Parts and Inspiration

Many people ask me where I get all the parts and pieces to make my custom action figure art. Well, I buy a lot of figures at Target and Toys R Us. But I'm also lucky enough to live in Chicago which means I can hit the Bridgeview, IL Toy Con that happens every other month or so and the Kane County Toy Show twice a year. But in between those shows, and when I just need some inspiration, I go to Quake Collectibles on Lincoln Ave in the city.

I recently made a trip there not because I needed specific parts, but just because I happened to be in the neighborhood and as usual, it paid off with some unexpected finds. Dave the proprietor is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. In fact, I think he's the closest thing you'll ever see to a real Santa Clause as it seems that all he wants to do is use his toys to make people smile. In fact on this trip, there were some uppity middle school boys grabbing everything in sight and he handled them with both patience and grace. He has toys from all areas and all genres from the floor to the ceiling of his small shop. This can be a little overwhelming until you stop trying to focus on each piece and just let your eyes wander.

You never know what you're going to find as he is constantly updating his inventory so it's not only great for parts, but for inspiration as well. I somehow neglected to take photos of the boxes and boxes of loose figures and parts. I could spend hours just digging through them...and I have.

So if you're coming to Chicago or just passing through, Quake is definitely a place to check out. I guarantee you'll leave with something that makes you smile and you won't have paid a lot for it either. (Just don't go on Tuesday because they're closed.)

"Evil" Death Troopers Custom Star Wars Action Figures

While there seems to be a glut of zombie media today, I prefer the more unorthodox stories that put a twist on the genre like Marvel Zombies, the Resident Evil Games and the movies Shaun of the Dead, and especially Evil Dead. So when I heard about the new Star Wars novel Death Troopers and saw some of the fan made films, I was very excited.

 

Soon afterward, I created these. While anyone with an extra Stormtrooper figure and a dremel can conceivably make a Death Trooper, I put a lot of thought into these. Of course they would start out as regular Stormtroopers fighting off the zombie hordes, so what kind of wounds would they get? Would they accidentally shoot each other? What pieces of armor would be peeled away by hungry zombies trying to get to the flesh inside? And after they became zombies, would they chew through their own helmet?

I've seen a lot of custom zombies that look like someone basically slapped a bunch of red paint on them. So I took a lot of care making the blood look like it was real; the splatters needed to look like they occurred as they were fighting and the drips and pools as they were stumbling around around bleeding from their own wounds. Had gangrene set in?

These were also my entries into the "Zombie" contest on Good To Go Customs Forum. Here's the write up I included with the entry. Bonus points if you can figure out the movie I'm referencing and the joke in their names. (Hint: It's one I listed above.)

Evil Death Troopers

TK5TU3PY and TKLU3PY were your average "I can't shoot straight to save my life while wearing this awkward helmet" Imperial Stormtroopers. Assigned to Endor during the battle of the second Death Star, these two saw the tide of battle turning and fled. They walked for days across the tree covered moon until they came upon what looked like an old house. They decided to rest and spend the night. Unfortunately, TK5TU3PY came across an old data tape recorder and decided to play it.

Several days later, the sole survivor of a nearby Ewok village arrived at Chief Chirpa's feet wounded and exhausted. He said that the neighboring village was destroyed by two Stormtroopers who had terrible powers and could not be stopped with arrows, rocks, bolas, or even swinging logs. The survivor died the next day from his wounds.

THE END?

There were a lot of cool entries but the fans chose them as the winner. Thanks to everyone who voted for them!

I have plans for more variations on this theme that pick up where my little story left off. If you'd like to commission a piece, contact me at eric@insidious1.com

The Green Hornet and Kato Custom Action Figures

I've loved the Green Hornet and Kato since I was a wee little boy. I was first introduced to the character through the 1960s T.V. show. Yeah, it was goofy but every once in a while Bruce Lee would break out some awesome martial arts moves. And when Chicago's NOW Comics started producing a new comic book in the 80's, I became a dedicated fan.

Over the years, between myself and my father (his CB handle is Green Hornet), I've amassed quite a collection including masks cast from the original masks worn by Van Williams and Bruce Lee on the show. But no one has ever produced small scale, articulated, Green Hornet and Kato action figures. Therefore, I crafted these.



I went back and forth between the various versions of the pair on T.V. and in the comics. In the end, I took aspects that I liked from all these iterations and combined them into something new. I also thought it would be cool if they fit into an existing "world" and since G.I. JOE once had an anti-crime unit (See D.E.F), I made them in the 25th Anniversary Joe style.




The other half of the decision to use more articulated G.I. JOE bodies as a base was that it allows for cooler martial arts poses for Kato.





The masks are sculpted and based on the mask replicas in my collection. (Yes, I know they wore several different versions of the masks in the show, but these are the ones I like best.)



I even included their signature weapons; Green Hornet's Gas Gun and Kato's Throwing Darts.





With a lot of luck, this new Seth Rogan Green Hornet movie won't be a total piece of crap. But we'd all better our fingers crossed from what I've seen so far.

I hope you dig them. If you would like to commission a custom piece of action figure art of your own, contact me at eric@insidious1.com. Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.