Custom-Feature: The Seven Samurai custom-Munnys by Jon-Paul Kaiser
After the earlier posted teaser, and now that the commissioned customs have reached their intended destination and new owner, TOYSREVIL is proud to reveal in full, Jon-Paul Kaiser's SEVEN SAMURAI custom-Munnys, featuring characters based on the 1954 cinematic classic by legendary director Akira Kurosawa [wiki] ~ color-drenched in classic black+white noir! CLICK THRU for more snaps, along with a Q&A with JPK about the figures and their influence on him.
TOYSREVIL: How influential was the classic movie Seven Samurai to you? And to lead you to this series of customs?
JON-PAUL KAISER: Seven Samurai is a massively influential movie to me, so many frames from the film are iconic images, and with it's bold, almost noirish lighting as well as the abundant metaphors, it really appeals to my personal tastes.
TOYSREVIL: How long did it take from concept to finished custom?
JON-PAUL KAISER: These guys took MONTHS! Justin Cook aka "Chronic" asked me to do them last year, I had a bit of a waiting ist, so it was only just before Christmas I started working on them with the undercoating, sketching etc, and then painting them full-time since early February.
TOYSREVIL: Any particular Favs? or Dislike/s?
JON-PAUL KAISER: I have to say I like them all, of course Toshirō Mifune is a favourite, though that kind of links into the kind of character he is in the film as well. other than him, perhaps Takashi Shimura...
TOYSREVIL: I have been receiving some enquiries with regards to the availability of this seven, so once and or all ~ Is this a commission? Or for a show?
JON-PAUL KAISER: These were a commission for Justin Cook, who has bought a few of my customs previously, and has more to come yet! He knew he wanted a set of figures, and we talked about different groups, including Star Wars, and eventually we settled on the Seven Samurai, which I was extremely pleased about as I've seen them as a challenge and wanted to have a crack at them for a long time now, I'd even designed a small mini-series of figures based on them previously, though they
were a little more simplified than my normal style.