Sightings > Vintage Castle Grayskullman Custom by Hunter Knight Customs

November 16, 2012 | Poe

I knew someone had to have made a custom of a vintage Castle Grayskullman (aside from the creator of CGM himself), and a cursory search brought up this one by Hunter Knight Customs. I think CGM is the 30th Anniversary figure that most seems like it would have existed in the 1980s – yes, even more than Draego-Man, who, awesome as he is, seems a bit more like something Remco would have produced in one of their high-quality knockoff lines, since they focused a lot more on the dragons and dinosaurs.

Sightings > Jin Saotome’s Custom TMNT12 Slash

August 17, 2012 | Poe

A new TMNT toy line, a new slew of Slash customs. Slash, the evil Turtle, remains one of the franchise’s most popular designs (despite never having gotten another toy after the original), so it didn’t take long to start seeing customs of him from the new toys. Customizer extraordinaire Jin Saotome enters the fray with this amazing piece. Click the photo or this link for more images.

Personally, I hope we get a Slash in the actual toy line – in fact, I hope the new cartoon really delves into the old Archie-verse. That seems like a rich treasure trove of characters and stories, especially since the 2003 series already covered so much of the Mirage era. Which is another way of saying I want updated versions of Slash, Ray Fillet, and Wingnut & Screwloose – hell, all the Mighty Mutanimals.

Getting back to the custom – I have to say, with that squat round head, toothy grin, beady eyes, and the bandanna ends trailing like ears, he reminds me more than a little of Max of Sam & Max fame.

Pics of MasterEnglish’s MOTUC Batman Custom

May 18, 2012 | Poe

I realized I never really gave you all some good pics of the custom MOTUC-style Dark Knight Returns Batman customizer MasterEnglish made for me.

As you can see, I also created a bio for him.

Odds ‘n Ends > Poe’s Neglect, Selling Out, Battle Babies, Skyrim

November 10, 2011 | Poe

  • I swear this paucity of updates is not going to go on forever, or even my choice. Bachelor parties to Vegas, new pets, sick pets, and other non-toy-related responsibilities have been cropping up consistently, but I think things will be able to settle down now. I’ve got lots of ideas for posts, I just need to find the time and energy to get them written down.
  • Mattel unveiled the first four figures in their new DC Universe All-Stars line, the retail replacement for DC Universe Classics. The figures are the previously-revealed Larfleeze, Superboy Prime, Flashpoint Plastic Man, and a reissue of Batman Beyond. I think I can safely join most fans in a collective “…huh.” My understanding was the new direction of the line was to be synergistic with the current depiction of the DCU and would feature the better-known characters. Flashpoint Plastic Man is a relatively minor character from a very brief storyline wearing an outfit he’ll never wear again. Larfleeze is fine, if not exactly better-known, but Superboy Prime seems a both obscure and dated…does he even exist in the Brand New DC? Doesn’t he represent everything they’re trying to get away from? Still, at least he’s a new sculpt. As for Batman Beyond…it’s nice they’re reissuing him for those who missed him, but couldn’t we get some wings this time? Or at least a properly-colored batarang? To be honest, this is probably a better line-up than anyone was expecting for the new line, which makes me wonder if these particular figures had been slated for DCUC, not DCAS–much as the all-unique Demon and Penguin from wave one of DCUC seemed better suited to DC Super Heroes than the reuse-heavy DCUC.
  • New toys I’ve picked up recently: the Arkham City Robin/Joker 2-pack, the 6″ Walmart Captain America (movie version). Reviews forthcoming.
  • Check out this awesome guide to creating custom action figure backgrounds and dioramas by Matthew K at the Fwoosh. I tried to get Matt to write this up for PGPoA, actually, but the Fwoosh one was already in progress. Thanks to Battlegrip for the tip.
  • You may have noticed some new ads on the sidebar…or maybe you didn’t, if you use Adblock. Anyway, after several years of running this site entirely at my own expense (aside from some associate accounts and Google Ads, neither of which are particularly lucrative), I’ve decided that if I want to be able to support my hobby and keep up this blog, I’m going to need some sponsors. The one thing I can promise you is that I’ll only have advertisers whom I use myself and support. So please welcome BigBadToyStore and Thwipster, and welcome back EnchantedToyChest (who have a great-looking new site). If you would be kind enough to turn off Adblock on PGPoA I’d really appreciate it (I do that for the sites I visit regularly, believe it or not), but I’ll totally understand if you don’t want to.
  • Weirdo Toys has a great article on Brad Rader’s Battle Babies. Battle Babies are a line of custom toys featuring babies writing cyborg animals, Dino Riders-style. You can see more at Brad’s Flickr account, and even buy them at his Etsy page. Incidentally, Brad’s wife, the Geeky Vixen, is the editor-in-chief of Pendragon’s Post.
  • You may recall my cousin Ed and his reviews of Bif Bang Pow!’s Lost figures. What you may not know is he’s also a videogame reviewer for the Adrenaline Vault. He’s got a new review of Elder Scrolls: Skyrim out today–check it out! I’ll be getting my copy tomorrow. I hated Morrowind, but I got really into Oblivion, and it sounds like Skyrim only gets better.

MOTUC Batman Custom by MasterEnglish

September 26, 2011 | Poe

I just wanted to post a bigger pic of the MOTUC Batman custom I commissioned from MasterEnglish, which was revealed at PowerCon this weekend. I’ll do a more thorough write-up with more pics once it arrives.

It’s made from parts of Bow along with Keldor-style boots and Skeletor-style arms. The head, cape, and belt are from a DC Direct Dark Knight Returns Batman.

Poe Ghostal, the Minimate

April 18, 2011 | Poe

Waaaaaay back in early February I teased you with this photo, which then went long unexplained. Well, the time has come to reveal just what that was!

Meet Poe the Minimate!

Forged in the fires of Minimatefactory.com, this incredibly handsome action figure is the work of toysmith Luke Porter. Here’s what Luke had to say about the process of creating this masterpiece:

The figure was made with a standard Minimate base figure with decals for the face, chest, shins, and forearm bands. The staff is a combination of a Lego antenna and the Stargirl Minimate’s cosmic staff. The hat is from The Spirit Minimate with the hair removed and the brim widened using Fixit Sculpt. The shoulder piece was also sculpted using Fixit Sculpt, and the cape is modified from an existing cape using a big sharp hobby knife. Fixit Sculpt is my favorite sculpting clay – it is a two part epoxy that is very workable, and yet very strong. You get about an hour of working time with it, and 12 hours later is it hard enough to be sanded and painted. For paint I used Citadel paints because they have the best consistency and color mixing. I water down my paints with a little bit of water and use multiple coats in order to get a smoother surface that is free of brush strokes. After coating the figure with clear coat, I add the final details with an ultra fine sharpie permanent marker.

I have several tutorials on Minimate decal design, painting, and sculpting here at the Minimate Factory: http://minimatefactory.com/blog/?page_id=285

Thanks to Luke for this amazing custom! Be sure to visit Luke’s site for all your Minimate needs.

Interview with customizer Masterenglish

April 5, 2011 | Poe

Masterenglish is the customizer behind my April Fool’s joke this year, a figure of 339/1 in Masters of the Universe Classics style. To find out more about this customizer and his amazing work, I followed up the custom commission with a few questions.

Masterenglish
Real Name: Jon English
Base of Operations: masterenglish.deviantart.com/
History: Born in 1764, I started customizing wooden and tin toys available to me through various outlets, including the local general store and blacksmiths. My very first custom was a branch I pulled off of a tree, it seemed much too ordinary so I embellished the branch with trinkets of silver tinsel and ornaments of various colors, soon to become very popular around winter time in what would become known as America of the States United.

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