Tweet
Hello all,
You didn't think I'd let this month close without any contributions from me, did you?
Few things delight me more than to see the sheer number of monster customs being made these days. Ten years ago, it seemed like it was just me and Laurie Halbritter. Creating monster toys in what was essentially a two-person vacuum was one of the most rewarding cooperative creative endeavors of my life. Although we don't correspond as much as we once did, Laurie remains one of the the most valued friends I ever made in the field of customizing. We never truly collaborated on a project, but she changed the direction of my creative energies and re-shaped the goal of my art. This line-up of figures is dedicated to her.
Please understand I consider myself a toy customizer first, and a Mego customizer second. Most of the figures you will see below were done by me quite some time ago. A few years back, I realized I had made most of the custom Megos I ever wanted to make, and it was time to move onto making new kinds of customs. So I only make a new Mego about once every 2 years, as opposed to my past output of once every two weeks (Lord, to have that energy back!). Although these figures are older, they have never had hi-rez photo unveilings.
So here is a random assortment of figures I just happen to love. Posted in no particular order, for no particular reason. Sorry John-- no Werewolves
The Ghoul
Based on the 1932 Boris Karloff movie, this is a creepy little thriller made in England, with some moody interior photography, and a great score incorporating themes from Wagner. This is an overlooked gem
All costuming and head sculpting and box design done by me.
Karloff plays a professor of Egyptology who returns from the dead to wreak revenge on some treacherous colleagues
I am quite fond of this head sculpt, and the paint job. Dig that lazy eye!
His hands were stolen from a an old Figures Toy Company Bela figure, and they glow in the dark
CHRISTOPHER LEE as DRACULA
Alot of people have since done a Christopher Lee Dracula Mego, and Martin and Co. have even released a beautiful version. But 14 years ago, it was just me. I say that unaffectedly, without ego. Simply as a matter of what I believe to be a fact. I revised him a few times over the years. This is one of the best head sculpts I have ever done. I am personally fond of the latter-era Christopher Lee, from the time of Scars of Dracula... so this figure was sculpted to look like that. A EMCE Angelique from Dark Shadows makes a nice stand-in for "generic Hammer victim"
Again, everything done by me.
This pose is straight from "Dracula has Risen from the Grave"
No one could stand imperiously better than Christopher Lee!
I am very happy with the paint job on this head, too.
This was one of the first boxes I designed... for some reason I was calling my fake toy line "The Unsung Monsters Collection".
I do like the "Scrapbook" motif on the box panels... it works nicely. Martin does the same thing with his DD line. This is the only box I ever did it on.. I only did it once. Back in 1999.
THE BLACK CAT
This is possibly the best, arguably the most disturbing, and certainly the kinkiest movie to come out of Hollywood's golden age of horror. Karloff plays Hjalmar Poelzig, a war criminal who has become a renowned architect in the years following WWI. He is also a devil worshipper, a la Aleistar Crowley, and a necrophiliac. To say the connection to Poe is loose is false-- it's completely absent. This is a truly original work created out of whole cloth.
The poster is a masterpiece of Art Deco design. And I used that motif to pattern his box. This is one of the finest boxes I've done, I think.
Karloff's make-up was made to look satanic in the movie, emphasizing angles and lines, mirroring the house itself, which is an amalgam of Bauhaus, Cubist, and Prairie-style designs.
I desaturated the color palette of this figure's likeness, emphasizing blacks and whites and grays, using a pale flesh tone sparingly. His robe with the the white piping was among the harder things Ive had to sew, surprisingly.
NOSFERATU: EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUNS
A symphony of terror, the tagline proclaims. A bold statement for a silent film. But then, I suppose, no film is truly silent. They had musical accompaniment. For those who are interested, I find that Schubert's Unfinished Symphony goes along great to this masterpiece of Silent Cinema. Phillip Glass's score to "The Illusionist" goes along well too.
A clever eye will note this is the head from the Monarch Models AURORA-style kit. I retrofitted it in resin to go on a taller Mego body of my design. When a perfect head exists for my customs, I use it!! The art of being a customizer is in knowing and choosing the right parts and bringing it all together. I will sculpt if I have to. But I am just as happy to adapt an existing part to my needs. The hands are from a Remco 9" monster and work beautifully. They also glow. Buttons were recast by me from Sideshow 12" doll.
Similar to the Poelzig figure, I use a very muted color palette on this custom-- the entire head his painted with three colors: tones of sepia. the image on the box back was utilized to reinforce that feeling.
The suit was sewn by me, and has a silvery-gray fabric
This base accompanied a resin kit sculpted by Staffan Linder. It completes the picture for me. I love all the rats! This was one of my dream figures when I started customizing almost 20 years ago.
Profile of the great Yagher sculpt (as in Jeff Yagher)
This box features a more minimalist design by me... it fits the spare nature of this terror film
It was Laurie's inspired idea to use the film-strip framing design element on the back.
I said this was going to be a "Tetralogy" of terror... but I can't stop myself from including one more!
THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US
This is an underappreciated gem. This final film in the Black Lagoon trilogy has many detractors, but I find it far more interesting than the stultifyingly dull "Revenge of the Creature." It is like someone wanted to make a film noir and marry it to the Blacky Lagoon franchise. My wife calls him "Pajama Creech." I call him awesome.
The bulky body is a design made by me, and the hands and feet are from a Remco Creature, which work beautifully here. As a bonus, they glow in the dark.
The great head sculpt was lifted from a resin kit sculpted by Tom Parker for Posthumous Productions. I take no credit for it. It was way better than the one I did which graced this figure for several years... I am fond of the paint job I did though.
That's all for now!
Happy Halloween, and Thanks for looking!
Beast witches,
Matt
You didn't think I'd let this month close without any contributions from me, did you?
Few things delight me more than to see the sheer number of monster customs being made these days. Ten years ago, it seemed like it was just me and Laurie Halbritter. Creating monster toys in what was essentially a two-person vacuum was one of the most rewarding cooperative creative endeavors of my life. Although we don't correspond as much as we once did, Laurie remains one of the the most valued friends I ever made in the field of customizing. We never truly collaborated on a project, but she changed the direction of my creative energies and re-shaped the goal of my art. This line-up of figures is dedicated to her.
Please understand I consider myself a toy customizer first, and a Mego customizer second. Most of the figures you will see below were done by me quite some time ago. A few years back, I realized I had made most of the custom Megos I ever wanted to make, and it was time to move onto making new kinds of customs. So I only make a new Mego about once every 2 years, as opposed to my past output of once every two weeks (Lord, to have that energy back!). Although these figures are older, they have never had hi-rez photo unveilings.
So here is a random assortment of figures I just happen to love. Posted in no particular order, for no particular reason. Sorry John-- no Werewolves
The Ghoul
Based on the 1932 Boris Karloff movie, this is a creepy little thriller made in England, with some moody interior photography, and a great score incorporating themes from Wagner. This is an overlooked gem
All costuming and head sculpting and box design done by me.
Karloff plays a professor of Egyptology who returns from the dead to wreak revenge on some treacherous colleagues
I am quite fond of this head sculpt, and the paint job. Dig that lazy eye!
His hands were stolen from a an old Figures Toy Company Bela figure, and they glow in the dark
CHRISTOPHER LEE as DRACULA
Alot of people have since done a Christopher Lee Dracula Mego, and Martin and Co. have even released a beautiful version. But 14 years ago, it was just me. I say that unaffectedly, without ego. Simply as a matter of what I believe to be a fact. I revised him a few times over the years. This is one of the best head sculpts I have ever done. I am personally fond of the latter-era Christopher Lee, from the time of Scars of Dracula... so this figure was sculpted to look like that. A EMCE Angelique from Dark Shadows makes a nice stand-in for "generic Hammer victim"
Again, everything done by me.
This pose is straight from "Dracula has Risen from the Grave"
No one could stand imperiously better than Christopher Lee!
I am very happy with the paint job on this head, too.
This was one of the first boxes I designed... for some reason I was calling my fake toy line "The Unsung Monsters Collection".
I do like the "Scrapbook" motif on the box panels... it works nicely. Martin does the same thing with his DD line. This is the only box I ever did it on.. I only did it once. Back in 1999.
THE BLACK CAT
This is possibly the best, arguably the most disturbing, and certainly the kinkiest movie to come out of Hollywood's golden age of horror. Karloff plays Hjalmar Poelzig, a war criminal who has become a renowned architect in the years following WWI. He is also a devil worshipper, a la Aleistar Crowley, and a necrophiliac. To say the connection to Poe is loose is false-- it's completely absent. This is a truly original work created out of whole cloth.
The poster is a masterpiece of Art Deco design. And I used that motif to pattern his box. This is one of the finest boxes I've done, I think.
Karloff's make-up was made to look satanic in the movie, emphasizing angles and lines, mirroring the house itself, which is an amalgam of Bauhaus, Cubist, and Prairie-style designs.
I desaturated the color palette of this figure's likeness, emphasizing blacks and whites and grays, using a pale flesh tone sparingly. His robe with the the white piping was among the harder things Ive had to sew, surprisingly.
NOSFERATU: EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUNS
A symphony of terror, the tagline proclaims. A bold statement for a silent film. But then, I suppose, no film is truly silent. They had musical accompaniment. For those who are interested, I find that Schubert's Unfinished Symphony goes along great to this masterpiece of Silent Cinema. Phillip Glass's score to "The Illusionist" goes along well too.
A clever eye will note this is the head from the Monarch Models AURORA-style kit. I retrofitted it in resin to go on a taller Mego body of my design. When a perfect head exists for my customs, I use it!!
The art of being a customizer is in knowing and choosing the right parts and bringing it all together. I will sculpt if I have to. But I am just as happy to adapt an existing part to my needs. The hands are from a Remco 9" monster and work beautifully. They also glow. Buttons were recast by me from Sideshow 12" doll. Similar to the Poelzig figure, I use a very muted color palette on this custom-- the entire head his painted with three colors: tones of sepia. the image on the box back was utilized to reinforce that feeling.
The suit was sewn by me, and has a silvery-gray fabric
This base accompanied a resin kit sculpted by Staffan Linder. It completes the picture for me. I love all the rats! This was one of my dream figures when I started customizing almost 20 years ago.
Profile of the great Yagher sculpt (as in Jeff Yagher)
This box features a more minimalist design by me... it fits the spare nature of this terror film
It was Laurie's inspired idea to use the film-strip framing design element on the back.
I said this was going to be a "Tetralogy" of terror... but I can't stop myself from including one more!
THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US
This is an underappreciated gem. This final film in the Black Lagoon trilogy has many detractors, but I find it far more interesting than the stultifyingly dull "Revenge of the Creature." It is like someone wanted to make a film noir and marry it to the Blacky Lagoon franchise. My wife calls him "Pajama Creech." I call him awesome.
The bulky body is a design made by me, and the hands and feet are from a Remco Creature, which work beautifully here. As a bonus, they glow in the dark.
The great head sculpt was lifted from a resin kit sculpted by Tom Parker for Posthumous Productions. I take no credit for it. It was way better than the one I did which graced this figure for several years... I am fond of the paint job I did though.
That's all for now!
Happy Halloween, and Thanks for looking!
Beast witches,
Matt
Comment