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Build history: 9art Two-Face

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  • darklord1967
    Persistent Member
    • Mar 27, 2008
    • 1550

    Build history: 9art Two-Face

    I really enjoyed creating my 9ART custom 8 inch action figure of The Batman’s psychotic foe Harvey “TWO-FACE” Dent.

    As with all my LEGENDS OF GOTHAM CITY custom figures, I approached Two-Face with an eye toward faithfulness to the traditional, classic Bronze-Age comic book interpretation of the character.

    This was a custom action figure that I chose to develop as a combined tribute of sorts to our beloved MEGO Toy Corp, and to actor William Shatner




    Back in 2017, the kind folks at Warner Bros. animation produced a sequel to their direct-to-video animated feature Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. Like its predecessor, Batman Vs. Two-Face was set in the 1966 TV Batman universe. It featured the voice talents of original 1966 cast members Adam West and Burt Ward (as our heroes Batman and Robin) and Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether reprising their roles as Catwoman).




    But in an inspired bit of voice casting, followed by a tour-de-force vocal performance, it was William (Captain Kirk) Shatner himself who stole the show as the demented villain Two-Face!




    The irony of this overall project and Shatner’s casting were not lost on me. Both Batman and STAR TREK (the show Shatner was best known for) hit the TV scene in 1966. Two-Face was the only major comic book Bat villain that was NOT featured in the extensive roster of villains portrayed on the Batman show. I suppose this was because the producers regarded a villain with a face half melted with horrific acid burns to be too gruesome for prime-time kid viewing back in 1966. To further cement the sad irony of no love for Two-Face, MEGO elected not to include the character in its original line of “Super Foes” from their WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES line of 8 inch figures.

    When the Batman Vs Two-Face animated feature was released in 2017, I immediately thought how utterly PERFECT Bill Shatner would have been back in ’66 if he had been cast as Two Face opposite West and Ward’s Batman and Robin. Physically, he was the ideal personification of how the Harvey Dent character was described and portrayed in the comic books from the very beginning: Initially a dashingly handsome Gotham District Attorney, referred to as “Adonis” for his chiseled good looks, the tragedy of Dent’s disfigurement and transformation into Two-Face is heightened by the ideal of what he once was.





    While developing the face sculpt for my 9ART custom TWO-FACE figure, I elected, without hesitation, to cast William Shatner (personified by MEGO’s excellent 70’s Captain Kirk sculpt), as the basis for the hapless DA Harvey Dent. And why not? Even the artists who worked on the Batman Vs Two-Face feature rendered the Harvey Dent character to have a distinct ’66 “Shatnereque” resemblance!





    I sculpted the terrible acid burns on the left side of Dent’s face, but with a considerable degree of creative license: Besides his traditional flashy “half split” costume elements, I have never really agreed with several of the existing interpretations of overly obvious “duality” in terms of Two-Face’s physical appearance. I never felt, for example, that his left hand needed to be disfigured like his face. I never felt that the character’s appearance was improved with wild, unkempt, and discolored hair (or even complete baldness) on the disfigured side of his head (as shown in more contemporary versions of the character). And, most pointedly, I have never really regarded the classic / traditional perfectly straight line down the middle of Harvey’s face (dividing unblemished and disfigured halves) as a particularly logical feature in lieu of the randomness of mobster Sal Moroni's attack upon Harvey Dent , as seen in the comics. Remember: Dent’s disfigurement was the result of a vial of liquid acid hurled and splashed into his face during a cross examination in a court trial. The disfiguring burn scar tissue along the left side of Harvey’s face would logically have been much more random and not so perfectly uniform divided as a straight line down the middle of his face.



    So… with my sculpt completed, I commissioned a clean casting of the head from my good friend Juan DeLeon, and then I made the necessary changes to configure the head for the ball joint neck articulation which I prefer to employ on all of my custom figures.



    The head was attached to one of my 9ART “Average Thin Man” bodies (developed as a radical re-tool / resculpt of the bandless “Type S” body originally developed by Castaway Toys.



    The creation of this custom figure was one of the rare instances when a key character defining body part could not be found in the existing world of 8 inch figures. I needed Two-Face’s right hand to be configured in a “thumbs up” pose in order to depict his penchant for flipping a two-headed silver dollar coin. My initial thought was to simply employ the hand of a MEGO Fonzie figure (from the Happy Days line) since it featured the required pose. By I quickly rejected that notion when I realized that there was a very obvious seam at the base of Fonzie’s thumbs caused by the addition of an articulated “thumbs up” play feature.





    I opted to work with one of the FIST hands that came with the Type S body. I very carefully sculpted away the folded thumb on the fist, then assembled a straight extended thumb (taken from an open hand) onto the fist. Some putty / sculpt work to make it all seamless… a molding and re-casting in flesh tone, and presto… new “thumbs-up” hand.

    The classic Two-Face comic book costume worn by this figure is a re-tailoring of the excellent garments originally created by Figures Toys Company for their Two-Face figure. I performed some basic sewing adjustments to the blazer and trousers to give them a more “classic tailored gangster” fit upon my custom 9ART body. I swapped in a white dress shirt, black neck tie, and sox… all courtesy of FTC’s fine products. The mis-matched wingtip shoes are Flattworld Bela Lugosi Dracula kicks, added as a nod to my good friend, personal mentor, and customizing legend Charlee Flatt.

    I was inspired to create the “Two-Headed Silver Dollar" (flipping in mid-air) accessory after seeing it employed on an old 7 inch scale figure (not remembering specifically which one). I copied the concept by creating a 3D render of the flipping coin...





    ... and then ordering a 3D print in clear resin.





    A .45 automatic from my parts bin worked nicely as Two-Face’s side piece.





    Digital mock up of Action figure Packaging





    Character File Card (front and rear)





    .
    Last edited by darklord1967; Aug 18, '23, 4:19 PM.
    I... am an action figure customizer
  • darklord1967
    Persistent Member
    • Mar 27, 2008
    • 1550

    #2
    I hope you'll enjoy the FINAL 9ART TWO-FACE CUSTOM ACTION FIGURE HERE!
    I... am an action figure customizer

    Comment

    • RobbieWilkes
      New Member
      • Feb 7, 2018
      • 2

      #3
      Amazing as always my friend!! Your creativity and talent are inspiring and intimidating to us mere mortals.

      Comment

      • KingKickass1983
        Career Member
        • Jan 19, 2019
        • 583

        #4
        FaaaRRRRR OUT, man!
        Wanted:

        Diamond select Spider-man hands. Long shot, I know...but ya never know..

        Comment

        • battmasterson
          Career Member
          • Dec 22, 2010
          • 823

          #5
          Awesome!

          Comment

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