Joe Amaro has been a fixture of the action figure community for years. Not only is he the Director of Product Development for Jazwares, but you’ve seen his customs in ToyFare magazine going all the way back to the 200X He-Man days. More recently, he’s been producing some of the most mouthwatering MOTUC customs you can imagine, including Skeletor’s Robot Knights, his Bone Throne, and of course, the amazing Castle Grayskull.
Today, Joe has graciously given PGPoA the exclusive reveal of his latest custom: MOTUC Ram-Man!
Here’s what Joe had to say about the process of making the figure:
The original idea was to use the DC Universe Kilowog as the base and try to keep as much of his proportions possible. But as I progressed and studied Ram-Man, it became obvious that I could not. Ram-Man is more stocky and more square. So I went with a mix of the vintage back art, the vintage toy and little of the 2002 version.
The main element that I wanted him to have was to be huge! I wanted him to look like a massive battering ram that would be used to breakdown castle doors. Plus I know when Matty makes him he will be a lot smaller.
In the end I only used some articulation points from Kilowog, mainly the arms, although I did bulk up his arms using Magic Sculpt. Other than that, it is an all-original sculpt using Sculpey and mainly Magic Sculpt.
Poe
I love Joe's custom, but it's a bit too large for my taste as well. I tend to think of Ram-Man more as the short dude from the Filmation cartoon.
Wyngarde
Why isn't this guy working for Mattel? AMAZING!
I may be in the minority here, but I hope Ram-Man is a regular size figure and not over-sized, like the original. He's also one of the few He-Man guys I'm fine with loosing the 'special' feature. I'd be fine with normal legs. What's everyone else thinking?
But Joe's Ram-Man is mighty impressive! I wonder if this will delay Ram-Man as the 4H is thinking, "Man, how are we going to beat that?"
oICEMANo
Looks great but a little bit too big compared to the other Classics. I still have yet to see the awesome looking face of the cross sell art captured in toy form!
ADPriceless
Joe – great work, I love his feet – spot on the vintage figure.
I hope MOTUC Ram-man turns out to be a larger scale figure – he is my number 1 want for the line.
Reilly
Nice figure, I'd like to see an entire line based on that look!
It just doesn't work as a MotU Classics figure, IMO. Not only because of the size, but also because of the sculpt and the decision to base it on the vintage figure's final design instead of the prototype look.
He-Bro
Wow, that is awesome. I love the proportions, but just a tad smaller. (I wouldn't mind if the official one looked like this)
amaro
Thanks to everyone!!!
Seems there are two different schools of thought on Ram Man.
Some like it and others think his size and proportions make him look too cartooney.
My thought was to stick to the classic design as much as possible while adding some touches of the 2002. Like MOTUC, everything that is on the classic toy is on this one. But I added some extra detail like weathering to the armor. I also painted him using darker colors and used plenty of shading.
As far as the sculpting, again I tried to follow the MOTUC, detailed but very minimal. Maybe I could have pushed the realism more?
You gotta see it in person to really appreciate the size! I'll bring it to SDCC, Ha Ha!
In that sense I am very happy, he looks massive like a true battering ram. Obviously this is going out of the MOTU lore, but how else are they going to fight Gygor and the Shadow Beasts?!
Zach
holy crap, that's amazing! that has got to be the custom of the YEAR! Beautiful!
misterbigbo
That's very neat. I wish I could do something like that. What kind of armature is under there?
dayraven
after being an enthusiastic fan of joe's previous motuc customs… this one is kind of a pass for me. he's more like a playset than a figure. he's cute, no doubt, but not really ram man as he would be a member of the team. this ram man IS the brute squad.
Bigbot
Outstanding custom, but I don't like the scale to the other figures.
Snarf! Snarf!
It looks awesome! That is a fact.
I'm not too into the size of him. He's Too Large for my tastes…
Mountain-man
Cool figure, awesome work but I agree the size is not ideal, at least not what I'd want for Ram Man in MOTUC.
Michael Crawford
Wow – sweet! Joe always does such amazing custom work.
Brian-Man
This is awesome. Always dig Joe's stuff. The detail is impeccable. That AXE is my favorite element.
PrfktTear
Wow… that is an absolute beauty! I love the detail too, the dings on his armor and the chips in the axe. The 4H are going to have a hard act to follow!
Mecha-Shiva
Do you know who I am?I am the Ram-man,B#+&#!
Crazy
Wow. That is impressive. And big! I wonder where all the parts came from.
Dead Man Walking
I'm a fan of Joe's customs, and a fan of a large Ram-Man, but this one seems to large. Worse than that though, he looks more like a Playskool figure, or one of those action figure lines made for toddlers and young kids.
Barbecue17
Wow! That is a really, really nice looking custom.
Ram-Man is huge! Seriously, he is a beast. I wonder how tall he is in relation to Tytus and Gygor?