drgnrbrn316

You may want to lay off the customizing for a while CRISIS, I think the fumes are getting to you.

Lemme see...four plus four...if I carry the 3...take this and put it over here...*sound of calculator*... Is the answer -1.74 billion?

Price varies depending on whether or not you support the Overlord. I expressed some displeasure in his leadership and thus was charged a modest $3,275,000. Actually, the price seemed fair quoted to me seemed fair, I just got caught on the wrong end of a paycheck.

See, that's the major problem I keep running into. Greenville used to only have two outlets for hobby needs: Hungates and Michael's. For whatever reason, Hungates closed down (though we still have a warehouse for them here in town) and Michaels gears more towards art projects and scrapbooking/sewing/etc. I'd just as soon order something from the internet, but when you tag on shipping and everything, it can get expensive without having a lot to show for it. I have a huge brick of Sculpey at home that I found at Michaels that didn't cost me much. Since I've had to start ordering paints of the net, it looks like I'll be doing that with some two part epoxy in the near future though. If Hungates doesn't come back soon, my innocent little hobby is going to turn into a financial nightmare.

Well, at least none of the Speed Racer figures, be them minimate or other, come with a helmet, despite showing him in a helmet in that "40 year" logo. Better when we're all equally screwed as opposed to a small majority.

But then you go back to the issue of availability, much like Milliput. If its something I can go pick up from a store, then I'm sold. But I hate discovering I need something and having to wait several days just to get it.

Ok, I've finally bitten the bullet and delved into the world of sculpting my own parts. Sculpey being the most recognizeable brand and also being the easiest to find in my part of the world, I figured I'd give it a shot. Here's a brief overview of my trials with the substance that would become my bane. Giant Man's mask Trying to make a removeable mask for my Zombie Giant Man, I took a spare 2.5" minis head and sculpted the mask I wanted around it. I tried to remove the mask so that I could bake or boil it, but since Sculpey doesn't harden on its own, all I did was ruin my sculpt. Result: failure Lesson learned: Only cured Sculpey can be manipulated without altering the sculpt Giant Man's mask revisited This time, I sculpted the mask, then tossed the mask, head and all, into a pot of boiling water. Several minutes later, I removed the lot and tried to remove the mask. It had bonded to the head and any attempt to dislodge it resulted in the mask crumbling. Result: failure Lesson learned: A buffer should be placed between my Sculpey and anything I'm molding it around. Spider-Hulk's face Knowing that Sculpey bonds well with the plastic in minimates, I sculpted a brutish face for Spidey. One boil later, and I was happy with the end result. Result: success Giant Man's mask revisited Returning with my previously learned lessons, I tried again. Wrapping the head in plastic wrap, I sculpt my mask and boil. The plastic wrap bonds itself with the mask rather well, causing a great deal of trouble removing it from the final product. I finally dislodge it all and place the mask on Giant Man, only to discover that I had used too much thickness for the sculpt, plus it did not sit snuggly on the head, but rather moved freely. Result: failure Lesson learned: Sculpt a better product before curing it. Giant Man's mask revisited Sculpting a thinner mask, I tried again. Post boil, it looks ok, and seems to fit pretty well. I go to modify the eye holes and the whole mask is destroyed. Result: failure Lesson learned: Boiling Sculpey produces a far too fragile product to cut and modify freely. Enforcer hats Needing hats for my Enforcer customs, I decide to try my hand at Sculpey again. I wrap the head, sculpt a hat around it and then repeat the process for the number of hats necessary. Trying the baking approach, I proceed to burn my hats (not to a crisp, thankfully). I do notice that baked Sculpey (or at least burned Sculpey) has a more rubbery feel to it than the boiled variety. Result: failure Lesson learned: When baking, keep a watchful eye on your sculpts, as there is no set time on when they'll be done. Baked Sculpey may be more easily manipulated than boiled. Buy several Jokers when the DC mates come out. Sinister Six Undertaking the task of retooling all of my Sinister Six customs for the cover contest, I quickly come to the conclusion that I need modified parts that I cannot pull off strictly with my parts bin. Having heard that super glue can be used on Sculpey to harden it, I decide to give this a try. Vulture's feathers, Sandman's various accessories, Mysterio's cape, and Kraven's jacket all are sculpted and glued. After some time to harden and a layer or two of paint, I'm happy with the end result. Result: success Lesson learned: Super glue seems to work well for a hardening agent Giant Man's mask revisited After the results with my Sinister Six and super glue, I give this another try, using glue on the mask. I sculpt a mask, then apply a layer of glue on the exposed Sculpey, allowing plenty of time for the glue to dry. Upon trying to remove the mask, I found it much like grabbing a roasted marshmellow: hard on the outside, mushy on the inside. I proceed to gut the mask while trying to take it off. Result: failure Lesson learned: I hate Sculpey So, with these modest, amateur attempts at Sculpey, I turn to you, the customizing kings, for help in this project. I've seen masks, hairpieces, and more made from Sculpey on the boards, yet I cannot figure out for the life of me how you've all done it. Any help on how to make things removeable, how best to cure Sculpey, who I can pay to do this for me, and how much they'll want as payment would be helpful. Thanks!

I'd like to point out that I like the prototype to the Batcave about a thousand times better than what was released. It looked like it had more support for one thing.

If you can get that thing put together, even with the missing blocks, I want to shake your hand. Hope you got a bottle of glue and some aspirin.

Jesus Christ, how the f*ck does this sh!t keep getting out!? "Scandal hit the Church of Minimateology today when..."

All I know is my TRU gets new shipments on Thursday each week. I'm to call back on Friday and see if anything has landed. Think they'll be tired of me by November? Still, that's better than Target and the new Marvel 2-packs. They told me try back next month, when they get a new shipment of toys in.

I was never excited about these to begin with, because its resources that could be better used towards promoting or advancing one of their existing lines, in my opinion. By sculpting heads for these, it really takes some of the minimate "feel" out of the product for me. Sure, they look great, and seem to have some thought put into them (unlike Speed Racer), but its hard for me to really get behind the idea. The characters are kinda bland to me to begin with. Yeah, Tony might be cool, but the frog?! I haven't even seen him on TV in years. Truth be told, the only characters I even see remotely often is Tony and Toucan Sam. Yeah, Snap, Crackle, and Pop are more famous than the frog, but they lack in anything inspiring to me. If I buy these, it'll be as stunt doubles for my cooler minimates. And I think there's one more after this.

The story so far is okay. It's not great, but it doesn't suck either. In fact, I think I could get onboard with the whole concept of having him climb his way to the top of this ladder rather than just get a huge flashback of his past, but if this books going to really work, they need to get Steve Dillon off of this thing! Of course its no surprise that when everyone in the book looks exactly the same! I hated the art in Punisher vs. Bullseye (don't get me started on that story either).

Just got a couple PMs congratulating me on winning this contest. Now that's what this place is all about! Tis truly a friendly place, minus a lot of the egos that floated around the other boards. Its this kind of stuff that brings me back again and again. Congratulations to the rest of the guys who scored on this, and lots of luck to all you elligible guys and gals in the upcoming madness! Pity I played this time, I coulda really used that Gold Spidey too! (if we say this enough time, they have to offer it up as a prize, right?) To quote Cartman, "I love you guys" Until Ady goes mad and kills us all, make mine Minimate Multiverse!

Just got Toyfare today, and they have the pics up of all the DC Minimates. Same pictures as we've seen, even with Booster's crooked mask (even had a funny remark about it in a word bubble). Sadly, release date was listed as "To be determined"

Assuming my endless hassling at Target fails, I may find myself in the begging line for this set too. I have both figures, but can always use extra parts from both.

Minimate Multiverse worked for me, and it can work for you! *cue MM jingle*

I love Minimate Multiverse! (now watch the next contest be a gold Spidey )

That would be a justifyable thing, I suppose, but you sure didn't see them lifting a finger to fix the House of M, which was supposed to be on the brink of destroying everything, according to Excalibur.

What I still don't understand is how a universe can be "broken" and need "fixing". I always just assumed that taking an existing universe and changing some point in it just created a divergent world. Like, when Xavier was killed by his time traveling son, it created the Earth-295 universe, more commonly called Age of Apocalypse. So why does it matter if one reality accidentally merges Wolverine with Magneto and others, and why does someone have to jump into this reality to stop it?

Isn't there or wasn't there already a Firebird though? Firebird, Sunfire, Firestar, Phoenix... too many fire-themed characters to list

My guess: the other. For Marvel to kill MJ would be a great show in how they are out of ideas. Yeah, by making him single again, it would open the door to future relationships with all sorts of females, either heroes, villains, or civilians. But to kill her would just mirror Gwen's death too closely. Plus, MJ wasn't fond of the black costume, so wearing it to remember her would seem more of a cold gesture than a fond memory. I'm not ruling out putting her out of the picture, I just say they shouldn't or wouldn't kill her. A better way to rid Spidey of the wife is to have them booted from Stark Tower following Spidey's actions in Civil War, which puts the family in danger. So, they spirit away to some place safe, away from Peter, be it temporary or permanently.

Yeah, as far as impressions go, that was pretty lame. Didn't try to mimic his voice or anything.

According to this article over at IGN, it looks like Spidey's going back to the black costume in 2007, be it symbiote or otherwise. Whether this has anything to do with him trying to hide his now exposed face from the public eye or what, I have no idea.

I got to agree with you on this one, despite the "Church's" view. Yeah, the designs look great and everything, but this seems like a shot in the dark as far as liscenses go. There are no cereal sections in my local toy stores, and if something like Street Fighter doesn't sell as well as they hoped, then what chance does Tony the Tiger have?