TENIME_art

Absolutely superb!! One gripe, though. As someone who's got the Superman symbol tattooed on his body, I think Lex's eyebrows need to be darker. Whether black, brown (or red)...the white just isn't doing it for me. (Not like I'm one to talk, my customs aren't always the greatest...) Regardless, they all look amazing. The quality is incredible!!!

Neither can I!! I know as soon as I see prelim' pics of it, I'm gonna start making LOST 'Mates!! I haven't tried the whole "'Mates on the bases" thing, because when I got them in the mail, I was just so excited to get them, I put them all on their bases (though, look at my "custom" of Demolition Man in my Customs thread...he's on Jack's base!!). But...being McFarlane...things aren't "easy". I bruised my hands, and had to stand on Shannon (in socks, not shoes!) to get her on her base (which is a shame, because they did a good job sculpting her...back). I suppose you could always carefully cut her pegs off, and sand the cuts smooth, so she just rests there. Then you could just lift her off of it. I tried to take Jack off to take the D-Man pic, but with all the tiny, thin pieces of shrapnel at his feet, and McFarlane's products known for snapping, I didn't want to chance it. Kate's bamboo stalks were a pain in the @$$ as well.

I was actually expecting to see, like, a painted basketball, or something. Silly me.

I hate that tan suit, and Chameleon's already wearing it. I wanted something unique. If you click on the link I posted above, you'll see my solution.

McFarlane hasn't made actual action figures since the '90s... I preordered mine here. $125 for the whole set (including the box set) after shipping. It's not bad when you break it down individually. Believe me, this is coming from someone who barely ever has any money, and hates justifying spending too much on too few items... My friend, who's also a huge LOST fan, didn't want them. At first. Then, he saw mine displayed on my shelf. Now, he's salivating over his bank account until it grows to enough for him to get them. If you'd like pictures (to make your decision either way), just let me know...

As cool as his powersuit is, though, I wanted Lex to have a business suit... Kinda peeved the Kryptonite that came with him has no way for the figure to hold it, nor is it transluscent... Good thing I made my own K-rock way back with Gamma Hulk's hand!

All they had left when I got there was one Supes pack and one Bats pack. Thankfully, my comic guys put a whole set on hold for me!! As cool as his powersuit is, though, I wanted Lex to have a business suit... Kinda peeved the Kryptonite that came with him has no way for the figure to hold it, nor is it transluscent... Good thing I made my own K-rock way back with Gamma Hulk's hand!

Thanks, 'addict! First, a new custom: Using the brand new Lex Luthor head, I gave him a business suit, replete with vest, loosened tie, and Kryptonite (care of Gamma Hulk...some might remember from the AA boards my picture of Joker with the chunk of green meteor rock)!! The rest are old, old customs, with new backgrounds: Superboy, Supergirl, Antman, and Xorn (thanks again to Luke for sculpting the helmet for me)! The next Autobot is still coming along...stupid white paint...needs 8 frickin' coats... :angry2:

Nervous, I took the lazy way out. It's a Marvel Legends base for Movie Daredevil. Yes. I purchased a Ben Affleck action figure. I was trying to collect all the ML's at the time, and, unfortunately, he was one of them. Sue me. Energy-Man, thank you. I'm pretty sure this is his third costume. First was his yellow, then his red, then this, then he went back to red. Just finished Professor X in his Jim Lee costume last night. Thanks to bruticus for inspiration and technical help! And, my old Mr. Sinister custom finally got a background to call his own!!

His eyes are really big!! Looks good, though. I like his poncho!

That kicks @$$!! I liked the one volume I read of that comic...

Those are awesome, dude!!

Very nice. As Luke would say, "We have added his essence to our consciousness..." I think.

Awesome, Nervous. Simply awesome.

Nice Mandarin! Any more progress on your Runaways?

Thank you! Okay, I may not have been able to do the Autobot I had wanted due to lack of paint (and, now I can't do him, because I'm not sure how...Lurch is working on a design for me...) - but my next Decepticon went off without a hitch (knock on wood!): STARSCREAM!!! Lurch again provided the design, even though I still can't quite figure out what to use for his cannons... His turbines are full-size Minimate feet, glued to a makeshift collar of his engines (made out of a Gwen Stacy coat). His cockpit is (again) an Invisible Woman foot, only this time Sharpied yellow (the bluish tint may have worked for Jetfire, but not Starscream). His feet are full size Minimate feet (a rarity for me, since I now solely use C3 feet), with a little notch cut in the bottom of them to denote a separation from his jet exhausts. His hands are Juggernaut hands (why? I don't know...I just liked how they looked!). His wings are the same thing I used for my Archangel: DVD case!! Only, this time I used different scissors to get a smoother cut, and used an exacto knife for the inside corners. The Decepticon logos are homemade stickers. The next Autobot is going to be awhile, because I can't quite figure out how to do his headgear or other apparati. I will say this, though...he's utilizing a 2 & 1/2" body...

Jetfire's up, because, well, I had the black, red and white paint, and didn't have the right colors for who I wanted to do next... His ears were Minimate rifle scopes (one part of two), his ridge and brow were carved out of hairpieces (the ridge has a peg in it) and glued together (and are removable from the rest of the head). The square on his ridge was done with silver Sharpie, then, when that dried, light blue Sharpie - perfectly "metallizing" the blue!! His wings were White Queen's cape, his tail was the back of Patch's tux. The wings are glued to the torso, and the tail to the crotch, so he retains all the waist articulation of a regular Minimate! His cockpit was Invisible Woman's foot, peg cut off, painted around, and glued to the torso. His gun was two minimate rifles, trimmed, and glued together, with the other part of the scopes (from his ears) glued end to end at the back - to perfectly mirror the toy's double barrelled rifle!! I was astonished that it looked so much like it!! Since each new one takes more and more paint than the previous ones, I'm doing an Autobot & Decepticon simultaneously. The Decepticon will be uploaded first (to keep with the alternating)...I just hope it's finished drying first...

What I object to is their crappy way of coloring the gold parts. Yellow with orange accents!? Classic Iron Man was gunmetal silver. Gold Spider-Man was...gold... Why no gold? Why, DST? drgnrbrn, I expect you to correct this mistake...

Antacost and Wadalf: I plan on doing the stupid, stupid Rat creatures, the Red Dragon, Thorn, and Grandma Ben. (when? I don't know) I plan on doing the solo pictures for all of them, then when everyone is finished, one giant group shot (with the Bones front & center)!! Soundwave has a Batman cowl, trimmed for his face, with Magneto's helmet horns on the front. His shoulder and hand cannons are Lego cylinders, the shoulder with a Lego dot (that's what I call 'em) on the front, and the holdable gun has a modified Jango Fett Kamino dart, glued to the end of the handle that was on the post I used for Megatron's back barrell, and inserted in the end of the cylinder. A Minimate rifle handle is glued to the bottom. Soundwave's torso was an Inivisble Woman's, painted all except that little rectangle - giving him his clear cassette door!! The Decepticon logo is a homemade sticker. Unfortunately, the Laserbeak in the picture is a screencap from the Transformers Movie. The regular LB is waaaay too big, the Titanium LB is smaller, but still too big. I have no clue how to make in scale cassettes for this guy... Any ideas? He feels naked without at least Laserbeak and Ravage...

Wow. You guys are good. As you guessed it: Bumblebee. Daredevil provided the horns, Doc Ock provided the shape of the VW bug, while New X-Men Cyclops provided the shoulder pads. Ultimate Storm gave the boots, and Lurch started it off with his design. This is actually my closest custom to his original idea. Thanks, guys.

Thanks again to Lurch for the design. This time, I stayed extremely close to his design, departing only slightly to replace things I liked from a Pat Lee picture I found online. The cannon on his arm is the exact scope from the Megatron Ruger that the big 20th Anniv. Optimus comes with. I just shaved the peg on a Sue Storm shield ring flat, and slid it in (so, I didn't butcher my only accessory!). His head is Classic Iron Man's helmet, with the face cut out, and the top sides shaved down. The "Ruger barrell" on his back was some Lego, gun-looking thing. I snipped its handle off, and Krazy-Glued the longer piece to Meg's back. It works almost too well... It still needs the sight at the tip, but I've had too many "tiny things trying to glue not sticking" I didn't want to deal with the aggravation. Still, the only way I think I could've done better was to cut the barrell off the aforementioned Megatron Ruger, and we're not having any of that. Unless someone wants to donate a spare to me? Thanks for the kind words again, guys. I'm planning on alternating. Autobot, Decepticon, Autobot, Decepticon, etc. Care to guess who's the next Autobot?

OMG!!! I must have Back To The Future Minimates!!!

Thanks for the kind words Antacost. Coming from you, that means alot. Your customs are insane. The Bone 'mates have been in the back of my head for awhile. Waaay back when we were all on the old Art Asylum boards, I made up designs for them, but finally decided to put my free time to good use. Problems with black paint are what's keeping me from finishing the last Bone cousin, Phoney. He'll be up eventually, I promise! Energy-Man, thanks. It took me about three or four repaints (covering the red with black and starting over) to get that darn bat just right... Logan, thank you. Actually, the Jim Lee pic I used as reference, Logan had a thick 5'o'clock shadow on his mug. Also, the camera seemed to thicken it. It doesn't look that dark on the actual figure. The shoulder pads were the original Ghost Rider's. Seeing as how I'd already cut off the spikes to use on my Spawn custom, I simply just sliced the pads off of the chest piece, painted all the sides but the source of the cutting, and Super-Glued them to Wolverine's torso, so his arms can move freely, with the pads staying in place. Now, onto Optimus Prime... Thank you to Nervous for inspiring this little guy. I kinda always wanted to do Optimus Prime in Minimate form, but after seeing his 3" custom, it really put the spurs to me to actually realize my wishes. (Though, mine is in my favorite scale, 2"...) Thank you to Lurch for doing his Optimus design for me. I may have gone with the 20th Anniv. style, but his Gen1 layout gave me the starting point I so badly needed. Since the last few customs I've done didn't take much (the Clone Troopers and Bones were mostly decals, Demoltion Man a QC), this is the most work I've done on a Minimate custom in a loooooooong time! Originally, his face and torso were going to be decals. Well, his windshield still is, but the "silver" on the decal of his grill didn't match the Sharpie I was using on the rest of the body. So, even though it's still on the decal, I did the grill and..."side pieces"(?) all over by hand with silver and black Sharpies. The only other thing that wasn't by hand was the Autobot symbol on his left shoulder. That's a decal that's extremely tiny, and was a huge pain to not only cut out from the sheet, but even harder to affix to the figure! His head ridge is the same thing I did for the Clone Troopers: cut a strip from a Thing (the ugly, triangular ones) hairpiece. Only, unlike the Troopers, Optimus' ridge comes out and down his forehead (whereas the Clones stop at the edge of the head). His "ears" were the fins from inside a 'mate torso, where the crotch peg goes in. They're up a little high, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. And I'm the one I made the custom for! His mouthplate is a corner from the bottom of a Gwen Stacy coat. I first tried to draw that center line down the 'mate face (Silver Surfer's for the base color), but it was too dark, too thick. I love this, because it does what it's supposed to, and is even a little closer to the actual character! His smokestacks are 'mate rifle barrells, and his wheels are Ben Reilly/Spider-Carnage wrist cuffs. One's glued to the foot, the other, right below the knee joint. His knees can still bend, and his feet (though not turnable) can be easily slid out of his leg, and back on! His gun is a 'mate rifle, with the scope cut off, and a Daredevil holster on the end. I cut a notch (you can kinda see it) on the holster, and slid the rifle butt inside it! The background is a screencap from the Transformers Movie. It's a little too cartoony compared to the physical figure, but I think it works. This has got to be my most favorite custom I've ever done, so far. It definitely won't be my last Transformer 'mate!!

Wow. Talk about fan un-friendly.

You gotta be kidding me. One day admission for SDCC/Wizard World Chicago is $25, $50 for the weekend. AnimeCentral is $20/$40. The Transformers Classics are between $10-$20. A 3-pack shouldn't be more than $60, tops. WTF is Hasbro doing!? If I had a high-paying job (which I don't), there's no way in 43LL I would ever pay $350 for 3 action figures (not even 6 of 'em - that's still almost $60 a piece!!). If the Classics exclusives are under $100 (way, way under), let me know, and I'll pay you before you go to the Con, and, maybe you can get them for me. Please tell me that's a price for all of the exclusives, including statues, and what not. Please. That's ridiculous. Like that Beast Wars link you posted - $240 for 8 figures!? $30 a figure!? Are they 18" tall? Or is that for a case?