More customs from others

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.