Re-attaching the creative nerve endings.

If you're one of the 300 or so people with a vested interest in garage toy makers, you may have noticed my complete abscence from toy blogs, and little posted on social media.
A few things have happened. I've got a day job in the games industry. I'm not working as an artist but as an admirer of the craft, it's quite cool talking with people who've worked on games I've spent a lot of time playing myself. BUT it's a proper bloody job. I can't fuck about. Just as when someone gives me money for a toy, I owe them 100%, I have to give back to this company. I'm not the best sculptor, or the best producer but I like to think Bigmantoys had a work ethic that gave it a degree of "success".

So I made that Maniac Cop statue and went quiet. Other massive personal changes have attacked my free time. I know full well I could just glue a Trump head to a Ninja Turtle, fart out some resin copies, and get covered on all the hipster websites but its an unfun game when its that easy.


I've got money saved up for the first time. I have pitched, got very close, and failed to design and mass produce a few licenses I love. I'm in talks for more. I don't know which if any will work, but I can guarantee it'll be something I would collect for the price.

In the meantime, my minimal profit Shapeways shop is keeping the pulse going with regular releases, exploiting the strengths of the 3d printed medium.

Last week was s full color range of Mortal Kombat and Double Dragon minis.
Much more to come.

Shapeways.com/shops/bigmantoys

Maniac Cop posable resin statues.

 Heyoo!

He's in-store now at bigmantoys.bigcartel.com
Just $75 for a fully painted deluxe version, and $39 for a blank.
 
I had a really good time at Toycon this year. Got to meet up with my old mates and get to know some new ones better. Regardless of my stance on the whole custom Dunny thing, credit where it's due - the art was excellent.

Also got reminded how fickle the whole bootleg art toy scene is. You're only as good as your last gimmick a lot of the time so I thought eff it, I'm going to sculpt Maniac Cop.

 Matt Cordell has been done before by the likes of Homemade Horror and another very rare 12" resin kit I've seen around. I wanted to make my own version, not quite as literal to the movie, but more cartoonish - kind of like something from Monster Squad or Scooby Doo.

 He took me about a solid working week to sculpt, including base. I've represented every detail - from the zippers and buttons, to numbers on his badge and name-badge.
The deluxe version is polished and painted to the max, with 3 points of magnetic articulation. I'm only making 5 of these. After that, he'll be only available in kit form, for people who like to sand and paint their own.

Treegarr the 13th.

It's already in store and as I write, there are just 2 left. Sorry I haven't written about it here earlier.

This the 13th Edition of the full size classic Treegarr (not including a few one offs and *ahem* "tribute" figures out there). I've been on a real Friday the 13th binge - finally watching all of them in order for the first time. I even watched Jason X, God bless me.

For this one, I really wanted to have fun trying new things out and as is always the challenge with indy toys, do something no one could rip off easily. I've wanted to add a mask of some kind to the original 'Garr for years. I love Neca's retro Mego-style line of figures for all the little details and extra features so decided it was a good time to have a crack at it.

 Treegarr's mask is all-rubber. I made a few resin ones but they kept chipping the paint on the eyes. Even when I coated them with PU varnish (used for boats) and left in the sun for a couple of days.
The PU rubber holds a wash just great, as well as opaque paint on thicker, less flexible parts.

 The machete is cast in English pewter. Pretty much indestructible. I've recently invested some time and money into learning pewter casting. Resin weapons look great but no one can pretend a 4mm thick resin handle is going to last forever. I give these a black wash, acetone rub, and weather with a mix of different sandpapers and files.

The story I have in my head for this crossover is based on Jason Goes to Hell - where he becomes a possessive ghost. Treegarr is basically the same thing, except he possesses plant material rather than humans. Both of them are mute, without reason, but also intelligent and ruthlessly driven. Kind of a good match.

Also available are a limited number of Jason Voorhees masks that fit all full-size Treegarrs. For people that own a Treegarr and don't want to buy a whole new one.

REANIMATOR, and Clutter edition Death Adder.

Been a busy few months of sculpting, and planning. I've been trying every trick in the book I know to put a real new spin on the classic 5.5" barbarian format action figure. Been mixing 3D printing with putty and wax sculpting, and I don't think I've ever made so many experimental waste molds. What I've distilled from all the playing around is a couple of rock solid ideas that I'm going to try and save until the whole PAGAN toys thing is ready to rock. I used to think people were crazy for keeping work-in-progress a secret. Not like anyone is reading blogs for ideas to rip off before they're ready right? Any self-respecting artist would surely want to know they've put something original in the world, no? No. I've seen so many carbon copies of things people have been working on, as well as a few things that are scarily similar to my ideas (of people I didn't expect to know of my existence) get done at almost the exact same time, that I too have fallen victim to wanker-phobia. Aaaaaanyway, here's what I CAN show you because you can buy it right now. Herbert West - REANIMATOR! Ever since I saw that Shapeways offer a full-color service, I've wanted to get on it. It's a real strength of the 3D printed format in that as it is no more labor, the price is the same as a monochrome figure. I'm really proud of the sculpt - I wanted it to be like SLUG Zombies or Monster in My Pocket in the way that it tells a story, rather than merely represent the character's likeness. Needle, severed living hand in bag, and blood on the sleeve. I could never have gotten Jeffrey Comb's cartoonised likeness this tight if I'd sculpted in wax or clay either. It's a real gem of an example of the benefits of digital. I still spent a ton of time on it, though. I'm amazed at how well they came out and how affordable the full color versions are. Naturally they are also available in the same range of monochrome colors as my other killer horror minis, over at: . https://www.shapeways.com/shops/bigmantoys

I've also made a goddamn gorgeous giant-size Death Adder in some of the lushest colors you'll ever see - available at the Clutter shop here: The Clutter Magazine store.

The Bigmantoys CHEAP CREEP CLUB!

Sign up for the Cheap Creep Club for occasional mails giving you deets and dibs on unreleased prototypes, abandoned projects, original sculpts, and ALMOST perfect toys that were too good to throw away... for cheap-o!

NO SPAM, MAN!

Gold Dober's Jade

5 years in, and I've finally had the privilege of working with the guy who taught me on one of his figures. I was honoured to sculpt the head for his next figure "Jade" a 3.75 version of the Green Baron Mego figure, complete with rocket-pack.

You can read more about it and get updates on Austin's blog here:

https://micronautshomeworld.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/jade-pics-late-monday.html