The Incredible Jacques Alexandre Gillois - Miniature Sculptor

Since I was 6 to 7 years old, I‘ve been a huge fan of Warhammer 40k. This is mostly due to my older cousin who was an avid gamer (he’s about 17 years older than me).  Oddly enough I wasn’t too interested in the gaming aspect but more so the miniatures and the lore. 
 

It captivated me that such detail could be captured in such small models.  As the years went on from the late 80’s/early 90’s the quality and detail of models also progressed.  Eventually I began seeking hobbyist who sculpted and converted miniatures – Coolminiornot.com became a daily visit and I always looked forward to seeing Golden Demon winners in White Dwarf Magazine (now past and present winners can be seen here).

I discovered that the miniature hobby is filled with very talented sculptors, but to me, one stood out amongst the others, Jacques Alexandre Gillois aka. JAG.  I have been following JAG’s work for the last 6 years and I can easily say he is my all-time favorite miniature sculptor. 

The first work I ever saw from JAG was from Helldorado:

These pieces caught my attention because of the incredible amount of detail.  Many of these Helldorado miniatures had a lot going on (anatomy, skulls, armour weapons and pieces hanging off), but JAG was able to capture all the chaos and make the miniatures make sense. 

A few years later I started noticing his work for Studio McVey.  I really enjoy seeing sculpts in their raw or unpainted form because I can really appreciate the crisp clean sculpts and attention to detail:

Whether a dynamic or static pose, JAG can make miniatures very captivating.  Today he has progressed to creating amazing works of art for companies like Kingdom Death: 

Slenderman is one of my favorite pieces from JAG.  The sculpt is so smooth, precise and the details are perfect.  I had a feeling of eeriness when I first saw Slenderman, for me to actually get that feeling from looking at a miniature is very rare but I believe JAG is one of those sculptors that can really capture the feel and essence of a character in his work.

To me, it appears he has a very strong understanding of anatomy because his pieces seem so realistic.  For example, all the feathers and anatomy on his Pheonix appear so natural.

I hope you appreciated his work as much as I do.  You can see more of JAG’s work on his website, which is a library of his past work.  For more recent work you can visit Kingdom Death, Studio McVey (Sedition Wars and 7 Sins), and Mierce Miniatures.  JAG does do commission work for other companies from time to time.  You can also see his own brand of miniatures: Miniature Factory, and purchase some of his work.

 

Due to his incredible talent, JAG is a very busy guy.  I've been on a wait list for a commission for years and hopefully I will be lucky in 2015!  If I am so lucky, I’ll definitely share the progress of work on this blog! Until next time.

The Mysterious Jurassic Park Cardback T-Rex: A Prototype Lost in Time

The Jurassic Park T-Rex toy was a childhood favorite for me.   I had many great memories of the movie Jurassic Park the T-Rex was always my favorite dinosaur. 

Often referred to as the “Red Rex,” the original Jurassic Park T-Rex toy was released in 1993. I was 7 years old at the time and recalled the enormous T-Rex with rubber skin, stomping sound action and roar. Before its release, every dinosaur toy was a solid piece of plastic with no acticulation, so it was definitely a game changer for me when they released the Red Rex.

Let’s jump back a few months before the release of Red Rex; it must’ve been early 1993 when they started releasing various Jurassic Park toys (In Canada, the T-Rex was released later in the year).  My favorite thing to do besides buying the toys was checking out upcoming releases on the cardbacks. What I saw blew my mind even until today:

This was the T-Rex pictured on the back of the card.  Needless to say I was way too excited for it, this version looked like it came right out of the movie screen.  What we got several months later was this:

Still a fairly good representation of the movie T-Rex, but nothing close to what the cardback had us drooling over.  

I guess most kids at the time didn’t notice the difference, but I was kind of weird and my first thought upon seeing Red Rex in person was: “oh wow! That can’t be it… It looks so different…” 

From 1993 until today I always wondered what the cardback T-Rex was and where I could get it…

I thought I’d contact the experts at JPtoys.com, and asked them if they had any info on the mysterious cardback T-Rex.  Ankie, who’s title at JPtoys.com is “Administrator Carcharodontosaurus”, was very helpful and replied with the following info:

• Toy companies often make these pictures in early production phases resulting in prototypes or completely different stand in models.
• The “Red Rex” was still in production when they took the cardback photo, so the one pictured on the cardback was a stand-in.
• The stand-in is based off the Stan Winston Maquette, but is NOT a copy of it.  In fact, it’s a new model in itself.
•  Unfortunately, this model has NOT been found except in the one cardback photo.

Well folks there you have… the “mysterious Jurassic Park cardback T-Rex stand-in prototype” is lost in time!  If anyone has any info on this amazing piece, please leave a comment or shoot me an email.  Until more info is revealed, it will always be a hidden treasure to me.  Thank you to JPtoys.com for the photos and info. 

Side Note: The closest collectible you can get to this T-rex is the Horizon T-Rex Model kit:

You can find this on eBay! Good luck hunting.  

DoubleDealer: A True Master of the Customizing Craft

I would’ve wanted to save this post for a later time when this blog would have more traffic, but I couldn’t wait and will probably re-post it again at a later date.

DoubleDealer Aka. 2dtoys is my all-time favorite customizer/action figure creator.  I first discovered his work through chatting with other customizers back in 2006 (Cal’s Customs and Zombihamma).  I recall asking them if there was a cusotmizer that influenced them or they admired and one name stood out in their minds, DoubleDealer. 

I visited 2dtoys.com and that day changed how I saw action figures.  To me, 2D knew exactly how to make the perfect version of each character.  Here's a sample of some of his work: 

 2D used to chop up figures, fuse them together and then dremel them down, leaving him with a skeleton to work with. He would then sculpt beautiful pieces finished with amazing paint jobs.  His website is a catalogue of his work, you can see his skill evolve from his early work (2001/2002 although I heard he started in the late 90’s) as he advanced his skill set.

A Little Personal History

I first introduced myself to 2D on TheFwoosh forums, and asked him for a commission of Cable based on his old 80/90’s design (big shoulders pads, tons of pouches):

I remember him saying “Sounds interesting, it would be fun to do a Cable from Rob Liefield’s design!” and that was it … I didn’t know if that was a yes or a no!  So I messaged back asking if he would and he replied “Sure! I’m busy this month but I can start next month” and that’s how my first commission from 2Dtoys started. 

For Cable, he was originally going to use a ML Hercules base… then a few days later I get a message:

2D: “Hey, had some problems with the Herc figure… his hands are ugly… are you okay with using ML Thor as a base?”

I couldn’t picture how that would work, but I trusted his talent and went ahead with it.  

I was curious: “Why Thor?”

And his reply was: “Thor just has a sexier build to him.” 

I knew when he said that it was going to be good.  A few weeks later, I get this in my inbox:

I was mind blown. What an amazing creation.  This was everything I was looking for in a Cable figure, and he delivered it perfectly. If you were to see the reference art I provided, it literally looks like he jumped out of the comic.  To today, this is definitely still my favorite Cable action figure.  

Since then, 2D and I have emailed back and forth for the last 8 years.  99% of the time it’s me bugging him to make me a custom, and over the years I've managed to hunt (sometimes literally HUNT) down a few more from him:

I am a very fortunate to own such masterpieces and they are definitely the highlight of my collection.  His work really captures exactly what I want in a figure…the feel, likeness, proportions, everything is perfection.  I really enjoy the idea that these are one-of-a-kind pieces I own, hand crafted by the man himself.  It adds a high sense of rarity and uniqueness that I value very much so. 

I remember after he sent me Cable in 2007, he mentioned his goal was to sculpt for a living.  Nowadays, Fred has transitioned to sculpt for Hasbro, working on lines such as GI Joe, Star Wars and Marvel.  He sculpts using a wax and his attention to detail has gotten even better if you can believe it. 

Please check out his website: 2dtoys.com .  It hasn't been updated for years, but he provides a lot of his thought process for each figure he made.  For more recent work, check out his facebook page.

There is a lot to say about 2D’s work, I’ll save it for another time.  If you ever get a chance to chat with him, Fred is a great guy with a deep passion for his work. 

I've got a small list of characters I've always wanted him to craft for me (actually it’s 6 characters).  My dream is, if he’s willing to; to hopefully get them done sometime in the near future.  If I do, I’ll be sharing the process and the finish piece with you guys here.  Hope you enjoyed this post!

Uncovering Bantha5 Custom Clone Commanders from 2006

The other day I was cleaning out my old room that I had since I was a kid which eventually became a storage room years ago.  The room was packed with random family items and tons and tons of action figures, some of which haven’t been seen in over a decade!  

Upon packing my old collection into their appropriate boxes, I uncovered something truly special, custom Clone Commander pieces I ordered from Bantha5 customs in 2006.

What you’re looking at is a custom cast head sculpt of Commander Neyo, which can be fitted to a regular clone trooper body, as well as the shoulder guard and backpack for Commander Cody.  Next to it was the card Ryan (Bantha5) mailed with every order.  What a fantastic head sculpt, you can see it here compared to the Commander Neyo from 2008 Anniversary Collection, 2013 Black Series and Bantha5's version: 

Compare them to Commander Neyo himself and I think Bantha5's comes out on top:

The package I ordered also came with a Commander Cody helmet which for some reason I can’t seem to find (I will post it if i'm lucky to find it hidden in my room). 

Take a look at Bantha5’s website.  Here you can discover his amazing talents of customizing and sculpting some awesome star wars figures, most notably his work in the vintage collection.  His journey began with a passion to create the figures that were missing in his collection or never released. I think he did a great job of staying true to the vintage era of design and sculpting, his work looks as if Kenner produced it. 

I tried contacting Ryan but with no luck! I’m not sure if his email works or not, but if you’re reading this, please reach out to me, I’d love to interview you for the fans to see! 

To me personally, Bantha5 customs brings back memories of the original Star Wars customizers that I saw from years back.  When Ep. 3 came out, there was a huge Clone Trooper craze, and Bantha5 truly brought the Clone Commanders to life.  

I would guess that copies of these head sculpts are fairly rare today, so if you have one, make sure you hang on to it.  Til next time.

A Hidden Gold Mine Uncovered – Unproduced Transformers from an Ex-Kenner/Hasbro Employee

While visiting tfw2005.com, I stumbled upon a post about an eBay seller with a treasure trove of gems!

It appears an ex-Kenner/Hasbro employee has HUNDREDS of boxes of prototype and unproduced Transformers.  Although they’re not customs, they might as well have been as some of these pieces may be the only existing copies or extraordinarily rare pieces.

What has been Uncovered in this Tomb?

One such piece is an Unproduced G2 Menasor, which sold for just under $27,000 – congrats to the lucky buyer who truly owns a hidden treasure:

Also found was a prototype Beast Wars Optimal Optimus:

Take a look at eBay seller z75sales as he has tons of prototypes and if you’re lucky… unreleased pieces.  Also check out z75sales Youtube Channel, You can also find some fascinating videos of his collection and the opening of some of the boxes like this one:

…. It’s incredible to think that some of these pieces have been sitting untouched and unseen in boxes for decades… it’s like finding King Tuts Tomb with all its treasures intact.. seriously.. . 

Custom Darth Vader: The Evolution of the Chosen One

I thought I’d start my first real post with something special to me.  Darth Vader is one of my favorite Star Wars characters.  I’d even put him up there with my favorite characters of any universe.   Before I start this post, I’d like to thank Rebelscum.com (where I go for all my Star Wars figures news) for most of the photos I will be using. 

My first Vader figure was a Vintage Darth Vader released in the late 70s/early 80s… I forget how it came into my possession; I believe a friend at school gave it to me (I was born in 85’, so It was way before my generation).

As a kid I wasn't a fan of Vader (I was more into Storm Troopers and Boba Fett) I actually thought he looked kind of silly.  I guess owning Spawn figure attributed to my thinking he wasn’t that cool… as a KID, these monsterous and detailed spawn figures really stood out to me.

After the vintage Vader I didn’t really buy the POTF Vaders until the POTF Darth Vader with Removable Helmet came out:

Whooo! At the time, this figure was super rare and I remember being so amazed at how cool and detailed it was.  I recall this figure placed 1^st in ToyFare magazine’s top 10 figures of the month…

From there I owned several other Vaders… and let me tell you, almost every year, Hasbro makes a new one.  Although they have been improving year after year. I was never completely satisfied with anyone of them:

As the figures evolved, plastic capes became fabric capes and swivel joints became ball joints… the character gained more articulation and more features like:

•            Multiple piece removable helmets
•            light saber hilts
•            and removable hand.

I’ll say it now… I love great articulation… but if I had to choose between amazing articulation or an amazing sculpt… I’m going with the sculpt, especially for a character such as Darth Vader as I don’t see him as a character that is too agile.  Maybe growing up in an era where figures didn’t have great articulation played a role in why I think this way… I just know a lot of fans are big on articulation.

Anyways, the most recent Vader figure has been released at SDCC 2014 and it looks fantastic:

Based on how Vader appeared in Revenge of the Sith, I think this is one of the best Vaders yet.  I really like how the mask turned out, but we’ll have to see it in person when released in stores.

Now I’m sure Vader figures will continue to improve… my biggest question is would it be possible to pack the detail of a larger scale figure into a 3 ¾ figure?   Take a look at the attention to detail, proportions and the way the armour and fabric fit together of pieces such as the Cinemaquette Darth Vader or Sideshows 1/6 Darth Vader:

I know what you’re thinking…these figures are way more expensive and at a much larger scale, meaning it’s easier to pack in more detail … but I believe this level of quality is achievable at a 3 ¾ scale.. but only by true customizing masters. 

  

Onto the Custom Vaders

Here are two Vader customs that stand out in my mind.  These two customizers, Sith_fir30 and Darklord1967, are very well known for their customizing talents.  I’d like to share my thoughts on their Vaders:

Sith_fire30’s custom features an amazing sculpt and everything you could want in a Vader figure:

• Great articulation
• 3 piece helmet
• fine detail

The fabric he used on the cape and skirt really adds a much higher quality than any Hasbro Vader.   The detail even goes down to the metal chain around his neck!!!

Here’s an interesting side note, I’m not sure if Dayton (sith_fire30) will remember this, but years ago in 2007, I kept PM’ing  Dayton on rebelscum.com forums to make me a custom Boba Fett.  After over a year he finally said yes to the commission! Around the same time I became a huge Vader fan … and asked if it was okay for him to switch the commission from Boba to Vader.. he said sure. 

Now Dayton’s figures are of super high quality and he works on dozens of figures at a time, so any one of his customs can take years to finish!  I believe this Vader is still a WIP, and I’m sure he’s long forgotten about me asking about this commission.  But in any case, Dayton deserves to keep all his masterpieces in his collection.

This next custom I believe I first saw in 2004.  It is by Darklord1967, who has one of the coolest star wars collections ever.  Check out his version of the Dark Lord:

This Vader figure blows my mind, and even though it was created a decade ago, I think it beats all the versions that come out today.  Roberto (Darklord1967) used various figures to put this together including the vintage Vader (who would’ve thought to use parts from so long ago?).  Although it’s articulation isn’t as wild as today’s figures, the sculpt and the way the pieces fit together make it one of the best Vaders I’ve ever seen…

Don’t quote me on this, but I believe this Vader along with a bunch of other of Darklord1967’s customs were stolen at a convention!   I also heard that Roberto made another Vader that is superior to this one.  

Darklord1967 is also nearly impossible to get a hold of! So if he’s reading this, please give me a shout! I’d love to talk to you about your customs.

What Vader is in My Collection?

I’d love to tell you I own a one-of-a-kind … masterpiece version of Vader.. but I don’t actually have one. 

A perfect Darth Vader for me will be based on how he appeared in ESB and include these features:

•         A accurate and high quality sculpt
•         Great proportions
•         Decent articulation
•         Removable helmet

Needless to say there is one person I would trust to do this custom for me… and he knows who he is! My hope is to get him commissioned and completed sometime next year (fingers crossed).  If I am so fortunate to him done… I will definitely be sharing it with you.  Stay tuned for my next post...

Welcome to Trev the Treasure Hunter's blog.

Hello,

This is my first post on my blog.  This blog will be about my facsination with custom action figures, miniatures, models and rare collectibles.  Please check out my about me page for more!