While the 4,000 dollar price tag kept me from purchasing the pair of unique bronze bat sconces, I drooled with envy and imagined they had come from Castle Dracula. I saw them on the wall of a shop while antiquing in Hudson, New York, this past weekend. Here's a closeup of one of them.
From The Munsters, No. 1, 1997, published by TV Comics! I would have preferred Lily Munster instead, but I like Grandpa, too. Now, if Eddie's doll Woof Woof was made into a cookie jar, I'd buy that in a heartbeat.
Bob at Bobby's Monster Models steps into the closet for a little glue sniffing, kit building, and hobby chat...
What is it about building and painting model kits that's kept you a fan all these years?
At the start, it was all about the beginning of my mid-life crisis. And it was about recuperating from a broken heart. I was 35 years-old. Then I had a couple more bad knocks set me back, and diving into monster models and toy collecting became my escape. I was finding pleasure in rediscovering things I had long since forgotten as a child.
These models take me back to a time when things felt more secure, when I had no worries, when the world was right-side up and not upside-down. My hobby became cathartic. It turned into a tool for healing. And it worked! It became a physical obsession to distract me from other mental obsessions that weren't doing me any good. Now that I've made it through my "dark night", it's just become a passion that I truly enjoy.
How did you learn to build and paint your model kits like a pro?
When I first started, I knew what I wanted to achieve, but had no idea how to get there. I've been an artist, painting and drawing all my life. I knew if I applied that to these models, that hopefully, I'd pull off a decent kit.
I painted my first monster model, since the early 1970's, in 1998. My first 4 or 5 models were my learning curve. I was using paper towels instead of brushes to achieve a dry brush look. It worked to some degree, but I wanted better. Todd McFarlane Productions was releasing fantastically detailed monster toys. I started scooping them all up. I began studying how they were painted. I started surfing for monster models like crazy on the web. Downloading tons of jpg's of painted up kits, studying the strengths and weaknesses of the paint jobs, the colors, the contrasts. What worked, what didn't. Figuring out how to make it better. I had gotten into enamels, which I used as a boy. Acrylics dry too fast. I liked taking my time. But with enamels you do wait a long time between base coats and several rounds of dry bushing.
Another big help were the plastic model forums. I asked lots of questions about painting. I'd post pics of great paint jobs and pick everybody's brains about how they thought it was pulled off. Then I'd go back to my models and try lots of different techniques. I have found that the secret of a great looking monster model is the dry-brushing. And keep that brush dry! Your dry-brushing technique will make or break the model. If you can make your dry brush look like an air brush, then you're set. Or you could just buy an airbrush!
One day I might get an airbrush, but for now, I'm digging the dry brush. Oh, and BTW, I don't do resin kits, just styrene. It's just a choice. Each kit is a challenge. I have no idea how I had the patience to build them as a child. And I've always been a perfectionist, so there's no room for slop or error. The littlest waiver in a painted line and I have to clean it up. I have really high standards when building and painting these things. To me, they are fine art, and I have always had to have an artistic outlet. I work in technical illustration/graphic arts by day, so this is something I do for fun, but I do take it seriously.
P.S. - Lastly, I could never do a kit justice without my magnifying goggles. I have horrid vision!
Continue reading "Sniffing the Glue With Bobby's Monster Models " »
Sure, these masks were cool to wear on Halloween--for about an hour. Then the stifling heat and discomfort would make the novelty a fading memory. But we really didn't buy these super deluxe, heavy rubber masks to wear once a year, did we? Nah. We bought them to display in our rooms. And play dress-up monster in front of the mirror.
That Mole Guy was the damn hardest to dress up half-way decently for. At least for me.
Harmless Fun? Sure, it's only plastic. Cheap thrills? For only 98¢ it was a bargain.
Just flick a switch and down the blade came to lob off the victim's head, again and again. Did it start a chorus of angry parents chanting "off with Aurora's head!" Sadly, yes. Any idiot who thought whacking off tiny plastic heads from tiny plastic bodies could lead to moral decay obviously missed the point entirely: it was simply "a wonderful ornament for your desk or tabletop."
Now, what would make it truly sickening would be to put in a sound chip so the victim pleads for his life, then WHACK!!, add a nice splatty sound cutting of his screams, ending in a plop and swish-roll into the basket for a grand finale.
Wait a mo', what am I saying? That would be fantastic! Screw the glow parts in the reissue.
Hell, if they can sell those tasteless miniature toilets with their flushing sounds, I can't see why not. Moebius, you listening?
Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors Guillotine made monsterkids deliriously happy and their parents delirious. The uproar put a halt to Aurora's other potential entries in the series: the Electric Chair, the Rack, and the Hanging Tree.
Those would have been nifty desk ornaments, too. Hey, Moebius...
When you think of it, Famous Monsters of Filmland's Captain Company was the Amazon.com for monsterkids, back in the day. Here's hoping that the new FM gets past the 'clothing thing' and branches out into more daring and exciting merchandise for young and old alike...
The Addams Family Haunted House model kit from Aurora was always a favorite for me. I must have bought 3 or 4 of these things originally (okay, sure, my model building skills suck big time), and now I've got the reissues (wisely unassembled this time) in my monsterkid collection. The glow kit and ghosts addition versions are splendid, too.
I really miss my Grow Live Monsters. The graphics on those colorful monster cards were simply awesome to behold. It took quite a bit of gumption for me to paste the grass seeds (cha-cha-cah Chea Pet!) onto the cards (and spoil all that alien terror), but once I did, the green hair effect was sublime.
I picked this happy duo up at a CVS (or maybe it was Walgreens) a few years ago. Would I do it again? No. Not that they aren't well crafted, it's just I really don't like Halloween items that are too cutesy. I'm not much into plastic gore pieces, either, but ol' green eyes looks more like a hobo than The Monster. The skeleton is kind of Dia de los Muertos, though, so not too badly done.
Standing around 3 inches tall, these Universal Monster figures are darn cute. I'm not sure if they were made by Yanoman.
These are copyright 1992 from Joy Insignia, Inc. and Troll Company (although the graphics show 1991). I picked them up from eBay a while back, when eBay was still an enjoyable place to find interesting monster collectibles.
Not quite as stylish and colorful as the Mani-Yak iron-on transfers, but still worth adorning your t-shirt to strut around a horror convention or two. Click each one for a larger image.
While mailing the American Vampire comics to contest winners today, I noticed these nostalgic stamps at the post office. Westerns were the mainstay of Universal Pictures before they discovered more lucrative box-office receipts with monsters. Cowboy serials were the ideal world of every white boy growing up in a long ago era, when American pride, fortitude, and integrity were as sociable and wholesome and as much a given as eating mom's apple pie with a glass of milk on a Sunday afternoon.
As for me, I saddled up with the Lone Ranger and Tonto, rode the trails with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and I always hoped to get the pretty girl, kick-ass a little harder with the villains than Tom Mix, and strum the guitar strings faster and straighter than Gene Autry. I'm still working on his Cowboy Code. I wish some of the people I meet and read about these days would work on it, too.
Missing from this wonderful line-up of Americana is Bill Pickett. He's a black cowboy. Not too many folks sashayed up to the box-office to buy tickets for movies with black cowboys back then. But there's black and white in that silver screen all the same.
Way back in 1923, rodeo sensation Bill Pickett became the first black screen cowboy in The Bull-Dogger, and he was just the first in a long line of cowboys of color who galloped through movie history alongside their more mainstream, pale-faced peers. (Robert Silva, The Good, the Bad, and the Black Cowboy)
Looking at these wonderful stamps reminded me of Stephen Avalos' The Ghosts of Edendale, a creepy twist on the invincibility and purity of men wearing white ten-gallon hats, and Dead Birds, a Lovecraftian-western best not viewed alone and after dark.
Which Western horror movies would you recommend? And if you dare say Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, better put up yer dukes, cause them's fightin' words!
(Click on the graphic for a larger view while you're ponderin'.)
Dark Horse has released a 50-card set of Creepy magazine covers. In back of each card is a rundown of that issue's stories, along with authors and artists listed. There's also an Uncle Creepy's Fiendish Facts, which details a bit of information about a particular person involved with that issue.
The white card stock is thick but plain, but the cover reproductions are rather good, and the information on the back for each issue is handy to keep, er, well, handy.
Additional cards include the shocking Monster Briefs In Color! advertisement (okay, fess up, I know you ordered them, too), and the ad for the Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie masks (wish I had kept mine).
Bif Bang Pow! is commemorating the 50th Anniversary of The Twilight Zone with, among other nifty collectibles, bobbleheads of the mystic seer and invader...
"Just in time for the iconic series 50th Anniversary, we'll be producing collectibles from the series in the form of statues and bobble heads-but some will have, let's say, 'special' twists to them, much like the series itself. And most exciting of all, for the first time, we'll be bringing the world 3D representations of the man himself, Rod Serling. Serling is one of my personal heroes, and I couldn't be more excited about this property. We aim to do the genius of Serling justice, both in our representations of him and the many creatures and characters that live in that fantastic universe. There's lots more news to come, but the first product should hit in time for San Diego Comic-Con 2009."
When I walked past a showcase of little Kaiju-induced nightmares at the New York Comic Con, I was struck by their unique blend of weird features and glowing colors enhanced by LEDs. I was struck with terror by their price, too. They don't come cheap; but wonderful, limited art rarely does.
"PLASEEBO CUSTOM is a shop dedicated to creating unique one of a kind collectible figures and designing original figures for limited soft vinyl production.
"PLASEEBO has three Artist / Designers in the group in addition to a talented pool of Artist / Craftsmen. The lead designer is BOB CONGE and the two associate designers are BILL HAND and JOHN KASTNER. Each of these Artist / Designers has a unique vision and style of their own which directs the fresh look of a PLASEEBO CUSTOM figure. Some of our customs are completely built from scratch using various sculpture materials and techniques while others are created by using a combination of chopped existing figures, found objects and various sculpture materials. Whatever the direction or medium of expression, the drive is always to bring to life a personal vision in the form of a new figure."
I snapped this picture of Mattel's new 12-inch Ghostbusters line at the New York Comic Con 2009. With fabric clothes, great detailing, and ghost-detection and entrapment accessories that put Grant and Jason to shame, these figures are simply awesome.
Mattel's "Ghostbusters" collectible line debuts with 12-inch figures in June 2009, and will be available exclusively at MattyCollector.com. Each figure will feature window box packaging and include authentic Ghostbuster equipment unique to each character. For the first time, Mattel's line will include talent likeness of Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore.
Click picture to enlarge.
