Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Greek Mythology Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. action figures


They're here! Boss Fight Studio, an independent toy company, has created Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S (Highly Articulated Character Kit System) action figures. They were funded via an incredibly successful Kickstarter campaign back in June of 2014. After some major factory manufacturing delays (not their fault), the figures finally shipped in Spring of 2016.

The current series (available now) is Greek Mythology. You might have seen some nicely sculpted and painted PVC figures of knights, dragons, skeletons or mythological creatures before by Papo, Schleich or Safari Limited in hobby shops or places like Michael's or Target. Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. takes this to a whole new level, because they're fully articulated, and not just static PVC figurines.
Mythological creatures from Papo catalog
I missed out on the Kickstarter back in 2014 (wasn't looking for anything like that) but it's just as well... I normally don't buy 4" action figures, and the original "price of admission" to obtain a few skeletons was too high. Once they opened their Boss Fight Studio Web Store for pre-orders without any additional purchasing requirements to obtain skeletons, I placed my order.

They've arrived, so here's my review:

MYRMIDON WARRIOR

Packaging: Most of the human and Gorgon figures come in clear plastic, collector-friendly packaging, which can be opened and resealed. This is useful if one wants to open them, display the figures and then sell them on ebay after a few years. It comes with a full-color cardboard backing card.
V-Hacks Myrmidon Warrior packaging
Accessories: The accessories vary depending on which figure is ordered. Figures can come with as many as 6 weapons, some with as few as 2. The human figures come with helmets, armor and shields, all beautifully painted and detachable! In particular, the helmet is very well sculpted, and the figure looks good with or without it. The Myrmidon Warrior figure has two swords and a shoulder belt with functional sword scabbard. Personally, I find the PVC belt to be stiff and I prefer real leather belts, but it's understandable why a toy company has to use PVC. A pair of extra hands and a base are also included in the package.
Contents of V-Hacks package
Figure: Just absolutely incredible. The best thing about them: they look like normal human beings, and they're proportioned like normal human beings. That's one of my pet peeves about 4" action figures in general (*ahem* Marvel Legends, modern Gi Joes, etc.)... toy designers attempting to maintain the "heroic proportions" of superheroes/Joes in a 4" size by making the head smaller and smaller, with ridiculously long legs. I hate those with a passion.

So, getting back to V-Hacks. The head is 14cm and the overall male body length is 104cm (I'm using metric because the math is easier). So the head/body proportion is 7.5 heads tall, the generally-accepted "normal" ratio, which is why these look so damn good.

Boss Fight Studio had smartly designed the Greek Mythology series around a base human body, wearing only trunks. Variety within the line is achieved by different body colors, different heads, different armor, and unique paint jobs on the armor and shields. By doing this, they have leveraged the cost of the molding and manufacturing in the most efficient way possible. BTW, the Boss Fight Store sells the basic body (with swappable heads/hands) without armor or accessories for those who want to make customs.
V-Hacks male body
The bodies have 25 points of articulation- a lot in a small package. The only thing that makes these figures short of perfection is the ankles and feet. They only have a 360 degree swivel joint, with no up/down or side tilt movement. Since the V-Hacks skeletons do have the additional foot articulation, it is unfortunate that the human figures do not.

V-HACKS SKELETONS

Packaging: The skeletons are packaged in a simple resealable plastic bag with a header card. They are unpainted, and do not come with accessories, although add-on packages of weaponry and armor are available. It comes with a base, and several mysterious clear plastic objects. These objects are spacers to enable them to fit the armor made for human figures, and foot adaptors to get their feet to fit on the base.
V-Hacks skeleton in packaging
My full review of the skeletons was folded into the article, "A Collection of Toy Skeletons".

It may seem a no-brainer, but the skeletons look way better with the application of a paint wash. This is with Testor's CreateFX acrylic paint wash.
V-Hacks skeleton with paint wash

CONCLUSIONS

I'd highly recommend buying these figures! First, it's supporting an independent toy company. They're out-doing the big corporations in design and quality. Boss Fight Studio doesn't have deep pockets like Hasbro, which is why they had to be funded by Kickstarter. Second, the price is reasonable for what you get. Third, the Greek Mythology line won't be available forever. Supporting them now would ensure the continuation of the planned new themes in the future. Fourth, these are very well made and a lot of fun. Channel your inner Harryhausen!
More skeleton goodness!
How to make your own "Jason and the Argonauts" mini-movie
Extra dose of skeleton goodness!
Note: Since the Myrmidon Warrior and the skeleton did not come with any spears, I created a custom one. It took about half an hour. I shaved down a bamboo skewer, painted it, made the spear head and spear butt from InstaMorph moldable plastic and wrapped some thin leather around the spear shaft. Sealed it with matte acrylic clear coat, and it's good to go!

Dioramas using these figures can be augmented with the static mythological figurines by Safari Limited, particularly the Minotaur, the Centaur, the Cyclops and Cerebrus.


RELATED PAGES:
A Collection of Toy Skeletons
Vitruvian HACKs Warrior Skeleton by Boss Fight Studio

Sunday, June 19, 2016

A Collection of Toy Skeletons

Updated: 07/03/16: Dokuroman skeleton rating raised, due to fix available for mid-spine joint problem.
Updated: 08/05/16: New "Bag of Skeletons" available at Michael's.
Updated: 09/10/16: Added review of LEGO skeletons. 
Updated: 10/19/16: Added review of Dokuroman Pumpkin nightmare skeleton.
Updated: 08/15/17: Added review of Bag O' Bones by Boss Fight Studio. 
Updated: 08/15/18: Added review of Big Lots Jumbo Pose Skeleton bootleg

I like skeleton toys, a lot. They remind me of my favorite Disneyland rides, "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Haunted Mansion". When they're done well, they can fit into many different themes. And, since skeletons are generic, toy companies don't have to pay for expensive licenses, or do stupid things like mold character-specific clothing on them, therefore locking them into only one franchise.

Skeletons (especially quality ones) have better articulation than humanoid characters, and can be endlessly customized. They can represent tattered medieval knights, armies of the dead, zombies, pirates, dead soldiers, space marines, etc. They can also be humorously and ironically placed into scenes of normal, everyday living, as shown on Flickr groups like "Skeleton Toy Figures".

I mainly buy skeletons in the 3"-6" range. I bought the skeletons listed below to increase the population in my 3/4 scale (1:15) world, some more successful than others. Below are my reviews of the different skeletons that I have.

FLAT HALLOWEEN SKELETON

Flat Halloween skeleton
Pros: Extremely cheap.
Cons: Everything.

No "bones" about it- this skeleton is crap. It's flat, 2D and the sculpting (especially the head) is terrible. I'm not sure if it's facing front or back. Not an action figure. Not a jiggler. It doesn't have a lot of play potential. This design has been around for a long time (since the 1960's) and was originally a 9" skeleton manufactured in Hong Kong. These can be found cheaply, in a bag with other plastic creatures like bugs, spiders, bats and rats. Creative crafters have found uses for this- as a template to make rubber stamps!

FLAT SKELETON
ManufacturerUnknownPrice$0.10
Year2010Location boughtHalloween store
Size5.5inPOA0
Scale1:13Rating (1-10)1


STRETCHY SKELETON

Stretchy skeleton
Pros: Fun to play with (when new), low price, good sculpt, comes in different colors.
Cons: Too soft and floppy. Cannot stand on its own. Does not last.

Well, at least this is a 3D skeleton and has a decent sculpt. But, it's too floppy and has the texture of a jellyfish. Even gummi-bears are firmer. Not an action figure. Not a jiggler. The toy is not made to last as the material seriously degrades within a few years. The outer layer becomes "crusty" and then stretching it would probably rip it apart completely. If only this mold were used to make a PVC skeleton! Now that would be a great toy!  Comes in 2 sizes: about 3" and about 6".

STRETCHY SKELETON
ManufacturerUnknownPrice$0.50
Year2010Location boughtgrocery store gumball machine
Size3.25 in & 5.5inPOAinfinite
Scale1:24 & 1:13Rating (1-10)2


SKELETON GARLAND

Skeleton garland
Pros: Durable, inexpensive. Good size and compatible with standard 1:12 scale dollhouses, or popular 6" action figure lines.
Cons: Poor (2 points) articulation, skull and collarbone not anatomically accurate, skull weirdly shaped. Not fun to play with.

Things are beginning to improve. This skeleton is 3D and can last decades. Or centuries. These are normally sold in packs of 4 around Halloween. The same body (but poorly painted) is sold at The Dollar Tree in a 4-pack for $1.00. Also sold at Walgreens. Only the legs move at the hip. That's it. Despite these limitations, crafters have been able to pose them for static Halloween displays by breaking/sawing the joints and regluing them in different positions. These have still-life diorama potential but are not action figures.

SKELETON GARLAND
ManufacturerUnknownPrice$1.25
Year2010Location boughtMichael's art/craft supply
Size5.75inPOA2
Scale1:12Rating (1-10)4


BAG OF SKELETONS

Bag of Skeletons from Michael's
Pros: Durable, inexpensive. Good size and compatible with standard 1:12 scale dollhouses, or popular 6" action figure lines, sculpt is an improvement over similarly-sized skeleton garland.
Cons: No articulation, not fun to play with.

This early in the season (first week of August), Michael's is already stocking Halloween items! I saw a new item, the "bag of skeletons" and expected them to be the same figures as their "skeleton garland", just repackaged. Upon closer examination, the skeletons are slightly and subtly different. Particularly the skull, which is more human-shaped and not shaped like a monkey skull. The grossly-deformed collarbone has been eliminated, and the backbone is not a separate piece anymore. The measly 2 points of articulation were also removed, but that's no great loss. The original design only allowed the garland skeletons to goose-step anyway. It's a given that any serious crafter or modeller is going to cut apart the joints, and re-glue them in different poses. The paint job is hit-and-miss. Each individual skeleton has a different paint job, indicating that these were hand painted at the factory, and not very well.

Comparison of new (left) and old (right) Michael's H'ween skeletons
So, why do I buy this crap? Well, since Michael's always has 40 to 50%-off coupons, this stuff comes cheap and buying 3 bags of these (18 skeletons total) costs as much as *ONE* Vitruvian HACKs skeleton. They have some uses as background characters, and it's possible to create some scary furniture with them, like a bone throne. I might even figure out how to add moveable joints to them someday.

BAG OF SKELETONS



ManufacturerMSPCI (Michael's)
Price$1.33 ($0.80 w/ coupon)
Year2016
Location boughtMichael's art/craft supply
Size5.75in
POA0
Scale1:12
Rating (1-10)5


BENDY SKELETON

Bendy skeleton
Pros: Cheap, durable, can stand on its own, can be posed, comes in different colors, fun to play with.
Cons: Overall sculpt not very anatomically accurate.

This is a wire bendy skeleton, with a PVC body and wires inside. It's a good desk toy, can hold a pose, and in a pinch, can (barely) work as an action figure. However, it's not very anatomically accurate, as the feet are huge, the arms are short and the torso is too thin. These are very inexpensive (I bought these in a 12 pack), and can make excellent party favors or Halloween Trick or Treat bag handouts.

BENDY SKELETON
ManufacturerUS Toy CompanyPrice$0.42
Year2013Location boughtUSToy.com
Size5 in POAinfinite
Scale1:15Rating (1-10)6


MODERN JIGGLER SKELETON

Modern jiggler skeleton
Pros: Inexpensive, flexible but not floppy, customizable.
Cons: Only pseudo-3D, overall sculpt not very anatomically accurate, most of the body is in a flat pose.

For a while, these were my only source for quasi-3D, flexible jigglers that looked OK next to Spooky Kookys and looked like they somewhat all belonged together. I found them in a novelty shop. Only the skull and ribcage are 3D, the rest of the body is pretty flat. Since they're made of PVC, they were customizable with a hot knife to shorten them and put them into better, more dynamic poses. They also look better when they wear clothing. Later, when October Toys released their superior new Skeleton Warriors figures, I no longer needed to hunt for any more of these jigglers.

MODERN JIGGLER SKELETON
ManufacturerUnknownPrice$1.29
Year2010Location boughtnovelty shop
Size5.5inPOAinfinite
Scale1:13Rating (1-10)6


TINY 1:35 MINI SKELETON

Tiny 1:35 skeleton
Pros: Good sculpt, well made, many uses for 1:35 model kit diorama builders
Cons: Zero points of articulation

Wow, a blast from my past! I found this in my old "hobby box" in the garage! I can recall the date, because I remember having this when I was making a Gene Simmons figurine in 1:32 scale as a teen. I'm pretty sure it came out of a gumball machine. It's about 1:35 scale (2 inches tall), made of styrene, and has a good, 3D sculpt. Some uses could be: small-scale Halloween graveyard dioramas, battlefield scene dioramas, D & D wargaming, cupcake toppers. I doubt that this sort of figurine could be sold to children anymore these days... people are more cognizant of the risk of it being swallowed by children or pets. Just to think... there was a time when this was considered a toy and was mass-produced and sold very cheaply.

It deserves a "6" rating, even though it's more akin to a static model.

Update: Just on a whim, I decided to put on a layer of Testor's black paint wash on it. Take a look at the result! Whoa, baby! What a difference! Gawk at all of the hidden details that the wash brought out, revealing just how good the sculpt is! I'm just speechless. This isn't a pricey 1:35 scale precision model kit or anything. It was a 70's-era gumball machine toy!
Tiny 1:35 gumball machine skeleton with paintwash

TINY 1:35 MINI SKELETON





ManufacturerUnknown
Price$0.10 or $0.25? (in 1978)
Year1978
Location boughtgrocery store gumball machine
Size1.875 in
POA0
Scale1:35
Rating (1-10)6


LEGO SKELETON

LEGO skeleton
Pros: LEGO brand is well-known, widespread availability at retail stores, has impressive array of accessories, vehicles and buildings, has articulated joints, fun to play with, appeals to kids and adults.
Cons: Extremely stylized, very toy-like, not realistic, unable to fit into any other universe besides LEGO, cannot buy skeletons by themselves.

I've had LEGO skeletons for a long time, since 1997. LEGO is a universe all unto itself, as "scale", in its most conventional sense, is not relevant in a LEGO world. The LEGO minifigures, including the skeleton, are all 1.5" tall, but they are not 1:48 scale, since their heads, torsos and limbs do not follow normal body proportions in any way.

The LEGO skeleton has 5 points of articulation (head, ball-jointed arms, legs). They can fit into many LEGO themes, although my personal favorite involves mummy tombs. Unfortunately, one cannot buy the skeletons separately (to build an army), as they are sold packaged in boxes with other figures and LEGO bricks in themed sets. They can be found in multiples on ebay, averaging about $2.00 per skeleton. Another option is buying bootleg LEGO knockoffs. I found this little pirate set, by "Enlighten" at a Chinese housewares store for $1.79. It's actually pretty decent, and provides a lot of bang for the buck.

"Enlighten" bootleg LEGO set

LEGO SKELETON
ManufacturerLEGOPrice$8.00 (Oasis Ambush set)
Year1998Location boughtToys R' Us
Size1.5 inPOA5
Scalenon-scaleRating (1-10)6.5


DOKUROMAN ARMORED ACTION SKULL!

Dokuroman Armored Action Skull
Pros: Beautifully sculpted, anatomically correct, moveable jawbone, compatible with popular 1:18 action figure lines.
Cons: Difficult to buy, delicate, spine ball joint pops out.

Boy, am I torn on this one! I really wanted to love these, and it was difficult to get them, but there is a critical design flaw: the ball joint where the lower spine meets the ribcage/upper spine constantly pops out. Kaiyodo really needs to re-engineer this particular joint. Otherwise, with 19 POAs, tons of tiny ball joints, and a low, low retail price, they are a marvel in this scale. They are actually gachapon (capsule) toys sold in vending machines in Japan. Currently marketed with a weapons/hands/base accessory pack. They could have been rated more highly, but I docked them by 1 or 2 points due to the problematic spine joint.

Update: After prowling around on some message boards, I had heard that  "Pledge Floor Care Finish" could help with the loose joints. After trying it, I will say that it actually works. I was able to fix problem joint in the middle of the skeleton, and now I can appreciate the toy a heck of a lot more, since it stopped falling apart. Rating has been bumped up from a 6 to a 7. Can't go higher because the ball joints simply do not have the range of motion or reliability that the combined hinge/swivel joints on other skeletons have.

DOKUROMAN ARMORED ACTION SKULL!
ManufacturerKaiyodoPrice$4.00 (retail), $7.50 (scalper price)
Year2016Location boughttoy store in Tokyo, Japan
Size4.25 inPOA19
Scale1:18Rating (1-10)6 7


SPOOKY KOOKY SKELETON

Spooky Kooky skeleton
Pros: Whimsical sculpt. Lasts for decades, good play value.
Cons: Body proportions not anatomically accurate.

What can I say? I LOVE Spooky Kooky jigglers! I'd always wanted this particular one as a child. It was never meant to be an accurate representation of a skeleton. In particular, the head is extremely large. But, it was meant to be a part of a line of creepy dungeon dwellers, and none of them (even the humanoid ones) are normally proportioned. It's a good play figure and rear-view mirror dangler. The plasticized rubber is so good that it can last for 4 decades (and counting).

Fans of classic Aurora monster model kits will recognize the influence of "The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare" on this little skeleton jiggler.

SPOOKY KOOKY SKELETON
ManufacturerImperial ToysPrice$0.49 (price in 1971), $5.00-$20.00 (current ebay price)
Year1971Location boughtebay
Size4.25 inPOAinfinite
Scale1:15Rating (1-10)7


DOKUROMAN PUMPKIN NIGHTMARE

Kaiyodo Dokuroman Pumpkin Nightmare
Pros: Beautifully sculpted, anatomically correct, moveable jawbone, compatible with popular 1:18 action figure lines, includes extra hands and a large amount of bonus Halloween accessories
Cons: More delicate than other articulated skeletons. Ball joints do not have full range of motion.

Just in time for Halloween, Kaiyodo has produced a new series of their Dokuroman skeletons: Pumpkin Nightmare. Initially, it was not clear whether the Halloween accessories were just an add-on pack, but the newest ad copy showed that an entire skeleton, along with the Halloween-themed goodies came packaged together, all for only 400 yen each! Additionally, Kaiyodo had addressed their supply and distribution issues, and plenty of these became available, even to international buyers.

Once they arrived, I cracked open a pack immediately. Kaiyodo has made improvements to the problem spine joint and neckbone, and now they fit more deeply into the re-engineered sockets on the ribcage piece. Kudos to Kaiyodo for fixing these!

The pumpkin head is fairy large, and is designed to fit completely over Dokuroman's skull. They can also fit a Rement Pose skeleton as a turban! You get A LOT of pieces: 32,  including the new Halloween stuff (tree, cat, pumpkin head) and the improved base (now ABS, and not PVC) and TWO sets of hands, the clenched fist and the open spellcasting hands. I'm rating this a 7.5 for the improved joints and sockets as well as the added value of the accessories, all done without raising the retail price.

parts inventory for Dokuroman Pumpkin Nightmare

DOKUROMAN PUMPKIN NIGHTMARE
ManufacturerKaiyodoPrice$4.00
Year2016Location boughtToysanta (mail order)
Size4.25 inPOA19
Scale1:18Rating (1-10)7.5


RE-MENT POSE SKELETON


Pros: Whimsical sculpt. Excellent Revoltech-like joints, moveable jawbone, paint wash nicely applied, includes extra hands, lots of accessories available, appeals to all genders, whole family of skeletons available, fun to play with.
Cons: Mid-body spine joint is a bit floppy, odd scale, adult body proportions not accurate.

We're approaching the upper-end of quality now. The Re-Ment Pose skeleton from Japan is absolutely fantastic! The majority of the joints are tiny Revoltech-like ones that combine both a hinge joint and a 360 degree swivel joint. It's pretty durable, and can take a shelf dive without falling apart. The sculpt is intentionally "kawaii" cute (the adult skeletons look like children- large head, short limbs, small torso). The Pose Skeleton and all its non-military, non-superhero accessories has a very large female following, which is unusual for skeleton action figures. An entire family is available: Mom, Dad, child and doggy and (soon) kitty!

The only slight disadvantage is the odd scale- 1:20, which makes Pose Skeleton and its accessories slightly small for standard 1:18 figures.

REMENT POSE SKELETON
ManufacturerRe-MentPrice$8.00
Year2015Location boughtAmazon.com
Size3.5 inPOA24
Scale1:20Rating (1-10)8


BIG LOTS 7" JUMBO POSE SKELETON BOOTLEG


Pros: Amazingly inexpensive, good articulation, sturdy, MEGO-compatible.
Cons: Some mold flashing, cartoon-y proportions, legs incorrectly assembled at factory, overly-large joints.

For Halloween 2018, a new set of toy skeletons had just appeared at discount-big-box-store, Big Lots. These are basically bootlegs of Rement Pose skeletons, but much BIGGER! This bad bootleg boy is just a hair less than 7" (using calipers to measure). It's heavier than I expected, has a short torso, and very thick, stocky arm and leg bones. It's not anatomically correct, but is still clearly recognizable as a human skeleton. And... it's only 5 dollars!!!

Most of the joints are a large-ish combo swivel/hinge joint. The joint attaching the skull to the neck is a really tight fit and affects the ability of the jaw to open and close. Elbow (hinge joint only) and hands (swivel joint only) are exactly like the Rement Pose skeleton, but the bootleg is, of course, lacking the additional interchangeable hands. As-is, the knees cannot be bent in the correct direction, so it's necessary to pull out the legs and swap left for right, as well as the feet. Once this is done, the knee bends almost 90 degrees. It is able to stand by itself.

All in all, this is an amazing skeleton toy for the price! 24 POA! Sturdy and burly, it can be given to kids (unlike the original, delicate Pose skeleton). It's compatible with 8" MEGO figures and accessories, and some MEGO clothing. So versatile! And so cheap!

Big Lots 7" Jumbo Pose skeleton

ManufacturerUnknownPrice$5.00
Year2018Location boughtBig Lots
Size7 inPOA24
Scale1:10Rating (1-10)8


SKELETON WARRIORS TITAN SKELETON  

Skeleton Warriors Titan skeleton
Pros: Very sturdy, durable joints, reasonable price, comes in different colors, very good/excellent overall articulation, Glyos compatible, fun to play with.
Cons: Odd scale, stylized sculpt that some people find "cartoony", no back articulation.

These guys are a personal favorite of mine. I don't consider the Titan skeletons to be 1:18... I consider them to be 1:15, and they fit in very nicely with my 1:15 jigglers in a 1:15 world. The joints are durable, and so is the skeleton- it can easily take a drop to the floor without falling apart. They make heavy use of "Glybrid" joints, which combine a hinge joint and a 360 degree swivel Glyos joint, which makes many parts interchangeable with figures from multiple companies that do Glyos. Articulation is very good... they can do most poses, but cannot bend their elbows or knees as deeply as some other skeleton figures can. They're large enough to wear soft goods- real tailored fabric clothing. And they're cheap enough to army-build, and you won't feel bad carving them up and applying body modifications to them at $10 a pop.

Some room for minor improvement: a hinged jaw, the addition of a wrist hinge, and some backbone articulation would be nice.

SKELETON WARRIORS TITAN SKELETON
ManufacturerOctober ToysPrice$10.00
Year2015Location boughtOctobertoys.com
Size4.75 inPOA26
Scale1:15Rating (1-10)8


BAG O' BONES BY BOSS FIGHT STUDIO


Pros: Unusually inexpensive for a Boss Fight Studios product. Lots of spare bone parts for dioramas, random weapons included, possible to assemble complete skeletons at 15% of retail price.
Cons: Bag is not guaranteed to contain a complete skeleton. Leg bones are often warped and incorrectly assembled.

Surprisingly, Boss Fight Studio offered blind bags of skeleton parts, called Bag O' Bones in late June/early July of 2017. Priced at only $3.99, each bag contained about 3 oz. of parts. Judging by their photos on Facebook, it looked like a complete skeleton was in the bag, so I took a chance and ordered 2 bags. Total cost: about $8.00, which is less than the price of a single standard factory-bagged skeleton.

When I opened my first bag, I evaluated the pile, and found a complete black skeleton in there- but it had to be assembled. I was pleased with my haul- I was already ahead. After waiting a few weeks, I cracked open the second bag. Combining the contents of 2 bags increases the chances of building complete skeletons exponentially. After separating the parts by color, I was able to build a total of 5 skeletons. The only downside is that some the parts are factory seconds/rejects- particularly the pre-assembled leg bones. Many were warped, and the knee joint was incorrectly put together at the factory. It's not a very easy process to remove the pins and reverse the joint, but with persistence, a dish of boiling water, a nail setter and flat-nosed jewelers pliers, I was successful. Overall, I am very happy with what I got. Genuine Boss Fight Studio skeletons at less than $2.00 each! And, there were enough fishbone daggers in the bags to supply each one of them with a weapon!

BAG O' BONES
ManufacturerBoss Fight StudioPrice$3.99 per bag
Year2017Location boughtbossfightshop.com
Size3.875 inPOA28
Scale1:18Rating (1-10)8.5


VITRUVIAN H.A.C.K.S SKELETON

Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. skeleton
Pros: Amazing articulation in a small scale, moveable jawbone, comes in different colors, lots of armor/weaponry available, perfectly compatible with 1:18 scale figures by other companies, anatomically accurate sculpt (with one exception).
Cons: Joints are stiff out of the bag, unusually flat ribcage, cannot cross legs, hand and foot occasionally pop off.

Although seemingly expensive for a 4" unaccessorized and unpainted figure, once you have one of these in hand, you can't help but gasp in awe over the amazingly-engineered joints! I would have NEVER thought that a wrist hinge & swivel joint, or double-jointed knees, or rocker ankles could be made in this size, but somehow Boss Fight Studio did it! It stands at 4" and with true adult body proportions, and is compatible with the many 3.75" and 4" action figure lines (GiJoe, Star Wars, Marvel, etc.). The double-jointed knees enable the skeleton to do deep knee bends but it comes at a cost: it lacks a knee rotation joint or the necessary range of hip joint movement to, say, sit on a folding chair and cross its legs. The Yoga lotus position is out.

The current VITRUVIAN H.A.C.K.S. wave is Greek mythology, so Iron Age accessories are available for these skeletons.

VITRUVIAN H.A.C.K.S. SKELETON
ManufacturerBoss Fight StudioPrice$12.99
Year2016Location boughtbossfightshop.com
Size3.875 inPOA28
Scale1:18Rating (1-10)9


KAIYODO REVOLTECH "JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS" SCI-FI SKLELETON

Kaiyodo Revoltech skeleton
Pros: Beautifully sculpted, anatomically accurate, moveable jawbone, great packaged accessories and base, excellent Revoltech joints, can effortlessly duplicate the full range of human motion.
Cons: Too expensive to army-build or customize.

The Rolls Royce of toy skeletons! Designed and manufactured by Kaiyodo, this is on the high-end of the scale and really shows the incredible quality of Japanese toys. It currently sells for $65-$70, but I was able to get a pre-owned one in Hong Kong for about $30. The sculpt is so good that it can be used as an artist's model. Fans of Ray Harryhausen may want to use this for stop-motion, but need to stiffen the joints first with (believe it or not) acrylic floor polish. The joints are true Revoltech, and all of them combine a hinge joint and a 360 degree swivel joint, giving the skeleton a full range of motion without any joints popping out. This skeleton has all of the advantages of Dokuroman, Pose Skeleton and Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. skeletons, and none of the disadvantages.

But, the main issue is that these skeletons are expensive. Too expensive to buy in multiples or to customize. The scale is a little odd, too. At 5.5 inches, it looks puny compared to popular 6" action figures. The skeleton comes with extra hands, an extra sword & shield and a beautiful storage base.

KAIYODO REVOLTECH SKELETON
ManufacturerKaiyodoPrice$30.00
Year2010Location boughttoy store in Hong Kong
Size5.5 inPOA33
Scale1:13Rating (1-10)10



RELATED PAGES: 

Pirate Hats (for action figures) DIY Tutorial
"Captain Bar" DIY Dollhouse becomes Pirate Bar
Greek Mythology Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. action figures
The Search for Dokuroman
Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 1
Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 2
October Toys Skeleton Warriors
More Gacha-Love, shipped from Japan!
Vitruvian HACKs Warrior Skeleton by Boss Fight Studio 


Thursday, June 16, 2016

Spooky Kooky Dungeon Dioramas and Toy Torture Devices



I'm having some evil, evil fun with Spooky Kookys. When I was in the process of writing about the Spooky Kooky boxes and packaging, I got to thinking that I had enough pre-existing pieces to set up a diorama.

Here's the box inspiration: Spooky Kooky jiggler box:

1985 Topstone box. Photo by Mac McDermott/Facebook

SPOOKY KOOKY DUNGEON DIORAMAS

Here is the first of the dungeon dioramas, based on the illustration of the box above. These Spooky Kookys are a mix of originals and re-issues, depending on which ones were on hand, and weren't wearing other clothing (I do a lot of customizing).

Spooky Kookys hanging in a dungeon
Just the Kookys hanging against a wall isn't all that interesting, so here's what the diorama looks like, with the addition of October Toys' Skeleton Warriors figures as their captors. The skeletons just happen to be compatibly sized, making it possible to merge the two worlds: 1971 Spooky Kookys and 2015 Skeleton Warriors.

I also added an additional Kooky, who looked very, very filthy because his previous owner tried to paint him and I had not been able to completely remove the paint. I also added handmade stocks.

Skeleton Warriors holding Spooky Kookys in a dungeon
The second of the dungeon dioramas adds The Rack:

Skeleton Warriors demand to know where the treasure is hidden
Spooky Kooky pleads with the skeletons, "Don't turn the wheel!"
Spooky Kooky sings like a canary
No toys were permanently harmed in the making of these dioramas!

BEHIND THE SCENES

rack on ebay
Back in 2012, someone on ebay was selling a Spooky Kooky jiggler tied down to a torture rack. At the time, I didn't have $50.00 in the toy budget to throw around, so I passed on it. But, I stupidly didn't take down the seller's name. All I copied was a thumbnail of the item (left), which I thought was a full sized image.

Once I had money in the toy budget, I searched for it, but couldn't find it again. That meant I had to build one myself from scratch. I was also inspired by the beautiful, handmade wooden miniature guillotines and, um, other similar types of machines on the DreadWilliam site. My rack is scaled down to 7", because the intended toy victims are between 4" and 5" tall.

The local hobby store had some benign hardwood wagon wheels and wooden thread spools. The rack bed was plywood that was sitting around in the garage. Some spare baseboard molding was also conveniently in the garage too. I ended up buying some 1/4" square dowels made of maple, because I needed hardwood for the supports and the mechanisms.

All in all, it cost me about seven dollars for supplies and parts.

The Rack work in-progress
I carved a ratchet and pawl mechanism, because the prisoner will probably spend weeks on the rack, and I didn't want the spools to unwind overnight. And, the ratchet makes a really satisfying click when you turn the wheel. I added a small wooden hammer to the pawl, in order to weigh it down and also make it easier to disengage it.



I made some recent modifications to the leg clamps. The original wooden latch didn't hold the leg clamps down tightly enough, so I removed the latch and used the simpler and more efficient peg-in-hole method. The peg has a chain and a holder so it won't get lost.

Experimental video of The Rack in action (shot using my iPad) using a 50 cent gumball machine stretchy skeleton. For educational purposes, of course. If you're squeamish, don't play the video.


The wooden stocks were also scratch built, from various scrap pieces of wood I had lying around. It opens and closes, and was tailor-made to fit a Spooky Kooky. The padlock is not functional. It was originally a metal charm from a craft/fabric store. The wooden peg-on-a-chain is what really locks the stocks.


The dungeon setting is made of cardboard and Home Depot vinyl flooring samples. The stone walls are pieces good quality corrugated cardboard, and covered with rectangles trimmed from various cereal boxes, all painted and varnished. The dungeon door looks 3-D, but it's just cardboard, with somewhat realistic-looking door hardware made from scrapbook paper and dry-brushed to give the illusion of wear and age.
The dungeon is not a permanent diorama, and can be broken down and stored flat, as needed. It can be reassembled in only a few minutes.

 

RELATED PAGES:

Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 1
Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 2
Fun with Spooky Kooky jigglers! Playing "Hogan's Heroes"
A Collection of Toy Skeletons

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Miniature DIY Pirate Gachapon Machine


 Miniature... DIY... Pirate... Gachapon... Machine...

You'll probably never find that combination of words anywhere else but here! LOL.

INSPIRATION

I am working on a larger "Pirates of the Caribbean" inspired project, and for a related small side-project, my mind went back to the classic LucasFilm Games "The Secret of Monkey Island" videogame. The hero, Guybrush Threepwood, finds a grog vending machine while trying to buy a ship.

"The Secret of Monkey Island". Money well spent in 1993.
I loved the idea of a pirates with humorously anachronistic vending machines. That, combined with memories of last month's trip to Tokyo somehow merged into "Miniature Pirate Gachapon Machine". The machine could dispense prizes that are relevant to pirates!

LEARNING FROM A YOUTUBE TUTORIAL

Thanks to YouTube, one can find several DIY videos on how to make a gachapon machine. I got most of my inspiration from the user "Polymomo Tea" and his polymer clay tutorial here:

DIY Miniature Clay Toy Capsule/Gashapon Machine Tutorial 

Once I saw his video, I understood the necessary mechanisms to make it work. I prefer working with wood, since I find it sturdier. Wood also looks more rustic and period-appropriate for the Pirate Age.

BUILDING THE MACHINE

A trip to the hobby shop solved my problem about what to use for the glass display. They have these small acrylic display cases that are about 1" x 1" x 3". That was the only item I needed to purchase specially for the pirate gachapon machine project. The rest of the supplies like wood, cardstock, Halloween bracelets and beads were already sitting around the house.

Work in progress- Parts
Parts:

1) Sawed-off acrylic plastic case with original lid
2) Custom plywood box to hold the gachapon mechanism. Note the slanted floor (to coax the prizes to roll downwards to the dispenser)
3) Replacement wooden lid for acrylic case
4) Wooden base made from popsicle sticks
5) Tumbler to rotate, pick up a prize and dispense it. Tumbler was made from cardstock, wrapped around a pen, glued and sealed with several coats of acrylic sealer. Two wooden pegs were attached to the ends.
6) Wooden triangle wedge to guide the downward motion of the prizes
7) Wooden knob to turn

Here's a view of the box mechanism:


Here's a view of the dry-fit of the parts:


I created a gachapon header card using Photoshop, combining various pieces of clipart mooched from the Internet. I printed them in several sizes until I found the size that worked.


Here's the header card. I was unable to cut/paste Japanese characters into Photoshop, so I ended up pasting them into Notepad, increasing the font size to 96 points and doing a print screen. Then I pasted the Japanese characters as a graphic into Photoshop. The top says "Pirate Gachapon". The text in the middle says "You can win a gold pirate doubloon!" and the bottom has the various warnings about not for children under 3 years old. At least that's what Google Translate tells me. I hope it's right.

Pirate Gachapon Header Card graphic
The prizes: 1) A skull, from a skull bracelet. I used a Dremel tool to grind them down to make them somewhat more round 2) A bomb. Made from a round bead, with a wick added, painted black and sealed with matte acrylic 3) A whale tooth. Cut from plastic teeth in a Halloween bracelet. 4) Pieces of Eight in a capsule.


There are miniature gachapon machines on ebay, for themes such as Disney, Angry Birds, Dragonball-Z, and Pokemon. I could have bought one and modified it, but I like the challenge of scratch-building. The mini-machines have a large matching theme figurine on the top, so I copied that idea and added a skull (from a Halloween bracelet) for the top of my DIY machine. I added an eyepatch and bandanna to make it look more pirate-y.


The dimensions of the machine is 1.25" x 1.25" x 2.25". It is around 1:12 scale... I could have made it smaller, but I really wanted it to dispense the little skulls, so I had to make it the appropriate size. The mechanism is not 100% reliable- since the prizes are not exactly round, they sometimes jam in the hopper.


Here's the completed Miniature DIY Pirate Gachapon Machine! It took about 4 days, as there was a learning curve, and I also needed to do the Photoshop graphics and write a blog page too.


FUN WITH FIGURES AND THE GACHAPON MACHINE

Here's what the DIY Pirate Gachapon machine looks like with various action figures. Kaiyodo's Dokuroman skeleton bangs on the machine, hoping to get a skull. He hopes that someday, the machine will dispense whole skeletons.


In the next picture, I placed an October Toys skeleton, and a Figma Archetype "She" figure for scale. The gachapon machine is relatively in-scale for figures of this size (about 5").

Figma Archetype "She" and October Toys skeleton with gachapon machine

SECOND MACHINE- A QUICK BUILD

Most of the time, real gachapon machines are sighted in multiples. Since I already had all the tools out and the hard-earned know-how about building them, I decided to build a second gachapon machine. This one is intentionally non-functional, saving me the time and trouble of exacting measurements. I also cut a lot of the build time by switching to basswood instead of using plywood. Basswood is so soft that it can be cut with a utility knife, instead of a saber saw or X-acto razor saw and miter box.

Instead of needing to carve triangular wedges out of wood, I used strips of painted cardboard for the ramps.  The non-functional tumbler is simply a split wooden dowel, with a partial hole ground into it using a Dremel tool. The header cards and machine signs were already made in Photoshop, so all I needed to do was print another set.

non-functional gachapon machine
Once everything was painted, stained and varnished, the second gachapon machine (which took only one day to make) looks a lot like the first.



RELATED PAGES:


Pirate Hats (for action figures) DIY Tutorial
"Captain Bar" DIY Dollhouse becomes Pirate Bar
The Search for Dokuroman
Toy Shopping in Tokyo's Akihabara and Hong Kong's Mong Kok district 
A Collection of Toy Skeletons
More Gacha-Love, shipped from Japan!  
Tokyo's Akihabara Again and Gacha-Love, 2017