Marvel Reborn: Avengers

Customs by

Luke Thompson

e-mail

itiscertain@hotmail.com

Web Address

none

Black Knight

Black Knight: I can't believe Toy Biz never found an excuse to put out a Black Knight figure in one of their other lines. With his background, costumes, animal companions, and most importantly (to a toy company), the sheer potential for action features, it just seems silly that he never made it out. Sadly, it took Marvel's Gold to do it. I probably would have gone for that, since it has virtually the same pieces as my custom, but I only found out about the Marvel's Gold figure after I'd already purchased an extra Dreadknight for the job, and frankly, I figured I could make one that was just as good (okay, I was also pretty darn bored...).
This figure is supposed to represent Black Knight as he appeared around '95, when he was part of Ultraforce. I know a lot of comic fans cringe at being reminded of that, but I really liked the Ultraverse, and it was only through the crossover debacle that I really started to like Black Knight, so it seems appropriate to render him in this costume. The entire body, from the neck down, is Dreadknight, and the head is from a Robin Hood figure from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves line. (On a side note, something really strikes me as funny that the Robin Hood body was a recycled Green Arrow, and now his head is Black Knight.) The accessories are a helmet from the first Magneto figure, and the sword is from, of all things, a Bibleman figure, which I will have to trim down at some point. The chest decal isn't the falcon it's supposed to be, but it will serve until I have the time and effort to fix it. The helmet also doesn't have the eye holes that it's supposed to, but honestly, it's close enough that I don't care.

Black Panther

Black Panther: Marvel's Gold made the only Black Panther figure, and I can't figure out why it took that line to do it. With all the molds at Toy Biz's disposal, combined with T'Challa's history and powers, he could have come out in just about any of the Marvel lines. Heck, I'm fairly certain he actually made an appearance in the Avengers cartoon. It just seems odd, doesn't it?
Of course, none of this actually matters. I realized I could make my own, and would probably like it better than the actual thing, so I did, and I do. I feel that taking advantage of his current look to give him some gold highlights added a lot to a pretty bland design.
He was constructed out of a knockoff Archangel 2 body, a Legends of Batman head, and one of those black cloth capes that came on all the early Batman movie figures. I'm looking for a tiny cat head so I can put his amulet on him...

Black Widow

Black Widow : Thanks to me not doing my homework, I didn't even know about the Marvel's Gold Black Widow until I'd had this one finished for months. However, it turns out they used a costume I don't like, and she'd also be the shortest figure in my Avengers lineup, so I'm still perfectly happy. This was one of the easiest customs I've made, and despite it not being completely accurate, I'm very pleased with it. I was mainly going for Tasha's costume at the time of 'The Crossing.' Yeah, that was one heck of a disaster, story-wise, but IMO, it had one of the Widow's best costumes. This custom blends in so well with the other Avengers that when I show off my customs to friends, even I miss it sometimes.
The entire body was from an X-Men Classics Rogue, the head is a Medieval Witchblade sans braid, and the spider decal on her costume is a spiffy-looking rub-on transfer.

Machine Man

Machine Man: Frankly, I've never paid too much attention to Machine Man, but I love the way he looks, and always wanted to see a figure of him. When I got my hands on the first Apocalypse figure, I finally saw my chance. Although I wish I could have found some extending arms, I think highlighting the lines on the arms here worked pretty well. And now that I think about it, I don't think X-51 can extend his torso, but... well, look at him! He looks good! I don't tend to brag too much about my customs, knowing there are many, many who have talents exceeding mine, but this is easily one of my favorite customs. My only real regret is that Apocalypse is so short that even extended, Machine Man doesn't look any bigger than most of the other Avengers in my lineup.
Machine Man's body was an Apocalypse 1 figure, and the head was an Archangel 1 figure.

US Agent

US Agent: Despite the similarity in costume, and given his origin, I've never felt that US Agent is a lame Captain America wanna-be, as I've heard some people say he is, and some writers have portrayed him. I've always felt that he was a great and unique character in his own right. I know he's had several costume changes since this one, but I think is something of an iconic look for him. Plus, it looks good and fits in well in my lineup.
And yes, after making sure to point out that I like Agent because he isn't a Cap knockoff, I made him entirely out of an Electro-Spark Captain America figure. I guess I needed a definition of irony. The shield is from a... Marvel Vs. Capcom Captain America. *sigh*

Yellowjacket

Yellowjacket: I never really paid attention to any of the incarnations of Yellowjacket until I got back on the book recently during the 'World Powers' saga. For some reason, I looked at him and was just blown away by the costume design. I knew I had to make a figure of it. Seeing how well this one turned out, I'd also like to do a custom of one of the female Yellowjackets at some point.
Yellowjacket was a dollar store-type wrestler figure. I added a Marvel vs. Capcom Captain America head, and the antennae are trimmed down from some spare Star Wars accessories. I still need to add his shoulder 'wings', but I keep putting it off.