New Stuff added in 2008 - I usually just announce new customs, but I'm always updating the site with new group pictures and non-custom Toybiz figures as I acquire them. Updates from previous years are at the bottom of the page Please check back often!
12-24-2008 - Here's British superhero Union Jack. Originally a Toyfare magazine mail-in exclusive, I had to update the figure after I saw that great Hasbro Target Exclusive Union Jack figure (from the Red Hulk BAF series). I also updated my Marvel Superheroes section which hasn't changed since at least 2005! That's it for 2008, Happy Holidays and have a Merry Christmas!
12-17-2008 - Here's a quick repaint of Hulk foe Ironclad of the U-Foes. I first customized a figure of him in 2003 but this newer Hasbro Hulk movie figure has better articulation.
12-08-2008 - Null the Living Darkness is an extra-dimensional demon (born from the remains of a long-dead ancient race) who has terrorized both the Defenders and the Squadron Supreme (indeed it almost took over the United States of the Squadron's parallel earth). This is another custom made by 6700curtis of 6700curtisbrainstorms. He did a great job with the moody colors and detailed eyes.
12-01-2008 - The second of four customs I comissioned from 6700curtis of 6700curtisbrainstorms is the demon Shuma Gorath who has menaced Earth for millions of years, though it has been opposed by heroes such as Conan the Barbarian and (much) later Dr. Strange and the Fantastic Four. It even made an appearance as a playable character in the Marvel Capcom video games. I like how it is sculpted in such a unique pose, conveying his otherworldly nature. Here's a side shot of Shuma Gorath.
December 2008
11-23-2008 - With the holidays cutting into my own customizing time, I'm glad to be able to show some great pieces here this month that I've bought from some really talented customizers. Today it is one of the Elder Gods, the mighty and evil snake demon Set! He was made by 6700curtis, who has a website called 6700curtisbrainstorms where he's taking comissions (I also bought the Krakoa and Eternity customs from him). I just got to make a Serpent Crown (Set's artifact of power) now! Here's a side shot of Set.
11-16-2008 - The second custom I bought on ebay from customizer/seller Sporkythebold is one of Captain America's most honorable foes, Batroc, As noted by Sporky in the auction, he was appropriately made from a Toybiz Marvel vs. Capcom Captain America. I did swap out the legs to make him more in scale with the 5" figures. He did a great job with this custom especially nailing the signature gallic moustache that I couldn't pull off with my attempt at this character.
11-10-2008 - I was able to buy a terrific custom of Kraven the Hunter on Ebay to complete my Sinister Six lineup. He was made with great care by customizer Sporkythebold who was so kind to sell him to me. He expertly nailed all the details of this character, from the spot-on headsculpt to the detailed painting. I will show another custom by Sporkythebold next week.
11-02-2008 - I was recently able to win an ebay auction of a huge custom of Goliath! This is not the Hank Pym version but Clint Barton, the Avenger better known as Hawkeye, who wore this costume during the Kree/Skrull war storyline. The artist and creator of this piece is in my opinion one of the premier and most prolific customizers working today, Raynir's Custom Action Figures. His site has a ton of great Marvel (and DC) Legends-styled customs, all expertly crafted. You can check out his ebay auctions and he also takes commissions.
I am fortunate to be able to say that this is the second custom I've purchased from Raynir, the first was a sweet Super Skrull from the Annihilation storyline. Here's the Super Skrull with his invisible arm. I also bought this from him on Ebay but I'm not too sure exactly when. I had planned on showing it when I make a new Marvel Legends section for my site, but never got around to it. I remember I had to try and win it because I could never find the original Toybiz Fantastic Four Classics Skrull in the stores and the custom worked perfectly when displayed with the Hasbro Marvel BAF Annihilus and Ronan figures. If you visit Raynir's site you'll see that he has made almost all of the major players from the Annihilation and Conquest storyline, a most impressive feat.
11-01-2008 - Had a chance today to update most of the shots in the "my collection" section of my site, showing my figures and custom in a display case.
November 2008
10-27-2008 - I was looking for a custom to fit the theme of the upcoming Halloween holiday and the closest match from my latest batch is War Hulk (ya know, because he's in disguise and all?) This was when he was briefly a member of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. I basically swapped out the parts from the Toybiz Hulk Classics War Hulk, but I did have to make a new removable mask (in the comics it shielded him from the ghost of his father). Happy Halloween!
10-20-2008 - Here's an updated Puma, an occasional Spiderman ally (and sometimes foe). I bought this custom figure from seller/customizer Mclerico on Ebay way back in 2003. Here's what he looked like originally, a good custom but really needed a bit more detail. Besides some paint touch ups and dremeling, I gave him a new necklace, feet and pointy ears.
10-13-2008 - Here's an updated Black Knight, the original Marvel's Gold figure had a huge helmet that didn't resemble any helmet he ever wore (maybe the original medieval Black Knight). I wanted to make a more on-model helmet that was still removable. The figure looks pretty good on the Marvel Legends Atomic Steed accessory that came with the Toybiz Marvel Legends Series 7 Hawkeye (though the Knight should really have his flying horse).
I also didn't get a chance to comment on CustomCon 21 (an unusually small number of entrants this time but still an enjoyable show) that ran on Oct. 6th thru the 10th. I usually try to participate in Joe Avecedo's show but just didn't have the time this go around. What stood out to me (in no particular order) - I liked seeing all of the Squadron Supreme customs, they really deserved to be made in plastic form. Iron Cows customs were great as always (and good to see a return to more comic books style customs) but the presentation with the special effects in the pictures really made them come to life. Ken of Mattman's never disappoints with his entries, especially his homage to Toybiz and Hasbro (funny writeup this time). Nice wind effect on Texas Twister. The Dragon Man is a perfect substitute for the hard-to-find Fantastic Four classics version. But even this old Marvel fan had to admit that I had no idea who the members of Death Web were - still they looked superb and well sculpted and I always appreciate the obscure characters! I though Dave Harris showed some skilled painting and construction in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. I'm also digging Norm's X-Force entry but I think Wolfsbane looks a bit too masculine - is she portrayed that way in the comics? Good job all around!
10-06-2008 - Just like the Gladiator custom that I showed last week, the 90's Toybiz Doc Samson figure from the Hulk line was too short and small to really match up against the green giant. When Hasbro remade the good doctor in their Hulk Classics "Fin Fang Foom BAF" series I felt I had to update the old figure.
October 2008
9-28-2008 - Gladiator is the praetor (commander) of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. Their ranks were decimated after an attack by former X-Men member Vulcan, who would later become Shi'ar emperor (thus the Guardmen now ironically swears loyalty to him). A Gladiator figure was made by Toybiz in the 90's but was really too short to be in scale.
9-22-2008 - Vulcan is the long rumored "third Summers brother" of Cyclops and Havok of the X-Men. He taken as an infant from their mother by emperor D'Ken of the Shi'ar empire. Eventually he joined the "lost" X-Men team sent to rescue the original team from Krakoa. Since his return he has battled the X-Men, invaded the Shi'ar Empire, married Deathbird and killed D'Ken to become the new emperor!
9-15-2008 - Here's another great custom I bought from ebay, Krakoa the Island that Walks like a Man! He was made by artist/seller 6700curtis (I also got the Eternity custoom from him) who is taking comissions at his website, 6700curtisbrainstorms.
Krakoa made his first appearance in the classic Giant-Sized X-Men #1, battling the "new" X-Men team.
9-07-2008 - I want to show this absolutely amazing Hemingway custom figure I bought on ebay from seller and artist glenwebman69. He really packed in the details, professionally sculpting and painting this masterpiece. Here's a link to his custom gallery (on figurerealm.com) and specifically the page for his Hemingway custom. He has some great figures of the Great Lakes Avengers and the Mutant Liberation Front, among others.
Hemingway (not the famous writer) is a member of the Morlocks terrorist splinter group, Gene Nation, who are X-Men villains. Toybiz was going to make him and the other members of the group in their Generation X series 3 but the entire wave was cancelled.
9-01-2008 - - This is the deadline to submit entries for the Summer CustomCon 21, hosted by Joe Avecedo. The actual show runs from Oct. 6th-10th. Have a good Labor Day weekend!
September 2008
8-31-2008 - One figure that I really wanted to improve upon was Tigra of the Avengers. Originally a Marvel She-Force Hall of Fame exclusive, it was a repaint of the Spiderman Black Cat figure. It was a pretty clever attempt with a nice paintjob but the legs were all wrong, so I replaced them. The upcoming Hasbro Marvel Legends 4 Tigra looks really good, hopefully it won't be too hard to find being a Wal-Mart exclusive.
8-26-2008 - I'm finishing my mini-run this month of Spiderman villain customs with Electro of the Sinister Six. The original Toybiz version was in a costume in which he only wore for a few issues in Amazing Spider-Man - I wanted a more classic look. Still needs his glove lightning bolts though!
8-21-2008 - Repainted Scorpion with a metallic green paintjob like the Toybiz Spiderman Classics variant figure. The "tail-striking" action feature works even better with the new flexible tail, the original was pretty much stuck in one position.
8-11-2008 - Once I saw a Hydro-Venom(???) figure (with clear blue "watery" legs) I knew it'd make a better Hydroman after a head switch and repaint.
8-04-2008 - I guess it's a opportune time to give my old Vision custom the cape from the Toybiz Marvel Legends Series 7 Vision, especially since Hasbro will be making an updated figure of the synthezoid (android) Avenger.
August 2008
7-28-2008 - Here's my 2nd go at the classic Iron Man armor, arguably the most famous of his armory. I altered my first version into the "pointy mask" armor. On a non-custom related note, I just got the new and imposing Fin Fang Foom BAF from the Hasbro Hulk Legends series (bought it loose off Ebay), such a HUGE update over the original less-detailed Toybiz release. It has to be in the running for best figure of 2008! You can see him in my Iron Man section, near the bottom of the page. BTW the San Diego Comic Con Hulk box set with the parts to build FFF (along with their other exclusives) is available right now at hasbrotoyshop.com! I got the Savage Land set and the Nemesis Prime Transformer exclusives.
7-21-2008 - As a member of the Spaceknights, Rom battled the Dire Wraiths, a shape-shifting species related to the Skrulls. Although Rom has not had an appearance since his series ended, some new Spaceknights did play a role in the Annihilation and Conquest storylines.
7-14-2008 - I'm still customizing here and there but have been really too busy lately to show my work. With the big Secret Invasion storyline going on right now, I figure it's appropriate to show a custom of one those darn Skrulls, Lyja the Lazerfist.
July 2008
6-30-2008 - Sweet Christmas! Last week I showed Luke Cage in his current look, now here's his classic 70's Power Man costume. Interestingly enough both appear in the new Secret Invasion series.
6-23-2008 - Here's modern Luke Cage from the pages of the Avengers. Thanks to Jamie Contreras for the base figure suggestion!
6-22-2008 - Here's an updated Goliath. I had been looking for the Marvel Legends 6 Goliath chase figure for a while so I was happy to get one loose for cheap to customize. Much better than my first attempt, a repainted Giant-Man.
6-13-2008 - Haven't had a chance to update in a while, here's two simple and quick customs. First, a re-done Cable (head and arm swap on my old custom) as well as a repainted X-Treme X-Men Psylocke.
June 2008
5-20-2008 - Kudos to Tommy Garvey for allowing me to share this picture of an Age of Apocalypse Rogue prototype. Toybiz did release this figure in their X-Men Monster Armor series, but this 2-up was the first time I've ever seen this particularly nice headsculpt. To see more of the Rogue proto as well as more of his extensive collection visit his webshots album. Thanks Tommy (and Bryan Simmons for the introduction)!
5-19-2008 - Did a simple repaint of the Mole Man using the wonderfully grungy and ugly Hasbro Fantastic Four release as a guide. The old Toybiz FF animated version was simply too bright and clean! I'm using some of the pack-in creatures from the Toybiz lines to represent his army of monsters.
5-18-2008 - After seeing the rocking new Iron Man movie with my niece and nephew (very good movie btw, a bit intense for the youngest one but still fun and exciting) it was a pleasure to see that Darth Bryan updated his Iron Man prototypes album with outstanding new pictures of the unproduced Toybiz 5" scale Iron Man playset, what a superb find! Playsets are always a hard sell for toy manufacturers but this would have been a true gem - thanks for sharing these Bryan!
5-12-2008 - Arishem the Judge was the other member of the Celestials that I bought on ebay from customizer vernondo, who ingeniously included a light-up head feature on this custom! I did add a bit of white paint to his right them and palm to depict the world destroying equation but otherwise this was a super creative and unique piece. I lost out on the bidding for a third Celestial, Nazaar the Calculator, which you can see at his website Customs by Vernondo.
5-07-2008 - Did a quick fix on my old Crimson Dynamo custom (first shown in 2005). The sculpting is still a bit rough but I was able to fix the head a bit and also gave him a new gloss red paintjob. Maybe someday I'll completely overhaul this one.
5-05-2008 - There was a big void in my cosmic characters collection, so once I saw some great customs of the Celestials from ebay seller/customizer vernondo, I had to try and get them. He made three and I was able to win two of them. First up this week is Eson the Searcher. These immensely powerful space giants have visited Earth over the millennia (1000 years), each time determining whether humanity is worthy of survival. During their fourth visit to earth (the Fourth Host) Eson was responsible for the destruction of ancient Lemuria. Visit Customs by Vernondo to look at his gallery or to request comissions.
May 2008
4-28-2008 - When the first pictures of Toybiz Marvel Legends series 13, the "Bring On the Bad Guys" wave came out, it showed each figure packed with a bonus "henchmen" figure. Due to rising oil costs, these figures were replaced with the BAF pieces of Onslaught. The one I wanted the most was the Doom Sentry, so I made my own. Here's a link with pictures of those unreleased Toybiz Marvel Legends (from actionfigureinsider.com)
4-21-2008 - The Titanium Man is the Soviet counterpart to Iron Man (finally updated that section of the site). Toybiz made a newer version of the armor that would show up in the 90's cartoon but I prefer this older model (although it is still not the original, first appearance armor).
4-14-2008 - In anticipation of the upcoming Iron Man movie, I'll be showing a few customs from the Iron Man universe (in addition to the previous shown Iron Monger) this month. Since Hasbro has done a great job with the movie line, I'll be focusing on the comic book style customs. Here's the Iron Man Mark VIII (aka neo classic) armor, which Tony Stark wore after the destruction of the Silver Centurion armor. The first Iron Man that Toybiz ever made was actually based on this armor, but the figure itself was too small compared to later figures.
Also, courtesy of visitor Darth Bryan, here's a link to his Toybiz Iron Man prototypes album on webshots. He has some unique pieces in his collection, including the unreleased Iron Man playset w/ Tony Stark figure and a 2-up of a 1st appearance Iron Man in grey armor (Toybiz only made him in gold and bronze)! Much obliged Bryan!
4-12-2008 - The last custom from the batch I got from a comic convention (artist unknown) is Rogue in her Xtreme X-Men costume. I added her trademark shades. I hope you have enjoyed these customs as much as I, even though they were all dumped into a loose figures bin, I can tell they were made with care and I was happy to give them a good home!
4-10-2008 - Updated my comments for CustomCon 19 through Day 5. Will tomorrow truly be the last day of the show? Say it ain't so!
4-08-2008 - Here's Psylocke (Betsy Braddock) when she first joined the X-Men, another custom that I still have no idea who the customizer is! Speaking of customs, CustomCon 19 is currently ongoing! Some nice work so far on Day 2, I don't have an entry this time around but I know there will be some great 5" Marvel customs on display in addition to the other styles. Here's my comments so far for Days 1-2 (there's alot of entries so I could only comment on some of the standouts for me).
April 2008
3-30-2008 - Continuing with the theme from last week, here's Storm in her Age of Apocalypse outfit. When I bought this custom from the comic book show, it didn't have a head, so I added one from my parts bin. The hair is not yet accurate, will revisit down the line. I will be showing two more customs from the unknown customizer next month.
3-24-2008 - This Age of Apocalypse version of Dazzler is another custom I bought from the Wondercon comic convention.
3-19-2008 - Repainted my Iron Monger figure (from the Iron Man movie line) blue to be a bit more comic accurate. The figure is very nice, and there's very little paint rub with this figure due to the design of the joints. I consider him 5" scale because of his head size (here's a comparison pic with a Legends Iron Man). The Iron Man movie is coming in May (previews look awesome) and I'm certainly looking forward to it.
3-17-2008 - Here's the Irish superheroine known as Shamrock! With her powers of luck she battled Captain America during the Contest of Champions.
3-10-2008 - Another custom I bought from the convention is a figure of the Shadow King in astral form, I believe. It might be X-Men villain Proteus but the colors seem more appropriate for the former. A solid repaint of a Spiderman Carnage figure, if anyone has any info on the creator of this piece as well as the Dazzler below let me know.
3-03-2008 - Here's Whiteout of the Savage Land Mutates. Unlike most of her fellows, she was not altered and given her powers by X-Men villain Magneto but by Mutate member Brainchild.
I also wanted to show a custom I bought from one of the dealers at the Wondercon comic convention. He had a couple of them mixed in with other loose figures in a large bin and I was able to grab six of them. They all just needed a bit of touch-up and they were as good as new! If anyone knows who made these custom figures please drop me a line. First up is Dazzler, in her 80s X-Men costume.
March 2008
2-25-2008 - Because you can never have enough Wolverine variants here's two customs I made. First, I altered the original Toybiz Spy Wolverine by removing all the knife holders and gluing the mask on (the head sculpt was a bit too simplistic). I also made a Wolverine in his Astonishing X-Men / Avengers costume. I used the Marvel Legends series 12 Wolverine as a reference.
For next month I'll be showing some 5" scale customs that I bought from the annual Wondercon convention here in SF, they happen to all be X-Men related and I was glad to get them.
2-18-2008 - The leader of the sewer-dwelling mutants known as the Morlocks is Callisto. She was later defeated in a duel for leadership of the group by the (at the time depowered) X-Men member Storm.
2-11-2008 - As a member of the Upstarts, the unstable Siena Blaze tried to assassinate Professor X, Cyclops and Storm of the X-Men for big points as part of their deadly game.
2-05-2008 - Wildside is a member of Stryfe's Mutant Liberation Front. I was glad to be able to make use of that weird Robot Fighters Wolverine figure to make this custom. I also have a new group shot of X-Men villains in the main page, if you haven't seen it yet check it out!
February 2008
1-31-2008 - In the 90's, the X-Men Angel was changed into Death by the villain Apocalypse to serve as one of his Horsemen. It was always kinda interesting in the comics how his wings went from this compact folded position into an absolutely huge wingspan.
1-20-2008 - Certainly one of the more bizarre-looking X-Men foes that came from the 90's was the Nanny. She "rescues" mutant children by enthralling them with her telepathic powers and encasing them in armored battle suits. The first such child to fall under her control was the Orphan-Maker (released as the Protector by Toybiz in their Generation X series).
1-14-2008 - Skullbuster is a member of the Reavers, cybernetic foes of the X-Men. I used a Kenner Terminator figure for the base, worked out pretty well scale-wise and I didn't have to customize it much, just added a new head.
1-07-2008 - Here's a custom of a figure that was made by Toybiz in prototype form but never released, Barrage! He is one of the Dark Riders, followers of X-Men villain Apocalypse. Here's a pic of his unreleased figure.
1-01-2008 - Happy New Year! Thanks again for visiting! At least for the first couple of months in '08, I'll once again try to have weekly updates of new customs, the first batch will be mostly X-Men related, with an emphasis on the much-maligned 90's era (my X-Men villains section also desperately needs an overhaul). I'd like to also eventually show some non-Marvel 5" scale customs if I get the chance. First, though I'd like to offer some of my humble thoughts on the best action figures of 2007.
January 2008
Older Updates
2003 Updates - This was the year I started making customs from the rest of the Marvel Universe
2002 Updates - My earliest work, back when I was doing only X-Men custom figures
