48 replies to this topic

[imperfecz]

So here goes.....

I have been wanting to pull this off for awhile & am getting closer. I have pulled from my sketchbook a handful of pieces that I wanted to sculpt into little toys. I have a sampling here of the ones that are closest to finished. Out of these 4 I have added paint to so we can see the detail a little better. This also helps to see what works & what doesn't really so I can refine them. Well thought out critique is welcome either by responding in this thread or via PM whatever floats your boat

Here's my problem (well the one that relates to this project don't get me started)
I have 4 kids here so any toy endeavors I try to pay for with money I make doing customs or other toy related sales n stuff.

So now I am asking that anyone who would like to see these available to the board to go ahead & pick up some:

Custom Painted Figures... Zombies..... or Display/Play Sets.

Well what the heck do I get out of it?

Well aside from a nice custom piece or so I am offering to the top 6 people who help me get this project off the ground, a 1-of-a-kind piece from one of the first runs of these guys.
That's right there will be 6 sculpts in this first wave & the top 6 people who purchase the most $$$ worth of stuff to go towards this project get a unique casting never to be duplicated. If the first ones are kinda boring than I will be painting them in the spirit of the original sculpts. I also have a few more pieces, they just aren't quite ready to be shown yet....

So here ya go, enjoy!
 KIF_5469.JPG   618.38K   41 downloads
 Group_Shot.jpg   767.61K   61 downloads
 __1.jpg   359.08K   16 downloads
 __2.jpg   307.8K   4 downloads
 __3.jpg   295.5K   7 downloads
 __4.jpg   356.8K   3 downloads
 Cthulu1.jpg   398.48K   13 downloads
 Cthulu2.jpg   381.59K   2 downloads
 Cthulu3.jpg   328.31K   5 downloads
 Cthulu4.jpg   359.05K   9 downloads
 EyeBill.jpg   288.1K   13 downloads
 MushroomTentacles.jpg   349.89K   12 downloads
Excuse the lack of photography skills


So yeah if something looks familiar in these it probably is somehow. The sketches were all residual stuff left in my head from stuff that I've seen that somehow made an impression on me.

Thanks again,


Luke

Edited by l.designs, 10 December 2009 - 10:50 PM.

[Soupie]

Nice! They remind me of something out of Princess Mononoke.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

I thought they reminded me of something Miyazaki inspired as well. More Spirited Away to me though.

[dankingery]

almost like a blending of hayao miyazaki and shigeru mizuki. they have that inspired by look to them, but retain originality.

is there any kind of story to go with them yet? are they all kind of like nature spirits or something? are those first two carved out of sandstone? if so, that's amazing. if not, that's incredible that you were able to get them to look that way.

one suggestion, if you've got a higher megapixel digital camera, you could try taking your shots from a little further away and just cropping them down. i've been having to do this with mine since it doesn't have a macro function. most of the time the results are pretty good. only other suggestion i would have would be to try flooding them with more light when you snap some shots. you'll notice i've got zero criticisms for your sculpting. that's because they're perfect.

[imperfecz]

Thanks guys!

Yeah we love the Miyazaki fims here for sure so the reddish ones were very much inspired by the forest spirits from Mononoke. When we went on vacation I didn't bring any work stuff with me as the point was to vacate from all those things & spend time with family. I did however bring a sketchbook 'cause I couldn't quit cold turkey

After pulling off pages of sketches that would be well suited for small sculpts I had the kids vote on which were their favorites.

Whilst in Havasu AZ we went on a small hike out in the desert where we stumbled on a bunch of red stone seemingly comprised of sand and well suited for carving. I would supose this is sandstone but I'm no expert. Sooooo we hauled a bunch back with us. I then proceeded to carve a handful of those first pieces with the only tools I had (different shaped rocks & a beer bottle cap). After I got home I popped Mononoke in & watched & was pleased to see that the forest spirits were different enough from my sculpts.

The weird little crouching guy was basically inspired by mutants from an old animated feature called Light Years that I still love.

Then there's my interpretation of a kind of Super Deformed Cthulu.

I would really like to bring these to the board & make them available as well as others if people here are interested. Otherwise I will make this more of a long-term goal for my own satisfaction.


Thanks again,

Luke

[Soupie]

Light Years!? I totally remember that now... I don't know where or when, but I've seen that somewhere. Haha, awesome.

And, yeah, those guys totally look like Kodama.

[dankingery]

light years!!! i've always wondered what the hell that weird french cartoon i saw forever ago was called. way back in the day there was a uhf channel here that would show a godzilla movie every monday and a crazy ass cartoon every tuesday. thanks for the refresh.

i think my favorites are the sd cthulhu, the standing eye ball....you know what, i love them all.

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

Wasn't there another Scifi Animation with the same exact color, art style, and crap too? I'm trying to remember it. It may be Light Years, but it's been sooo long since I saw it. Is this the one where the bad guy is like some big Brain in a machine out in the ocean or something? Loved that movie.

And again the sculptures are just very nice.

[imperfecz]

yup that's the one! I love it & watched it also upon returning from vacation.

Also on the pics Dan... I know I saw it when I popped 'em on the computer. Anyhow next time I will bring out all the lights & other crap I normally do & see if I can get better shots. Just seemed silly @ the time for a handful of pieces.

OK next time I have stuff to shoot Like the Doctor Doom Icons custom I'm working on, or I get more of the sculpts ready to show everyone.

Also on a side note...

Don't know where the eyeball guy came from but it's my son's favorite & he wants me to do a more action figues size custom of it that's also the one he picked out of the sketchbook for me to do.


Thanks again,

Luke

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

The Eye kind of reminds me of the final fight on Star Fox 64.

[imperfecz]

Wasn't there another Scifi Animation with the same exact color, art style, and crap too? I'm trying to remember it.

Might you be thinking "Fantastic Planet"?

[Universal Ruler Supreme]

No, I've never seen it, I was referring to the last movie, but it was so washed out in my mind I couldn't recall the film correctly. But I do know I'm gonna have to watch that Fantastic Planet as well now. I surely do dig artistic stuff like that.

[imperfecz]

Soooooo the general consensus here is basically: cool , but I'm not interested enough to hasten the arrival of such toys.

Right?

Or maybe I'm presenting this idea in the wrong way....

Either way thanks for any response/info,

Luke

[dankingery]

well, let me ask you this. i've seen what you do have for sale and am mostly interested in what's already sold. but if someone were to commission something, would that also work to help you further along?

[imperfecz]

of course...

The way I work typically is I don't spend on toy related ventures what I haven't made in toy related ventures.
Basically any work I do outside the 9 to 5 I am trying to put towards this little project.

Also the guy I will be starting out learning from & what not is a local guy here. An old Hungarian guy that has been doing all kinds of mostly injection molded plastic stuff. Also lots of fabricating I casting. Like I said he's an old guy so I'm kinda anxious to show him I wasn't just wasting his time when I went to see him & go over my ideas & what I was looking to do.

So yes any project would be great!

Thanks again,

Luke

well, let me ask you this. i've seen what you do have for sale and am mostly interested in what's already sold. but if someone were to commission something, would that also work to help you further along?

[imperfecz]

Sooo I don't know.... I want to get going on producing these but well..... life has gotten absolutely crazy around here & it's made it difficult to pull off some of my non-commissioned pieces I'm working on to try and fund this project.

I am almost done with a 12" Dr. Doom custom that I'll be putting up here first in case anyone wants a crack at it. After that it's off to ebay if no one wants to buy it outright. I normally do this level of custom when commissioned for $120 + shipping. Will offer it up here for $100 + shipping. After that if not gone I will drop it on ebay & probably start the bidding @ $59.99 + shipping. But this is the extent of customs I have anywhere near ready to go (he just needs one of my nice sculpted capes).

Here's my question:
Would about 10 people be willing to Pre-order a set of these @ $50 per set when they are being produced? This will fund the initial part of the process. There will be 6 sculpts to comprise this first wave if you will. The 6 sculpts to be used are still not quite determined.

As a guarantee to you (the investor) if I get sidelined somehow & can't follow up to get these made for some crazy reason I will refund your purchase.

The only reason I'm kinda scramblin' to get this going is because the guy I will be working with to show me the ropes Is an older retired Hungarian guy that has been doing Fabrication/injection molding/casting kinda crap for a looooooooooooong time now. Heck he's got parts on the Hubble!

Alright I really didn't want to try to ask this of anyone, but I'm starting to think.... well it couldn't hurt.

So yeah as an incentive I will make the same offer as earlier: The top 6 contributors will receive 1 original and unique first run pieces. These will be pulled from the first couple of sets made.


Thanks,


Luke

[imperfecz]

Hey who would be interested in a plush version of the eyeball tentacle guy?
 EyeBill.jpg   288.1K   10 downloads

Working on some of these & was wondering if anyone here might be interested. I'm thinking of a couple different types. First a fully plush version that wouldn't stand on its own but be completely soft, and the other with some kind of wire frame or something so it could stand on its own.

Just curious, and if this works out well might aim for some of the other sculpts pictured or the others I am finishing.

Thanks,

Luke

Edited by l.designs, 22 September 2009 - 11:53 PM.

[imperfecz]

Alright, got the prototype for a plush back tonight!

 Eyebill_Prototype1.jpg   517.36K   15 downloads
 Eyebill_Prototype2.jpg   642.1K   3 downloads

So let me know what you think? Also let me know if you might be interested in one for yourself!


Thanks,

Luke

[Liz Sherman]

That plush eyeball is FANTASTIC!!! What kind of price range are you thinking about for it?

[imperfecz]

That plush eyeball is FANTASTIC!!! What kind of price range are you thinking about for it?

At this point no real idea... This first prototype was done to show off at the show & let you guys check out, but I guess I would need to have a handful made at one time to kinda get a real idea of labor & materials to see what the cost would really be.

I suppose if people want to let me know a price range they might be willing to shell out for one, I can see if it's possible to have them made for that.

Really this just started as a little idea, and then before I knew it the prototype was in hand & better than expected!

So yeah let me know what people are thinking price wise, keeping in mind that these are all hand made & one of a kind pieces. We will do our best to keep the cost as low as possible as I would like these to be available to everyone who wants one.

Thanks,

Luke

[imperfecz]

I should be about ready to get this project rolling soon. I think I'm a little short still & need to finish up a few sculpts but soon. In the meantime I might put up a couple of incarnations of different pieces.... depending on how things go.


Right now the top 6 from top down are:

1) Cassel87

2) Donkeykid

3) Sularius

4) pallidmask

5) Majinmoo

6) Boaconda

I'll give you 24 hour notice when I hit the mark where I need to be, then I will post the top 6.


Thanks for your support,



Luke

[Wrath1104]

I'm digging these guys! what are your prices?!?

[imperfecz]

Well I haven't started producing anything yet. I'm getting pretty close, but have no idea yet what it's going to cost or anything so I have nothing to base price on yet. I have several other sculpts as well because I don't yet know what's going to work well for casting.

[imperfecz]

OK the time has come... I now have the funds to get this project started. This would be getting the mold made for the first wave of 6 characters, and production of first few batches. I'm going to learn this through a local guy that's been doing various plastic injection molding casting prototyping jobs for a looooong time now. He will show me the steps of the process & work with me hands on till I get the feel of things & be making a professional 6 cavity mold for me as well.
The top 6 contributors who have purchased from me since I started this will receive 1 of the first 6 produced as a thank you. To be fair I said before I would post when the funds were here to give everyone 24 hours to get any last minute orders in to compete for a top 6 spot.

So far in order we have:

1) Cassel87
2) Jamesullivan
3) Donkeykid
4) LethalWhip
5) Vette88
6) Sularius
7) pallidmask
8) Majinmoo
9) Boaconda
10) Meatcutta
11) Nyarlathotep

I also have a couple of more (smaller) prototypes for the plush version of the eyeball tentacle guy & should have those ready before too long.

Thanks everybody for all your support,


Luke

[Nyarlathotep]

Awesome, good luck man. And keep us up to date on how it goes with this.