In
a stunning development, Marvel Comics has joined forces with Chris
Marsh-Land Enterprises to bring the original X-Factor squad into
the plastic universe. And even more exciting, they have decided
to blatantly rip off the "Total Justice" style made
popular several years back by Hasbro and DC Comics. The line is
to be called, simply, "TJ-X." When asked what the 'TJ'
stood for, a representative of Chris Marsh-Land replied, "No
comment."
When asked why they decided to start the line off by depicting
the team in their second set of uniforms, instead of the originals,
the head of the production design team said, "These looked
cooler," and shrugged. "Besides," he added, "we
think it's a fair assumption that no one wants to see Jean Grey
dressed in green and yellow."
A second wave of figures was slated for release, in fact showing
the team in their original X-Factor uniforms, but it has already
been canceled. While no official word has been given on the reason
for the cancellation, rumors are already spreading. Several members
of the production team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
they threatened management they would "stab 'em in the eye
with a spoon" if they were forced to paint any more of "those
friggin' yellow X-es."
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Cyclops
is a TJ Batman, with the ear and arm fins, utility belt
and boots sanded down, and the mask trimmed to look like
a nose. Visor and glove/boot cuffs are sculpted in Milliput.
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Beast
is a ToyBiz Beast. The trunks and upper arm fur have been
sanded smooth to look like he's wearing his uniform. The
flip dial in his back has been glued secure. I was going
to completely remove it and fill in the gap with epoxy,
but I got lazy. ;) Amazingly, the ToyBiz sculpt is actually
really nice, once a decent paint job brings out the details.
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Iceman
is a JLA Martian Manhunter. His beetle brow and boot cuffs
have been trimmed and smoothed, and his right arm has been
cut and reattached rotated 90 degrees to look like he's
launching his ice slide. His power-dampening belt is sculpted
out of Milliput. I took some artistic liberty and left the
etched 'X' on his chest, and boots on his feet, because
I thought it looked cool. If anyone wants to know why I
feel this is a necessary modification, e-mail me. ;)
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Jean
Grey is a B&R Poison Ivy. BLEAHH! All traces of those
etched ivy lines have been erased by building up with Milliput,
and sanding smooth. The feet were completely cut off at
mid-calf, and re-sculpted from scratch with Milliput. The
left hand was also cut off at
mid-forearm, rotated 90 degrees, and reattached to look
like she is invoking her telekinesis. The mask and glove/boot
cuffs were sculpted out of Milliput. Check out her hair;
5 different shades of red were used to achieve a look of
realism. A *LOT* of work to make a bad figure look respectable.
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Archangel
is a TJ Superman. His hair has been sanded down to the scalp,
and his belt and trunk and boot lines have been sanded smooth.
These are actually not the wings I originally designed. I
had an amazing set of wings all made out of styrene and set
in a dramatic pose, but had a disaster the night before the
CustomCon deadline that ruined them. My
quick fix involved using the wing bracket I had originally
designed out of styrene, although warped, and then attached
wings of cut vinyl, and spraypainted the whole apparatus with
chrome. I'm completely disappointed and think the wings stink
now, but I needed a quick fix. I'll probably fix it someday,
when I get over my heart break. |
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