Minimate Customs: Fringe

A few weeks ago, I posted my Parks and Recreations customs.  In talking about these with my Minimate bros, I mentioned that I'd also made (but never shown) customs from Fringe.  Since several people asked to see them, I decided to rectify that:

Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop

These guys are all quick customs, so you can easily throw 'em together yourself, though I'm afraid I don't remember the formulas.  Someday, I'd like to make Astrid, and Broyles, and Lincoln Lee, and maybe even the parallel universe team....

Minimate Customs: Ultra- Humanite

The Ultra- Humanite has been one of my favorite characters for years and years and years, ever since I first saw him in the JLA/JSA annual crossover for 1981.  While the Humanite is not a particularly major character, he did play an important part in a Justice League episode, which led to the first ever Ultra- Humanite action figure. And this led to one of my absolute favorite action figures of all time: the DC Universe Classics Ultra- Humanite Collect and Connect.

But no Minimate!

Minimate Customs: Parks & Recreation

Tonight, one of my all-time favorite shows, Parks & Recreation, begins its' final season.  I think there is no better tribute to this excellent show then to show off my Parks & Rec Minimates!  After the break, you'll see pictures of each individual figure.

Minimate Customs: Around the DC Universe Part 2

Back again with some more customs!  I see that it's been awhile since I posted any DC customs; seeing as how I primarily make DC customs, that means I have quite a backlog to get through.  So here's some favorites, including some obscure ones that I'm betting only I would make. Such as...

Minimate Customs: Friends and Foes of Captain America

The new Captain America movie has been out for awhile (I still haven't seen it), but the Minimates are just coming out this week.  So I decided this would be a good time to show some of the various Cap-related customs I've made over the years, including one of my very favorites-- Batroc the Leaper!

Minimate Customs: Making Mine Marvel Part 2

Last weekend I flew out to Chicago to attend C2E2, and more importantly, to attend the first ever Minimate Multiverse meetup.  It was a really great time.  I didn't really know what to expect, since I'd only ever met one of the guys, but it was the most fun weekend I've had in a long time.  Anyway, I spent much of the weekend mentioning customs that I've made but not shown.  So I decided to rectify that, starting with a big ol' dump of Marvel customs.

Minimate Customs: Power Pack

Power Pack was a really awesome comic about four children that received super powers.  It's one of those great ideas that could be huge if only Marvel and (now) Disney would look closer at the potential of Marvel's lesser known properties.  Anyway, I made some Minimates of them.

Katie, Alex, Julie and Jack

Minimate Customs: Friends and Foes of Spider-Man

The other day, over at the ol' Minimate Multiverse, we got to talking about Spider-Man villains, and which ones still need to be made.  I've made a couple Spidey related customs over the years, and I thought I'd use this as an opportunity to show them off.  Plus, as a bonus, another Spidey-related custom... the most unexpected of all!

It's the Jackel, BTW.  The Spidey villain that most needs to be 'mated.

Minimate Customs: Darkseid by Delia

So the other day I bought a second Blastaar from my buddy Luke, since it's part of his great March sale and I wanted to use his hairpiece for something.  So, when he came I took off the hairpiece and stuck the rest of him in my fodder bin.  Yesterday, I was digging through there looking for some parts, and Blastaar ended up in my hand.  My five year old daughter was hanging out with me (she likes to build Minimates from my scraps), and she saw Blastaar and said "I know who that is.  That's Darkseid".  I started to say "no, actually that's..." and I stopped, and took another look at him.  Hmmm, Darkseid, you say?

Not bad, right?  I mean, it's not perfect, but that's a pretty darn good bulked up Darkseid.  Thanks, Delia!

Minimate Customs: New Gods

Jack Kirby made his name, and reputation, with his work at Marvel in the '60s.  But, personally, I've always preferred his later DC work, which is crazy and colorful and pure Kirby.  And the highlight from that period is undoubtedly the Fourth World Saga, which ran through Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Mister Miracle, The Forever People, and the flagship New Gods.  DC has released some fairly lovely hardcovers collecting the whole Fourth World saga, and you should buy them.  Anyway, I've made some New Gods Minimates, so let's get to them!

These photos were taken with our IPad, because the family camera is broken.  They came out with a soft glow, like they were taken by an arty nude photographer.

Minimate Customs: Rocket Raccoon

Little (admittedly embarrassing) backstory here: a bunch of us over at the Minimate Multiverse (your home for all Minimate chat) have spent the last several years championing Avengers villain Kang as a shocking omission to the Marvel Minimate lineup.  Well, last spring, the impossible dream became a reality, as Kang received a Minimate.  The question now, among Minimate fans, was whom would we champion next?  Within days, this became an all-out Civil War, as factions were formed, alliances were created and broken, and general chaos reigned in the Minimate world.  Oh, the fun we had!  I'm sure anybody reading this that wasn't there is simply green with envy.

Anyhow... I threw my weight behind Rocket Raccoon.  Two reasons (besides Rocket Raccoon being awesome): one, he's become an important part of the Marvel Universe over the last decade; and two, I figured he was beyond my customizing skills.  While the former is certainly still true (even moreso, now that the Guardians of the Galaxy are heading towards the big screen), the latter actually ended up being incorrect....

Minimate Customs: Calvin & Hobbes

It's been a while since I've shown off any customs.  The truth is that I've been none too active for most of the year, and so, despite the fact that I still have quite a backlog of 'mates to post, I haven't really been inspired to do so.  Well, that changed this week when I realized that a project I'd had on the back burner would make for a perfect entry in a contest my buddy Luke Porter's running.  The theme? Dynamic Duos.  My entry?  Well, see for yourself:

Minimate Customs: Earth-2 Huntress and Robin

When I began customizing Minimates, I had a short list of characters that I really wanted to do.  Some of these were pretty easy to do, as it turned out.  But there have been a few that stretched my (meager) skills, and actually completing those projects has been hugely satisfying.  You saw one last time I posted a custom, with the Rocketeer; today, you're going to see another, one of my all-time favorite characters, and longest gestating project.

Minimate Customs: The Rocketeer

At the top of my short list of dream custom projects is Dave Stevens' the Rocketeer.  I just love the character, and the comic, and I think the movie is probably the best translation of a comic to the big screen (not that it's necessarily the best comics movie, but the closest to the source material).  The only 1/6 scale figure I own is the Sideshow Rocketeer, and he's also one of the only Kubricks I've bought. Much as I like both those figures, though, they just don't fulfill my desire for either a 6" action figure, or a Minimate. While the action figure remains a Disney-shattered dream,  the Minimate is, of course, a different story.....

Presenting... the Rocketeer!

Minimate Customs: Crazy Quilt

Okay, one more custom to post for the big show....

Minimate Customs: CM Punk and Stone Cold Steve Austin

Same as last post, here's another set of customs featuring one entry for the "Best Custom Minimates of 2010" contest, along with a friend.  Today brings us two of the best from the world of the WWE.  Remember how I said I wasn't as keen about Star Wars Minimates as some others?  Well, I feel the opposite about WWE.  I think WWE could easily be the most profitable Minimate license of all, since it features a neverending roster of characters old and new, easy variants, and would require minimal new parts.  Anyway, here's the only two WWE customs I'm likely to make....

Minimate Customs: Han Solo and Luke Skywalker

Well, the calendar's turned over, and you know what that means:  time for the "Best Minimate Customs of 2011" contest!  You may remember my post from last year in which I showed off a few of my nominations not yet posted.  Well, I'm doing the same thing again, but, as I've been much more proactive with getting my work out there, I've only two customs I plan to submit for consideration that aren't already up here.  So I'm going to divide them up into two separate posts, each one paired with a like-minded custom.

Minimate Customs: Firestorm

Firestorm is one of my all-time favorite characters.  For one thing, I love his Al Milgrom-designed costume, puffy sleeves and all.  It's a shame that his stock has faded so much in the last few decades, because he really was DC's hottest (no pun intended) new character in the early '80s (the latter seasons of Super Friends [then renamed Super Powers] were built around him, after all).  But later writers mucked around with him, and he mostly disappeared for several years.  There's a new Firestorm book as part of the DC relaunch, but it's by all accounts terrible, and it suffered the largest drop in retailer orders from September through November. Oh well.  But here's the classic Firestorm, in all his puffy sleeve glory.

Firestorm here actually shows how much I've developed as a customizer. The original version of this custom that I cobbled together used Ma Hunkel's chest, an unmasked Daredevil head, and Storm's puffy sleeves, with the latter two sharpied red.  It made for a passable Firestorm, but that's about it.  I've since painted the arms properly, and made decals for his chest (using a logo I found at Customego) and head (starting with Art Asylum's template for the Beyonder, and adding his mask by hand).  He's rounded out by Flash legs, Bullseye's belt (with the sides cut off and the buckle painted red), Jean Grey's shoulder pads painted yellow, and a trimmed Ghost Rider fiery top.  Just for fun, I threw together Prof. Martin Stein, one half of the original Firestorm Matrix, using mostly a lab Egon Spengler.  Perhaps I'll do Ronnie Raymond as well; it will give me an excuse to use those Marty McFly Air Jordan feet I've got sitting around, if nothing else.

Really pleased with this guy.  And here's my decals, so you can make a Firestorm of your own:

Minimate Customs: Green Lantern Corps

Hey, did you know this is my 100th post here?  Considering this blog dates back to May 2009... that's pretty terrible.  Oh well.  Might as well post some more Minimates....

Minimate Customs: Dream and Death

Yep, more Minimates.  Just bought a printer, which will allow me to print decals out at home (rather then making the shameful trek to Kinko's), so I've gotta clear the backlog out to make room for the new projects.  Anyway, I've been sitting on one of these for quite awhile, waiting to complete the pair, which I just did this week.  So I present...