Jin Saotome's Dangerous Toys Daily Spread!

GI Joe, GI Joe, GI all the way!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:16:20 GMT

Get ready for more GI Joe customs, a lot more! I'm developing two 'lines' as you could say, the Assassins and Alternate History characters. They're sure to be bizzare so hold on to your hats! <del>Robo Hitler</del> (poor RoboHitler was removed by Ebay due to "glorifying hateful, discriminatory, and holocaust ideals", ahhh! Wonder if they'll react to the Killer Nazi Robot?)) , Dawg the biker assassin, the Reverend, Gramps, and 2's Company were the ones I finished this week. But there will be more next week as well! Make sure to check out all my Ebay auctions because I'm still blowing out more hard to find figures from my collection. Also I added a creepy custom paint brush to the mix.

In other news, Ikea stores are having a sale! On the 29th they'll be selling Deltof Display cases for just $19, limit 1 per person so bring some friends! These are the favorite display cases for collectors and they look great, usually selling for $59 I think. And check all your regular toy/collectible online pages because there's sales and Christmas promotions everywhere.

Holiday SAAAAAALE!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:39:26 GMT

Sale, what sale? But first here's two new customs! I completed long requested MvC2Jill Valentine and a more-skin-plz Witchblade. Jill was fun to make, matching up parts from a Cammy and Sharon Carter figure to create an actually decent female body type. Those are hard to find in 6" scale, almost impossible now.

As for the sale, just click my auctions link. All this week and next week I'm blowing out lots of loose action figures from my personal collection. Everything from Transformers to Marvel Legends, I'm out of room and that means some of it needs to go. Cheap shipping and everything starting at just one penny means you'll be able to pick up some great figures for cheap! Just click HERE to be taken right to the goods!

War Machine, Raizo, and Batman!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:19:35 GMT

Three customs are up this week starting with a Concept Art War Machine. From what I could tell from the new Iron Man 2 poster he had red eyes and was missing the clamp-jaw of the comic War Machine. That just wouldn't do. So I went with the concept art and changed some things around. Straight out of the Ninja Assassin movie we have our hero Raizo from the final moments of the film in a 3-pack with two ninja warriors. Last but not least, Batman as you've never seen him before with a cape and grappling gun gimmick! For 6" even!

In other news, keep an eye on Toysrus.com as they're doing daily coupons and apparently are about to have their biggest sale in their history. Only time will tell what we'll be able to find cheap in the days ahead leading to Christmas!

Back with a bang!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:24:53 GMT

This week we have SIX new customs! I've expanded my Metal Gear Solid character roster with a new Solid Snake 2.0, Liquid Snake, and Psycho Mantis. Vulcan Raven and Sniper Wolf are in the works. Also Duke Nukem steps on to the Joe scene with guns a' blazin. You'll notice I have a black Spidey vs Venom set up on ebay. These were from my own personal collection so I don't have a page on them yet, but they're pretty close to the Symbiote Spidey and the Venoms I already have in my archives.

In other news ActionFigureDisplays.com has their SERIES 2 ready to ship! I'm thrilled about the Destroyed City, Psycho Lab, and Secret Base myself. But there's also generic anime backgrounds and ones made for your Simpsons/Family Guy figures. AFD has even more coming too! They're a new larger size at 13.5"Wide, 10.5"High, and 7.75"Deep. That means even your Voyager class Transformers will fit in them. Very cool.

Oh, and don't catch the Swine Flu, it's everywhere in California now, ew!

Nothing completed in time, do'h!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:22:24 GMT

I know what you're thinking, John took a week off right before the Holidays? Well family came over to visit, my wife had most of the week off, and staying in the workshop hunched over painting was pretty much impossible to do. So with 5 things halfway completed nothing was ready for Sunday's auctions, sorry! However as Vader would command I'm redoubling my efforts for this week even tho Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I might even put up some buy-it-now auctions up for a Black Friday auction or two if I can get some stuff finished early! Treat those people who stayed home and didn't join the mad rush for cheap stuff on Friday. But rest assured now that I'm rested the rest of my customs will be resting in your collection this Sunday when normal auctions resume.

But fear not, I do have something custom related I put together last night, how to fill gaps using superglue and baking soda! This was explained to me a while back by a friend and it really works. Makes for rock hard fills and it's really durable.

In other news, Mezco is offering $50 in savings on their MezcoDirect.com shop! Just enter SANTAMEZ in to the coupon box for a hefty break for your wallet! You still need your Golden Army clockwork golem right? Also be on the lookout for Toys R Us' Black Friday sale. I've heard everything from Leader Class transformers being $20 to a bunch of their NECA stuff going on sale. So take a peek if you're free friday and see what they have.

The Merc with a Mech!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:53:41 GMT

Ahhh, with Iron Man 2 coming out it had to be done! Our favorite wise-cracking killer with a giant armored bot of destruction. Also, TOXITRON! That unreleased G2 Laser Prime redeco shown at BotCon appears as a custom TFA figure. And a BAT disguised as a suit of armor. How clankity-clank is that?

In other news, ToyRocket.com's sale is indeed legit! They're liquidating everything and I got my order in just the other day, mint, complete, and for just $7.50 flat shipping. There's a ton of $2.50 Street Fighter figs left, DC Direct figs for customizing, and well, tons of stuff. Snag it up while ya can!

Anyone up for some MvC2?

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:23:11 GMT

This week, and it's kinda late for an update, I know, we have two new customs. A MvC2 Magneto revision with the Magnetic Tempest and Iron Man with Stark Weaponry. Both have been covered before as customs but I like to go back and tweak the designs as new figures come out over time and my skills improve. The DC Unlimited Red/Blue Superman bodies don' have such a wide stance as the original Superman body I made my Magnetos/Cyclops out of and generally look better. So I'm going back and revising those customs over time. Iron Man was just a fan-request, I suppose because the new movie is filming (filmed, are they done?) and we saw the new figures. Anyway, here they are!

In other news, hrmmm... ToyRocket.com is having a MASSIVE sale with everything in stock 50-90% off. But before you go off ordering tons of stuff, make sure you use PayPal. ToyRocket has been known not to have the best customer service and in case something fishy is going on with the sale, you'll be able to get your money back through PayPal's buyer protection. That's only if anything goes wrong. I do see things I ordered disappear from their instock search so I'm hoping it's legit and they really are shipping everything out.

Keep an eye on Hobby Link Japan!! From the time of this writing in 34 hours they'll be doing their free shipping (if you pay through paypal I believe)! That would be the time to snag all your Modeling Support Goods parts, ball joints, heck, whatever you want from them. Last time the free shipping was good for instock items only and man, you could order tons of stuff and avoid that $30-$40 shipping charge from Japan. So get crackin!

SPLATTER IN THE HOOOOOOOOOOOOOUSE!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:12:27 GMT

Ew, oh man, Splatterhouse was a violent and gory game for its time! Even now we don't have much crazy disgusting stuff like mutant babies hanging from ropes and festering eyeballs. So to honor such a disgusting and groundbreaking achievement, I created Rick from Splatterhouse. Also this week is Hooligan done Transformers Animated style! He's always been a fan request and I love his design. Also he reminds me of one of those GI Joe Tiger Force vehicles. Many of you have asked me why I'm not doing tons of Transformers customs right now. It's because there's so many great customizers out there with them on Ebay right now I'm pretty much just going to be doing the same thing. On occasion you'll get some weird TFs from me or the obligatory Shockwave, but not a ton of Leader Prime repaints.

In other news, GET TO YOUR WALMARTS! GI Joe Rise of Cobra figures are on sale for $5 each and the new ones like Arctic Snake Eyes with the cool baggy pants, Paris Persuit Baroness, and TONS of the Doctor (all black coats tho) have been showing up. $5? Can't beat that.

Blow me away

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:49:21 GMT

This week's customs are faves of mine, characters or themes that really hit home. First up is Air Man! Wow was this the most annoying stage in Megaman...gah. So now you can snag the boss himself complete with spinning chest fan! You'll notice I did my first Omega Red figure. After months of planning I was finally ready to tackle him and wanted to do him right. And last but not least, a Ninja Assassin! Just your plain, regular, deadly, black-clad Ninja.

In other news, er...not much is going on. I'm selling a lot of my old MOC figures to make room so take advantage of some rare finds! Just check my ebay auctions.

Jin Saotome up for grabs!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:46:22 GMT

This week I was kinda late on auctions so they start/end Monday. But that's not the big news, I'm auctioning off a Jin Saotome figure that's been with me through the years, slowly being updated and resculpted as I found new parts. This time I got smart and made his bandana articulated so it could add to dynamic poses, ah-hah! Also up for grabs is a rare FFVIII Ultimate Weapon figure and some of the SR Video Game Robotics capsule figures that were just released. Because I kept the Blodia, heheheh.

In other news....um...yeah. I have no idea what's out or what's released because I haven't been to town in over 3 weeks. Probably missing all sorts of cool stuff! So tomorrow I shop.

Mini-Me?

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:12:13 GMT

It's a mini me! Yeah....um...go figure. At least now I can enter into the GI Joe 'self customs' catagory right? This week's customs bring a new comic version Psylocke, Deadpool, Megaman's Ice Man boss, Robo-Joe done Star Brigade style, and a mini version of me. And that's about it.

Late update!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:00:24 GMT

Wow, I'm behind on this. For some reaso my Ebay widgit isn't working the last few days but rest assured I do have customs up on Ebay! These in fact:

A custom Frank West from Dead Rising, Mall Zombie, and yes, Dr. McNinja! Just click-though on the big words above the widgit if it's still not working. Also my Anonymous Bellhedz is listed with free shipping in the USA. Enjoy!

SSSKKKKKKBBBBTTTTHHHHHH...

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:16:14 GMT

That's the sound of me blowing my nose day and night. Being sick SUCKS. Wash your hands, don't eat after others, etc etc. It'll save you $13 in Dayqill/Nyquill. Ah, customs! 4 new ones including a MvC2 Cyclops and Wolverine since I always like to revist characters and keep tinkering with their designs, Version 3 of my original GI Joe Merc Killzone, and Mad Jack aka Jack O' Lantern done in Marvel Universe style.

In other news Toys R Us is having a 2 for $10 on all 3 3/4" Marvel figures. That includes the Wolvie Origins, Wolvie Animated, Marvel Universe, and Iron Man Adventures (bleh). Get em while they last! Now back to blowing my nose.

Back in the saddle again

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:41:29 GMT

After a week of crazy stuff happening I'm back. It was a break from customizing but not life, that demands more out of my family and I every day. But hey, moving on right? This week I have three new customs, Snake Eyes in A.R.C.S. (Armored Robotic Combat Suit) Captain Falcon with his ship the Blue Falcon, and Bubble Man! I almost had a MvC Cyclops and Air Man done but I ran out of time. Trying to get a tiny motor inside a 3 3/4" figure isn't very easy and everyone keeps saying they want to see his fan spin. Hmmmm... But here's this week's pics!

In other news you might have heard via my Twitter that I bought an Xbox 360 and all the fixings. Marvel vs Capcom 2 here I come, right? Wrong. Never before have I been so frustrated or pissed at a game, hell the developers who just put something out without bothering to playtest it. In a nutshell: This version does not have dual-punches/kicked mapped to any buttons and you will be incapable of pressing both punches/kicks at the same time on a regular 360 controller to perform a super. Hell, the buttons on the controller aren't even sensative enough to swap your character out every time correctly. Now here I am looking at buying a $125 arcade stick that I'd only use with that game just to play it. And I'd still have to order Sanwa stick parts for the stick and mod it myself!

Fortunately (or unfortunately) PS3 owners are having the same issues, no mapped dual punches/kicks. But at least their controllers work better than the 360's at getting the buttons to click at the same time. Remember MvC2 on the PS2? It was a solid game right from the start, you could play it from the basic controller that came with the PS2 right out of the box. Now this fiasco. For shame Capcom, for shame...

Cobra, obscure Japanese movie characters, and death. Oh, and Deadpool. Again.

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:47:21 GMT

Updating my LJ this week came kinda late. A lot of stuff has been happening in the last few weeks and it's been cutting into my time and focus of customizing. Poor Doctor Light was suppose to be finished 2 weeks ago and I still don't know if he'll be done this this week. What I did finish was Casshern from the live action import movie, a Cobra Commander in power armor, and a Joe-style Deadpool on scooter that utilizes the actual metal T-bar and GI Joe parts.

In other news that 'other stuff happening' has been family showing up because of a tragic and unexpected death in the family. My cousin was electrocuted to death in his front yard while working on an RV. It was Final Destination type stuff, he had the RV plugged in and was working on the electrical system when the water tank burst and flooded on him from underneath. It's one of those things you think could never happen and has no reason too, but makes you aware that when your number is up there's little you can do.

Ninja, ninja RAP!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:59:18 GMT

Or maybe not. I'm kinda ashamed to say I remember that song from my childhood...heh. But this week does involve ninja! And on that topic, my wife and I now point out every time we're watching a show and someone on it says "Ninjas", with an 's'. They had an episode of the Closer where they said that, some other CSI type show, and a movie where they kept saying, "Look out for the Ninjas!" Ninja is plural, like sheep. There are no sheeps here.

So, custom ninja! The "Tanaka" clan, past present and future. The present/modern or Urban Tanaka Ninja won first place in the Hisstank.com's contest, woot! I'm proud of the little jawa, as people keep calling him. There's also the Future Ninja, Hideo Tanaka and his great great great great granddad Yoshii Tanaka that started te clan. Of course the Tanaka clan doesn't actually exist in GI Joe lore and was made up a while back with my Sigma 6 character called Tanaka, but I had to start from somewhere.

Also, Crusader Knight Deadpool is thrown into the mix! Thought I forgot about the "Deadpool Through the Ages" eh, eh? Well here you go!

Anyone see District 9 yet?

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:23:16 GMT

I'm still needing to see it, probably this Saturday. I hear it's amazing and can't wait! Prawns or Roaches is what I'm hearing people debate, I guess they're talking about the aliens and not whats for dinner.

This week, three new customs! Dr Wily in his Doom Bubble (or whatever the escape pod is called after you beat his boss robot) Tron Bonne with her Ride Armor, and a Captain America constructed entirely out of DCU parts! They're up on Ebay and ending this Sunday.

You might want to check out the Undisputed Ninja Master Contest that's running over at the HissTank forums. If you're a member with 25 posts you can vote for your favorite! I entered three of my best Ninja designs I could come up with so I have my fingers crossed.

Win Jin's Stuff Deadline Ends Tonight!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:12:49 GMT

That's right, you have until midnight tonight to send an email, anything you want to write, to winjinsstuff@live.com to be entered into the random drawing for tomorrow. You're up against some tough competition, I have almost 5 full pages of entries! Among them were emails asking why there's no fourth place, why stop at third, what did I have against 4th place huh huh huh? Good point. A fourth prize has been added, a Vash the Stampede minibust from Palisades, the now defunct company who brough us all the cool Resident Evil figures in the past. So now there's four chances to win something!

Thanks to all who have entered so far!

Busy busy busy

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:20:05 GMT

I can't believe how pressed for time I am these days. Ever since the move I've been straining to get customs done and falling short. I still need to do the Deadpool through the Ages series, finish the line of TF customs I have sitting on my desk, get more Symbiotes out of the way, yikes! Oh, and there's only THREE MORE DAYS till Win Jin's Stuff contest is over so get emailing! Now...for this week's customs, I apologize early for what you're about to see. But since it was shown on the big screen how could I resisit?

*ahem* Now that that's out of the way, both Soundwaver and Octane are up on Ebay this week. Hopefully I'll be able to get out more than 2 customs this week but I have some long overdue wedding cake toppers to complete and some picket/protest lines to man. Whee, what fun!

Megaman customs anyone?

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:35:30 GMT

There's more in the works too and this week Vile (Vava MKII) MetalMan, and DrillMan join the ranks. AirMan is in the works as we speak and a few others. Say, anyone know the right way to say their names, one word or two? I see it both ways everywhere. Like Metal Man or Metalman? Either case, here's this week's somewhat late update.

In other news...GI JOE OPENS TODAY! I'll let you all know how it was, I can't wait! The TF Deluxe wave with Arcee is out along with the scout class with Ejector and Nightbeat. Check your local K-marts as they're getting rid of toys that are on sale. Their McFarlane deluxe Hunters are $13 and those 2-pack Guitar Hero guitars are just $1.35. There's a whole bunch of stuff going on sale.

WIN....JIN'S....STUFF! Ah-hah, finally!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:42:28 GMT

Did I get your attention? The contest has finally started! Just click through and you'll be whisked away to the entry page with all the rules and such. In a nutshell tho, I have too much stuff. Rather than hock it all on Ebay I've decided to give it away to some lucky fans through random email drawings. If the contest goes over well I'll do more, I have a lot of stuff here like mini busts, rare figures, all sorts of things I've collected over the years. So watcha waiting for? Get emailing!

Oh, and here's this week's customs. Grimwing the Vile One is an original character for my Machine Head series (took me long enough eh?) there's gray Breakaway with tilt/pivot wings like in the game, and a Jolt with bendable electro-whips!

Mega Customs!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:34:07 GMT

As promised, more Megaman GI Joe customs! Took me a while but I got around to it. This week I have Zero, Snake Man and Heat Man. Also a Chromia done up all nice and shiny. If you don't like Chromia's design or have been passing her over in the store...take a look at her page. I have a modification that allows you to transformer her into a more movie-like design. Her chest will be able to cover the headlights and have an overall more complete look.

In other news....the SDCC is almost upon us! Tomorrow in fact, Wednesday starts it off as preview day. I might not be showing up till Friday tho, I'm still working on stuff. But I'll post when I'm there. You all have fun!

Better late than never

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:02:29 GMT

Whoops! Forgot to update this monday! Not a whole lot of customs finished because I've been working on the new house, loading all sorts of stuff in to trailers and out of moving/storage C-tainers. So, without further delay here's the figures I was able to get done. Sideswipe with custom scratch-build wrist blades and a Fallen with light up eyes and staff!

In other news get to ToysRUs.com and check out their clearance section! There's Animated Leader Ultra Magnus/Bulkhead for just $19 each, Supreme Roll-out Animated Prime for $24, Universe Voyagers for $12, and if you order $49 or more of clearance stuff shipping is FREE!

Meh news, no SDCC 'Custom Show' this year.

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:51:06 GMT

Well we tried. The plan for the Custom Show was pitched to the SDCC months ago (actually back in 2008), emails were sent, followups were sent, you name it. If you remeber I mentioned that I obtained my professionals badge. That was so that I could send in the Programming Participation Form detailing the custom show officially. Joe Acevedo and Jesse DeStasio all helped out in contacting the SDCC folks they knew to get this thing up and running, unfortunately it seems this year they just weren't interested. Sunday's programming isn't up yet but I'm pretty sure they would have sent the confirmation emails and not waited till 2 weeks prior to set it up, panel/programming is scheduled months in advance.

What worries me tho is so far nothing for custom action figures has shown up on the programming, not even the Starro panel from last year that's always on Saturday. (You can search the SDCC programming on the left side of their site to check.) Unless it's on Sunday at some point, it's not there. There is however a workshop for casting/mold making is scheduled on Friday, 5:00-6:30 room 30CDE and covers casting replica parts, silicon molds, 3D duplication, etc, so that may be worth checking out.

So what's this mean? Time to send more emails. Tell SDCC that us action figure customizers want a room to display our work and chat. Not just a panel, but an honest to goodness show. I'll host it for you, bring in tables, make cards, displays, you name it. Name drop me as John Mallamas in regards to it if you'd like, I pitched the terms 'Custom Show' and 'Custom Quest 09' to them for themes. But just keep on them until they give in and realize that customizing is a huge hobby that needs some attention!

SDCC contact info can be found HERE.

More bots more often!

jinsaotome@hotmail.com — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:05:27 GMT

So far I've been able to get out a custom Transformer every other day, whew! We're talking 8 hours a day on these suckers. Here's four new customs this week from the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen movie. Barricadia, the female version of Barricade is an original character and just a fun spin on the police theme. Head over to Reprolabels.com if you want to find the police logos I used. Also we have a Voyager Megatron keeping a subtle sea-green shading, Mixmaster done up like his concept art, and Seaspray, the once G1 Hovercraft turned mimi-destroyer!

They're all up on Ebay this week if you want a shot at them too! In other news, GI Joe Rise of Cobra figures are hitting now. Toys R Us seems to already have them on the shelf and online. I snagged a few of the excellerator suit Joes for customs like...ROBO-JOE, hehehe. I also keep hearing the next wave of RotF figures are out so I'm going hunting today. Still need me a Human Alliance Bumblebee and I can't wait for Sideswipe.