Elf Archers - World of Warcraft

Haven't converted this into a puzzle yet, but I took a Sylvanus Windrunner figure as the team leader on the left, and several Alethena Moonbreeze figures as the archer line. The detail on these World of Warcraft figures are amazing.

Victory in the Pacific

One of my favorites. This collection of Pacific Marines during WWII shows them displaying their war trophies after a battle. The diorama includes marines from Hasbro, 21st Century and Dragon. Had several Elite Brigade Japanese soldiers during the photo shoot. Will have to dig those photos up. It was quite the battle in the tall grass.

X-Men vs. Sentinels 2

Just another angle of one of the original dioramas I did. Several Marvel Legends Build-A-Figure (BAF) Sentinels attempting to annihilate the original X-Men, which came from a box set from ToyBiz. Now that's a set I would like to see in the Marvel Universe or Marvel Legends line. Also, I like the Legends BAF SEntinel a lot better than the Marvel Universe one which was recently released.

Little Green Army Men - Aliens Style

The plastic playset is still around, regardless of all the articulated, detailed toys that come out today. Check out http://www.playsetmagazine.com/ and http://www.playsetaddict.com/ and you will see this hobby is alive and well. Also check out http://www.barzso.com/, http://www.conteco.com/, and http://www.sdsoldiers.com/ for the newest playsets hitting the streets.

Anyway, a company called Treehouse released plastic aliens and Colonial Marines between 2003 and 2005. There was a playset, and Swarm Packs. The buyer didn't know what was in the swarm packs, but they included aliens, marines, eggs, and storage boxes. I bought a few dozen swarm packs, put in a McFarlane Alien Queen from AVP, and here is the battle! The queen is not in this photo. Also, the variant figure in these swarm pack was a white/translucent alien, displayed here in the top middle.

GI Joe Combat Heroes Collection

An army of Cobra troopers and all the Combat Heroes from Real American Hero and Rise of Cobra, including the rare Series 3 from each line. The Series 3 RAH was only released in Canada.

Bummed this line stagnated. Had potential for so many more. Target had some exclusive Battle Packs lined up that included Stalker, Wild Bill, and Tomax and Xomat. Have seen a lot of customs on the www.hisstank.com forums.

Just off the top of my head would loved to have seen Doc, Snow Job, Airborne, Air Tight, Tunnel Rat, Tripwire, Iceberg, Alpine, the original 8 in their green fatigues, red ninjas, Cover Girl, Mutt and Junkyard, Recondo, Spirit, and Croc Master.

Vehicle sets would have been great as well as the Star Wars Galactic Heroes cinema scenes had plenty.

Medal of Honor Winner - Roy Benavidez

Built this diorama out of a Roy Benavidez - Medal of Honor winner GI Joe from Hasbro, and four North Vietnamese soldiers from 21st Century Toys.

Jawas Find Spare Parts in the Desert

Another diorama that is likely to make collectors gasp. Yes, that is the Hot Toys Iron Man Mark I...originally sold for about $100, now worth over $1000. Anyway, I recall the scene in the Iron Man movie where he crash lands in the desert, and always pictured a bunch of jawas coming to collect him up. Enjoy!

Marvel Super Hero Squad Collection

The Original Star Wars Trilogy Galactic Heroes Collection

Hot Toys Aliens

Most collectors would gasp if they saw this....all six Hot Toys Aliens figures removed from their packaging. These were the most detailed and amazing Aliens figures ever released. At 12 inches, the detail put into them are outstanding, down to the graffiti on their armor.

Hot Toys released the first three (Hicks, Vasquez, Apone) in 2006, shortly followed by the second set (Drake, Hudson, Ripley). Originally retailing for about $80-90, the sold out figures now go on the secondary market for $250-600. Hicks and Apone command the highest prices.

Hot Toys later released a 1/6th scale Power Loader, including Ripley figure. Would have been nice to see a few more of the Marines released (Dietrich, Frost, Gorman) and maybe even Burke.

The alien eggs are from the Hot Toys Snap Kits line. Each case of snap kits came with 12 eggs. Inside the egg was a 1/18 scale Alien or Marine action figure you could snap together. Quite fragile, it would have been awesome to see an enter line of 3 3/4 inch figures from Aliens along with vehicles and playsets.

Cobra Para-Vipers

This diorama and puzzle build is one I looked forward to for a long time. The Cobra Paravipers released 2007-2008 were pretty slick. A lot of detail and accessories for a small 3 -3/4 inch figure. Helmets with breathing tubes and visors, gear strapped all the way around, knives tied around the boot and two weapons, including a rifle with removable clip.

Just needed something for them to jump out of. Enter the Processed Plastic AC130 cargo plane. This is the rare black edition I blogged about earlier. The olive green version was fairly common in the 1970s. I had never seen the black one with the side cannons until this year when I finally figured out who manufactured the green one I had seen as a kid in the local grocery store. Check out my earlier February 2011 post about the Processed Plastic planes.

The plane had the original bright red stickers still on them. Since I didn't want to ruin this vintage piece, I "painted" over the stickers with Microsoft paint. The fact that the plane was in the background in a dark environment allows the "paint job" to be near invisible.

TIE Bombers

I was never a big fan of the Imperial TIE Fighters. In 30+ years of collecting, I don't think I ever actually purchased a TIE Fighter (standard, Darth, interceptor). But the TIE Bomber is awesome! Don't know why I like it so much. But here are four of them, docked in their hangar on some Star Destroyer.

You'll see two versions, the white ones on top and the grey ones on the lower deck. This puzzle was deceptively challenging because of the angles of the wings. It was a fun one to put together.

Spartans! What is Your Profession?

Their profession is soldiering. The Spartan figures by NECA stop the enemy Immortals from breaching the Hot Gates. This is one of the original dioramas I did, just a different set up of the combatants.

Only one series of figures were produced. Though it seemed to sell well in retail, the line never went beyond that. At one point there were reports of a Xerxes figure coming out. It would have been nice to see at least a second series with some other Spartan warriors, King Xerxes and some of his interesting minions.

ARMY NAVY Football

"Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds, that on other days, on other fields, will bear the fruits of victory." Douglas MacArthur

General MacArthur spoke these words implying that on the sporting fields, young men and women may use those same talents on the battlefield.

The Army-Navy football game is as intense as it gets. Typically not playing for a bowl game or national championship, the players on each side battle their hearts out. Rivals on the field, teammates in battle off it. These days, most know they will see combat soon after graduation.

In this puzzle, I used the Hasbro Army and Navy football players, along with the vintage style Cadet and Midshipment that were originally released in the late 1960s. Flanked on the side are a Navy SEAL from BBI and a WWII Ranger Captain from Cotswold Collectibles.

Go Army! Beat Navy!

Normandy Beach

A different image and view from the first puzzle that started this whole hobby and idea. Army Rangers and infantry from the 29th Infantry Division are caught up in barb wire and other obstacles while attempting to breach the beaches and their defenderes during the invasion of Normandy. The figures include two GI Joe convention exclusive Pointe du Hoc Rangers. The Ranger Captain in the center is an Elite Brigade figure from Cotswold Collectibles. The Ranger Medic is also an Elite Brigade figure from Cotswolds. Both of these Ranger figures from Cotswolds are still highly prized in my collection as the hobby just started it's amazing run in the late 90s, and Saving Private Ryan also just hit the theatres. The 29th Infantry soldier on the right is from 21st Century Toys. The barb wire comes from an awesome D-Day Deluxe set from Hasbro.

D-Day Airborne Paratroopers

Watching their flanks for friend and foe alike, and peering to the skies for their comrades, these 82nd Airborne paratroopers are consolidating their ranks after being scattered throughout Normandy. The center figure is a Cotswold Collectible Elite Brigade figure. The two paratroopers on the outside are from 21st Century Toys.

GI Joe Combat Heroes

Tried redoing this one several times, but none of the photos came out just right. This diorama photo was one of my favorites with Beachhead, BBQ, Scarlett, Gung-Ho and Roadblock....surrounded by Cobra. These figures are about 3 inches tall and the puzzle comes in at a nice 18x12 inches so it captures these guys in giant size.

Ladies Night

Hasbro came out with a great lineup of two inch figures for Marvel Superheroes, Star Wars, GI Joe, Indiana Jones and Transformers. This photo puzzle displays all the female action heroes from these lines. Back row includes Princess Leia Endor, Aayla Secura, Ahsoka Tano, Padme Amidala on Geonosis, Padme Amidala on Geonosis 2, Princess Leia, Princess Leia Boushh, Luminara Unduli, Ahsoka Tano 2, Princess Leia slave outfit, Bespin Princess Leia, Shaak Ti, Black Widow, Emma Frost, Spider Woman, Mystique, She Hulk, Dark Phoenix, Phoenix, White Phoenix, Spiral, Storm, Elektra, Tigra, Ms. Marvel, Scarlet Witch, Invisible Girl, Wasp, Diamond Emma Frost, X23, Rogue, Marvel Girl (Rachel Grey), Kitty Pryde, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Psylocke, Marian Ravenwood, Rise of Cobra Scarlett 1, Rise of Cobra Scarlett 2, Baroness, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, Real American Hero Scarlett, Rise of Cobra Baroness, Ilya Spelanko, Elsa Schneider, Willie Scott.

Chicago Blackhawks Photo Puzzle

It's been 49 years since the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. That all changed with a great playoff run in 2010 and an improbable goal in OT by Patrick Kane to win it all. In honor of the Stanley Cup champions and the other former players of the Blackhawks organization, here is the McFarlane Sportspicks puzzle I made with the Chicago greats. Included in the photo puzzle is Jonathon Toews, Chris Chelios, Bobby Hull, Jocelyn Thiebault, Tony Esposito, Nikolai Khabibulin, Tony Amonte, Bobby Orr, Stan Mikita and Jonathan Toews in his white jersey.

The Patrick Kane figure was released later. Also released this season is a Marty Turco goalie in red jersey, and white jersey variant. Coming next fall is a new version of Toews and Kane, including Toews holding up the Stanely Cup. Can't wait!

Varsity Blues Custom Action Figure Cards

One of my favorite movies of all time. Varsity Blues - the trials and tribulations of playing high school football in Texas. Great cast. Great entertainment. May have to customize the new 4 inch McFarlane Playmakers and make some actual figures for these cards, but here is what the cards would look like, once again, in the vintage Star Wars style.

Quarterback Jon Moxon

Cheerleader Darcy Sears (Ali Larter)

Quarterback Lance Harbor

Lineman Billy Bob



Running Back Wendell Brown

Coach Bud Kilmer

Wide Receiver Charlie Tweeder

Jules Harbor (Moxon's Girlfriend)

Miss Davis

GT Mustang/Strip Club Playset in the Future?

Nothing else to Say...

Custom Predator Action Figure Cards

Here is another great movie where action figures (6 inch or 3 3/4 inch) would have rocked, including the vintage style Star Wars Kenner carding. McFarlane released 6 inch versions of the Predator, but never the soldiers.