A few weeks ago i ordered some of the cool looking KABUTO MUSHI 2 Figures from the godbeast store!
BTW : Kabuto Mushi (japanese) is translated as japanese rhinoceros beetle!
I just saw some pictures on other toyblogs of them but man i had no idea HOW AWESOME they are!
The are compatible with the glyos joint system by Onelldesign and they totally rock the shit!
But please see for yourselves:
This is the KTX Mushi
This is the Amazon Tigerforce Mushi with metallic teal
I think they are roughly 4 and a half inches tall i didn't measure them.
Those guys feature a little one part mini mushi coming with them.He has a unique design too!
As if they didn't look awesome enough alread you can actually take them apart completely and build your own figure designs with it!Also they are compatible through the stick joint system called GLYOS so you can interchange parts with other figures and create something entirely new!You can also just rearrange the parts and create new figures out of one!
The materials used in casting here are totally awesome because the figures feel really nice and sturdy not cheap!
It's a ton of fun posing them in your garden as part of an alien invasion going on!
Here are some more pictures of my invasion team!
The metallic purple guy is also really amazing, in the sunlight the colors really shine!
The KABUTO MUSHI figures are really a great addition to every figure collection and if you don't have any figures, these are the ones to start your collection!
Thanks to Marty the Godbeast!
You can get these awesome figures here…..and some others:
Since i want to introduce people to some awesome action-figures let's have a look at one really awesome and weird line of toys as well as the Dune books and feature film!
I don't really get why some people dislike this film so much but then on the other hand it's just not every bodies darling and it doesn't try to be…. unlike most major movies today(don't get me started!).
For people with a heart for challenging stories, i really recommend watching the over 3 hour tv - cut of the original movie if you get a chance, otherwise the regular release will do, it's just not as good as the other version.
I grew up watching the classic Star Wars Trilogy and Star Trek Movies and Series.
As a boy i already loved science fiction movies very much and so i was thrilled to see Dune on german tv with my parents one night which i totally had never heard of.
Patrick Stewart (the famous,then not so famous actor of star trek and xmen fame, also shakespeare theatre actor) was in it so that was cool and i remembered the face of kyle mac lachlan from somewhere (maybe twin peaks which ran on german tv at that time).
The movie turned out to be really cool and a bit mind-blowing for me.I don't recall exactly when that was was maybe around 1992…..
Dune Movie Poster
A bit later i played the Dune game on my Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) extensively and for hours and hours.It was a really captivating game that had all elements of great real time strategy games already but it was not quite so polished as the later command and conquer games from the same developer Westwood Studios.Anyway i had a blast playing it and the harkonnens had some terrifying weapon that was like a nuclear rocket that wiped out your main building with a single well aimed shot.I remember being shocked over and over again by the shitty computers voice saying something like "Deaths Hand (name of the weapon) approaching!"
I really liked that game until the famous successor C&C came out for the PC.
Even today it can be fun to play it if you are ok with some rather terrible graphics.
Later there were some more dune games for the pc and playstation but those were mediocre exept dune 2000 which was also pretty good with improved graphics.
Handbook of the Dune Genesis/Megadrive Game
I was not able to read the book until much later but it really pays off once you are familiar with the characters a bit.Its a thrilling read!I don't want to spoiler those people who have not had the pleasure to read it yet.
Once you started reading there is a lot more to discover than just the first novel.there are may more.
Frank Herbert created something unique and really thrilling, on par with the scale of stories like Lord of the Rings (yes, other genre!) or Star Wars or the Neuromancer Trilogy!
Frank Herberts Dune the new german edition
Very recently there was a newly done translation released so for all german people that would be a good opportunity to start reading it!Do it now!
Frank Herbert came up with a dense and cruel but also very fascinating world.The movie doesn't do this justice like it is very often the case with movies based on novels!I mean this is more complicated than star wars( love sat wars too….but for other reasons than the story) and also maybe a bit more off mainstream because inside here is drug use and a lot more things that appeal more to a grown up audience!
The movie was overambitioned and wanted to make the big money like the Star Wars films did…... it failed to do so miserably!
I don't like the theatrical cut of the movie which is too short and leaves out many cool scenes.I think the viewer has not enough time to fully understand what is going on at times.
Clearly, if the movie would have been aimed toward an older audience other things could have been possible but the money related questions stood in the way from the beginning.At least a very talented director and cast did a pretty good job.Also the whole set design and costume were very cool.
this is the german multi language double dvd edition
it contains both the theatrical and tv version
So the movie was pretty dark and non - mainstream - ish, but this did not stop the marketing people to order some Action Figures by LJN (most famous for the Thundercats Figures that were also very cool).
It is indeed a bit baffling that the figures came out because there is a problem.Not with the Figures themselves they are quite awesome.
BUT trying to market figures of some very questionable fat floating man and his criminal nephews as well as just two heroic characters for a toyline is a very difficult thing to do.
Boys don't want a fat guy with exposed nipples to play with.They want heroes or clearly defined bad guys like skeletor from the masters of the universe line by mattel.
SO the figures turned out to be a shelf warmer in the stores and nobody wanted to buy them.That was also connected to the films failure.
Until much later when adult collectors and dune fans realized that they are actually very awesome and likeable!
Dune figures came out around 1984, in germany i think there was no official release (just some random small shops had some i was told) and in the uk and the us the figures were totally unsuccessful at the time they came out.
They are about 5 and a half inches tall and all of them have some cool action feature called Battle - Matic that allows the figures arms to move by pushing a lever on the back or side.
They also come with quite many accessories for example guns and knives and cannons, a cat in a cage (feyd, holy crap that scene in the movie…..) sonic guns and worm riding equipment!
There is 6 Figures that came out in total and they are:
Feyd Rautha Harkonnen aka Sting :
Feyd Rautha Harkonnen with a golden knife (that was added by me from a tex hex figure because i got him loose)
Stilgar the Fremen :
Stilgar with sonic gun and worm riding gear (also improvised by me, i will try to get the original parts as well but this works for me)
…..futhermore there is :
- PAUL ATREIDES ( Kyle Mac Lachlan)
- THE BEAST RABAN (Paul.L.Smith)
- BARON HARKONNEN (Kenneth McMillan)
-A SADAUKAR WARRIOR
and a Spice Scout Vehicle in scale with the figures.
Additionally there was a set of three smaller vehicles (Sand Roller, Sand Tracker and Sand Crawler)
Those were motorized and had a 4 wheel drive called Rough RidersTM !
but this is not enough yet (see they really wanted the toys to push the movie) also there were:
- A Sandworm that looked quite like a piece of poo with teeth :D !(that thing is quite cool but not in scale with the figures)
- two toy guns ( for role play) namely : the Sadaukar Laser Gun and the Fremen Tarpel Gun with lights and sounds.
And there was a Viewmaster (yeah those old picture viewers with the disk shaped things to put in……) …..sigh.
I will put up some more pictures here as i get more dune stuff in the future!
So a while back last year i saw a pretty cool indie Horror flick from a guy called Lowell Dean (Wolf Cop, 2014) and it blew me away!
It's suspenseful and violent and has a very good sense of humor.I had no idea that it existed and found it in our local electronics shop.
After watching it a couple of times (i am a pretty big fan now) i decided to make my own action figure of the Wolf Cop!
I remembered that i got a werewolf figure from that revised wolf man movie from some years back with benicio del toro as the wolf-man.I just had no clue where that was.
Some days later i found it in a crate in the basement so it was time to get started!
What i did to begin with was removing the rubberish vest that the figure had as it was pretty useless to me.
Next step was getting out the acrylic paint because this wolf man had to change his pants and needed some inking.I painted his pants in a dark green with a yellow stripe on the sides.
After adding some blood red colors and brown and black ink i decided he had to get a big gun and some police officers gear like a walkie - talkie and handcuffs along with a belt and holster for the revolver or to stash some alcohol in. (he is a severe alcoholic !)
I had an old reservoir dogs marvin nash 12 inch figure in storage so i wanted to use some of his gear and the police badge which i cut off from poor marvin nash.
After giving the badge a new dark yellow paint job (used some white coating over the silver badge because otherwise it would look pretty bad…) i treated the badge with some brown watered down ink to bring the details out again and to archive a comic book gold look.
After this i used some miliput and glue to place the badge on his chest!
Marvin nashs other gear like the holster and flashlight, handcuffs and walkie - talkie had to be stored somewhere so i needed to make a proper belt for him.
I went to a local sewing goods shop and found some good black straps that i could use for making a belt with a button and a tie that i wanted to add as well.
I asked my wife actually if she could help me (thank u sumie!) with the sewing for the button on the belt.
For his big clunking gun i used one of the guns coming with the old mcfarlane movie maniacs snake plisskin figure.Removed the scope and that was done.
For some move movie accuracy i wanted the wolf cop to come with some beer and other alcohol bottles!
In our local art supplies shop (Vowinkel, Frankfurt am Main) i found some small plastic bottles in scale that are meant to fit in some dolls houses (dolls with a drinking habit……,some of those even look like asahi japanese beer bottles, haha).
Finally the Wolf Cop needed some facial treatment as i had to lighten up his face color and ink the head and torso for more shadowing.
Last thing i did was varnish him a little so that the colors will stay on for good!
I added the picture of the final figure on instagram ( My Instagram is : FLOP1082 ) and the official wolf cop movie people seemed to like it so they featured me on their account and ask for my permission to use the pics of my figure on their page.( thanks again guys!)
I hope i could inspire some of you to get out and make your own action figure because to make something cool u can use some cheap parts and existing figures to create something new and exciting!
Cheers!
This actually makes me want to watch the movie again and yeah there is already a part 2 in production that should come out this year!
so this is my first post here on my new Toy and Toydesign/Art page called : TOYSCHNITZEL!
I am dedicating this blog to cool toys and collectibles that i love or/and that are worth supporting as i think that modern toys besides video games and a handful great exeptions SUCK.
So while i will also feature some great modern figures and toys here the most of them will be vintage or a little older.
Also i will talk about everything that makes figure/vinyltoy and statue collecting great just because i love it so much that nowadays many people like me who grew up in the 1980s show their love for toys and figures on the internet and with their craftsmanship!the indie toy scene is growing steady and i want to support this movement with passion.
I am currently living in Germany and also while there is collectors over here too i want to spread the word a bit to make the scene grow over here which is also needed.
I am a communication/graphic designer so i am also developing my own ideas about casting my own figures over here.
Since i am new to Figure making and casting molds (i have over 10 years of experience in model building and painting as well as miniature painting and customizing) i would be grateful for any help!
Thanks a lot for checking out my page and contact me anytime if you have some stuff to talk about!
Best Greetings Florian
Sooo let's get started:
The first line i wanted to feature here is a toyline from the early 90s called SWAMP THING by Kenner.
The Swamp Thing Family! (from left to right: Bio Glow-, Snare Arm-, Capture-, Camouflage-, Climbing- and Snap Up - Swampy)
Kenner is most popular for making the star wars Actionfigures of course so most of you might know those.
In a very smart marketing move George Lucas made a fortune with the little plastic figures that promoted his original star wars trilogy!
But Kenner also made some great other toylines for example Batman and SWAMP THING!
For those of you not familiar with the character of swamp thing:
Bernie Wrightson (art) and Len Wein (story) created him i thing way back around 1971!
Scientist / Botanist Alec Holland got almost killed in an attempt to blow up his laboratory(which was successful) and killing him (which was not successful) instead he turned into a swamp monster by tons of chemicals leaking from the exploded laboratory!
(Alan Moore later changed that origin story so that the swamp thing was always there,as a fighter for the green, a mystical energy derived from all plant life on this planet.)
There were and still are Comicbooks coming out today from Dc Comics/Vertigo.If you are interested in some good and also sometimes spooky monster/horror Comicbooks look for Alan Moores Swampthing from the 1980s.Those are really great ones.
There were also 2 movies in the 1980s which i liked, the second one being rather funny and not so serious.I remember heather locklear being in that.
Also there was a tv series (which i used to watch when i was a kid.And over here in germany it ran around noon on the weekends.)it featured some really cheap effects (by the time of the late 80s they were ok).Writing of the series was pretty good as far as i can remember.It was aimed more towards kids than adult people.
I can't remember much of any specific plot line but there where some cool moments in that series that showed the capabilities of the swamp thing.
And finally there was an animated series for tv as well which was short lived and did not find its way to germany at least as far as i know.
I didn't watch that but the toys are based on swamp thing and the characters from that saturday morning cartoon show.
Swampy had to fight a bunch of Monster guys called the Un-men along with his arch enemy Anton Arcane.
This is the Snare Arm Swamp Thing Figure!
So lets talk about the toys finally:
The toys came out first in 1991!The design of the figures is really excellent!
They were really ahead of their time and they all have different action features like color change or extending arms or the always popular glow in the dark feature!the figures are also pretty sturdy and do not break easily!
I was able to get all 6 variants of the Swamp Thing himself :
1. Camouflage Swamp Thing
2. Snare Arm Swamp Thing
3. Snap up Swamp Thing
4. Bio Glow Swamp Thing
5. Capture Swamp Thing
6. Climbing Swamp Thing
…..and this shows were the toyline its best at!
Although i have to say that the other Figures like the 2 Human guys (one afro american and a native american dude by the names of Bayou Jack and Tomahawk) also look quite cool!I might try to pick up the rest of the line somehow.
The villains are also totally badass because each one of them comes with a translucent parasite monster helmet thingy!These guys are:
- Anton Arcane (with a Spider Thingy)
- Dr.Deemo (with a Snake / Serpent like Thingy)
- Weed Killer (with some really weird looking bog Sucker Thingy)
- Skinman (with a Fangbat Mask thing with wings)
I really have to find some of those on card because i need to get them for the collection.
The designs of them are also really cool i mean just look at the Weed Killer or Doctor Deemo that looks like a Voodoo Priest(he even comes with a little voodoo doll of swamp thing!).
There are three vehicles in this line and those are :
the Bog Rover(a mix of a tank and hovercraft with skis on the front and a harpoon on top) and the
Marsh Buggy that looks totally cool!
the third one was the Evil Buggy that looks a bit like the Bog Rover in red and black.
Also there is a big playset called the Transducer that came with a little mantis dude and you could tie him in some sort of mutation chamber.Maybe it also came with some slime i don't know that for sure.It looks pretty cool and its not very expensive either.I unfortunately have no really good pics of the playsets here right now.
The other and final playset was the so called Swamp Trap that features some snare or sling trap and this is basically a little hill with a tree on top of it and some yellow plastic flowers.
So yeah, that's basically it and i tell you once you decide to open them up from the cards you won't regret that.I mean even now over 20 years since their release they are totally awesome and have a great play and display value!
Also the are still totally interesting for kids because cool Figures like them do not get made anymore by mass market companies.
For any toy collector with a heart for the 80s and 90s and creatures and also for kids wanting to have great looking monster toys with great play value and tons of fun this is the toyline to get!
Camouflage Swamp Thing turns from bright green to brown when you put him into the freezer for a few minutes!
They are retailing on the internet for around 15-25 Dollars (around 20 Euros) each, the villains are a bit cheaper usually!
The vehicles come for around 20-30 Dollars (around 30 Euros) still in Box
I don't know how much the Transducer is still in Box but out of the Box it goes for around 25 Dollars (up to 30 Euros)
I have no idea about what the price for the Swamp Trap is but i would not spend more than 40 Dollars (in Box) on it.
In Europe they are pretty hard to find so i can just recommend looking for them on the net on auction places in the uk(no custom fees) or in the us(bear in mind that for everything over 20 Euros of Value, you have to pay the customs fees extra in Germany).
Sometimes they show up on german auction sites as well so keep your eyes open for them if you are interested!
Finally here are two original 90s toy commercials for the Swamp Thing line (from 1991) :
This is one for the Figures and the Swamp Trap Playset!
