Skeletor MYP/200X Custom Action Figure Art - Masters of the UniverseClassics

As I write my final post of Castle Grayskull Week, we are approaching the final hours before the MOTUC Castle Grayskull Pre-Order deadline. Since we began the week with He-Man, I only thought it fitting that we end the week with his arch-nemesis, Skeletor!

If you've read some of my previous posts, you know I'm a fan of the Mike Young Productions / 200X version of Masters of the Universe but prefer to keep those elements out of Masters of the Universe Classics. However, I know there are a lot of fans of that era including some really good buddies of mine who were introduced to the MOTU mythos through the MYP cartoon. So when I see parts that scream MYP/200X, I can't help but get ideas to make 200X style figures for Classics. (See Prince Adam V1 and V2 customs.)

This one started when I saw Preternia He-Man's hood. With the exception of the missing "point" in the front, it was the perfect MYP/200X Skeletor hood. A little bit of sculpting, casting, modding and a whole lot of painting later, we have a Classics/MYP/200X mash-up of Skeletor.

The differences between the Classics Skeletor and MYP/200X Skeletor may seem subtle to the casual fan, but the hardcore fan will notice them right away; the hood, more angular skull with vampire teeth, the bracers, shin guards, belt, shoulder spikes, coloring, and last but not least, the fact that he has more than three toes.

I gave him a pair of Classics style Power Swords but painted them to match the MYP/200X colors. I think they turned out pretty cool.

But he was MADE for the Great Unrest Weapon's Pack Keldor Swords.















I hope you dig him. If you do, leave a comment. But before you do, please consider pre-ordering a MOTUC Castle Grayskull before November 12, 2012 11:59 p.m. PT to go with him.

After all, what's Skeletor without a Castle Grayskull to covet? (Answer: An angry bone-faced guy with no focus in life.) Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.

The Little Differences: Vykron or Space Ace He-Man - Masters of the Universe Classics Action Figure

Vincent: It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same $#!t over there that we got here, but it's just – it's just there, it's a little different.

*****

Castle Grayskull Week continues with a MOTUC version of "The Little Differences." If you're new to the blog, every once in a while I show you a simple way to improve one or more of the figures in your collection. In this case, I'll show you how to turn that Vykron "Space Ace"  gear you have sitting in your parts bin into a cool new character.

First of all, even if you use the Space Ace gear on the Vykron body as intended, it looks pretty terrible. The bright orange 1970's Marvel style vest with the deep v-neck on a bare chest is too much for even the most daring of Eternia's fashionistas. Luckily, with all the figures we have so far, we can find some parts that both match the orange, help tone down the flamboyance, and bring the whole outfit together. (Thanks for the terminology Tim Gunn.)

He's made using Snout Spout's body with Thunderpunch He-Man's arms, Mo-Larr's boots, and a Preternia He-Man head. To swap the parts, I heated water in a large coffee cup in the microwave for 3 minutes, submerged the part for about 40 seconds, and then gently pulled them off. I repeated the process to put the parts back on. The head required some trimming away of the plastic to better fit inside the helmet. I used an x-acto knife to do this leaving a "U" shape on top. I also trimmed part of the back of the head so the face would sit further back inside the helmet.

I really like how the black mask ties-in with the black belt under the Space Ace gear and the black boots. It also gives him a little of the Boba-Fett look without obscuring the entire face.

I also like how the lines of the vest and the orange shoulders with bare arms give him that 80's-90's Wolverine feel when he had the brown costume with pointed short sleeves.

Now you've got a brand new character...or Space Ace Vykron...or He-Man in Space Adventure Gear!







I hope you dig him and see how a little experimentation with your extra parts can give you some great results...especially when those parts are just sitting in a bin collecting dust.

Now you're probably tired of hearing it but it wouldn't be Castle Grayskull Week if I didn't remind you to pre-order the Masters of the Universe Castle Grayskull for yourself. If you already did, thank you from the bottom of my Eternian heart. If not, here's the link.

Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.

Prince Adam 200X V2 Custom Action Figure Art - Masters of the Universe Classics

Welcome back to Castle Grayskull Week at Insidious Customs! Did you forget to pre-order your Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull? If so, here's the link to the page where you can do it.

Today's custom is a variation of a MOTUC custom that I made earlier this year; Prince Adam 200X style. A client of mine was so fascinated by the design, he commissioned one for himself. However, his one stipulation was that I make the head more closely resemble the 200X cartoon.

I liked the idea and thought I would use this opportunity to improve on my initial piece and try my hand at interpreting a very stylized, almost-anime hair style, as a realistic look. Another thing I wanted to do was give him sculpted gloves so that he would have better wrist articulation. So I took the commission. Little did I anticipate that simply changing the a hairstyle would impact the figure, and my time creating it, so greatly.

The first thing I did was remove the head from the base figure's body. I removed the hair and added ears because there were none on the original sculpt. I then began sculpting the hair. I did it in several layers to give it the forward swoop seen the in the cartoon. I spent a lot of time working and reworking it. Cartoon hair is a tricky thing to bring to life as cartoon angles do not equate to real world angles. I sculpted the gloves, shoulder-belt, and boots and then painted everything up.

However, when I finally put the head back on the body, the extra hair I had added to the back of the head caused the head to look downward because of the collar on the vest. I tacked down the back of the collar but the head still pointed down and the right-left articulation was still hindered.

I had a completely finished custom figure fully painted and ready to go but I could not bring myself to give it to my client this way. So I made a judgement call to replace the ball joint in the figure's body with a slightly longer one that would raise the head just enough to clear the collar.

I carefully cut off the back of the neck and replaced the joint with a longer, more sturdy, ball joint. I re-sculpted the back of the neck, painted it, and attached the head. Thankfully, it worked out perfectly and it's actually a sturdier joint than the original. Many thanks to my client who patiently waited for this figure during this much longer than expected process. I will never make this figure in this way again so he truly has a one-of-a-kind in his collection.











I'm very happy with the finished piece. I hope you dig him too. If you do, why not pre-order Castle Grayskull from Mattycollector.com by November 12th so my client, myself, and all the Masters fans can have one to display with our figures. Mattel has even sweetened the deal by including an exclusive Masters of the Universe Classics 30" x 20" cross-sell poster showing all the figures they've produced to date! Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.

King of Castle Grayskull He-Man Custom Action Figure Art - Masters of the Universe Classics

Welcome to the second installment of CASTLE GRAYSKULL WEEK at Insidious Customs! Have you per-ordered your MOTUC Castle Grayskull yet? If not, click here and do it, then come back and check out this cool custom action figure.

The MOTUC figure Mighty Spector has been a source of controversy since his introduction. But when his bio revealed that he "served King He-Man," it added yet another layer to his controversy. Fans who knew only the Filmation mythos were concerned; "Shouldn't it be King Adam? Did Randor die?" they asked on He-Man.org and other message boards.

Then, at San Diego Comic Con 2012, King He-Man was revealed. Somehow Adam was now He-Man full time and he was the ruler of Eternia. I wasn't wowed by the design or the colors.He looked a little too "fancy" with his neatly trimmed beard, silver and gold armor, blue cape, dutch-boy haircut, and silly crown. And the red cross was positioned over his belly instead of his chest. You can see it here.

My vision for King He-Man was always more along the lines of King Conan; he's a older but he's still a fighter first, far more comfortable swinging an axe at his enemies than making nice while he holds court.

As a fan of the original mini-comics, the idea of He-Man as a King is perfectly acceptable to me. You see, it was mentioned way back in 1981 in the fourth mini-comic "King of Castle Grayskull."

In this comic, the future King of Castle Grayskull is shown to Teela in a vision. He is a green figure with a red cape. He is cloaked in shadow and sitting on a golden throne.

On the last page of the comic, it is revealed that the figure in the vision was actually He-Man and that it is his destiny to one day become the King of Castle Grayskull.

The image of that shadowy figure (illustrated by the awesome Alfredo Alcala) has stayed with me since I was a child. Now, thirty years later, I've realized him as an action figure. (Fun Fact: Mattel incorrectly used this image to depict King Grayskull in his MOTUC bio pic.)

As you can see, I took some liberties with his armor. I filled in details obscured by shadow in the illustration while staying true to both the illustration's silhouette and the styling and colors of the original action figure. As I alluded to above, my vision of King He-Man was always more of a "Battle Ready" King so I didn't want to give him a traditional pointed crown that could be knocked-off in a fight and decorative silver and gold armor made more for show than actual combat. 

Instead, he would wear an armored head-band and war-worn armor in the color of his original harness, scarred from repeated use on the battlefield. He is older and wiser, even a little gray, but still at the height of physical powers. So after taking some inspiration from an image of King Conan, I experimented with different interpretations of the crown/head-band and armor details. (See image and sketches below.)



Interestingly enough, my King He-Man was parted-out long before the San Diego Comic Con 2012 reveal and the only parts they have in common (other than the basic body) are the shins. 

Both halves of the combined power sword are weathered to the point where you can barely see their original gray and purple coloring.
I see the green body suit as representing Castle Grayskull so it was only fitting that I combine it with the red, gray, and gold of his original costume. He may be the King, but there is no doubt that he is still He-Man.

I added some very subtle gray/white highlights to his hair and some wrinkles and shading to his face to make him look a little older...but still able to chop you in half with his axe.



I planeed to use the "eagle claw" hand from day-one so he could grasp his sword handle while sitting on his throne but it also works well for posing him in sword fighting stances.

I hope you dig him. If you do (or if you don't) leave a comment. If you really dig him, you can add this piece to your collection via my Etsy store. Click here to purchase him.

Now, I'd like to take a moment to remind you that we only have until next Monday, November 12th to pre-order the Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull. It's going to be huge and awesome and you know you'll regret it if you don't get it.

If we do not meet the minimum required pre-orders by the 12th, Mattel will not produce the castle! I know it's expensive but you have a whole year to save-up because they won't charge you until it ships next year. So do it for your self. Do it for your fellow fans. But most of all, do it for He-Man; the future King of Castle Grayskull. Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.

He-Man LEGO Custom Action Figure Art - Masters of the Universe

As we countdown to the MOTUC Castle Grayskull pre-order deadline of Saturday, November 12th, I am having Castle Grayskull Week here at Insidious Customs to build awareness as well as showcase my latest Masters of the Universe custom action figures. Our first installment is a bit unique as it's my first LEGO custom. I hope you enjoy.

It's hard to believe that less than 10 years ago, LEGO was getting their butt handed to them by Mega Bloks. The reason for that was twofold; LEGO's unwillingness to embrace licenses and their lack of focus on the miniature figures. In fact, even though they had the Star Wars license, the first year of Star Wars LEGO mini-figs featured yellow heads and very little deco. Their focus was still on building play. Whereas, Meg Bloks focused on creating highly detailed figures and telling a story with simply constructed but highly detailed environments and vehicles.

LEGO must have learned the error of their ways as today they embrace all the top licenses from Marvel and DC to Sponge Bob, Toy Story, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings. They've also shifted their focus from including a few simple mini-figures to driving the purchase of LEGO sets by including many highly detailed exclusive mini-figures. The characters are still filtered through the LEGO lens, but the sculpts are more intricate and the deco is plentiful. Yes, it's fun to build the Mines of Moria but getting a uniquely sculpted Cave Troll mini-figure makes playing with it afterward even more fun. In addition, they've created their own story-driven properties such as the highly successful Ninjago and my personal favorite Monster Fighters.

One license that I imagine they will never get is Masters of the Universe; partly because it's owned by Mattel, one of the largest toy companies in the U.S., and partly because they have their own Sword and Sorcery properties in the form of Kingdoms and Heroica. But that doesn't stop me and and many other LEGO / Masters fans from dreaming.

When my son asked for a Castle Grayskull cake for his birthday, we felt that we wanted some small characters in front of it. I made the He-Man mini-figure below from parts I was able to pick up at the Bridgeview Toy Con toy show. The hair and legs are painted and the red cross on his chest and other details are sculpted. The sword came from Shapeways. We painted half of the sword purple and half silver to resemble the combined vintage power sword. The shield features a design I created based on the vintage shield. I printed it on a piece of glossy paper, cut-out, and glued it onto the blank shield.

Here's Castle Grayskull cake #1 created by the super talented bakery artists at Tutu Cupcakes. My son gave He-Man a Ninjago villain to fight since he resembled a Snake Man. I printed the castle's flag and glued it to a toothpick.

And here's Castle Grayskull cake #2. (Also created by Tutu Cupcakes.)

I hope you dig my LEGO He-Man. I wish someone would make a more accurate harness on Shapeways but until then, this one will do. Check back for more Castle Grayskull Week at Insidious Customs. Follow at the links above or on the right so you don't miss out. Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.

P.S. - Don't forget to pre-order your MOTUC Castle Grayskull by November 10th (This Monday)! We only have 7 days left and we still have about halfway to go to reach the minimum order quantity. If we don't reach the minimum by Saturday, they won't produce it! 

Finally, here's a sneak peek of my next LEGO MOTU custom still in progress. You'll never guess who it is. ;-)

The Little Differences: Man-At-Arms & Teela (mini-comic) Masters of the Universe Classics Action Figures

Vincent: It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same $#!t over there that we got here, but it's just – it's just there, it's a little different.

*****
This is the Pre-Filmation Masters of the Universe Classics shelf in my house. The styling of these characters is based on their appearances in the four original Masters of the Universe mini-comics. Every figure on the shelf is a custom bash in one way or another (except for blue Mer-Man).

I've covered He-Man and Beastos in previous blog posts (I have since switched He-Man's boots to the Thunderpunch He-Man's boots) but today I'll tell you how I made mini-comic Man-At-Arms and Teela.

Mini-Comic Man-At-Arms
When Snake Man-At-Arms was announced (see photo below), I was stoked that we would finally be getting a Man-At-Arms with brown trunks and lighter yellow armor which he had in the original mini-comics. (The original release had dark green boots and trunks to match his appearance on the vintage package art.) I would simply swap the head  with a standard non-moustached MAA head and I would have my mini-comic MAA. I bought an extra MAA head from a fellow He-Man.org member and waited for his release.



(Below is how Man-At-Arms appeared in the original mini-comics.)


However, due to protests from fans who felt he was too similar to the original release, and much to the excitement of 200X fans in particular, the original design was altered (see photo below) to give him more of a 200X aesthetic with technology covered limbs, longer fur on his trunks, and one booted foot. For me, the only redeeming quality of the change was an armored-glove left hand. I was not happy because now I would not have my mini-comic Man-At-Arms.

However, thanks to the inspiration of fellow customizers on He-Man.org, I decided to make my mini-comic MAA anyway...and I'm glad I did. I used a standard Man-At-Arms as a base, swapped the trunks, armor, and left hand with Snake Man-At-Arms, and used boots from He-Man. The cherry on top of this custom bash is the air hose and tank on the chest armor which is from the original Man-At-Arms. Thanks again to my fellow customizers on He-Man.org for letting me know it was a removable piece.

Here's a comparison photo of mini-comic MAA and the standard MOTUC MAA. As you can see, the differences are much more apparent when you see them side-by-side.

Yeah, the fur on the trunks is a little too long and the brown of the boots isn't a perfect match with the trunks, but it's close enough. The added metallic deco on the mace and armor makes him stand-out and I really like how he looks.

UPDATE!
With the arrival of the Battle Ram and the Man-At-Arms figure that comes with him, I finally have the base body to create my ultimate Alcala-style Man-At-Arms figure in Classics.


The brown fur on the trunks was lighter on this figure, so I swapped the boots for a pair of Vikor boots to better match. All the other components are the same as I describe above.


***

Mini-comic Teela

Teela from the mini-comics is a far easier bash to make as she is a simple head-swap. But to make her even more evocative of her mini-comic appearances, I've outfitted her with new weapons.

The figure is a standard MOTUC Teela with the head from Battleground Teela. Thankfully, the skin tones of both figures are very close. In those original mini-comics, her hair was often blond and flowing and since she often used a gold or silver axe in these stories, I gave her an extra Vikor axe. Her hand fits nicely around the thinner portion of the handle. The shield is from a DC Direct Crisis on Infinite Earths "Weaponer" figure. The gold of the shield is not an exact match but once again, it's close enough and it's a perfect size for her.

All that I need now is a red Beast Man and a "toed" or "Caucasian-colored" Stratos to complete my mini-comic shelf.

If you're curious about the other figures on the shelf, Skeletor is made from a Mo-Larr/Skeletor two-pack body and the Skeletor head that came with Demo-Man. He has the two gray/silver Power Sword halves from King Grayskull. The Goddess features hips from Captain Glenn that I replaced so that she is more poseable. (A manufacturing problem made many of these figures prone to "exploding" when posed.)

Once again, I hope you see that "The Little Differences" can make a big difference in your figures and your collection. Until next time I remain The Insidious One.

P.S. - "Drunk Orko" would like to remind you that you only have until next Monday, August 6th to buy a subscription to the Masters of the Universe Club Eternia 2013. The club makes sure that you never miss a figure by automatically shipping them to your door every month. And as a bonus, you receive an exclusive figure (this year is King He-Man) and a cool poster painted by Masters of the Universe vintage artist Rudy Obrero. We are currently at about 65% of the number of subscriptions needed for Mattel to produce the line. If we don't reach the goal, the 2013 line will not be produced as planned.

2013 is chock full of great figures like Ram Man, Jitsu, King He-Man, and the Fighting Foe Men! You can check out photos of them here at He-Man.org. And if you feel like it's too late for you to start collecting, Mattel has made the "core" characters like He-Man, Skeletor, and She-Ra available every day on Mattycollector.com (some even at reduced prices.) Scott "Toy Guru" Neitlich has promised that 2013 will feature both vintage and Filmation characters so now is the time to climb aboard. Click here to purchase a Club Eternia 2013 Subscription!

To anyone who takes pride in being a "cherry picker" rather than a subscriber, please consider the following points...

• 2013 will have even lower production numbers than 2012 so it will be even harder to get the figures you want on "day of sale."
• Further, if you purchase through a third party vendor or ebay, you can expect to pay immensely inflated prices because the most fan-demanded figures will now be highly sot-after commodities (potentially making the cost of a subscription issue a wash).
• Finally, if we do not reach the goal number of subscriptions, there won't be any cherries for you to pick.