've become too busy to ever get the story going and we never truly got over Sasha's passing, but the legend of the ghost rabbit named Mister Boo lives on.

Notice the angel wings on the back. This custom was made from a blank Qee angel bunny figure. The black spots on the white and the blacked tipped wings are because Sasha was dwarf Hotot rabbit.

Mythology, Art and Micros

2009-01-14T00:58:00.001-08:00

When I was young, I always used to check out mythology books from the library. I was fascinated by the stories. When I discovered Micronauts, I used to name my Pharoids after the Egyptian Gods.

I created this custom a few years back. It represents the Egyptian God Set. This god killed his brother Osiris and scattered his body parts over Egypt. He is represented with the head of an ass. I thought that the modified centaurus head would do for this figure.

I created this mask of Anubis a few years back. It is shown here on a Microman figure that I customized by switching parts to get the colors I wanted. The mask is made from Sculpy and has been cured in an oven to set the shape. Then it was painted with red and gold paint. It fits over the action figure's head and rests on the shoulders.

My Vision for Microman

2009-01-14T00:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my drawings from years ago. They were all done in Adobe Illustrator several versions back. They were examples of how I thought the Microman line should be expanded.

This is a New Acroyear design that I came up with.

Here is my female Pharoid design. I really wanted more females in the original line because there were so many male figures and I thought that things should be equal.

Please note that all of these figures were meant to have the same or similar rivits, joints, hands and feets cuffs that the original line of figures had.

The Black Hole

2009-01-13T17:05:00.001-08:00

The Black Hole is one of the few Disney productions that I still like. Perhaps it is because it has a Robot named Vincent in it.

I got these Kubrick figures quite a while ago. I actually placed them among the wires running between the monitor of my computer. I think the wires and monitor stand make for a futuristic look. If you look in the background, you can see my bookcase with my Chogokins on it.

It's true. V.I.N.Cent. and Old Bob are checking out the Tardis. I happen to have a Tardis Hub for my computer. I went back and watched some of the old Doctor Who episodes that I loved when I was a child, and although I loved them as a child, they look terrible to me now. I will always hold the old episodes dear, but I really like the new Doctor Who series.

NERV Misato Katsuragi

2009-01-13T16:59:00.000-08:00

I was a little disappointed that Takara never did a figure of Misato so I decided to make one myself.

I plan on doing a custom of Shinji later and perhaps some other characters from Evangelion.

My Nightmare Stuff

2009-01-12T23:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some more toys from my collection. I decided to post this to break up the posts of my customs. I really love the Nightmare Before Christmas.

My wife loves sleepy Jack. So we have a shelf dedicated almost entirely to Jack in PJ's

Purple Time Traveler

2009-01-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

I chose to use one of the new chest pieces for this custom because I wanted it to be an updated version of the Time Traveller.

I used the Acro Biom Microman figure for he body and white hands and feet from a material force figure.

Maria Freed from Grendizer

2009-01-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

Here's some more material force madness. I chose this character in particular because I really like the Grendizer series.

If I get my way, I'll be able to do customs of Duke Freed and Koji Kabuto. Perhaps someday I'll be able to find gashapon figures in the correct scale to accomplish this.

Cutey Honey Custom

2009-01-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

Takara offered a Cutey Honey figure with a DVD. Unfortunately, at the time, it was out of my price range. Fortunately for me, the gashapon wasn't out of my price range.

It wasn't that difficult to piece this togther using different colored Microman material force figures, but it was painstakingly painted to the figure you see here.

Mini Figure Art Toys

2009-01-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

This is how I am displaying some of my favorite Dunnies.

Here is a display of some of my favorite mini figures. Although I tend to prefer dark and scary looking toys, I really like the variety you can get from collecting blind box figures.

Princess Marionette

2009-01-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

Here's another custom figure of mine. Introducing Princess Mari from the Micronauts.

She is hand painted and the parts come from various Microman Material Force and a gashapon figure.

Attacked!

2009-01-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

The Acromantid sneaks up on Bug while he is being attacked by a Kronos female.

The Kronos female, like the Mantis, is larger than its male counterpart.

Bug is overwhelmed, when cornered by Kronos, Kronos female and Acromantid.

New Links and some thoughts

2009-01-09T00:07:00.000-08:00

I just posted a bunch of new links. Most are my influences as an artist and designer. You may want to look through them when you get a chance.

I was looking over some of my toys the other day and I have come to realize that I really like to see an eclectic mix of toys. I do have an extensive collection of Microman, Micronauts and Japanese Robots, but I do like to see the odd Dunny, Kubrick or random art toy mixed in.

In my opinion, the Japanese do make the best robots!

I'll post more pics soon.

Things from my shelves

2009-01-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of the cool japanese toys from my shelves. I have collected these over the years. They are some of my favorites. More to come!

Bugs and Things

2009-01-07T21:34:00.001-08:00

Here is a custom that I did a while ago. One of my favorite characters from my childhood. It is hand painted and hand sculpted.

My Rant

2009-01-07T17:46:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my rant about toys, art, toys as art and all things related.