#customtoys

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #357: Making Minifigure Packaging and Finishing Night of the Comet Minifigures

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #357: Making Minifigure Packaging and Finishing Night of the Comet Minifigures

https://archive.org/download/podcast-357/Podcast%20357.mp3

This week, I wanted to share the final product of the Night of the Comet minifigures!  They’re done!  I figured out how to make the lettering on Sam’s cheerleader uniform and do the packaging so the two figures can both nest in a protective case.

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This short video shows how I made the coverart to look like the original poster.

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This is what the Night of the Comet coverart looks like.  Like the other similar ones I’ve done, I’ve used Chinese characters for the title – in this case, a literal translation of Night of the Comet (彗星之夜).  I’ve taken to not using the English title with these toys partly since it makes it a little harder for the movie studios / eBay to flag it as objectionable for copyright reasons. However, the biggest reason for the dual language packaging is that it reminds me of the imported toys (which were mostly robots and little figurines from places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan) I remember seeing on the streets of Chinatown when I was a kid in the 80s.  Like the others I’ve made so far, these will be charity auctions, this time to raise money for the US nonprofit alliace4girls.  I don’t know if this was something that was done intentionally when NOTC was written, but it’s a bit unusual for the time since it’s an action movie with two female leads who not only survive but thrive by virtue of their own resources.  So I figured pairing with a nonprofit that helps support and empower girls and women would fit.

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There are now three such figures in these cases!

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Making the cases for the NOTC figures.  I used paper covered foam for these (don’t know if I will use that material much in the future, though).

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This technique for foam pieces looks promising – using a hot knife or soldering iron to essentially cut though the foam easily with little to no mess and cleaner lines than with a traditional blade.

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By the way, I had the chance this past weekend to make it to a drive in showing of a double feature of Chopping Mall and The Last Starfighter.  It was a fun time!  More coming on a Patreon exclusive episode with additional pictures, audio footage from the event, and more!

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Sam, Reg, and Cliff all approve of the drive in action.

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #356: Making Night of the Comet Minifigures!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #356: Making Night of the Comet Minifigures!

https://archive.org/download/podcast-356/Podcast%20356.mp3

This week, I wanted to share a little bit of a recent project.  After finishing the Lego Rocketeer and resin Beverly Switzler figurines, I thought it be fun to do figurines of Reggie and Sam from the 1984 cult classic, Night of the Comet.

If you haven’t seen the film, it’s great! You can actually watch it for free on YouTube, that is until YouTube flags it and takes it down.  But until they do, it’s available here: 

Ever since I first saw this film over 20 years ago, I’ve been trying to get people to watch it.  It used to be only on VHS, but now you can also find it on DVD. If you can catch it, it’s a lot of fun.

Anyway, I used the model bases for the Lego friends minifigure line to create the main characters, which are more elongated and a bit more realistic looking that the traditional, squat Lego minifigure body.

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Prior to painting Sam’s cheerleader outfit …

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After painting … still working out how to do the lettering on Sam’s uniform (see below):

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This scene, by the way, is available here:

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The lettering on Samantha‘s cheerleader uniform is too small to realistically paint, but I think I should be able to edit some images on Photoshop that I can print out.  The tricky part, as always, is getting the dimensions right, but I think it should be doable. 

Like the Lego Rocketeer and Bev figures, I think I going to house them in a clamshell case and auction them off on eBay as charity auctions. 

More updates shortly!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #240: Adam from ACToyDesign Returns to Talk Toys Part 3

Episode #240: Adam from ACToyDesign Returns to Talk Toys Part 3

https://archive.org/download/podcast240_202003/Podcast%20240.mp3

Generally, I eschew any and all current events, especially anything that could be political in any way.  However, if you’re reading this, you’re undoubtedly aware of the global pandemic.  Everyone can do your part!  This is not just a you thing, not a me thing, this is an everyone thing.  This is a perfect time to stay in, read that book you’ve been meaning to get to, binge watch your favorite show, or rewatch some old movies.  The things you wanted to do aren’t going anywhere, but you gotta be around to enjoy them later.  Be safe!  Next week, we’ll talk about what happens if you want to work out while confined inside a little room (kinda like Logan was in The Thirteenth Hour …)

And now, in the spirit of escapism, let’s talk toys!

This week, we have another special episode – Adam from ACToyDesign and the IG account @mom_gave_them_away returns for the second part of his followup since his last appearance in October to discuss toys and toy making!  Look for part 1 and 2 as well as Adam’s appearance on our two shows (1and 2) on Terminator films 2-6!

We had a whole discussion on the nature of heroes and how supposedly straight laced ones, like Captain America, reflect a kind of hero that can be great for kids to have as role models.

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Check out Adam’s show on the many roles of Willow‘s Warwick Davis.  Willow did have a short lived toy line, but many 80s movies did not, for whatever reason.  In this episode, we talk about toy lines that we wish would have been made (or ones we might work on making out of resin some time in the future).  Like …

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Batteries Not Included

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Short Circuits 1 & 2

Speaking of Short Circuit, check out this absurdist video by El DeBarge for “Who’s Johnny?” Absolutely classic!

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The Last Starfighter – why there were no ships or more widespread video games (I think there might have been one?  There is a fan made game that looks just like the one in the film you can find here, though.) made from this film, the world will never know.  Adam did, however, find these prototype figures by Galoob that, had they seen the light of day, would have been amazing!

Galoob Last Star Fighter

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Howard the Duck

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The Flight of the Navigator

Check out ACToyDesign on Patreon.

If you enjoy Star Wars, check out his new show, I Have Spoken!

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There are now Thirteenth Hour toys!  If you’d like to pick up one of these glow in the dark figures for yourself, feel free to email me or go to the Etsy store I set up (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirteenthHourStudio) and get them there.

If you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I finished one year ago, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

empty hands ep cover_edited-2.jpg

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #239: Adam from ACToyDesign Returns to Talk Toys Part 2

Episode #239: Adam from ACToyDesign Returns to Talk Toys Part 2

https://archive.org/download/podcast239_202003/Podcast%20239.mp3

This week, we have another special episode – Adam from ACToyDesign and the IG account @mom_gave_them_away returns for a followup since his last appearance in October to discuss toys and toy making!

Adam’s modding tips:

-Wash your figure with soap and water if you are intending to work on it.  This will remove oils that happen to be on the plastic.

-Lighter fluid may be worth using if the figure is old and been handled a lot and has a lot of oil on the surface.  If the plastic is starting to break down, as resort, you can try some lighter fluid (maybe test it on a small spot first), to see if that will get rid of the stickiness.

-Magnifying glasses (or reading glasses) may help you see details closer (I have tried this – it does work).

Here’s what I was working on while this episode was going on – the body of Kit Secord from the Rocketeer cartoon, and below was the paint job Adam was working on for the custom Voltron figure he was commissioned for.  You can find many more on his Patreon page below.

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Check out ACToyDesign on Patreon.

If you enjoy Star Wars, check out his new show, I Have Spoken!

Check out the second part of this conversation next week!

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There are now Thirteenth Hour toys!  If you’d like to pick up one of these glow in the dark figures for yourself, feel free to email me or go to the Etsy store I set up (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirteenthHourStudio) and get them there.

If you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I finished one year ago, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

empty hands ep cover_edited-2.jpg

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #235: Adam from ACToyDesign Returns to Talk Toys Part 1

Episode #235: Adam from ACToyDesign Returns to Talk Toys Part 1

https://archive.org/download/podcast235_202002/Podcast%20235.mp3

This week, we have another special episode – Adam from ACToyDesign and the IG account @mom_gave_them_away returns for a followup since his last appearance in October to discuss toys and toy making!

Check out ACToyDesign on Patreon.

If you enjoy Star Wars, check out his new show, I Have Spoken!

Also, here is a close up for the custom Della Caine figure Adam discussed on the show:

If you’re interested in getting into resin casting, here are a few tutorials we put together.  In this first one, Adam discusses how he sculpted his Chudbaby figures, one of the clay figurines he discussed in the episode we did back in October.  (Check out his whole line of resin figures here.)

In this video, Adams discusses one way of making a 2 part silicone mold:

When making the Rocketeer resin figure for my kids, I experimented with filming parts of the process, which ended up being 2 parts awkward (working around the camera) and 1 part messy (trying not to get resin of silicone on the lens).  The end result is over on IGTV, though I’ve included the posts here.

In this one, we go through how to think about casting a figure strategically, where to put air vents, and how to position the figure in a 2 part mold (then we make it).

And in this one, we go through the resin mixing and casting process as well as some basic fixes for what to do if parts of the cast don’t fill completely.  I use a glow in the dark powder to make the final figures glow, so show that gets mixed in the resin mixture.

This last video shows more detail of the mold being opened (always exciting!) and a sped-up rundown of the post-mold-opening cleanup sequence:

The finished product next to an equally bright (in the dark) Logan, who was created in a very similar manner:

View this post on Instagram

When I was originally creating the character of Logan, the protagonist of The Thirteenth Hour, back in 1998 I think I was channeling the traits of a lot of the heroes of films and books I’d enjoyed as a kid – a little bit of Atreyu from The Neverending Story (dedication to a task despite all reasons in the world to quit), a little bit Marty McFly from the Back to the Future films (the combination of awkward physicality and the ability to fly with a hoverboard), a little bit of Alex from The Last Starfighter (just a kid from the middle of nowhere destined for great things), a little of Young Indy from the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (idealism, seeing the best in people), and a lot of Cliff from The Rocketeer (an inherently forward thinking optimist who succeeds not necessarily because he is especially talented or intentional in what he does but more a combination of good intentioned but bumbling incompetence that favors the lucky and the brave). So here are both flying men as figurines in their glow in the dark forms. I think they’d get along were wires crossed and one of the other ended up in each other’s world. . . . #davestevens #rocketeer #rocketeermovie #finheads #rocketeertoy #actionfigures #customtoys #designertoys #apoxiesculpt #resincasting #makingtoys #warhammer40k #smoothon #bttf #backtothefuture #martymcfly #michaeljfox #atreyu #theneverendingstorybook #theneverendingstory #michaelende #noahhathaway #thelaststarfighter #alexrogan #lanceguest #youngindianajones #youngindy #indianajones @spflanery #cliffsecord #billcampbell

A post shared by Joshua Blum 📘🎨 #Author #Artist (@the13thhr) on

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There are now Thirteenth Hour toys!  If you’d like to pick up one of these glow in the dark figures for yourself, feel free to email me or go to the Etsy store I set up (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThirteenthHourStudio) and get them there.

If you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I finished one year ago, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

empty hands ep cover_edited-2.jpg

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

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