What's Next?

List of ideas for future projects:

Snake-Eyes and the Red Ninjas (GI Joe comic #21) - 12 inch scale
Marine Drill Team - 12 inch Joes
Russian Sniper - Svetlana and Vassily Zaitsev
X-Men Days of Future Past - Battle on Capital Hill
Heroes (Redo)
Battlestar Galactica 1.0 Redo - not holding my breath for the three 3-packs and Series 4.
Cobra Snow Serpents
Cobra Para-Vipers
3 Musketeers
Aliens - Hot Toys 12 inch scale
Rangers
Army-Navy Football
TIE Bombers
Obama
Indiana Jones - Temple of Akator
Marvel Super Hero Squad
Combat Heroes
Star Wars Galactic Heroes
Galactic Heroes - Hoth
Galactic Heroes - Dewbacks
Military Diversity
X-Men #136 Cover
GI Joe #1 Cover Vintage
GI Joe #1 Cover (Rise of Cobra)
Hoth - Unseen Battle
Wolverine and the Hand Ninjas Redo
McFarlane Chicago Sports (Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox)
Twilight
Watchmen

That should be enough for now? Any other request?

Yankees - Love 'Em or Hate 'Em!

They have the money to spend...although that doesn't guarantee a World Series ring. Character and chemistry count as well. This year they were able to put it all together. Anyway, this is from Series 1 back in 2006 as well.

David Peterson's Mouseguard

Two sets of Mouseguard figures. Next time I will paint the capes of one set a different color to make this more interesting. Mr. Peterson's Mouseguard site is at www.mouseguard.net.

Lord of the Rings

This is another of the first puzzles I did back in 2006. The ToyBiz Lord of the Rings figures had fantastic detail. The image was larger but had to be cropped to fit the original size of the 16x20 puzzle. I think the 12x17 layout would be better so I may redo this one as well since the Wraith riders and the good guy horses on each side were cut out. Plus the camera I had back then wasn't the best.

Yard Sale Anyone?

Anything you're looking to buy...as long as it is of a droid nature.

Captain America, Bucky and Hyrda

Marvel Legends' WWII style Captain America, Bucky and a hoard of Hydra hack it out.

McFarlane Cyberunits

Once again, no story line behind these cool figures. Six figures were released in three different colors. The girl in the middle is from an anime line called Ballistics. She seemed to fit right in.

Maybe Next Year Cubs!

The annual cry of Cubs fans after ending the season without a World Series ring, or appearance for that matter. It's only been 102 years. Spring training is right around the corner. Maybe this is the year to end the curse.

Back in Black - Spiderman vs. Venom

Both are 12 inch figures. The Venom is the variant from the Marvel Icons line and the black Spiderman is from a line that ran in conjunction with the third Spiderman movie. This was a tough one since the background was black as well.

3rd ACR Pin Up

I finally caught up with actually building all the puzzles I created over the years.

Anyway, this is my first attempt at a pin-up sketch using color pencils. The tattoo on the arm is of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Had some friends deploy with that unit to the Mid-East and wanted to send them a morale booster.

Battle of Pelennor Fields

My favorite part of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is the Battle of Pelennor Fields outside the walls of Minus Tirith, especially the ghost army that comes to save the day, and the showdown between Eowyn disguised in armor and the Morgul Witch King. This is one of my first dioramas and the photo is a bit grainy, but a fun puzzle nonetheless.

Combat Engineers in WWII

I was a combat engineer in the Army (not WWII) and served in the 2nd Infantry Division (Indianhead patch) in Korea in the late 90s. Here, a group of 2ID engineers use bangalore torpedoes (pipes filled with explosives) to breach a barbed wire obstacle on the beaches of Normandy.

Utah Pines

My father took this picture. Even at 99 pieces, this puzzle was a b...bear. My only hope was taking every piece and pointing the pines the right way. It was tough...but a beautiful photo. There are more from this set that I may do someday. In the meantime...nice challenge pops! That's a lot of snow covered pines.

Tigers

Not my photo. Photo from my friend Rachel.

One of the toughest photo to puzzle projects I had to do. Harder than it looks and a wonderful photo for kids and adults.

Rise of Cobra Combat Heroes

You know, I thought the movie was pretty entertaining. Cheesy....but it was supposed to be. Loved the Joe characters. Glad to see Hasbro come out with three series, even if Series 1 was the only one that really made it to really. Series 2 and 3 were scarce and Series 1 was even released as singular figures. Most can only be found on secondary internet sale.\

Once again, this was done on Schleich's Shadow Rock playset for their Elfen line.

Indiana Jones Adventure Heroes

OK - two problems with the Indiana Jones toy line from 2008. First, we underestimated that kids these days don't get Indy....even though we loved him (children of the 80s that is)....2....don't over-saturate the isle with Mutt Williams figures. We would rather have some more Raiders characters or playsets thank you. Here's hoping for an Indy 5 movie and some better management and marketing from Hasbro for Indiana Jones figures in the future.

Anyway, this is a collection of all the Indiana Jones 2 inch Adventure Heroes figures including Series 2 and 3, which included Temple of Doom and Last Crusade which barely made it to retail...best you could hope for was secondary market on eBay, almost as rare as the Ark or Grail itself.

Vintage GI Joe Combat Heroes 2

I was ecstatic when I saw this series being released. Unfortunately due to the economy in 2009, many a line got canceled. Here's hoping for a strong economy in 2010 where great lines get re-energized. Anyway, Series 1, 2, and 3 of Combat Heroes, along with an army of Cobra Troopers gets the battle underway.

GI Joe Combat Heroes Vintage 1

So this diorama consisted of several Hasbro GI Joe Combat Hero sets, including Series 1, 2, and set 3 which was only available in Canada. Once again, another set that was cancelled due to the economy in 2009. Hope this line continues both with the vintage sets and Rise of Cobra. Anyway, a large platoon of Cobra Troopers takes on the Joes in Schleich's Shadow Rock playset for their Elfen line.

The "canceled" Series 3 which was only distributed in Canada included Lady Jaye, Major Bludd, Shipwreck, Iron Grenadier, Hooded Cobra Commander and HISS Tank Driver expanded the line to a collection that kept begging for more....Covergirl and Tripwire please.

Hulk 181 - Wolverine and Wendigo

So when my daughter wanted to go out to play by the "slimy lake"...the pond by our house, I threw some action figures into the stroller to set up a quick but much anticipated battle....Hulk, Wolverine and the Wendigo. Hulk 180 and 181 was the first appearance of the very popular Wolverine character from Marvel. The real wooded background added to the diorama.

Gears of War

Once again, not a lot of experience with Gears of War (the game) other than seeing the action figures and thinking, this is freakin cool! Great collection of the Locust Horde and the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) will send their soldiers to the fray.

Cubs - Maybe Next Year

Born and raised in Chicago, I empathize with Cubs fans. Someday they will win a World Series. Until then, you can only hope they end the curse. This diorama is made from a great collection of McFarlane Cubs figures including Sosa, Nomar Garciaparra, Ryne Sandburg, Greg Maddux, Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Alfonso Soriano.

The background photo of the Cubs bleacher bums is also my own photo of my first Cubs game in 2002, when my girlfriend, now wife, took me to my first Cubs game. Also saw Sammy hit a home run in the 9th inning.

Cover Girl

One of the most beloved Joes from the Real American Heroes...Courtney Krieger (AKA Cover Girl) and her "Wolverine" armored missile launcher. The Wolverine is vintage. Agent Krieger is from the Hasbro Toys R Us 3-pack. (The 3 pack runs about $50 per set on eBay!).

Aliens Versus Predator 3 (AVP3)

A few MECA Aliens and Predators and a few McFarlane Military figures make for the perfect Alien Versus Predator (AVP3) scenario. With a few more Predators and Aliens, this is a scene that should be revisited.




Puzzle manufactured by www.jigsaw2order.com.

"Blow it Up Jones"

Indiana Jones straps himself to the periscope of the German U-Boat and finds himself on a Nazi island, where Belloq, Toth and the German soldiers prepare the ark of the covenant for the furor. Before the ceremony takes place, Jones threatens the relic with a grenade launcher. Belloq calls his bluff...."Blow it up Jones...blow it back to God!"

The diorama was made of Vintage Kenner figures of Jones ( in German disguise), Belloq, Marion and Toth with a complement of German DAK figures from 21st Century Toys.

Glory - 54th Massachusetts

"Give 'em hell, 54th!" It's been a long time since I wanted to do this diorama of the black regiment during the Civil War. The movie "Glory" is one of the best, starring Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick. Denzel won a best supporting actress. This is definitely a diorama I will elaborate later on.

Aliens vs. Colonial Marines - Epic Battle

Remember little green plastic army men? There is actually a little green plastic Marine men from the movie Aliens and their enemy combatants - the Aliens themselves. Produced around 2004, Treehouse toys came out with plastic Marines and Aliens along with eggs, supply boxes and a three story playset made to look like the power plant in the movie aliens. There are several standard poses for the Marines and the Aliens. The figures were sold in "Swarm Packs." You didn't know which figures would be in the swarm pack. There was also a rare clear plastic alien. Anyway, I took several swarm packs and built this epic battle. Added one queen alien from McFarlane's AVP 4 inch series. I intend to redo this one since I've purchased a few more swarm packs since.