Sometimes Toy Biz would get so wrapped up in creating 8,000 variations of Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Iron Man that they'd neglect to make an action figure of one of the really essential Marvel Characters. Like Mentallo! So that's where i had to step up to the plate and hit one for the team. Or something.
A good number of the figures i've made here were from ideas i've seen on the net or in Wizard back when i used to have a subscription to that. Yeah, i know. Wizard. Well, i'll admit it. I got the subscription 'cause they were offering a "She-Hulk in Fantastic Four outfit" figure. So that really makes me a chump, i know.
Anyway, i thought it would be cool for me to show off my figures and describe how i made them so other interested people could do the same. Here goes...
Belasco is an original Nightcrawler head on a Dr. Strange body, with a little modeling putty and a piece of red cloth that i think came from Street Fighter Zangief's cape, but i'm not sure.
You probably don't know who Blackout is. He first appeared in the original Nova series by Marv Wolfman, and then Roger Stern used him a few times during his run on the Avengers, including the classic Siege On Avengers Mansion story. My figure is a barely repainted Speed Racer villain.
Not a custom figure at all, but just a picture to show that those monsters from Star Craft make a fairly good Brood Queen.
Bucky was made early on, when i was still using paint pens instead of real paint. He's just an original Toy Biz Robin, from back when Toy Biz still made DC figures. I put him with "original costume Captain America" so he wouldn't look quite so cheesey, but i don't think it helps. He is Bucky, after all.
At one point Toy Biz released a Captain America and Bucky two-pack, and the Captain America figure was down-right gargantuan. He was also apparently constipated, but that happens a lot with super-heroes. I cut off his head wings and repainted him and now have a fairly serviceable Captain Britain, who was drawn large enough in Excalibur to make the size work. I'd like to sculpt a protruding helmet for him, but i don't think i'm good enough with the putty yet. The flash refused to go off when i was taking this picture, so Brian is standing in a black hole.
Captain Marvel. Or "Photon" (bah). She's a Water Works Storm with her hair ripped off and replaced with a styrofoam ball. Yes, it looks as silly as it sounds. Originally the ball was far too big and she looked like a 70s disco queen, but i managed to crush it and shape it a bit and it looks somewhat better. The star on her chest was a bit of a challenge, but it ended up looking good. Not that you can see it since the flash on the camera decided to shine brighter than a thousand suns. Maybe trying to make up for Captain Britain. Pretend Monica is using her powers to make it really bright. I dunno.
Crystal is a repainted Aurora. I painted one of Street Fighter Dhalsim's bracelets and glued it to the back of her head for that weird circle thing she has back there, but that's not in the picture. Lurking in the background is my failed attempt at repainting The Wizard to look like Crystal's cousin Karnak.
Non-disco Dazzler. Repainted from a Age Of Apocalypse Jean Grey (the mold was also used for the Black Widow figure). I'm fairly proud of the star. Thank you.
The dread Dormamu is a Dr. Strange cape, Human Torch head, and flames from a Ghost Rider figure.
Not really a custom figure, but i wanted to show that my Elektra has sais (thanks to a teenage mutant ninja turtle). Nanny nanny!
Infinity Watch member Gamora, the most dangerous woman in the universe, giving you a friendly wave. I didn't attempt the fishnets.
Gravitron is a Kenner Total Justice Superman body with a Dr. Strange head. He's also in a black hole, which means you can't see all the effort i put into those purple dots on his outfit. I had to spray-paint the cape because it was made out of a soft plastic that other paints refused to dry on.
Another black hole victim, Hercules is a Street Fighter Zangief figure. He's a little stunted looking, but I'm very proud of him because of all the work with putty and cardboard i had to do. That gold belt he's wearing is made out of the same soft plastic as Superman's cape, and is still kinda sticky.
Hail Hydra! Baron von Strucker is a repainted Space Explorer Professor X (or something. They all came with parts of a space ship that could be put together). The goons are repainted Michael Keaton Batmans (Batmen?). Hanging out in the background are the non-customized Silverfox, Silver Samurai, and an upstaged Viper.
Klaw is the first custom figure i ever made. I had been hearing all about how you have to prime the figures first (something i don't bother with any more), so i dipped him in white housepaint. Brilliant! You can still see the thick white paint creeping out of his joints. It's impossible to get rid of. I used paint pens to color him. He is an original Archangel figure whose wings fell off. The giant contraption that held the wings is still on his back. I painted it silver and have ruled that it is some sort of Kirby-esque energy backpack contraption. Klaw's claw is the head of a PVC Wizard of Oz Tinman.
X-51, the Machine Man is a repainted Street Fighter Dhalsim. His hands conveniently came detached from his body as part of that toy's "Action Feature", so i re-attached them to a spare set of Dr. Octopus's arms. Dhalsim goes barefoot, so i put a little putty around his feet to cover up his toes, but it didn't quite work.
Magus. The evil alternate version of Adam Warlock, not the evil father of the other Warlock from New Mutants. Magus has incarnated twice in the Marvel Universe. Once with an afro, and once with a pony-tail. I considered going the "Captain Marvel styrofoam ball" route to give him an afro, but opted to keep his hair relaxed instead. He's just a repainted Adam Warlock from the Silver Surfer line. I'm proud of him because i mixed those colors myself, whereas i usually only use what comes out of the jars. I just dread ever having to touch him up, because i don't think i could recreate the colors exactly.
Hardly a customization, but necessary. I made the Mandarin not green. Well, his face, anyway. Not his hands. And i chickened out and didn't get close enough to his eyes. The hands i can pretend are glowing with the power from his rings (in fact, they will do that if i press the little button on his back!), but the eyes i have no excuse for. Oh well. At least he's mostly not green. I don't know why he was green.
It seems so obvious, but i've never seen anyone do it. Mentallo is a repainted original Cyclops. I haven't given him the goatee yet. More importantly i don't have a Fixer to hang out with him, because i'm still holding out for the Masters of Evil/Thunderbolts two-packs that i've convinced myself will one day be made by Toy Biz, despite the fact that i should know better.
Mimic. I know they brought him back in the 90s, because no-one can stay dead in the Marvel Universe, but i stuck with the original look. It didn't hurt that the Classic X-Men box set was on clearance, either.
Mockingbird stinks. I mean, the body's ok, and the sleeves are kinda cool, but i didn't do the tiara thing right at all, and the boot cuffs are terrible. I'm not quite skilled with the putty yet. I should go back and do it with cardboard. She's a repainted Spider-Woman/Invisible Woman/just-about-every-other-female figure mold. Mine was Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman from the Iron Man line.
Moondragon isn't wearing any of the outfits that she's ever worn in the comics. I mean, it's close to her classic green outfit, but not quite. I should at least make a cape. But hey, when you saw the chaste Elektra figure, with her bald head and thigh-high boots, tell me you didn't immediately say "Hey! I could make a Moondragon with this, easy!". Oh. You didn't? Yeah, well, that's why i'm the geek and you're just some poor schmuck reading my website.
From the "everyone's done this" category, Phoenix repainted to look like Ms. Marvel. Some people use a darker blue, or just go with black (Warbird style), but i think this color matches her 70s solo book's costume fairly well.
Namorita is a Savage Land Storm with a little putty on her feet.
Some of the New Mutants. I told you the Classic X-Men boxset was on clearance. I'm not telling how many I bought. Karma's head is repainted from Mystique's. Mirage's head is from a figure called Topaz. She's a Malibu character, or something. She has a weird face-plate, so while Dani looks great from the back, her face isn't quite right yet. So she was a little shy and didn't want to face the camera. Magma is just-about-every-other-female figure mold #2. Mine's a repainted Dagger. Now all i need is a Cannonball and a Sunspot (and not the X-Force versions) and i'll be set.
Another "obvious but no-one's done it" figure. I've always known that i'd make Wolverine into The Owl, but it wasn't until i saw the bug-eyed Spy Wolverine figure that i knew which one i'd use. The cape was originally Blink's, and it's a little too small for Wolvie's big head. I still need to make The Owl's nifty red bowtie.
Rachel Summers, the Phoenix, in her Excalibur costume. It's a Mystique body and a Blink head, and some putty. If you look closely at her right hand, you can see that i don't dust my figures as often as i should. Just pretend that's the Power Cosmic she's wielding.
Ranma-Tut is a slightly repainted figure from some line of mummy toys.
My friend asked my why Red Skull would wear a motorcycle jacket. He got cold. He's wearing his customary suit and tie underneath, i assume. I actually had to remove Ghost Rider's head, take out all the flames, and then put the head back on before painting it, so i really did put a little effort into this. OK? After i made this, Toy Biz released a Red Skull in one of their Spider-Man lines, but their version looked too cartoony, so i stuck with my biker version.
Ringmaster, appropriately enough, is a repainted Ringmaster from Todd McFarlane's Kiss Psycho Circus. The hypnotizing disc is one of Street Fighter Dhalsim's bracelets and some cardboard. Priscilla drew the swirlies with a gel pen.
Shaman lost his medicine pouch. He'll find it one day, when i sort through all the ridiculous accessories that these toys come with and find something appropriate. He's a repainted Thunderbird from the Classic New X-Men boxset. I cut the feather off.
More from the "not really customized" department, but it's very important that i let you know about the uncanny resemblance between Ming The Merciless from the Teen Flash Gordon line, and the Skrulls. I took the cape and shoulder pads off the two goons in the back, and i posed them with the Super-Skrull and a skrull from the Silver Surfer line called Raze or Raza or something.
I didn't draw the bubbles on Speedball. I wouldn't know how. He's a repainted Banshee from the Classic New X-Men boxset.
Priscilla took an extra Captain America sheild and repainted it for the Taskmaster.
Thunderstrike needs a brown jacket. He needs a mace thingy instead of a hammer. And he needs to relax a little. But otherwise he's ok. He's a Thor (obviously) from the Classic Avengers boxset, and an Age of Apocalypse Sabertooth head. And some putty for the beard.
Yeah, i know, big deal: "He repainted Captain America to look like USAgent. Gee, no one's ever thought of that." It's the Captain America from the Marvel vs. Capcom figures. Its the only decent Captain America figure ever made.
The Wrecking Crew rules, and you know it. The Wrecker is a Classic X-Men box set Beast's head and Ghost Rider body, and i know he doesn't really have all those spikes, but gimmie a break. Thunderball is the Bucky from that Captain America & Bucky two-pack, with a Kenner Total Justice Black Lightening head. Piledriver is the top half of a "Johnny Storm turning into the Human Torch" figure, and the bottom of a Classic X-Men box set figure (either Cyclops or Angel; i don't remember). I have a nice scar where i nearly sliced my knuckle off trying to chop those figures in half, and glueing them together wasn't easy either, but it was worth it. I don't have a Bulldozer yet. I think i'll use an Age of Apocalypse Sabertooth body because it has the same sort of armor, but he'll be out of scale with the others, and i still don't know what to do for the head. I need to make a wrecking ball and a crowbar, too.
I know that Roger Stern's female Yellowjacket doesn't really have wings, but otherwise MC2's Stinger (or something) was perfect for this.
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