Orange Saplings available still and Bigmantoys' studio move.

Time to really kick things into motion in 2013! Found a studio that's opening in January and will finally have the space to really crack out some decent scale production! Expect pictures of the place - it's a shared artist's studio with a couple of resident studio cats and a cafe downstairs (cats+coffee=yes).

Also ORANGE SAPLINGS. Why did every other colour sell out but not them? A customer told me today that they were not appearing as available internationally, that's why! I had no idea. I just thought people didn't like orange as much. Anyway, the Sapling's will be returning next year as part of a collab set but this very limited run in these limited colours is done so if you want one, now's the time!

YESSS!!!!!!! COME ON 2013.

If you happen to go back and see my first blog entry about a year ago, you'll see that the help i've been given from namely, GoldDober (who I will always insist, is one of the most profoundly talented craftsmen I know of), Ben Spencer, Brandon Micheal Barker, Tru:tek, Zectron, and TheGodBeast, alongside me working my arse off, and casting and mold making until I fall asleep with an exacto in my hand, has led to me making stuff, and with people I never thought I would be, way beyond my expectations.

The Clutter action figure show next month will feature work by... basically, you name it, they are there. And I will be there. So massively honoured.

When I was eight, i used to tell a lot of lies. I saw a GI Joe (or Action Force, as we called them in the UK) with Chinese text on the box. It got me thinking about (I didn't know the word bootleg  at the time) but the strange, clearly non official variations of toys I liked you can pick up very cheaply at pound shops. I told all my friends that you could get a Chinese Destro figure, with a giant head, and a penis attachment. They didn't believe me but I insisted it was for adults. This was 1988 and I was already well into bootleg toys and the features of them. I liked it when I'd buy bootleg turtles and their hands and weapons still had mold flash on them. I used to speculate how much I could sell copies of Niku, the MUSCLE figure for, If i somehow used molten plastic and a play-doh set to copy him when I was that age. This sounds like bullshit but it's true.

So I learned how to make molds and cast. First thing I did was make MOTU figures with well sculpted arses and knobs. I didn't expect to sell any but if I could have something unique and funny, that was good enough for me. They were too expensive to keep making and I wasn't great at getting joints right yet, so I scrapped the molds.

Months and months of learning and asking questions and practicing later, I felt confident i could do Treegarr. I really knew I'd had a good idea with him.

  5.5 of chunky figure is no mean feat. Also, my pressure pot is small so I couldn't make the body and legs one solid piece, so I was forced to articulate him. My inspiration on the look came from THIS

There are 18 Treegarrs in existence.  10 of v.1, 1 Clutter Exclusive, 1 Secret Premium Exclusive you'll soon find out about, 4 Gallaxor collabs, and 2 equally awesome top secret collabs following that.

So for now, I don't need to work on anything 5.5 for a while, although I really want to. I have some awesome ideas I know will work. The 5.5 movement is so ridiculously fun right now. I've only gotten hold of 3 pieces by other artists so far but it's so collectable, and so much pure fun. I don't have strong opinions on MOTUC except for the fact that people bid too much on ebay for them for my taste, and I like things to have that squat 80s magic. I do totally want Adora, Frosta, and Teela as I've been a filthy pussy fiend since i was very small thanks to those 3.

The DisARTiculators will be pumping out minifigures like you aint never seen. We've got two of the hardest working producers, and arguably one of the best sculptors in the art-toy (or whatever you want to call it) scene. I'll have to really step up my game to keep up with Zectron and Trutek.

As if that's not enough, I've been working for along time in complete secrecy with someone who every Micronauts nut will know personally, on a project that will come out of no where and really shock some people. It's going to be huge and I really mean HUUUGE for Micronauts and non-micronauts fans

Seriously has been one of the most fun years of my adult life. Now we get started on conventions and seriously fun collaborative strategy.

Busy man.

The new goods are up at the shop, Treegarr collab pieces shipped to artists, Clutter Show piece nearly done, uhhh... what's that? A three man minifigure hitsquad (Zectron, me, and Man-e-Toys' Tru-tek) i've been keeping secret that's got projects planned for a good year, and then infinity, to bring more, and more exciting minifigs than ever before, at a price that's right? Yes.


http://man-e-toys.com/2012/12/12/man-e-xclusive-the-birth-of-the-disarticulators/

P.S. Did you ever play the sequel to X-com on the PC? TFTD? I did a lot. It's handy when you know incredible toymakers. You just get stuff you always wanted given life.

Critters/ Treegarr Saplings double drop on Friday! (+ the growing of a Tree Monster).

It's decided - the Treegarr Sapling/Critter double drop will be Friday 14th December @ 18:00 EST/ 23:00 GMT! (Click the SHOP link above for our Bigcartel!) and they are yours for ONLY $13 EACH!! Will up pics ASAP!

After how many molds I had to make to get my first two waves of Critters done. The spines of the sculpt absolutely butcher the mold.
I vowed never to make more. Then I got this neon resin that really works, as well as lots of requests for one last wave.
They are awesome! While doing lots of casting for (full size) Treegarr version 2 - the Galaxxor version and version 3 - the (someone really awesome you have almost definitely heard of) version, I started sculpting the Treegarr minifig - the sapling.

I sculpted him in the British tradition. That is to say, miliput rather than sculpey, and lots of old school miniature sculpting and texturing techniques that suit RPG figurines and things of nature.
I actually got into making minifigs and happened to be working with an ex-employee of Games Workshop. I was playing with some clay while talking on the phone and he started giving me tips on how the scupltors at GW do it. Little things like making texture rollers themselves, and using exacto knives to perfect any dynamic lines in their sculpts.
After the big version, it was a pleasure to sit in front of the TV and fiddle away with him every night. Treegarr Sapling.

 

  

 Treegarr was a sketch I did when I was playing with the general idea of "chunkiness". I suppose it's that cartoonishness which defines minifigures from miniatures really. I only had a marker to hand and was getting into the idea of having this heaving chunky tree-guy. I showed Ben (Spencer of Galaxxor fame) and he basically made me do it! I sent him pictures of the WIP constantly, and he gave me pointers like making sure the taper is strong in the waist, that the forearms stay powerful compared with the upper. Toy-making-world helper extraordinaire Marty Hansen gave me some tips on making the mold, and my good friend Gold Dober (who I consider to be a very modest man for the skills he has indeed) was my automatic go-to guy for advice on casting the joints and functionality.

When it was just about done, but a little flat, Brandon of Manormonster Studios (yes, Bog-nar!) advised I spice it up with a little assymetry, which I still consider to be one of the coolest elements of the design when i look at it now!

SO that's the birth of the Tree-monster of Etheria! Now to get these, and the other collab models shipped over to America to see versions 2 and 3 manifest.

Toys are awesome. I'm really loving life at the moment. I've met so much genuine talent, intelligence,  and class since i've started dedicating my time to toymaking. Thanks!

Treegarr mini figure coming soon!

This month I will be all about the mini figures while my friends are working on five Treegarr collaborations that will knock your socks off! At less than two inches, Treegarr is now a treat you can pick up in any color, even when you're broke. i know that's one reason I've got six crates of mini figures myself!

Strong Combatants dropping wednesday (and Critters to come!)

AVAILABLE 28th November @ 17:00 EST/ 22:00 GMT on Bigmantoys' Bigcartel. Standard figures are only $25 EACH!!

Brutal cosmic warriors from the REAL Hel of Norse mythology. They fight to honor the mystical powers of the stars in the name of Odin.

The magic mists of Asgard give them their shimmering form - by fist and by spike they fight all who deny them glory in battle or lust of the flesh.


Among them are two brothers - Uniclops and the Cosmic Paladin. although fundamentally of the same stuff, they fight throughout the worlds over women and of the bragging rights of their legend.

 These figures are among the most garish thing you will ever find in 5.5". With re-appropriated vintage bootleg bodies and resin heads, they have been painted as vividly as possible. A dark eighties fever dream!

The header cards are a nod of honor to the great album covers of 80s metal bands. Uniclops and the Cosmic Paladin showing honor to Odin around a campfire. If  you can guess the album cover parodied here, then you are a Brother or True Metal!

 They are fully posable and totally not suitable for kids. Almost every element of them is toxic so don't suck on them. These are some nasty arse bootlegs. They have been coated several times in the thickest gloss available to preserve their looks and protect Eagles overhead from death by intoxication. (Just kidding, they are only as toxic as anything else made of resin and spraypainted).

 CRITTERS?! I've been getting a lot of mails from people who want more or missed the first few waves. I've been working on some big projects for Treegarr collaborations and they are DONE! The Critter (inspired minifig) is a tough bitch to cast so as much as it will kick my arse, we promised anyone who wants one should have one and we are sticking to it. Bare with me! I'm working my knackers off! But you WILL have Critters REAL soon!

Strong Combatants - 5.5 of Dark Fantasy Bootleg!

Warriors born of Cosmic Hel. Fighting all for the right to enjoy all of man's pleasures. Uniclops is envy of all Holy Warriors. His seed is said to bring blessings of strength and power to a planet. The Cosmic Paladin raised to slay him, has to keep his chastity whilst women the Uniclops has known try to veer him from the path of the Uniclops.

An intergalactic war of muscle and might.
 Arrows of the Galaxy!

STRONG COMBATANTS!

Strong combatants

Five days until 5.5" of true. Strength.

so much stuff

...and my  PC just died. forgive the lack of grammar but ihave to use my phone for updates for now. i posted some pics to the facebook page that might give you some clues as to what I'm up to. I've got one all me project I'm releasing in aweek that's pretty Fun and looks cool. I've got three mini figure projects which are all awesome but one in particular I'm doing with a micronauts buddy will definitely surprise a lot of people.
critters. I've had too many requests to keep putting it off. trutek has kept the rubber Supply up so I've remade the mold and I'm working on them until it dies. give me a week.

Thermoplastic resin for toymaking.

I discovered this stuff about 8 years ago when I was into making one off customs and was just teaching myself how to make two part molds.
I didn't want to invest in polyurethane and silicone and the rest to find out I couldn't use it, so I made two part plaster molds, and bought some of this stuff.
The first batch I bought was white. I got this blue stuff from a hobby shop in Japan. You just need to heat it to make it malleable.

It actually worked. I wet my finger to avoid getting it burned and pushed the molten resin all around the inside of the mold. Making a really tough hollow cast. You can throw it against a wall and it'll bounce back.

Since I discovered resin and got a pot - I didn't think i'd ever need thermoplastic. I've never once read about a toymaker using it.

I drilled my holes too big for the screws I needed to fit into the waist joint I made for treegarr. With a master model, it's ok to use putty and whatever else as it just needs to hold up for the mold-making process. But when it's a toy, it need to be much tougher - so Milliput would have been no good. Sooner or later, the toy would fall apart.

Using a heated up  pair of scissors as a sculpting tool, it's been possible to shape to plastic just enough to be a good filler. It's drillable and i've given the joints a good hard tug (I've got a 250 kilo grip, by the way) and they're holding up fine.

Heat it up enough and it's re-usable too. Which makes it great for small one part molds.

ATR Hobby site in full swing.

Gold Dover's made the switch from  blog to website:

http://www.atrhobby.com/

Marty Hansen was the first person I ever saw make a fully posable legit action figure. I was very turned onto the fact that I could now cast my own bits of coloured plastic. I did some with inspiration and a little advice from Marty (as I'm sure many did), then pro-wrestling took over for a few years and there was no time.

I stopped wrestling about a year ago. I won't go into the details why but I was pretty heartbroken. I had my best years ahead of me but the logistics didn't weigh up. I remember looking at some amazing pics of dozens of unique magno figures recast in amazing colours with AMAZING accuracy. Over a hundred e-mails later, I have a pressure pot, and know how to use it, I know how to cast joints, and cast without bubbles. He took me from having a hobby to being able to fill the hole that wrestling left. I'm glad to see my friend branching out and spreading his knowledge on.

I've just thought of the best Micronauts concept I ever have and will be working on that when time allows between my SEVEN different collaborations I've got going on (Jesus Christ whatamIgonnado?!)

Treegarr is loose now... where shall he manifest?

This is pretty HUGE!

http://projectphalanx.blogspot.co.uk/

Treegarr v.1 all gone.

The last of the 9 Treegarr v.1s I had for sale is taken! Just seeing if I can't add some value by getting the headers laminated. It might work out, if not, it'll be the same look as advertised.

Other cool stuff happening with Treegarr. I've got so many MOTU ideas I want to get done but have a bunch of Micronauts designs that must come into existence.

Something really cool happening to Treegarr. His whole world will be expanding in both toy and story form soon!

1 Treegarr left!

He's in the shop. I'm happy to have sold 8 so far (i'm keeping one for myself). Be interesting to see how long he stays there. Especially with the likelyhood of Ben "Galaxxor" Spencer doing his own versions coming out!

Treegarr in a couple of hours!

 Everyone's on Facebook these days so as much as i'll archive the main stuff here, I would encourage you to check out the Bigmantoys Facebook for more up to date info!

My first ever dead straight, scratch sculpted and cast 5.5 figure is going up on my Bigcartel in a couple of hours. 10 pieces.

They've been getting some good coverage at:man-E-toys

That-figures.

and Nerdcityonline

Also, I've employed the services of Mr John Santagada (radioactiveuppercut) of DC Direct fame to do the header art - so glad I did! My drawing would never have done justice to Treegarr like his artwork would. Check it out! It's my banner on my Faceook page and the Bigmantoys Facebook page, I love it that much!

Treegarr drops wedensday!

RIGHT HERE!

Treegarr will be available to purchase right here as of Wednesday 24th October @ 18:00 EST / 23:00 GMT!
Many more pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/78041648@N05
Standing at 5.5" of pure retro resin brutality, Treegarr despite being an art-toy features 3 points of articulation. WOAH!
This is a completely unique sculpt. This design (the original version) will be limited to 10 pieces, ever. I promise once 10 are bought, there will be be no more with the realistic brown bark paintjob, that resembles all artwork and the original sketches.
Due to be revealed before Wednesday, the amazing artwork of John Santagada (google him! Wow!) aka Radioactiveuppercut will be featured on the header card!
"Born from the blood of centuries of sacrifice in a far off desolate wasteland, 'Treegarr', known also in ancient tongues as 'Treevil', needs blood to remain animated. If starved, he must lay root and remain dormant until blood spilt by evil allows him to awake again.
Although Treegarr is only one entity, and one evil mind, there are many stories of him from across this universe and others. Farmers, knights, barbarians, and lesser monsters all have folk tales of this being. Here then, is his true form..."

Sorry grandad...

If you're looking down on me, I want you to know that I am still a man. This means nothing.

https://twitter.com/BigManToys

I can't deny the value of Twitter anymore so I've signed up. Not much to see yet but will post exclusive content both here and there, and on Facebook too, so worth keeping an eye out for Treegarr next week :)

Treegarr - heading this way!

Many years ago before Eternia knew of He-man or Etheria knew of She-ra, names of legend were many. They were violent times of warring factions and many evil powers were left to grow uncontested and unthwarted.

Deep in the Fright-Zone, before hero or villain dared to brave its depths lived druids and necromancers who treated the deserted realm as a playground. Anything was possible.

At the foot of a tall twisted tree was the spot of thousands of sacrifices. Unimaginable suffering over thousands of years was contained in the soil, roots, and blood of the tall tree.

A mysterious mage once gave the tree a name. The blood of the humans in it's roots gave it the power to take the shape of a man.

Treegarr, the tree that bleeds. The tree that kills. 



This is my proto-Treegarr v.1. I'll be holding onto this one.

This is basically the idea. I've rushed the paint job on this one a lot as we're going away tomorrow and I have limited daylight left to take pics with. I've got th parts for several already cast up and will probably be painting them tonight.

This one will look a little different to the rest as it's brown paint on brown plastic. All the newer parts are brown on black plastic which looks WAY more dynamic.

 I'm happy to say although it's an 'art-toy' it is nicely posable. The waist joint is tight and robust. there's 2 hollow pegs and a central screw making it fully pivotable and safe-ish to drop (please don't on purpose though).

The arms on this one are not a s good as the rest. The joints are loose. I've fixed that and will try to think of ways to further improve on it while i'm on holiday.

See ya next week! :)

Treegarr within 14 days + a secret DOUBLE DROP!

http://nerdcityonline.com/2012/09/29/treegarr-concept-art-from-bigman-toys/

I've posted my very first Treegarr concept sketch and it's up at NerdCity!

Also, here's something for checking out my blog!

Clutter Magazine... ME! and how silicone works.

Okay, first off, I will be exhibiting and selling something at the Clutter Magazine show in NYC in January. I will be returning to my adult themed roots I expect as I have an idea that would time perfectly with this.

http://www.cluttermagazine.com/

This is bloody exciting. At the very least, something about what I do has been deemed worthy of shipping over to America, where films and kids that go "Here we go again! Woahhhh!" come from.

I got some silicone through today and all I have to do is finish the test mold i'm making now. I mailed the maker and it's ok for pressurising. Nice.

I found out what was up with my last batch, the seller Polysil ( A GREAT COMPANY!) got back to me about why their stuff is not suitable for pressurising. Turns out that unlike the stuff you normally get accross the Atlantic, over here our catalysts are tin/condensation based. This apparently means that the need moisture to cure properly. The lovely 1:1 stuff that people use over the pond is apparently platinum based which makes it ok for curing under pressure.
They told me all this and still refunded me, even though they did nothing wrong - so the world isn't full of arseholes.

The stuff  I've got in the pot now is apparently  tin based too, but totally ok for pressure curing. So all the information i've been given is now a little confusing. I should just google it and stop being a shnork.

See ya next week!

Too annoyed at the crap silicone I got through wasting most  of the time I spent making toys this week. Got almost nothing worth doing done today and had planned to get Treegarr done this weekend. I won't give up. I'll get some from silicone from  my trusted supplier and try again, and then again if I need to. But for now I have to throw my hands up and chill out.

Bad silicone - again?!

It's probably my fault this time but this stuff is curing wayyyy to slow! I can't run my compressor at night so 8 hours curing max is my ideal limit. but I like to work fast and be able to re-make the molds quickly like I did with the Critter project. 1:10 curing agent ratio my balls! I did a little tester with 20% and it seems fine and cured in an hour like the product sheet said! There's 300g of expensive shit down the drain.

Ah well, when art and hard work marry, there is only Einsturzende Neubauten to keep the heart ticking:

Damage control on Treegarr.

Here's a bit of a sneak peak at one of Treegarr's hands. When I baked this, I totally forgot how powerful our oven was. It's really tough to strike a balance between hot enough and too hot (120 degrees, I think?). I left it in a minute too long and the arm I built the sculpt on was molten. I sawed off the useless upper and am attaching a new upper section, with the all important socket I need to be unwarped.

YOUR CRITTERS ARE ON THE WAY

Just 5 left in my shop. They are all in bags and boxes winging their way around the world. My hallway looks so clear!

Discipline.

This past two weeks has been seriously mental. Next time we do a collab minifig drop, I really need to learn how to organise using spreadsheets etc.

We've made and shipped over 200 Critters in two weeks - working in the evenings, between getting home from work and bedtime.. They were very reasonably priced, well produced, and awesomely sculpted. We all worked our arses off and it felt great to know that what we did was worth doing. We didn't half-arse and waste time. No-one at any point pussied out and slacked off. We all kept in touch because we really wanted to do it. We wanted to see hundreds of different variants of this toy flying to excited collectors, like ourselves, around the world. A childhood dream come true.

It's too easy to get to a gym and be so happy you've made it there that you don't put the effort in to the actual work. It's true of so many things in life.
I used to pro-wrestle. I also did a little competitive bodybuilding when I was a teenager. I learned a lot about the value of accepting rules. Not being a sheep or being controlled - ACCEPTING rules.

When I first got interested in toymaking, I did that thing of getting rock solid advice and thinking "that's too hard, or expensive, or takes too much time - I'll find an easier way". The secret to everything worth doing is THERE IS NO EASIER WAY.  It took me a lot of mails from Gold Dober before I accepted  that if I do something half arsed, it will look like exactly that.
I hate Munnies. It'd be easy for me to slate peoples work in that format as it's not my kind of thing. The fact is, when people sell custom Munnies, it's because they accepted the workload that they knew it'd take, to get their vision realised.

I am not hot shit at all. This is just my thing i'm doing to make myself happy. Of all the things I do in my daily life, this is the thing that I love to build on. It's the art form  I've always loved. I love reading about toymakers like Birnkrant, The Horsemen, Godbeast, Doughty, and learning all the different elements of the craft from people I write to like GoldDober and Ben Spencer.  There's a lot that sucks about internet culture - but it's been great for getting to talk to people who I otherwise would never meet. I must say, the ratio of people who have a hard-on for themselves is refreshingly low. It's restored my faith in people quite a lot.

(Pictured right is the Diazombie being sent off by the last remaining legacy of the ACro-Zombie project. A bunch of imperfect parts that'll stay here with my Micronauts collection. Below are the last three one-off MicroKeshi I made. But certainly not the last ever!)
Got a sackload of toys to ship off tomorrow. One particular box had a bunch of different keshi, my last Acro-zombie, and some other bits in and it's the proudest i've felt of my toymaking since I started. I looked in that box and saw a load of awesome stuff i'd made. Some I sculpted. Some I simply cast. But it was a box of stuff I myself would have been thrilled to open if i'd bought it from someone else. We fucking rocked this Critter project and i'm glad amongst all the fellow nerds of various social ability i've met online, i'm working with people that have a real spirit of fun, but also have high standards in what they do and have the discipline to be thorough with every element of toymaking/producing etc.

My past two projects have been a free education in the art I love. Now I get to do some sculpting again.
Treegarrs arms are a bitch. But everytime I'm not happy with them, I'm cutting down and rebuilding.

Barely a Critter left...

Sorry i've been quiet - super busy with shipping. 
Everyone who's 100% paid up got theirs shipped off  today at the latest. got a couple more to finish up matters with. This'll all be done by friday night.
Again, all three of us in this collab have had a great time and worked our knackers off on these, but are so happy this fig has resonated so well. I myself am still working out how to use this neon pigment i've go without it going all pale. Seems to work if I don't pressurize it but that's no good. Definitely still lots of cool variants left to experiment with.
 I think we've broken the 200 mark! And I haven't even made any MIMP colors yet!

New Critters on Bigcartel now - going on at 1PM pacific!

...and I promise i will STFU about it for at least a while now :)

CHURNING OUT CRITTERS LIKE AN 80s MONTAGE...

Here's a few of them - Real pretty, even I do say so myself. Plenty of ideas/combos to get throuh before the day is done!

MORE CRITTERS! (Last of the EGG CRITTERS!)

(--> They ain't glossed yet - will look way better tomorrow :))


FINAL BATCH OF CRITTERS (WITH EGGS)
SUNDAY NIGHT 9 PM (LONDON TIME)
1 PM (PACIFIC) at http://bigmantoys.bigcartel.com/

OKAY! Molds going bad on me and a really busy week with the clerical side of making toys, and a full week of horrible real world "work" work has meant that the rubber side of production (a-la man-e-toys) has been way more prolific than the resin side (that's my job!). My apologies for that. I've got two molds so I can now work double speed and will have the LAST of the EGG Critters on Bigcartel Sunday night (9 PM London Time , 1PM Pacific).
That way our American friends won't have to try and sneak on Bigcartel while at work  :)

As always, mainly to stop myself getting bored, I've varied the styles as much as possible. I've got all kinds of totally cosmic holographic glitters and neon pigments to use on these ones. I'll get pics up as far in advance as humanly possible to give everyone time to get ready and get what they want before it's sold out!

Another cheap arse mold making article.

 Hi! You might remember (or may someday read) my previous articles on experimental methods of recylcling silicone rubber (and sometimes even resin). I try to recycle as much as I can. All the little things you do to save pennies in the meantime really add up, and no one could pretend that silicone mold making and pressure casting are cheap enough interests to simply flirt with.

Anyway, the other day I fluffed (ruined) my Critter mold. No probs, I got 30 pulls out of that, i'll make another. Damn, I forgot to mix one of the resins, that's ruined after three pulls. I'll make another after work before I work out. Ah, I rushed it and forgot to put mold release in because I was in a rush and fuzed the two parts together. I surely did throw stuff around the room and grind my teeth.

I found a way to recycle most of the old molds and use about 100grams in total on each new version!
The bit of the mold that matters is where the model touches. The rest also needs to be bubble free in case a thin layer on the inside of the mold has a bubble on the other side (totally invisible) which the resin will be sucked into - imagine a human penis going into a femidom -  it's the reason some of my early molds which I put in a pressure pot yield figures phallic growths coming out of their backs and faces.

 But if I need to re-make the mold and it's only the middle that's no good, that's a lot of housing that might go to waste if I just re-do the whole thing.

So I cut it out with scissors (see picture) and put it in the mold box to see where the chopped out shape touches the model. Then I cut again to make sure there are no points of contact. We want fresh wet silicone covering all of the model.

I pour in the fresh silicone first, bang the bottom, and blow all the bubbles off the surface. I then jam in the old silicone, making sure it's touching the box walls on all sides, and push down until it's gone as far as it can.

I've already made a 100% successful Critter mold this way and am working on a second to meet demand for all the orders we're getting quicker.

:)

Critters progress... wrestling figures, and something completely new.

There can be no denial that although I can cast a good figure, in terms of workload, there are few who can churn them out like Man-e-toys. I've tried to go at his pace and it f'd me up!

I'm working on orders from people that have asked for customs to ship out with what we sold on friday. Made a new mold and it ate it on day one (I was doing a marble fig and was too busy watching Jackass on my PC to remember to mix one of the colours - bye bye mold 2!) so i'm delayed by at least a day but won't leave anyone hanging.

A spark of inspiration hit me this week. I have a lot of wrestling figures that I don't really like. I used to collect very seriously when I thought that they were all likely to be unique, until I started noticing that they were making figures all with the same ridiculously over muscled body. It's ok for He-man but when I paid 15 quid for an import Tajiri figure who had HHH's body and Jeff HArdy's trousers, I realised that the dream was dead. I still keep my ECW SF Toymakers originals and all my Japanese figures. Charapro were the company that produced EVERYTHING for Japanese promotions from NJPW to FMW. They've gone out of business which is a criminal shame.I managed to pick most of the stuff they made up for very cheap during the decline of pro-wrestling in Japan. Everyone got into MMA and started jacking off in the mirror (no offense to my MMA friends).

AAAnyway, I originally had a concept for an art toy which would use the many wrestling figs I have as a base with some original casted element. Then I thought of all the cool bootlegs I have that aren't really worth anything but could certainly lend themselves to that LSD inspired Taiwanese bootleg look. Those strange toys that came out in the eighties and look like they were cast by a blind person.

While I'm not casting or sculpting Treegarr... L'Wrestleur Intergalactique! Coming real soon!

Treegarr... of Etheria...

SOON!

More Critters to come!

 I really hope I don't die... Nah, this is good fun and although I've got to re-do my mold, I can catch up on the ideas that I didn't have time for, next batch we do :)


http://man-e-toys.com/2012/08/25/man-e-update-the-critters-inspired-mini-figures-sold-out-but-not-for-long/


Also... on the MOTU side of things, he is coming...

CRITTERS (Inspired Minifigure) SOLD OUT!

If you're not in a reading mood: 

 These are SOLD OUT - Thanks and congratulations to everyone that got one. Unreal how quick they flew out of the shop!

WE'RE MAKING MORE! (stay tuned)

You can get my resin ones at bigmantoys.bigcartel.com 

and Man-e-toys rubber ones at manetoys.bigcartel.com

 Hmmmhmm! That's right! That series of 80s horror movies about the little aliens that roll around biting, combining, and shooting people up with spikes have their own keshi.

You may be aware of the amazing Zectron's initial annihilating assault on the keshi/art-toy scene already form his first run of awesome (I own one) rubber figs produced by EricNilla. Zectron got in touch with Bigmantoys+Man-e-toys, and asked if we might like to do our own take to add to this amazing project. Totally!
 

 I myself have been working on all resin. to say this is a fun (if somewhat fiddly) sculpt to work with would be an understatement. Not to mention not being able to get over how awesome Zectron's sculpting is! This is something that everyone who wants one should own!! It's just too good to be limited to keshi collectors, art toy collectors, horror fans, or whatever. There isn't a level on which this figure fails to rock!

Within a week (?) of agreeing to cast these, Zectron somehow managed to land a giant box of plastic eggs, with crack-effect, just like in the movie, on my doorstep form somewhere in England. 70 plastic eggs?! How do you find something like that?! He may be an insane genius but Zectron means business!! I sprayed them up movie style with neon green, neon red, silver, and lots of glitter spray. I'm really happy wih how awesome they came out.

 I've got a few distinct types - available.
GITD - I don't know if i've used too much powder but they glow like crazy. If I put them next to a lamp, and cap them in my hand, even in a lit room, they glow like a nuclear rod.
Glitter - I love glitter and would live in a house made of translucent glittery plastic if I could.
Graf-eaty. The funky rad 80s stylings of these figures REALLY suit some graffing-up. I plan to do a few more of these.
Standard - Opaque colours.
Fruit gums - translucent citrus colours.  They look like candy.
Experimental/ Gradient - because it's more fun than making opaque :)