Power Lords Are Here! Kinda.

http://www.sourcehorsemen.com/

So the power Lords are here, kind of. If you watch Cake Boss you will remember the episode we did earlier this season when Jim and Eric from Four horsemen design came by the bakery to order a cake to promote the  relaunch of the early 1980s toy line the Power Lords. Buddy's sister Mary and I took the case and we made a really cool volcano playset cake with bubbling edible lava! I was really excited about working on this one because I got to deliver the cake personally to the four horsemen's Toypocalypse Toy Show at Toy Tokyo in Manhattan. While I was there I got to meet the incomparable Wayne Barlowe, who was super cool and just a little out of his mind.

On to the figures themselves, the Horsemen are rolling out two variants of the Lord Power figure which were originally available at Powercon this week. Wayne's designs and Eric's sculpting mesh beautifully to make some really stunning looking figures. I'm a Huge fan of the color schemes of these two and I really dig the neat helmets that they are sporting. I'll definitely be grabbing a pair for my own collection, when they go on sale tomorrow.

Probably one of the most fun aspect of this new release is that the figures use the Glyos play system, which means that all of the parts are interchangeable with not only other figures from the Power Lords line, but are also interchangeable with the Glyos toy line from Onell design , as well as the 4H's Outer Space Men line, and the Weaponeers of Monkaa line from spy monkey creations.

If you're a fan of Cake Boss or science fiction or just neat little toy guys, I seriously recommend checking these out. There Will be more to comein the future. Maybe I'll review them when I get mine in the mail.

Until later, I'm out!

Bar-doodles. Minifigs.

I visited a friend of mine in PA, and I'm trying to comvince him and a guy I work with to join me in designing some minifigures we're thinking of calling something along the lines of "Stupendous Heroes of the Universe, Huzzah!"  Or something like that, anyway.  I figured each of the three of us would start off by designing two guys apiece.  If anyone liked them, we might make more. So I did some doodles while at the bar. Feedback will help determine which two get made. More doodles to come, I'm sure. So raise your voice!  Leave a comment and decide the stupendous fate of the universe! 

Huzzah!

Holy Plastic Prototypes, Batman!

Well, I've finally got some pieces of plastic pulled from the molds and fully assembled. I've got minis and Krustiez. I'm generally pleased with how they've come out, but I will be switching over to a different material. The plastic I'm using right now looks great, but the fingers have a tendency to snap off.

The whole idea behind these monsters is that they represent the size that the Krustiez would be if they were "real." That is to say, they are "actual size." They don't have any accessories, because they use whatever they find around your house to mess up your stuff. Lighters, glue, forks, etc. The sculpts for the arms feature big, open hands, so they can grab these human-sized items. If the plastic is too rigid and brittle to allow them to grab people stuff without their fingers snapping off, then I need to use a different material.

I've found something that I think I like, and I'll know in a week or so if it works out. The next protos I get poured up will be made from a hard urethane rubber. It will be of a hardness comparable to, like, a shopping cart wheel or a rubber shoe heel. Somewhere between those, anyway. It takes the same amount of time to cure as the urethane plastic I'm using now, but it is slightly less expensive, and more flexible. Rock and Roll!

This whole process has taken much longer than i originally anticipated. I'm used to breezing through projects, but this one has been problem after problem. The molds for the arms came out pretty nicely, though.

So, anyway, there are a bunch of pictures up of the first plastic tests of Pus and Vin, as well as the unnamed min-monsters. These pictures are straight from the molds, so there's still some extra plastic sticking out of the bottoms of the figures, and mold flashing on the fingers. The plastic on the bottom comes from the opening in the mold where the liquid plastic is poured in. This will get filed off with an electric sander, to give them nice, flat feet and bottoms to stand or sit on. There are also a few shots of the arm molds, with newly poured plastic arms inside, waiting to be pulled and cleaned up.

I really want to thank all of my friends and family for their support on this project. Especially Polish, Brandon, Speezi, Tiffany, My sister and her friends, my Dad and Mom, and my boss, Buddy. You guys believing in me and my plastic crap really helped me to keep on going, through all the snags. There's still a lot of work to do. And the guys at the October Toys forum. And Matt Doughty. Oh, and the gang at 9th and Coles Tavern, for the times when I needed to get away from all of the many problems this project has hit. And for the friendly ear. And for the beer. Always the beer.

What do you think, sirs?

Finishing some molds and Starting and Finishing another.

SO, here's what's up, humans.  I'm finally finishing the last of the molds for the Krustiez. Pouring up the second half of the mold for the arms, and making the mold for the mini monsters that I sculpted.  I'm thinking of incorporating them into the Krustiez line, since they kinda look like little larval Krustiez.  Either way, I think the little monsters are fun.  Here's what it looks like when I'm making the silicone molds for them, and some other random shots.

Mini-Monsters and Krupdate.

Evening, friends! I just got home from work about forty-five minutes ago, and opened up the Monsterizer to see how the molds for the Krustiez came out. they look pretty good, but I may have to make some changes. We'll see after i run the urethane.

Anyways, yesterday i promised you guys some finished shots of the mini-monsters I sculpted. As promised, so delivered!

What do you think, sirs?

I'm Back: a Dinosaur's Story.

Howdy, friends! Sorry I’ve been away for so long, but I’ve been working on lots of exciting things, and contracted a very exciting stomach virus. I am now, however, back!

Since we last spoke, I’ve been working on finishing up the molds for the Krustiez, and you would not believe how many roadblocks and headaches I’ve had to deal with. The first go-round with the silicone went south on me, and I ended up with a box full of goop. That’s what I get for not making any molds for a year. Afterward, I made a bunch of molds for the bakery to help us with some stuff that we do, and when I was able to jump back into my project, I got sick. Now that I’m better and have ahd a refresher in Mold making 101, the Krustiez molds are all poured up and curing as we speak. We’ll know tomorrow if anything went really wrong.

In other news, this past Sunday I sculpted up a trio of little monsters about an inch and a half to two inches tall, just for the sheer hell of it. I like them fairly well, and plan to cast those also. Lots of exciting things happening here at the Command Center. I’ve posted the in-progress shots of the sculpts for the little monsters, and tomorrow I’ll show you how they looked finished.

Check it out!

So the molds are in the Monsterizer, and new molds are being made even as we speak. Now I really must jet. Ta!

Inspirado!

I thought I'd talk about inspiration for a moment.  I remember a lot of toys in my youth being geared toward grossing kids out.  Or, more often than not, giving kids the illusion that, by playing with certain toys they would be given the intoxicating power to gross out their friends, families, teachers, and girls!  I was totally conned by this, back in the day, and looking back, I'm not sure why. In any case, I have fond memories of toys like "Fearsome Flush" (a possessed toilet from the Ghostbusters action figure line) and some of the Aaahh, Real Monsters, figures.  The gross exaggeration of features and warping of anatomy of certain toys has always stuck with me. I'm really excited to try my hand at making the kind of toys I used to love.

Here are a few examples of the kind of thing that kick-started

Germs!
http://www.dorkdimension.com/2006/08/toy-tribute-germs-by-worlds-of-wonder.html

Madballs
http://www.madballs.com/home.action

http://www.collectorsquest.com/collectible/7321/scarfer

http://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure.php?FID=7310&figure=fearsomeflush

and maybe most importantly, Boglins. I always wanted one of these as a kid, but never had one.

http://www.x-entertainment.com/messages/449.html