fairplaythings.com

July 29, 2010

The Lighting of the Comic Con

Filed under: ComicCon, Toys, collecting, munny — fairplaythings @ 1:03 am

A few more bits on ComicCon, mostly on Green Lantern which judging by the GL movie posters is in full swing now as we approach Summer 2011.

And while the Green Lantern seems to be hottest, new products are coming out including a full line of mini lanntern props.

Meanwhile, the Anime-style DC women has an awesome Jade (with a nice Steel to boot).

And Alan Scott, announced some time ago, is definitely coming home upon release.

Finally, and unrelated, Star Wars has added Mini Muggs to their collection. Hmmm. I wonder if the Muggs for Transformers are truly dead. Because these would be excellent (except for the fact that Muggs Bumblebee would tower over Cliffjumper…)

September 22, 2009

Take your Munny to the Slaughter

Filed under: GIJoe, collecting, custom, munny, nostalgia — fairplaythings @ 2:04 am

I’m still pretty exhausted from the past weekend’s activities but I really need to get them down for posterity. And to show you pics of course. So I am holding off sleep to give you the important news. Which I’ll make properly rambly in any event, but still, it’s worth holding out on sleep to note properly.

This past weekend, you see, I took the opportunity to go down to Toronto for the 6th Annual Canadian Action Figure Expo. Seemingly hosted by a lot of the usual TFCon suspects, it seemed like a good reason to get out of the city for a break. Now I’d never been to the Expo before, but experienced a bit of what I thought it would be like with the newly-added second day of TFCon, where the show was expanded to include other toy lines.

I collect other toy lines. Such is my cross to bear.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to see what I could gather up. Of course, I attended this event like I do any other event - with a mental checklist only. Which doesn’t help when it comes to getting parts but isn’t bad in terms of eye-candy (which of course has implications for the pocket book, but no surprise there). Admittedly, there was another draw too. I must confess that an appearance by Sergeant Slaughter, former WWF wrestling champion, current WWE ambassador and past pitchman for G.I.Joe, was the icing on the cake. As a kid, I use to watch WWF and Grand Pre wrestling with my grandfather, so I got to know all the superstars of the day. So I have a healthy dose of nostalgia there too. And I actually own the original mail-away Sergeant Slaughter figure (although could I find it for the show?… not on your life…)

So I chance to blend my love of toys (or as my grandfather use to call them, “dolls”), with our past shared interest in lazy Saturday afternoon watching wrestling was too rich to pass up.

I’ll get into more about the Expo (what I call the good, the bad and the dumb) in the coming days. But let’s talk about Sarge. He was basically running a Q&A session from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and then signing autographs afterward. The Q&A was quite good. He’s a really affable fellow and quite interesting with his various stories from his wrestling days and his days as a Joe. And of course, it’s always appropriate to have the last question prompted by Cobra Commander. Later, I waited in what was a very efficient autograph line to dutifully get my item autographed (in my case, the Warthog, the big amphibious vehicle which he piloted in the late 1980s in the toy line) and then back in line for a picture with the Sarge.

While I think having a picture of little me and big him together would have looked cool too, how could I turn down his generous offer of his signature move, the Cobra Clutch?

But then, I had a surprise for him.

At heart, I am a big fan boy. By big, I mean massive. So I am going to Toronto for a toy show and the big push over-the-top in terms of rationale is to meet Sarge. Of course, I have to bring something with me as a gift. The adult in me cringes even admitting this, and yet I cannot help but think it was appropriate to undertake such a last minute project as an adult in appreciation for bridging my toy world with my grandfather’s wrestling world. Something appropriate….

And that’s when I decided to create the Sargeant Slaughter munny.

That I have to wait until the night before I leave to have this realization, while trying to find something for the autograph line meant that the effort did not leave a lot to error. I wasn’t bringing a close to final piece. As with Botcon 2009, I was once again embarking on a project that I would kick myself for not finishing but which might end up impossible to do in the time frame allowed. So I am still a little surprised how (relatively speaking) easily it all came together.

Before I left Ottawa, I grabbed a pre-dyed black 4″ munny and quickly spray painting the flesh parts, I wrapped up the required paint colours, necessary line art for the original mail-in edition (which is also very much his pro-wrestling attire) and accessories, and took it all with me to work on into the wee hours of Saturday morning in my hotel room. Time meant I couldn’t do a fancy box, but having the idea worked out at home meant I could whip up more than just a figure. I was able to use a standard 4″ munny cowbow hat, with the edges removed and replaced with an epoxy brim, for Sarge’s ubiquitous stetson. His staff was an altered pinwheel handle. And rather than paint on the trademark glass, I used the 4″ versions to complete the look. The rest was standard line art and paint applications, except for the whistle which is added with epoxy.

Given the advantage of a dyed body and the spray-painted fleshtone, Sarge Munny came together reasonably easy (with the exception of the hat, which took more effort because I lacked wax paper and a solid plan for working it out in advance) and I’m very happy with the overall effect. In the end, I went with a cartoony look for his face because, well, I’m better at that look than I am at hyper-realism. And I put the GIJoe logo on his back, as opposed to his leg, for space advantages.

So after he released me (you don’t escape the Cobra clutch; the Sarge lets you go…) I mentioned I had something for him and brought out the munny. I really wish I’d had more forethought to tell him the story about papa and I watching wrestling together or even explaining about the popularity of vinyl toys. But I did get out enough to say it was to thank him for coming and could I get a picture.

He was gracious to oblige.

Part of the reasoning to get this post up and printed was in case Sarge checked the site. I did put one of my remaining first-run cards in the box. And I didn’t want to take the chance that he might skip by without seeing a more detailed history. But in the end, even if the munny ends up in one of his boxes of souvenirs that I’m sure he’s picked up at events over the past quarter century, it made all the effort worth it. Thanks Sarge!

Yo Joe!

September 9, 2009

Munny Show 3

Filed under: custom, munny — fairplaythings @ 1:44 am

Introductions are required.

Introductions are required.

Tell them Bumblebee sent you.

Tell them Bumblebee sent you.

Today is the day. Armed with 18+ munnies, I am participating in the Lost Marble Munny Show later today!

If you are in Ottawa, come on out and see the show. September 9. 55 1/2 Murray Street in the Byward Market (Ottawa, Canada). Door open at 7:30 p.m.

June 4, 2009

A Bridge Too Far

Filed under: botcon, munny, tricks of the custom trade — Tags: , — fairplaythings @ 1:39 am

I am planning a big update to the site this weekend, when I can put words down about Botcon 2009, as well as catch up on my first break in the Transformers-of-the-Day. Actually quite embarrassed there - usually I have them all set up to go. But a combination of overtime on the diorama entry this year and the absence of computer access in Pasadena meant that I wasn’t able to fix things at the Con. But I refuse to give up, and I’ll get everything back on track this coming weekend.

That said, I wanted to separately plug the diorama and the work behind it, as well as provide a few pictures so you can finally see what I’ve been up to for the last few months. Yes, it’s a scene taken from “A Bridge Too Far”, in which Omega Supreme battles the remaining Decepticon forces, including a number of Starscream clones. I actually tear up during this scene (Omega is certainly one of my favourite transformers!), so it means a lot to me to work on this particular action scene.

The Rise of the Mega Munny

Let’s start with the big guy then. Omega Supreme is a 2 foot tall Mega Munny, purchased from Lost Marbles in Ottawa. I should preface my comments on Omega by saying that I have an aversion to modifying munnies beyond recognition. While I think it’s fair play to add parts to them, or even cut them open, I prefer they retain a semblance of their character that allows them to be recognized for what they are. For Omega, this posed a challenge because I had so many plans for him and he probably represents the most heavily modified munny I’ve undertaken.

To start, both his hands have been replaced. His right arm is now a set of fingers actually created from the modified stems of three mini mushrooms that came with the regular size munnies. His left arm features a laser cannon. This laser cannon, and the additional removable turret in his head, are both equipped with laser pointers so they actually simulate an explosion when lit up (leaving me to wonder how many children were blinded at Botcon because of this.) In addition, voice boxes have been added to each arm, with one side playing the cartoon theme song and the other saying “I… am… Omega Supreme!” I wish I could say they were clear but it’s a low-techmodification. Nevertheless they seem to work relatively well, if a bit muted.

Additional work includes the tubing around his chin and removable wings on each arm.

Honestly, though, Omega was a struggle. Unlike his smaller brethren, the mega munny head does not separate from his body, which makes painting his neck a challenge. I also ran into trouble with the yellow spray paint I wanted to use because of stupid rushed mistakes at my end. His price point of $200 meant I really couldn’t start over again, which I would have with a smaller version, but nevertheless left me with a bad taste in my mouth until I could get over my own bad self and work around the paint application issues.

It didn’t help that I left him until the end and was doing a lot of the work on him literally hours before I boarded the plane. I finalized him in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, a little more than a day before he was to be rolled out. So you can understand how I felt when I realized on Saturday that, having hand-painted the logos on every other munny, I FORGOT TO DO THE SAME ON OMEGA. I promised him that I would rectify this when he ships home from Pasadena.

Still on the side of heroes, Ratchet is my second favourite munny of the group. He just came out so crisp. He also has added horns and doors. He’s teamed with Sari, who is actually a dunny, striped of original paint and then redyed. She turned out super, much better than expected. The ears were a major win. Yes she is so much bigger than she should be against the trees but we’ll just pretend they have really small trees in the future.

A Changing Landscape

Before I get to the villains, I want to say that I had no idea how I was going to turn seven munnies and one dunny into a diorama before I arrived. I had nothing to work with in terms of grass and the like. But I really wanted the diorama to look like I’d put some effort into it because of the coolness of the scene and because a diorama contest, in my view, needs to consider the landscape used. Otherwise, it’s a figure show. So you can imagine that my back-up plan of buying bristle board to paint green with some paper trees added really didn’t feel right.

However, Pasadena has a wonderful hobby store called The Original Whistle Stop Inc. (2490 E. Colorado Blvd). I discovered them Saturday afternoon and once they realized that I wasn’t shoplifting. they were really quite helpful. $40 of supplies from their store really made the scene, because I had actual trees that I made on the Thursday night before the show, as well as a sheet of grass paper, painted with sand to simulate the path. Honestly, I couldn’t have done this project without them.

But What About the Villains?

With respect to the Decepticons, I started with the clones. Sunstorm, Slipstream (”Susan”) and Ramjet were all based on the same premise, so once I had one outlined, I could use it to help quicken the pencilling of the other two. Obviously their expressions and paint applications were very different, but it’s surprising how much it takes to figure out where to draw lines on a fat little Munny body.

Their lasers are actually reconstructed knitting needles and their wings and shoulder pads are scratch-built. The wings are actually removable to allow for easier transportation, and I’ve finally perfected their assembly. Sunstorm is dyed (which caused trouble with the accessories in terms of colour blending), while the others are painted. Of the three, Slipstream is my favourite. And although he denies it, Ramjet now resides permanently in the care of Derrick Wyatt, whose magnificent designs are the basis for this entry.

In truth, Lugnut was the last munny started. While all the small munnies were done and Omega Supreme was only awaiting arm modifications and paint, Lugnut was still a white protoform munny, untouched by even pencil. I literally pencilled his face, arms and front on the plane ride to LAX, and then happened upon a TF:A digest at a Pasadena comic store to finalize his back. I painted him between Teresa’s Dad’s place and my motel room on Sunday. His only modifications are two small wings on his arms, although I did reverse his arms to better simulate his pincher claws (a trick I used on the Scorponok entered as part of my Botcon 2008 entry.)

Bavarian Twirls

The final figure, Blitzwing, is the one of which I am the most proud. Dyed a crisp tan, Blitzwing’s head has been opened up to allow for a small plastic cover to be inserted, before the top of the head was reattached. In this way, all three faces of Blitzwing can be shown. Between getting the dye and the cuts just so, it took three takes to get his head right, but I am ecstatic about how it turned out, so much so that I made sure he travelled in my hand luggage in case Omega didn’t make it (so he could be entered solo if needed).

Blitzwing also has small shoulder boxes that constrain his poseability but nevertheless seemed important to the character. He also features a backpack with removable rockets. The trick here is that the rockets had to be extra long so, true to the character, they would be visible over his head.

The Results

There were some great dioramas this year, so I was very proud to be awarded second place in my category against some stiff competition. I just hope the judges were able to test all the buttons on Omega when they were reviewing things. All in all, I can’t really complain that the presentation of the hardware was interrupted, when the interruption was to see five minutes from the new movie presented by Michael Bay himself. How often is that going to happen in my life?

April 10, 2009

CustomCon 22!

Filed under: custom, munny — fairplaythings @ 4:24 pm

Official Entry: CustomCon 22!

Official Entry: CustomCon 22!

I’m in! I made it into CustomCon 22! I am so excited!

Now I must begin to prepare for CustomCon23 and the next wave of Micronauts. Or maybe unleash a wave of heroes next. So many possibiilities. Although I really need to get the hang of photography… And finish up all the stuff for the upcoming Munny Show in Ottawa (April 18), TFCon (April 25) and Botcon (May 29-31).

Anyway, so excited! Last time I entered was for CustomCon 16. Thankfully munnies have gotten smaller since then. :)

January 26, 2009

Mighty Mugged?

Filed under: Toys, Transformers, munny — fairplaythings @ 5:39 pm

Oh Hasbro… how can you get the Mighty Mugg Jazz so right and Shockwave so wrong! The laser is too big and what is with the painted-on ears? Nothing, that’s what.

January 17, 2009

44

Filed under: munny, nostalgia — fairplaythings @ 11:35 pm

New additions to the munny site here. In celebration of January 20, 2009.

January 10, 2009

Hanging out my Shingle

Filed under: munny — fairplaythings @ 1:02 am

Modified the sales page if you are in the neighbour for a custom Munny. And good night to you gentle readers.

January 1, 2009

Scale-belly

Filed under: custom, munny — Tags: , — fairplaythings @ 10:38 pm

Given my current fixation with Munnies and ongoing webwork (particularly with respect to the Beastformers), it seems to make sense to talk about issues of scale for the inaugural post of 2009.

Regular readers will recall the angst I had over the issue of scale for the eight Beasties that formed the Call of the Wild diarama. With only three scales of Munnies to work with (2′, 7″, and 4″) there is not a lot of flexibility in terms of getting proportions right. It was a no-brainer that Optimus had to match the long-finished Megatron. With respect to the rest of the cast, it was certainly helpful that the poll I took at the time verified my own thoughts on the matter.

That said, knowing that I hope to one day get the entire cast completed, I am going to hit scale issues with Optimal Optimus, TM2 Megatron and Tigerhawk, as I think they (particularly the Optimus) should be taller than the 7″ scale allows. Now kidrobot could certainly solve my dilemma (albeit expensively) with a 10″ version of my favourite vinyl figure. Otherwise, I may be forced to either extend the legs of the 7″ model at a minimum or find some way to make my own 10″ munny available for multiple castings.

The scale problem is even worse for Generation One.

There really are three basic scales for G1: Mini (Bumblebee, Rumble), Regular (Hound, Skywarp) and Leader (Optimus, Galvatron). Beyond the obvious logistical problem that the 7″ Munny towers over the 4″ Munny in a way that doesn’t make sense (really necessitating something in the middle at say 5-6″, saving the 7″ scale for the likes of Dinobots and Jetfire), and relying on a modified Dunny as a stand-in for the Mini scale, there are already a number of questions. Would Reflector be a small or a medium? (My thinking is a medium) Following the scale information in the Ark, would Trailbreaker, Ironhide, Ratchet and Shockwave be leader-size? Can I make an appropriate Munny version for Ravage? (I have ideas here at least.)

To add to the problem, there are the aforementioned Dinobots, but also the combiners to consider. The creation of a 5.5″ Munny and modified Dunny clears the way for the DInobots in the 7″ scale, but we’re back to a new scale of 10″ or 12″ for the likes of Devastator and Computron. And while the 2′ version is certainly ideal for Omega, Metroplex and Scorponok creative-wise, it’s a little difficult in terms of cash issues (as the figures are US$150 each).

Anyway, the issue is posing a challenge. Here’s hoping more scales of Munnies are coming.

Powered by WordPress