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Not Mego, so I hope this isn't against the rules!
I recently decided to return to customizing after an absence of over 8 years (young children sure do take up a lot of your spare time!). I had been heavy into customizing Famous Covers figures prior to my sabbatical, and in total I finished nearly 30 of them between 1998-2002.
A few years back, when ToyBiz released a 12" Marvel Icons Captain America, with a great 1/6 shield, I got the idea to transplant the head onto one of DC Direct's 13" Collector figures and make a cloth-costumed Captain America. I actually managed to score a couple of masked Cap Icons (tough to find!), as well as an unmasked one, and tucked them away.
When DCD released a 13" Golden Age Flash with red pirate boots that matched Cap's, I decided to try my hand at completing the custom. I used the body and hands from a 13" Silver Age Flash, the boots from the GA Flash, and made the costume using a Classic Superman costume as the base with a red & white striped midriff and white sleeves added to it. I used a hole punch to punch out circles from a piece of blue vinyl and sewed them on one by one to approximate a chain mail effect on the torso, added gauntlets to the red hands for gloves, and my custom Cap was complete.
Well, I then decided Cap needed a partner, so I turned an extra DCD Robin (with Martian Manhunter boots) into Bucky. Since I had so many bodies and accessories left over from the Cap and Bucky project, I figured I might as well finish up the Invaders, so the Martian Manhunter became the original Human Torch and a Spirit movie figure (found really cheap!) became Toro. Sub-Mariner was a bit of a problem, but I ended up re-working a Captain Marvel/SHAZAM head (added sculpted ears, repainted it a bit) and added green scaled green trunks with a Shazam belt. I'm still not quite happy with Namor, and I need to add an "S" belt buckle at some point. I also considered giving him wrist bands, but Subby didn't have those in the Golden Age, so I left them off.
After finishing the original 5 Invaders, I decided to do Union Jack and Spitfire (who joined later in the comic series), and after they were complete I figured I may as well make the Whizzer and Miss America to form the All-Winners Squad. Then the rest of the Liberty Legion became a goal, and I finally finished up the Red Raven a few days ago to complete that team. Red Raven was a trial to determine if I could make a decent-looking set of wings in preparation for my next project - Hawkman!
My sculpting and painting skills are definitely limited at this point, my strength I feel is in costuming. The major drawback to these customs is, of course, the cost of those DC Direct 13" figures! They retailed for $60-125 when originally released, though you can pick some up for much less if you're patient. I have at least 2 of every comic-based one released, as well as further multiples of ones I picked up cheaply over the last few years. My next goal is to add a Hawkman to my JLA, and then do several JSA figures to go with the Golden Age Flash and Green lantern. I want to re-create the lineup from the first JLA comic I ever read, #91, which was the annual JLA/JSA team-up from 1971. It was a revelation to me, as it showcased 2 Green Lanterns, 2 Hawkmen, 2 Atoms, 2 Flashes, 2 Supermen, 2 Robins, and was my introduction to DC's Earth-1/Earth-2 concept (sadly gone now).
I'm way out of my league compared to many of the customizers here, but I really enjoy spending a few hours here and there working on these. Here are some pics, excuse my amateur photography skills:
Cap and Bucky:
Cap unmasked:
The original 5 Invaders:
The Invaders with the British Siblings (Union Jack and Spitfire):
The Liberty Legion (Jack Frost, Red Raven, Thin Man, Patriot, Blue Diamond, Miss America, Whizzer):
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I recently decided to return to customizing after an absence of over 8 years (young children sure do take up a lot of your spare time!). I had been heavy into customizing Famous Covers figures prior to my sabbatical, and in total I finished nearly 30 of them between 1998-2002.
A few years back, when ToyBiz released a 12" Marvel Icons Captain America, with a great 1/6 shield, I got the idea to transplant the head onto one of DC Direct's 13" Collector figures and make a cloth-costumed Captain America. I actually managed to score a couple of masked Cap Icons (tough to find!), as well as an unmasked one, and tucked them away.
When DCD released a 13" Golden Age Flash with red pirate boots that matched Cap's, I decided to try my hand at completing the custom. I used the body and hands from a 13" Silver Age Flash, the boots from the GA Flash, and made the costume using a Classic Superman costume as the base with a red & white striped midriff and white sleeves added to it. I used a hole punch to punch out circles from a piece of blue vinyl and sewed them on one by one to approximate a chain mail effect on the torso, added gauntlets to the red hands for gloves, and my custom Cap was complete.
Well, I then decided Cap needed a partner, so I turned an extra DCD Robin (with Martian Manhunter boots) into Bucky. Since I had so many bodies and accessories left over from the Cap and Bucky project, I figured I might as well finish up the Invaders, so the Martian Manhunter became the original Human Torch and a Spirit movie figure (found really cheap!) became Toro. Sub-Mariner was a bit of a problem, but I ended up re-working a Captain Marvel/SHAZAM head (added sculpted ears, repainted it a bit) and added green scaled green trunks with a Shazam belt. I'm still not quite happy with Namor, and I need to add an "S" belt buckle at some point. I also considered giving him wrist bands, but Subby didn't have those in the Golden Age, so I left them off.
After finishing the original 5 Invaders, I decided to do Union Jack and Spitfire (who joined later in the comic series), and after they were complete I figured I may as well make the Whizzer and Miss America to form the All-Winners Squad. Then the rest of the Liberty Legion became a goal, and I finally finished up the Red Raven a few days ago to complete that team. Red Raven was a trial to determine if I could make a decent-looking set of wings in preparation for my next project - Hawkman!
My sculpting and painting skills are definitely limited at this point, my strength I feel is in costuming. The major drawback to these customs is, of course, the cost of those DC Direct 13" figures! They retailed for $60-125 when originally released, though you can pick some up for much less if you're patient. I have at least 2 of every comic-based one released, as well as further multiples of ones I picked up cheaply over the last few years. My next goal is to add a Hawkman to my JLA, and then do several JSA figures to go with the Golden Age Flash and Green lantern. I want to re-create the lineup from the first JLA comic I ever read, #91, which was the annual JLA/JSA team-up from 1971. It was a revelation to me, as it showcased 2 Green Lanterns, 2 Hawkmen, 2 Atoms, 2 Flashes, 2 Supermen, 2 Robins, and was my introduction to DC's Earth-1/Earth-2 concept (sadly gone now).
I'm way out of my league compared to many of the customizers here, but I really enjoy spending a few hours here and there working on these. Here are some pics, excuse my amateur photography skills:
Cap and Bucky:
Cap unmasked:
The original 5 Invaders:
The Invaders with the British Siblings (Union Jack and Spitfire):
The Liberty Legion (Jack Frost, Red Raven, Thin Man, Patriot, Blue Diamond, Miss America, Whizzer):
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