Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Bemon stuffed in a suit






New drawing. This one inspired by the M1Go monsters in suits that I love so much! I wish I knew how to make resin figures of my own - I would try to sculpt this guy out. He would make a cool addition to my shelf I think.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

My Bemon Drawing!



Just trying something a little different. I saw a piece of clip art of a landfill which inspired this drawing style. I wish I knew how to ink properly so i could really get this drawing to pop.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The first Celga haul

Yesterday I posted the lame story with the stuff I got from my first Celga shipment ever. Here is a photo of all the stuff together. I couldn't fit Kinnikuman Super Phoenix into the story.



Lots of vintage Tiger Mask figures on the right. These guys are 30+ years old! They have become sort of my more-vintage Kinnikuman. Now I just need to find the show to watch I guess!

Bemon is on the bottom... he's not a Celga (neither is the glowy mini-Zagora), but he arrived the same day so they are part of the biggest mail day for me! Bemon grew on me over time, and I had to drop a big chunk of change on him, but it ends up he's one of my faves. Plus, it has gotten me drawing again. I guess I just needed a free form to focus on.

I think I'm done with Romandoh figures for the most part... these two large ones were some of the more difficult ones to find for me over the past few months (mainly because I hadn't used Celga) but I don't really display them or anything. They are for my love of the series mainly. Just one of those things that I like owning but I don't necessarily need everyone else to see them!

I like the two random mini figures OK, but they don't really fit in with my collection. We'll see. 

The glow Dada is part of a growing collection of this unique little set of mine. I will probably leave him unpainted and have a set of blanks customized by someone.

And Norman is cool, but I don't see much a future between us.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Glowy-Z and Mr. B-M help uncover a rather large mail day!

Mysterious crates.......


A rustling comes from the pinnacle of the cardboard mountain... and a curious head peeks out

Z: "UGH what a trip! It's hot in there! Hmmm... looks like I got some company here... Lemme see...."



Z digs inside giant piles of packing to uncover an interesting looking companion...

Z: "Oh man you look like shit! (badum dum!) Are you OK? Speak to me!"


B-M: (in a slow, muffled voice) "Juuus ggget mmmmmeee ouuuuttaaaaa heeeereee, ....ppppaaaaaaaal"

<<<<<>>>>>


Z: "Looks like I just got to you in time. I'll be you are glad to be rid of that bag there, huh?
.....Ew do you smell something?"
B-M: "NNNoooope IIIIII doooon't sssmmmeeeeell nuuuutthhiiiiin"
Z: "My name's Glowy Z. I glow in the dark!"
B-M: "Orrriiiiiggiiiinaaal nnnaaaame theeeerrrreee! Iiiii'm Beeeee-Emmmmm"
Z: "B-M, eh? interesting...."




Z: "Well Mr. B-M, I guess we better see if anyone else is here with us. Let's get started on this big crate down here. What does this say?"


B: "SSSSSSEEEELLLLL-GAAAAHHH"

Z: "Celga... Never heard of em. Ah well it'll be a surprise. Let's get busy."



Glowy Z and Mr. B-M start digging through stale, indecipherable sheets of newspaper when it happens...

>POOF<

 
Mr. X: "It is I, Mr. Grieves! Here with my well dressed assistant simian Crackity Jones! My friends call me Mr. X. You haven't happened to see a man in a tiger mask around would you? I owe him something..."


B-M: "Nnnnnooooo, ssssoooorrrryyyyy Miiiissssstteeeerrrrr EEEXXXXXX. IIIII jjuuuussss..."

Glowy Z interrupts: "What my lumpy friend here wants to say is we just got here ourselves and thought we'd dig around and see what we could find."

Mr. X: "Well, Crackity and I are the splendid hosts of a most spectacular party inside! We may be packed tightly and wrapped in this FUN bubble wrap, but it has been tea, cucumber sandwiches and general rowdiness for days in there! Allow me to introduce you to these rabble rousers... Crackity, could you help these fellows out, please?"



Z: "Whoa! It's that kinda party, huh?"
B-M: "Nnnnniiiiiiiccceeee ccccoooorrrrsssseeeet"
Z: "It ain't so nice from my vantage point! Blech"

Viking: "My name is Viking Kid! By Valhalla, it is great to be on steady ground once again. I come from the land of ice and snow, you know!.... (just ignore the outfit... it's old)

Mr. X: "And may I introduce you to the rest of my closest friends."




Mr. X: "We have Golden Mask on your left."

Golden: "I will eat your soul."

Mr. X: "Indeed... Miracle 3 just back there..."

Miracle: "My name is on my shirt!"

Mr. X: "Why yes it is, Miracle. Very observant of you. Then we have Gorilla Man."

Gorilla: "I wanted Captain Caveman but someone told me that was already taken."

Mr. X: "Lion Mask is hiding back there. It seems he has lost his boots.... and he has an inferiority complex because people just prefer tigers to lions it seems."

Lion: "I'm so ashamed."

Mr. X: "As you should be. Mr. Mummy is next. I call him Wraps McGee."

Wraps: "Mmm mm hmm hmm mm mm mmmm"

Mr. X: "Ha ha never an argument from that one. And lastly we have Skullstar. Definitely the bees knees when it comes to names!"

Skullstar: "Goldy Mask stole my line."

Mini Skullstar: "Don't forget me!!! Don't forget me!!!"



Z: "Bwa hahahahahahaha. I thought I was a pussy!"

Mini Skullstar: "I'll eat your soul!"

Mr. X: "I could have sworn there was one more of us"



Vampy: "I vant to suck your blaaahhd...... before i bodyslam you!"


B-M: "Tthhhhaaaaatttt iiiissssss nnnnooooottttt aaaaa goooooddd iiiiidddeeeaaaa....#

SLURP SLURP

Vampy: "BLECH your blahd tastes like ze sewer!"

Everyone: "HAhAhAhaha... Oh Vaaaampy"

Crackity Jones and Glowy Z continue to dig through what seems to be acres of bubble wrap. This has turned out to be quite the party.

B-M sits this one out because he continues to get skid marks on everything.


Mr. X: "Ah here are the Dadas. The pleasant glowy fellow here is Dada C. And his smaller friend here is Dada WTF."

(crickets chirping)

Mysterious Duo: "We do not appreciate you mocking our small friend."


Z: "AAAHHHH you guys scared the shit outta me! B-M we're lookin at you here!"

Everyone: "HahaHAHAHAhAhahaLOL"

Mr. X: "Please meet Miss Cleopatra the Egyptian TV Psychic..."

Cleo: "Why pay 4.99 a minute darlin when you can have us for only 10 in da Celga feees!"

X: "...and her life partner Jeff Goldbloom."

Z: "Dude I LOVED you in Earth Girls are Easy!!"

Jeff: "I have no clue what you are talking about. Please leave me alone."

The digging continues.

Z: "Yo B-M! We got some dead weight here. Could you give me a hand? Or...a slimy pipe thing.... or something..."

B-M: "Iiiiiiii wwwwwwiiiiiiiillllll bbbbbbeeeeeee rrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiii....."

Z: "JUST COME ON"


Z: "Shit, B-M, this guy looks worse than you earlier. I think he's dead, Mr. X."

B-M: "Eeewwwww grrrrooooooossssssss"

Z: "Um... Riiiiiiight, B-M"

Mr. X: "Oh that's just Norman. Ignore him. He just likes the attention. He just wants to sulk and listen to Death Cab for Cutie when he isn't faking his own death."

A small, tar stained voice breaks Norman's awkward silence.

"rah!"


Z: "Come on dude... you aren't scary. Ugly, yes. Scary.... eh"

Mini D: "But you don't have a cool name like Diamos. Or a random shrine that serves no purpose whatsoever!"



Z: "YAWWWNN. Ugly."

Mini D: "Don't make my dad come over here"



Big D: "RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"

Z: "JE-sus. Ok OK sorry. I'm sorry"

Mr. X: "Well, the party is starting to die down it seems. Crackity, why don't you start cleaning up this mess?"



Crackity: "F Off"

Mr. X: "What was that?"

Crackity: "ooo ooo"

Mr. X: "Hmmm"

B-M: "IIIII tttthhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiinnnkkkkkkkk IIIIIII fffffffooooooooouuuuuunnnnnddddddddd......."
Z: "Yo X, we found someone else!"



Z: "This dude looks MEAN. Hey man, if we let you out, are you gonna play nice and let me ride you like a pony?"

Buffaloman: "Of course! Don't let the horns and spikes and armor and muscles and lack of clothing and evil smirk fool you. I'm as gentle as a lamb."

Mr. X: "No! Don't listen to him!!"

B-M: "Ttttttttooooooooo llllllaaaaaaaaaattttttttte!"


Mr. X: "Wow, you are exceptionally fast, Mr. B-M!"

B-M: "Thhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatttttttttt'ssssssssssssssssssss wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaattttt ttthhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyy tttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeee."

Buffaloman: "Suckaaaaaa!"


BAM! KAPOW! SMAK! BLOOD!

Won't someone help our heroes??

WHAM!!!



Everyone: "Sunshine!"



Sunshine: "Make like a tree, and get outta here, Buffy!"

Buffaloman: "*sniff* This ain't over, Sunny. Not by a long shot!"

Z: "Hey thanks, pal! You're the greatest!"
B-M: "Thhhhhhhhaaaaaaannnnnnnnkkkkkkk yyyyyoooooooouuuuu mmmmmmiiiiiisssssssssttttttteeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr....."

Sunshine: "Don't touch me."



-- fin --

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The Abominable Smogsquatch


Another commission piece from Paul Kaiju

www.paulkaiju.com
The palette:
The inspiration:
The finished product! (photo snagged from PaulKaiju)
Cool as ice!
I picked up this Gargamel Hedoran on eBay awhile ago for much cheaper than I have seen it anywhere else... I believe it was overflow stock from kaiju-taro that makes its way to the bay on occasion. I never really cared for it all that much, honestly. It was my first Gargamel figure, and I was excited to get it at a great price, but I guess the yellow never really did it for me.

I was sending Paul the Tepeto to change into a Dada clone, so I sent this along for the ride with the photo of the Bumble the abominable snowman from the old stop-animation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cartoon. 

I got this paint scheme back and I think it turned out great! There is nice fading between colors on the belly especially, and I like his pink mouth. Glad to see the trademark Gargamel shiny eyes stayed also. It is a little hard to notice, but there is a dusting of glitter applied to certain parts of him as well to really give it a frosty appearance. 

A little yellow peeks through in place... particularly around the joints, but putting white on such a bright base can't be very easy. 

Here it is worked into the Detolf shelf:

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Dadapeto by Paul Kaiju

Alien Tepeto by M1Go was a figure I bought pretty early on when I started my kaiju craze this year. He was pretty random, but I never really got into him all that much... he's no Dada afterall.


Oh but wait.....

Enter Paul Kaiju

www.paulkaiju.com

I thought that if Tepeto looked more like my Dadas that he would fit in a bit better. It turned out really nice I have to say.

BEFORE (see how sad he was?)


AFTER (pic snagged from Paul)


My only instructions were to use Dada (and to a lesser extent the Balzac Skullmerry figure) as inspiration and I really would like to see the hard black and white contrasty scheme maintained. 

I think Paul did a great job! The zebra stripes look like they were an absolute bear to mask out, and they are different enough from Dada's geometric pattern to make the figure unique among the similar pieces. He has nice shading underneath folds in the clothing. Unfortunately the paint got a scratch in it somewhere before it got to me, but at least this is hidden when he is standing with others.

The aptly named Dadapeto fits in nicely now on my shelf with other black and white/humanoids! 



Sunday, July 15, 2007

Indiana Loaf and the Detolf of Doom



Anyone reading this most likely knows that magical "is-it-Scandanavian?-maybe-not" word. DETOLF! I've not been in the collection game for long... at least not toys that I look to displaying as though they are little artistic sculptures as opposed to the latest zombie action figure that I just want to have next to my computer monitor... but quickly I found myself wanting to show them off to no one really and having nowhere proper to do so.

I began my search online for display cabinets about two months ago, but all signs continued to point toward the magical glass shelf sold by Ikea. Offering practically 360 degrees of pure viewing pleasure and no wooden joints or distracting solid cross beams, the Detolf shelf seemed like the way to go.

One problem... the closest Ikea store to me is 4.5 hours away just outside of Washington, D.C.

Thank God for the internet!

But wait.... ikea.com informs me that the shipping on one shelf alone is going to be 111.00!! Dear Vinyl Lords, what have I done to displease thee??? Why in the spray painted blue hell is she shipping almost twice the cost of the shelf itself???

Then an opportunity came about. My fiancee's best friend told us that after a trip to Spain, she was planning a trip to D.C. She would be passing said Ikea on the drive there and the drive back. Mua ha haaa!

I feel like I waited for weeks and the time finally came... but on her way back we find out that she has 2 antique rockers in her car, and there was no possible way for her to fit the Detolf inside as well.

Hmmm

Well, there was only one thing left to do... convince the fiancee that D.C. is the place to be for July 4th festivities! Haha! I actually don't want to sound like I planned our vacation around wanting a toy shelf... I honestly have never been to D.C. and it did seem like a great idea. I don't get too many vacation opportunities so I wanted to go somewhere affordable and closeby that wouldn't be the same ol'. The Ikea trip was just icing on the cake!

Anyway, D.C. was fun yadda yadda yadda.

We pulled into Ikea off I-95 on the way home to NC. Nothing had prepared me for the immensity of this place! Holy shit I think an Arena Football team could comfortably play in this place with room to spare for some IceCapades. We got our pencil and paper from the first kiosk and set out on a mission.

I was really only there for the Detolf, but ended up buying a laptop stand, a coffee table, a computer desk, a new quilt and quilt cover, towel and toilet paper bars, all matching wooden hangers. Credit card no likey.

We get down to the warehouse area and I learned exactly why Ikea charges so much for shipping on certain items. The Detolf weighs 87 pounds! (Not to mention the coffee table that was over 100!) I'm pretty puny when it comes to heavy lifting, but after some profanity and enginuitive cart positioning we got it loaded up and on its way. I'm glad I had hernia repair surgery a couple years ago or this might have been trouble.

The next day was when I assembled said shelf (and coffee table from hell). I had to open the box in my car and carry up pieces individually. No way was that box getting upstairs by itself. Assembly is not so bad on these, just a little time consuming. As true with many Ikea items, you only need the little tools they include and maybe a Philips head screwdriver. I had a drill also to install the little light (called Non) on the top of the inside. I do however recommend two people. I built this alone and had to balance big panes of glass against the wall and play a pretty precarious balancing act while trying to get the top to fit down on the 3 sides. Would have been much easier with someone else to there helping.

The shelf is decently made. It makes a little noise when you open it thanks to the metal rack system installed that the shelves themselves rest on. That metal rack taps a little on the side glass when the door is opened. The door closes firmly thanks to magnets on the top and bottom, but they do not make it difficult to open the door.

It comes with a canvas strap that you can connect to the wall to keep it from tipping over, but I don’t find the shelf particularly top-heavy so I didn’t bother. If I had something heavy to put on the top shelf, this might be a concern, but hollow vinyl toys aren’t particularly weighty!

All said, I am very pleased with this shelf. It affords essentially 360 degrees of pure vinyl viewing pleasure. I can’t really see the back since it is against the wall, but 360 sounds a lot better than 270.

Well, I’ll shut up and show the photos of the shelf. FINALLY!




I am aiming for themed shelves here as you may see. I welcome any suggestions for different placement or additions that might fit my themes!!





These IWG Sasquatch and Yeti get top billing, as I used them when I proposed to my #1 lady. I'll have to write about that sometime. Yes, that is a packet of Taco Bell hot sauce behind the chainsaw. (I'll bet that is the first time in history that sentence has ever been typed). The packet says 'Will you marry me?' on the front.







The top shelf holds my monstrous beasts. If you can compose yourself and control your fear long enough, you will see that I like the blobby monsters best. A couple Gargamel minis snuck in also. These guys are all rather large so i cant fit too many in here. I'll have to reorganize I'm sure.... especially if a Bemon ever arrives! (hint hint!). I am still looking for a Gargamel Zagora also to tag team with my big ugly Zagora in the back right.




The second shelf holds what I find most dear I think... my wrestling themed vinyl toys! I've been a fan of pro wrestling for most of my life, so when I found out I can feed a toy addiction with cool wrestling themed figures I almost shat myself.

I have a couple vintage Tiger Mask toys in the back framed by the Kozik colorways of Tequila and El Panda. Love me some masked grapplers! A few Gargamel fight figures in the front, Amos Toys In-Crowd Wrestling Federation on the left, a luchador Dunny in front, a lucha Chicken Fever on the right that I resisted at first, and my Kinnikuman Skull Brain on the left in front. I have a few more Tiger Mask toys so I may have to change up this shelf at times.





The last shelf I have pictured are more humanoid monsters. I have some cool M1Go monsters in suits in the back... two of which were custom painted by Paul Kaiju. Matango are in front of them - I wrote of them earlier. I am building a Dada collection as you can see on the right. There is something I find very endearing about this character... not sure what it is. I even bought a couple Balzac toys to go along with them - the Dirty Skullman and the one with the horns. Keep your eyes out here for more Dada love in the near future.

And I have them all paying homage to Mr. Godzilla in the middle... the original kaiju!




On the bottom shelf I have some western vinyl toys that I have hung onto after the big purge to start kaiju collecting. I didn't take a photo of them... McSupersized, some OBEY stuff, and some Clockwork Orange Qee toys.

I'm trying to keep my collection in this one shelf. Don't know how long that will last, but I have definitely slowed my pace to more of a rounding off themes at this point. Part of my interest in collecting now in my life comes from fine tuning, rearranging, etc. But we'll see!

Monday, July 2, 2007

Neptuneman by Romandoh

Neptuneman is a character from the Kinnikuman series who was a masked Kenkaman. This character Kenkaman is based on Hulk Hogan who was actually very popular in Japan as well as the US. In the story, the England native Kenkaman was depressed that he was so powerful and no one could stand up to him in the wrestling world. He felt he had nothing left to accomplish and decided to end his life by jumping into the Thames River.

Upon jumping in, however, he was discovered by the Neptune King, a former battler who had gone to live beneath the waters hundreds of years earlier because he didn't like how the wrestling world had moved away from life or death matches.

Neptune King gave Kenkaman a mask with magnetic powers, changing Kenkaman to Neptuneman!


This M.U.S.C.L.E. character was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. I knew nothing of the Kinnikuman toys back then, and, like most kids, named my little figures however I chose. This guy was named Harvey. Actually they were both called Harvey and formed a tag team together. (He was named Harvey because he looked like a friend of my dad's named Harvey. Harvey drove an El Camino and he was awesome haha)

So I couldn't pass up this giant Harvey figure...

Sculpt (4.75 out of 5): Oh yea..... this one is a beauty I have to say. Bulky, solid, just a great sculpt overall. His two faces are different enough to be unique and both have cool expressions. His hands look cool in thair various shapes, and the muscle definition looks great!
The figure is well balanced and stands easily on its own.
My only complaints (very minor) on the scupt are 1) the visible seams that are on pretty much all these Romandoh figures that are solid... This is the price you pay for solid figures due to the way they are produced. and 2) the post for his head to sit on is slightly undersized so his head comes off a little too easily. These are really nitpicking though because the sculpt is so well done.

Paint (5 out of 5): I really like the paint job on this figure. This was the first one I received ever with the airbrushed paint that had different finishes. His skin, hair and fur on his legs are matte and nicely shaded, and his trunks, wrist bands, face mask and boots are nice and glossy with a little metallic sheen in the highlights.
The skin looks as though it could even be soft, although it isnt

Articulation (3.5 out of 5): General articulation like all the other solid Romandoh figures I own. Head, shoudlers, bicept, elbows, 1 of the wrists, hips, knees and ankles. The joints aren't too tight and arent too loose. Very well put together.
His hips cannot bend very far in either direction due to the basic designand his ankles can hardly move at all because of the big furry tufts at the bottoms of his legs hindering that movement... this is the biggest articulation problem because you pretty much have to keep his legs straight under him in order to maintain balance.

Accessories (4.5 out of 5): Neptuneman comes with some cool accessories I havent typically seen in these figures.
He does come with the standard head (no-mask Kenkaman head.)

He comes with two different right hands - a clawing, gripping almost-fist and then a fist with index pointer pointing up in a #1 sign.

He also comes with a removable rubber vest with big nasty spikes on the front. the vest is easy to get on and off thanks to a split under the left armpit. so you only have to put one sleeve over his right arm, then the rest falls into place (with a little adjustment to get it under his hair and stuff like that.)

The figure also comes with a long, vinyl cape that has images of all the masks I suppose him and Big the Budo have stolen. In the story, Neptuneman and Big the Budo use their powers of magnetism to go on a mask-stealing crusade through the wrestling ranks. The cape is kind of a pain to attach and is honestly a better accessory to have rather than use.
Finally there are 2 transparent lightning bolts that he can hold in one hand... I think these are supposed to signify his magnetic powers
Very nice accessory set!

Coolness (5 out of 5):This figure is bulky, heavy, spikey and just overall cool. He looks awesome standing amongst any other figures and is definitely one of the first noticed by anyone seeing him for the first time.

Value (3.75 out of 5): Very pricey for an action figure, but you get a lot more for your money over a figure like Terryman of Kinnikuman... in size and accessories.

Overall (4.75 out of 5):This is my overall favorite figure from the Romandoh line that I own so far. I am holding out on the coveted 5 out of 5 rating just in case anything blows me away, but I really like this one.
Good points – Bulky, awesome paint, cool accessories, spikes, i can pose it just like his kinkeshi with it's arm raised.
Negative points – visible seams, pricey, limited leg poseability because of limited ankle movement range.
If you have the cash and want a terrific Romandoh figure, this is totally worth the purchase.