*** Head on over to my Ebay Auctions to see what’s available this week, or commission me if you’d like your very own custom action figure like this one. ***
For many fans, it was bittersweet when Mattel announced a collect and connect Bat Signal being released. It was amazing that a real working projecting Bat Signal on a 6″ scale was coming out, but it was for the movie line, meaning it had the movie emblem on the front. It was a turn off for many people, so I wanted to bring to life the classic styled Bat Signal. I used precision cutting from a stencil I made in Photoshop of the classic comic emblem, and cut the emblem out of polystyrene. I gave it a weathered metal look. I wanted it to look as if it had been painted black, but over the years the paint was scratching away. I used acetone to remove the painted movie emblem from the lens of the Bat Signal, and carefully glued the new one in place, making sure everything was lined up just right. The signal still lights up just fine, and projects the new emblem amazingly on the wall. Perhaps Mattel will release a comic style Bat Signal one day, but now at least you no longer have to imagine what it might look like.
Today I’ve got not one, not two, but 4 new custom action figures! I got them done quickly so I wanted to share them together. First up, we have Darth Knight 2.0. If you remember my first Darth Knight custom, it was pretty popular. I’ve updated the detailing on it, and added a couple of new custom accessories as well! Next, we have a 25th Anniversary style G.I. Joe Dial Tone. He’s a recreation of the G.I. Joe Club exclusive Dial Tone figure that is so hard to come by now. I figured out which parts were used, and got a cast head, backpack, and gun from my friend Alyosha over at Broken Arrow Toys, and painted it up! Then, there’s my custom 3 3/4″ Daniel Craig James Bond. He was made from the body of a Rise of Cobra James McCullen, and the head from a Golden Compass figure. And last up, we have Rene Belloq, from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. This figure is a 3 3/4″ as well, meant to fit in with the other Hasbro figures. They never made a figure of Belloq in his white suit, so I took a Jazwares A-Team Face figure, painted it up, and gave him the head from a Rise of Cobra James McCullen with painted hair, and the fedora from an Indiana Jones.
Be sure to click the following links to see the full photo sets and descriptions, and check out the sample photos below!
*** Head on over to my Ebay Auctions to see what’s available this week, or commission me if you’d like your very own custom action figure like this one. ***
Recently, I felt like updating my Darth Knight figure design. The recipe is the same as before. I used the body from a Movie Masters Dark Knight Batman, and the head, chest plate, belt pieces, and light saber from a Transformers Crossovers Darth Vader figure. The ears were sculpted on, and then painted over. The silver detailing is much crisper this time, and the skirting is also cleaner. This time, I wanted to give him a couple of new accessories, so I took one of the wings from the Darth Vader Transformers figure (he turned into a Tie Fighter) and turned it into a shield he can hold in either hand. I also took some clear styrene and cut it in the shape of a Batarang, and painted it with clear red and flat black over that. My thinking was the black parts would be the framework, and the clear red would be light saber energy flowing throughout, so that it could cut through anything. With that, Darth Knight 2.0 was finished.
Welcome to the latest edition of Ask Mattel! Let’s just jump right in and read the questions you submitted, and the answers given by Mattel’s staff.
Dwaine asks: Will there be a pre sale for temple of darkness Sorceress for power con?
No. We are just brining units to the show to sell.
Jared asks: Can you explain the decision to make the SDCC Death an 8 inch statue, instead of a DCUC 6″ figure? Many fans would love a 6″ Death and Sandman to go with their DCUC collections. Did you only have the license to make her a statue, or was it completely a design choice? And if you do have the license to make figures of these characters, will we ever see them as figures? Continue reading →
Welcome to another edition of Ask Matty! We’ve got a lot of questions about Batman and DC Universe Classics, so let’s jump in and see Mattel’s answers!
Jason Melo asks: Hi, Huge DCU & YJ 6′ fan and collector. You have mentioned that 2013 your relaunch the 6′? Does this mean you might combine the 2 and continue with the characters? Have been waiting for months, years for a real Superboy\Connor and Huntress and more main characters like Lois Lane, Cassandra\wondergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Elogated man etc…
At this point, it’s too early to comment on 2013 beyond what we’ve said. However, we do love hearing your figure suggestions.
Matthew Roche asks: We know that there is no collector aimed DC at retail until 2013 (we’ve all heard the announcements by now). When does matty intend on announcing what will be offered at SDCC??
Mattel has posted a response to a question on their Mattycollector message boards last week that they have canceled their 4″ & 6″ Young Justice lines due to lack of demand. It seems that Mattel just can’t keep a DC Comics based toy line going strong.
It was also recently announced the 6″ DC Universe Classics All-Star line was also getting cancelled and that only one wave with a new lineup was going to be released at retail. Mattel has also released an statement via their Mattycollector forums in regards to that line:
1.) Jason Cue asks: Will there be any chance of getting the rest of the Lanterns done in the DCUC/DCAS size (i.e. Saint Walker, Indigo-1, Munk, etc)?
Something we would love to include as we get to more colored lanterns in the future!
2.) Jason J Walter asks: Hi! I was wondering if the Vertigo line of characters was under Mattel’s contract with DC and if so is there a chance we could see a John Constantine or Sandman (Morpheus) in the sub line in the future? It seems that these characters were almost tailor-made for the smaller, direct market, so why not pull the trigger and get them made? Constantine especially wouldn’t be difficult to make as large portions of him could be re-tools.
1.) Jason Walter asks: With all the recent trouble with subscriptions getting cancelled and the laundry list of complaints from customers, what will it take for Matty (and Mattel) to drop Digital River as their site runners? It seems to me that there is just one major problem after another and they NEVER get back to you when a question or complaint is made.
We are working on major improvements to roll out over the next 2 months. We have heard you!
2.) Tony Antoniuk asks: When will Matty make a proper sized Mongul and Doomsday? The same size as the C&C Darkseid.
Mattel has posted a response to a question on their Mattycollector