Well I did exactly what I thought i'd do when I started this blog, not post
for months. My apologies to anyone who
came to visit in the last little while, but I've got a very special post today.
A few months back I did an article about a very talented sculptor, Jonathan
Matthews. I had a chance to speak with Jonathan and he recommended I check out
Tim Bruckner.
As with all artists I seek out, I immediately hunt for their portfolios. When
I got to Tim's characterful website (www.timbruckner.com) I quickly saw many familiar
faces. If you're a wrestling figure fan
like myself, you will definitely remember the Toybiz WCW/NWO figures, some of
my favorite wrestling figures ever. Guess
who was responsible for sculpting those? that’s right, Mr. Tim Bruckner.
I can remember 1997 clearly, I was 12 yrs old and studying these incredibly
sculpted wrestling figures: Scott Hall, Goldberg, Sting, Hogan... and thinking
“Toybiz does a way better job than Jakks... I wonder who made these?" I never thought I’d get a chance to know one
day.
Tim has had a long career spanning many different companies. If we go back even further in the 90's, we can
see some of the great and memorable sculpts by Tim, here are some of my
favorites:
Tim has had a long career spanning many different companies. If we go back even further in the 90's, we can
see some of the great and memorable sculpts by Tim, here are some of my
favorites:
Now I can tell you that Tim’s HUSH Batman is tied for my favorite Batman
figure ever, along with the new Greg Capullo Batman. Consequently, Jim Lee and
Greg Capullo are my favorite Batman artists.
Just looking at Tim's work, I feel his finished pieces project a lot of
character... For example, he has done many Joker action figures, each one capturing
the insanity that is synonymous with the character, while also staying true to
the original comic artist’s interpretation:
You can tell he has a unique talent of taking 2d comic characters and
really bringing out the comic artists vision.
I would like to believe this is a combination of raw talent and many
years of his skills honed into creating these excellent figures and
statues. You may also notice that the
paint jobs on these are superior to the one you might own, that’s because Tim
has hand painted these himself. They are
called paint masters, and they provide an example to the factories of how the
figures are suppose to look. Tim is a
one-stop-shop, meaning he not only sculpts, but he casts and paints the figures
too.
Some of his more recent DC work includes the incredible DC Dynamics statues. These pieces, not just the sculpts, but the idea behind them, are just pure genius. It is no wonder that so many top profile sculptors admire Mr. Brucker, he is truly a legend in the industry.
Some of his more recent DC work includes the incredible DC Dynamics statues. These pieces, not just the sculpts, but the idea behind them, are just pure genius. It is no wonder that so many top profile sculptors admire Mr. Brucker, he is truly a legend in the industry.
From reading interviews, I get the sense that Tim really enjoys a solving
difficult puzzles in respect to sculpting.
He seems to embrace the challenge of tackling sculpts he's never done
before, or finding better ways of executing a piece.
Now I’ve only shown you a glimpse
of Tim’s work, and I’ve stayed only within the realm of Toy Biz and DC Direct
action figures. For some of his personal
work, statues, commissions and other great projects please see Tim’s facebookpage.
Tim played a very pivotal role in creating some of the best and most
memorable collectibles in my lifetime. Thank you Tim for all the great work, I
look forward to more amazing accomplishments from you.
