Hello everyone!

My name is Kent and for as long as I can remember I have LOVED action figures.
I'm not sure if it's the amazingness of seeing reality shrunk down to a fraction of its actual size, the appreciation for the artwork that many of them truly are, or just the boost in self-esteem that comes from towering over superheroes, space men, and fantasy warriors, but it really is a great thrill to me.
I've collected them for many years (since I was the size of one) and even recently within the last 20 years have discovered that I have a knack for customizing and restoring them too.
This will be where I show my latest projects and acquisitions and hopefully some of the excitement that they give me will rub off on you!!!

Friday, June 8, 2012

You'll believe a figure can fly...

Wow, it's been awhile.
Life has been really busy that past few months.
I'm happy to be feeling something resembling normalcy lately, and that also means getting back to enjoying some of the finer things again, like figures!

This post isn't actually on a project but a very special acquisition.
Back in December, I asked my Sweetiwife for just one present for Christmas. As you may have guessed, it was a figure. Not the usual kind of figure I collect, but one on a little bit of a different tier of expensive than I usually care to venture. That's why I just asked for one present...

A little introduction.
The year was 1978. It was the year following the first Star Wars movie and because of it, little boys' imaginations were expanding exponentially with questions like "what if" with a no limit mentality.
Well, at least I know of one little boy who felt that way.
It was an amazing time...

It was the year one of my favorite characters from the great Saturday morning at 6 o'clock cartoon T.V. show "Superfriends" became REAL.


Superman the Movie... I just loved that movie!

I'll admit, at first I thought, the guy who played the role of Superman wasn't as chiseled or buff as I was hoping for. He didn't have quite the exact profile as his cartoon counterpart that I was used to, but in time Christopher Reeve became superman to me.

When I heard that Hot Toys was going to produce a figure of Christopher Reeve as Superman I knew he had to be in my collection.

On Christmas morning, Sweetiwife had worked up a big treasure hunt with Superman questions and the correct answers leading me to the next question and the next question and so on until...
























It's not often that I consider the packaging of a figure to be that significant, but this was pretty amazing.

Just to show how much thought and respect went into this project.



  


And here he is...





























He came with lots of cool extras too!

An amazing base/stand to make Supes feel right at home.





























Two extra pairs of hands. 
Flat open, and gripping open.





And with the exclusive version
you get this little piece of jewelry...


























...that's not exactly
meant to be green bling!






































































This is such an amazing figure. Everything from the skin looking so incredibly lifelike, to his many points of articulation for any number of possible poses, to his eyes being painted to look wet. A lot of pride and care went into this work of art. Not to mention the amazing likeness to Christopher Reeve that the sculptor was able to achieve.
If I could really name a jewel of my action figure collection this would definitely be it.
Hot Toys and Sideshow figures are big (at 12") and expensive, but once you have them in your hands you really feel a sense that they're worth it.
A friend of mine suggested I keep him protected behind glass because of the museum quality spectacle that he is, and I think that's a super idea. 

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

From the shining city of War Drobe in the far land of Spare, Oops!

Another Christmas has come and gone, and it's always fun to see the wonderful little items that you can find on after Christmas sales. I usually have this funny idea that everything I'm seeing is undiscovered and forgotten and because the "big buying season" is over and the prices on what's left on the shelves is so low (usually) it becomes for me, a treasure hunt on the island of misfit toys...

I was out with my Sweetiwife and she found something she just fell in love with. It was an old victorian style little lamp post with a Christmas wreath hung on it. It reminded me of the lamp post from "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe". A really cute little piece, and at an incredible price because it was broken. One of the ornamental corners at the top of the lamp was broken completely off and gone. Oh, and it was supposed to light up but that was broken too. 
But it was still so charming and Sweetiwife just really loved it so we got it!


Now, in the excitement of finding this little beauty, being the enchanting little piece that it is, I was quoted as having said, "oh, I can fix that for you!" So after getting it home and with several weeks of ruminating and deliberating, and because I love that my Sweetiwife loved it so much, 
I went to work.

Now originally I hadn't planned to put this project on here so I don't have any "during the process" pictures so sorry 'bout that. I basically cast a mold from one of the other embellishments and attached it where it was missing. After a little sanding and grinding it down to match the existing lines in the design, and some corresponding colors (I should say colours shouldn't I?) for the base dark gray and the light green highlights, I think it turned out quite nice.



 
Sweetiwife thinks this needs to stay out all year long.

I'm ok with that...