Repurposing toys into UF

(I hope this is a suitable forum -- the following notion is creative, but not non-EPU; it applies to all EPU sagas; it's not precisely community chatter...)

Here's project, fun for the whole family, provided they're sad obsessed fans: collect existing toys and organize them to represent the cast of EPU stories (UF, NXE, etc.). No doubt Japan's toy companies have created action figures for every anime ever sourced by EPU, but most of them haven't reached North America. American source material ("Trek", "Star Wars", B5, etc.) are a little easier to find. Original characters, especially the kids, you won't be able to *collect* -- you'll have to kitbash.

(In most cases of my own toy collecting/harvesting, I wait till items sink to the discount racks.)

* BEC made a variety of 8-inch "Real Model" action figure versions of the Evas from NGE. Slap on some X-Com decals (eg, printed on your inkjet), and you've entered NXE. (Formerly available at various video game stores.)

* To crew IPO station "Babylon 5", use: Playmates made 6-inch "Star Trek" figures (TOS, TNG, DS9), some of them more articulated than others. WB Toys made 6-inch "Collectors Series" figures (low articulation) of Sheridan, G'Kar, Londo and Delenn (but no Ivanova). Unfortunately they're all probably wearing the wrong uniforms, and "Enterprise" figures aren't yet available (for Phlox and Malcolm Reed).

* Bandai makes a line of figures called "Anime Collection": each bubblecard features one mech and two figures. From "Cowboy Bebop" there's the Swordfish, with Spike and Faye; from "Big O", there's the Big O, with Roger and Dorothy. (Available at Toys'R'Us.)

* There are oodles of "Star Wars" toys, of course, but since Gryphon's _Daggerdisc_ is a YT-1312 with the cockpit on the *right* side, it might be easier to modify the LEGO 7190-"Millenium Falcon". One could try to rebuild the 7166-"Imperial Shuttle" in blue to recreate Truss's Network 23 _Morning Sun_, but I don't think all the necessary elements are *available* in blue. LEGO bricks could also easily recreate the Duelists' Castle on Jeraddo -- in fact, with some paint and decals, one could make minifig customs of *all* the characters. Human, anyway -- T'skaia might be a problem.

* Only a few "Farscape" species have wandered into the UFiverse, and no specific characters, so *that* action figure line isn't useful yet.

* "Robotech" toys circa-1985 are a bit rare nowadays. "Super-posable Veritechs" have been promised by robotech.com for months now, but they look pricey and non-transformable.

* Ditto for the few Transformers who've appeared (in non-"Cybertron Dreams" stories): Optimus Prime, Blaster.

Further ideas?

(Next sad obsessed activity: stop-motion films *using* the collected figures. It'll be like Nickelodeon's "Action League Now", but with fewer smashing dismemberments. Possibly.)

--
Phillip Thorne
The Non-Sequitur Express - usually accurate, sometimes relevant, occassionally timely
"You dare agree with me? Prepare to meet your horrible doom!" --Invader Zim

>One could try to rebuild the
>7166-"Imperial >Shuttle"> in blue to recreate Truss's Network 23
>_Morning Sun_, but I
>don't think all the necessary elements are *available* in blue.

Truss has tried. They aren't.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>One could try to rebuild the 7166-"Imperial Shuttle" in blue to recreate Truss's Network 23
>>_Morning Sun_, but I don't think all the necessary elements are *available* in blue.
>
>Truss has tried. They aren't.

Truss actually hasn't tried all that hard, yet.

	John Trussell Tertiary Battle Muse Eyrie Productions, Unlimited It's all just one mistake after another.

Laudre and I once threw out the idea of kitbashing a Lego TIE Tank, using a Lego TIE (he thinks we should use the regular TIE; I want to use the much bigger deluxe TIE Interceptor). Assuming we can find a source for suitable treads.

TRB

>Laudre and I once threw out the idea of kitbashing a Lego TIE Tank,
>using a Lego TIE (he thinks we should use the regular TIE; I want to
>use the much bigger deluxe TIE Interceptor). Assuming we can find a
>source for suitable treads.

Weird. I have a TIE Interceptor, snap-kit from MPC (8931). I've sorta-painted it and glued some of the parts. The box doesn't say what scale, but it's 6 inches long.

Ha, it claims to be molded in color but is not.

--
Satya.

>>Laudre and I once threw out the idea of kitbashing a Lego TIE Tank,
>>using a Lego TIE (he thinks we should use the regular TIE; I want to
>>use the much bigger deluxe TIE Interceptor). Assuming we can find a
>>source for suitable treads.
>
>Weird. I have a TIE Interceptor, snap-kit from MPC (8931). I've
>sorta-painted it and glued some of the parts. The box doesn't say what
>scale, but it's 6 inches long.

It's rather tough to determine scale with regards to SW stuff -- there's nocanon info on ship dimensions, and "official" info (RPGs, tech manuals, video games and the like) is often contradictory, and the rule seems to be that the more prominent the ship is, the harder it is to build a workable model of it.

-- Sean --
...I've become convinced that Escher designed the Millenium Falcon...
Rabid Crack Weasel #42
"All tribal myths are true, for a given value of 'true'." -- Terry Pratchett
The Broken Link
Follow my creative process

>Ha, it claims to be molded in color but is not.

All "molded in color" means on a model kit is that the pieces are some color other than that of raw plastic - not that the model doesn't require painting to look right.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>Laudre and I once threw out the idea of kitbashing a Lego TIE Tank,
>using a Lego TIE (he thinks we should use the regular TIE; I want to
>use the much bigger deluxe TIE Interceptor). Assuming we can find a
>source for suitable treads.

They make several sizes of lego treads, from what are basically black rubber bands moulded as treads, to large treads made of plastic links that all snap together. I had a Technics bulldozer kit that used them - well, I think I still have it, I have a couple of boxes of Lego bricks.

>>Laudre and I once threw out the idea of kitbashing a Lego TIE Tank,
>>using a Lego TIE (he thinks we should use the regular TIE; I want to
>>use the much bigger deluxe TIE Interceptor). Assuming we can find a
>>source for suitable treads.
>
>They make several sizes of lego treads, from what are basically black
>rubber bands moulded as treads, to large treads made of plastic links
>that all snap together. I had a Technics bulldozer kit that used them
>- well, I think I still have it, I have a couple of boxes of Lego
>bricks.
Also Mega Bloks Transforming Blok Bots has a Gladiator that
turns into a tank. It has some nice treads and the Mega Bloks
are compatiable with Lego.
Phantom

Megazone wrote on 4/29:
>>They make several sizes of lego treads, from what are basically black
>>rubber bands moulded as treads, to large treads made of plastic links
>>that all snap together. <...>

Much to the irritation of Technics engineers, the #3873 tread segment (also suitable for conveyor belts) is no longer "in print" ("in mold"?), AFAIK. One dedicated builder once used a great many of them to replicate NASA's mobile launch platform (he concealed the pendulum-based balancing mechanism inside a Saturn V replica).

Phantom added:
>Also Mega Bloks Transforming Blok Bots has a Gladiator that
>turns into a tank. It has some nice treads <...>

The 9707-"Combat Tank" has the same rubbery treads as the 9358-"Gladiator and Lion", I think. (I have three copies of the former set -- I was planning at the time to build a rendering of the _Roger Young_ from "Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles", and the set includes many sloped bricks in drab-green.) You'll have to use the corresponding wheels and axle-plates: the treads aren't compatible with Technic gears, so they can't be driven. :(

(Gah, the MegaBloks catalog is Flash-based. Some... visitors... still... use... dial-up... y'know... Okay, the Parents catalog is minimally organized, but at least uses plain HTML.)

Fortunately, there are no treaded vehicles with starring roles in UF et al. IIRC, not even the Game Tank from "Tron" (wayyyy back in Core #1) had them, IIRC.

--
Phillip Thorne
The Non-Sequitur Express - usually accurate, sometimes relevant, occassionally timely
"Today's lecture is about outer space and how it will eventually *implode* upon itself." --Invader Zim

>Laudre and I once threw out the idea of kitbashing a Lego TIE Tank,
>using a Lego TIE (he thinks we should use the regular TIE; I want to
>use the much bigger deluxe TIE Interceptor). Assuming we can find a
>source for suitable treads.

Okay, I have a TIE Interceptor. I have also come across this:

http://www.greenmodels.com/images/academy.1353.jp g

at

http://www.greenmodels.com/cgi-bin/webcart.pl?CONFIG=mountain&RET=25&OCATS=-REDUCED-&FIRST_TIME=Yes&START=1&DOSEARCH=YES&CODE=182

(eek!)

I wonder if it'd be worth trying...

--
Satya.

>* "Robotech" toys circa-1985 are a bit rare nowadays.
>"Super-posable >Veritechs"> have been promised by robotech.com
>for months now, but they look pricey and non-transformable.

I have tiny 3-inch tall (I think ... yes, it's 1:200) figures of veritechs in gerwalk mode. They dn't transform. I haven't assembled the 2nd one, and the 1st one is still awaiting final assembly pending decaling.

They came two in one box. Instructions and box-art in some far-east script.

--
Satya.

LAST EDITED ON 05-02-02 AT 09:13 PM (EDT)
 
>* BEC made a variety of 8-inch "Real Model" action figure versions of
>the Evas from NGE. Slap on some X-Com decals (eg, printed on your
>inkjet), and you've entered NXE. (Formerly available at various video
>game stores.)

Now replaced by the Kaiyodo/Xebec figures that are going for $10-$25(usally $15)
(Currently available at various video game stores)

>* "Robotech" toys circa-1985 are a bit rare nowadays.
>"Super-posable >Veritechs"> have been promised by robotech.com
>for months now, but they look pricey and non-transformable.

Try the Macross toys by Yamato, or the Bandai re-releases of the classic
1/55ths. Pricey for college students, but not as bad as the cost of getting one of the old ones.

>* Ditto for the few Transformers who've appeared (in non-"Cybertron
>Dreams" stories): Optimus Prime, Blaster.

These are being re-released.

>Further ideas?

Somebody make Gryphon watch Rah Xephon...

>*all* the characters. Human, anyway -- T'skaia might be a problem.

If you can't find a random saurian/lizard-man action figure to modify, you're probably not looking hard enough. I'm almost certain I've actually seen Sauron from Marvel Comics running around, and if you cut off his arm flaps and dress him like a pimp, you should be pretty close to T'skaia.

-Craig

>if
>you cut off his arm flaps and dress him like a pimp, you should be
>pretty close to T'skaia.

<snicker> I'm just picturing T'skaia in the next Austin Powers movie...or worse:

Who's the t'skrang private dic
That's a sex machine to all the chicks?
SKY!
Ya damn right!

Who is the t'skrang that would risk his neck
For his duelist clan?
SKY!
Can you dig it?

Who's the lizard that won't cop out
When there's danger all about?
Sky!
Right On!

They say this t'skrang T'skaia is a bad mother
SHUT YOUR MOUTH!
I'm talkin' 'bout Sky.
THEN WE CAN DIG IT!

He's a complicated t'skrang
But no one understands him but his swordmaster
T'skaia Vorokoshiga'ar Ixtixtaaqitl't'chl'Vraihelt Ishkarat!

<lol> I couldn't help myself...

t.

fye: http://www.grudge-match.com/History/harry-shaft.shtml - I disagree with the result...

note: edited to stay pc-13 or something...

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Maccadon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

"Pretty ambitious for a tree, isn't it?"

LAST EDITED ON 04-29-02 AT 08:51 PM (EDT)
 
>>*all* the characters. Human, anyway -- T'skaia might be a problem.
>
>If you can't find a random saurian/lizard-man action figure to modify,
>you're probably not looking hard enough. I'm almost certain I've
>actually seen Sauron from Marvel Comics running around, and if
>you cut off his arm flaps and dress him like a pimp, you should be
>pretty close to T'skaia.

T'skrang do not dress like pimps, unless they happen to be pimps, and then they have better taste than your average tailless procurer. Take your Hollywood swashbuckler, brighten up the darker colors, and make him lizard-like (t'skrang are warm-blooded and lactate, making them closer to monotremes than lizards), and you have a t'skrang. Make him blueish-green (as opposed to the mud-brown Sauron), and you have Sky. More or less. I have a feeling that Sky would say that he is often imitated, but never duplicated.

Ebony the Black Dragon
aka Draco Draconis Ebenium
known to FASA as Aaron F. Johnson,
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com
(who makes Earthdawn and, thusly, knows the t'skrang pretty well)

Regarding T'skaia, Perko wrote on 4/29:
>If you can't find a random saurian/lizard-man action figure to modify,
>you're probably not looking hard enough. I'm almost certain I've
>actually seen Sauron from Marvel Comics running around <...>

Action figures, yes, but in LEGO minifig scale? I haven't checked any of the LEGO enthusiast sites (Lugnet, Brickshelf) -- somebody *might* have done a custom.

Do T'skrang have extended skulls? TLG has licensed the new "Spider-Man" film (as part of the "LEGO Studios" line), and there's a Green Goblin minifig in the eponymous 1374-"Green Goblin" set. GG's head might make a good start (once the leering face was Sculpey-modified). T'skaia's tail, however...

(Lugnet points to a "minifig generator" at Legophile, but it seems to be offline. I don't know if it outputs GIFs in the right proportions for torso-decals, or what...)

--
Phillip Thorne
The Non-Sequitur Express - usually accurate, sometimes relevant, occassionally timely
"Now, witness the power of my compass!" --Invader Zim

>Do T'skrang have extended skulls?

This is an older picture of a T'skrang from my Earthdawn campaign.

I'm not overly fond of the Earthdawn 1st Edition drawings (they make the T'skrang look lumpy and slightly cancerous) but if you get a look at the 2nd Ed drawings, Denise Jones has some beautifully done T'skrang. Crests vary from T'skrang to T'skrang - one of the others in the campaign has a very spiky multiple crest, while another has the same sort of primary crest as F'thaka here, but two smaller secondary crests on either side of the main one.

	Juniper Rampaging Karateka Crypto-Kwavu'b Contributing Editor Eyrie Productions, Unlimited Because why be ordinary in your choice of hobbies?

you know it occurs to me that to actually collect and kludge the models/toys to represent the proper characters would cost well into the thousands league.

WengFook wrote on 5/1:
>to actually collect and kludge the models/toys to represent the proper >characters would cost well into the thousands league.

Well, if one weren't selective in which characters/eras to depict... and bought all the now-rare mecha toys... and didn't already have a large capital investment in bricks... perhaps yes. If so, the activity would truly qualify as an obsession. And then sensationalist journalists could write stories about how fanfic makes readers wEiRd (and users of L^aT_eX, weirder).

Hey! Cardboard cutouts! Minifigs of the characters, standing in front of to-scale 2D reps of the large props. It's "LEGO Studios" meets "The Mainframe Players".

--
Phillip Thorne
The Non-Sequitur Express - usually accurate, sometimes relevant, occassionally timely
"I'll use this planet's magnetic field against it!" --Invader Zim

>Well, if one weren't selective in which characters/eras to depict...
>and bought all the now-rare mecha toys... and didn't already have a
>large capital investment in bricks... perhaps yes. If so, the
>activity would truly qualify as an obsession. And then sensationalist
>journalists could write stories about how fanfic makes readers wEiRd
>(and users of L^aT_eX, weirder).
>
And being weird wouldn't already be out of context with this crowd?

Some of us actually take pride in being a rabid crack weasel...

>One could try to rebuild the 7166-"Imperial Shuttle" in blue to recreate Truss's Network 23
>_Morning Sun_, but I don't think all the necessary elements are *available* in blue.

NOTE: If anyone ever manages to accomplish this, we need to talk. Immediately.

	John Trussell Tertiary Battle Muse Eyrie Productions, Unlimited No, really. It's a moral imperative.

>>One could try to rebuild the 7166-"Imperial Shuttle" in blue to recreate Truss's Network 23
>>_Morning Sun_, but I don't think all the necessary elements are *available* in blue.
>
>NOTE: If anyone ever manages to accomplish this, we need to
>talk. Immediately.

I just checked out the lego site and they definitely don't have the necessary parts assortment available at the moment... so my guess is that spray paint is the only other option :)

Offsides

Unemployed netadmin seeking job... so what else is new?
EPU RCW #π
#include <lego.h>

LAST EDITED ON 05-03-02 AT 04:48 PM (EDT)
 
>>NOTE: If anyone ever manages to accomplish this, we need to
>>talk. Immediately.
>
>I just checked out the lego site and they definitely don't have the
>necessary parts assortment available at the moment... so my guess is
>that spray paint is the only other option :)

errr.. maybe not...

http://www.worlduph.com/semdye.htm

better than spray paint, at least on meece and plastic case bits, as well as speakers. I draw this from a several-particle on "how to make a truly black PC case".

soo.. build your beast out of white and make it Tahoe blue?

http://www.ldraw.org/

or build it virtually?

>http://www.ldraw.org/
>
>or build it virtually?

You mean like this?

http://www.honorablemenschen.com/imp_shuttle.jp g

Next up, making it all blue, etc.

Offsides

Unemployed netadmin seeking job... so what else is new?
EPU RCW #π
#include <ldraw.h>

>Next up, making it all blue, etc.
>
http://www.honorablemenschen.com/morning_sun.jp g

Offsides

Unemployed netadmin seeking job... so what else is new?
EPU RCW #π
#include <ldraw.h>

>soo.. build your beast out of white and make it Tahoe blue?

Unless the samples on the page are way off, Tahoe Blue isn't remotely bright enough.

For reference, the color scheme and the registry number of the NMS Morning Sun are references to this poster (a framed copy of which resides on my bedroom wall). That photo is slightly overexposed... but only slightly.

	John Trussell Tertiary Battle Muse Eyrie Productions, Unlimited When I was a very small boy, very small boys talked to me...

>When I was a very small boy, very small boys talked to me...

... but now that I'm an EVA pilot, they're afraid of what they see.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Truss wrote:
>NOTE: If anyone ever manages to [render the _Morning Sun_ in LEGO bricks],
>we need to talk. Immediately.

(I thought I'd replied to this, last week, with some notions, but the post seems to have vanished. No matter; those notions are now plastic.)

Okay, the first segments of my first prototype are now on display in my BrickShelf gallery dedicated to the _Morning Sun_. Thus far, there's one photo, a copyright-lettered copy of the graphic from the ship's writeup (for reference), and a textual writeup. Please excuse the temporary non-blue bricks -- I have the right parts, but not easily accessible just now.

Does anyone know where exactly the ramp in the _Lamda_-class is located (or more usefully, where the _Morning Sun_ has moved it)? The ship's underbelly IMHO is a silly location -- how *does* it manage two meters of ground clearance on only two legs?

--
Phillip Thorne
The Non-Sequitur Express - usually accurate, sometimes relevant, occassionally timely
"It's not dirt!" --Invader Zim

One thing to note is that Warner Brothers (some time last year) decided to not renew any Babylon 5 merchandising contracts. Which meant technically, a LOT of the stuff ended up being destyed in primary venues. Not all of it, obviously, and plenty of it was already 'Clearanced' out of the main venues long before, but I don't think they're quite so easy to find at this point.

LAST EDITED ON 05-24-02 AT 02:06 AM (EDT) by Gryphon (admin)
 
Brought to you by the magic of makeashorterlink.com. --G.

I now have a Neimoidian battle droid. With Stap.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?D2B753DE

--
Satya.

>Brought to you by the magic of makeashorterlink.com.
>--G.
>
>I now have a Neimoidian battle droid. With Stap.
>
>http://makeashorterlink.com/?D2B753DE
>
>--
>Satya.

I'm not sure which is cooler, the shorter link idea or the actual toy.

--
Andy Lange

>I'm not sure which is cooler, the shorter link idea or the actual toy.

The person that came up with makeashorterlink's concept deserves a medal.

As for the model, well... I'm a little disturbed that "STAP" apparently stands for "Single Trooper Attack Pogostick", if the design sketches shown in one of the featurettes on the Episode I DVD set are to be believed. :)

Battle droids are cool, though.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>The person that came up with makeashorterlink's concept deserves a
>medal.

Sorry 'bout that. mak(ing)ashorterlink didn't occur to me.

>As for the model, well... I'm a little disturbed that "STAP"
>apparently stands for "Single Trooper Attack Pogostick", if the design

You serious?!

I didn't paint it :-( And I don't want to mount it on the STAP, I wanna play with it. It still doesn't have arms because of that. Anyone wanna see a pic? The camera's dead because some idiot left it on for several hours, but I could use the webcam...

>Battle droids are cool, though.

"...I know kung-fu." Heehee. I suppose I could install a voice chip and associated hardware in the body of this one so it could say that. There's a couple cubic centimetres of space in there (eyeballing it to be about 15x15x15mm).

I don't have the time, knowledge, or money.

--
Satya.

>>As for the model, well... I'm a little disturbed that "STAP"
>>apparently stands for "Single Trooper Attack Pogostick", if the design
>
>You serious?!
>

No joke?

>>I'm not sure which is cooler, the shorter link idea or the actual toy.
>
>The person that came up with makeashorterlink's concept deserves a
>medal.

YES!

>
>As for the model, well... I'm a little disturbed that "STAP"
>apparently stands for "Single Trooper Attack Pogostick", if the design
>sketches shown in one of the featurettes on the Episode I DVD
>set are to be believed. :)

Looking at the, uh, STAP (?!?), I'm puzzled. *IF* those two turbine-looking thingies (yessir, that's a technical term) are, in fact, turbines... then wouldn't the exhaust melt the droid's legs? Or rip them off entirely?

Thus I can only surmise that they're not turbines... but damned if they don't look like 'em!

--sofaspud
--

Please don't resurrect threads that have been dead for two months.