FOEZ & Playsets from Halfbad Toyz
The Super-Villain Weekend Extravaganza would not be complete without some original villains created as toys - but are not licensed characters - and with that, the FOREZ-line of monster-villains from Halfbad Toyz are perfect! I spoke to Adam about their character creations, upcoming playlets and who essential are HALFBAD TOYZ!
TOYSREVIL: Who are the FOEZ? Can you do a breakdown of each character?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: The FOEZ are evil marauders from across time and space. They come from many dimensions and are here to terrorize your toys!
Skekiltor, The Mace of Hades was once a virtuous knight, but was corrputed by an evil shaman. In a harrowing evil ritual, he was changed from a knight to the monster you see today. His mace was fused to his arm so his weapon will never leave his side.
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Podiagon was a humanoid once, but ill fortune befell him after diving into the ocean on his planet. He did not see the evil symbiotic organism in the water, and as he dove in he was stuck, and the organism used his DNA to form Podiagon. All that is left now of the host is his feet, sticking out the top of the intelligent and evil mass.
There are more FOEZ to come, but we don't want to give too much away too soon. =)
TOYSREVIL: We've seen Skekiltor and Podiagon so far - who else is coming down the line? What can we expect from Halfbad Toyz?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Well we will be continuing the FOEZ line next with Pyrochroid, a sentient insect from a lava planet. He is a warlord of his tribe, and gifted with a flaming axe.
After that we can't say, we tend to brainstorm and release the figures when it feels "right".
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: We are going to do some mini figures this summer, very soon actually, and after that in August you will see our first 3 3/4 inch resin action figures. These will be painted and on a header card like any other action figure.
Unlike our FOEZ these will be a very limited number, and we will have sign ups available. We will be doing a few figures, two vehicles and if the stars align, a playset.
TOYSREVIL: Playsets? Vehicles? You guys are making me drool! More details!
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: That will be for our 3 3/4 inch resin action figure line, we don't have a working name yet. We will be doing two vehicles, totally cast in resin, with working wheels. They will be hand painted and assembled, and boxed. As you can imagine this is a daunting task, and they will be very limited.
However, how cool is a vehicle that fits your 3 3/4 inch guys, out of resin? It can be done easily. Model companies have been doing it for years, we just are going to be the first to break through and make small, functioning action figure vehicles in resin.
TOYSREVIL: Why create Villains, rather than Superhero-do-gooders?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Because good is dumb? Ah, Spaceballs. Seriously though. Being heroic is great, and we might have some do gooders in the future, but there are so many iconic heroes. Villians are just more fun.
TOYSREVIL: I personally like that you are basing a lot of figures-sizes of the old TMNT lines - how has that line, or even lines from that era influenced you guys?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: I credit Steve Patt (sculptor and design) for that size transition. All of us here really like those series from the 80's, and I think they have a great heft to them and are impressive on the shelf.
Not everyone likes that size, but we understand that you can't please everyone. We make the toys we like to make, and hopefully the community will like them as well!
TOYSREVIL: I like and respect that. Make what you like and for those who enjoy them. How long have you guys been around? And why resin? Anything planned for SDCC, NYCC etc?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: We have been making toys since November 2010. A short time really, and we are still getting our learning curve down.
Resin is the most readily available for beginners, but we are learning there are subtle ways in which you can produce it that really make it shine above other products.
You won't see a vinyl release from us. I really like the hands on approach to toy making, and I feel that if you sculpt something and then send it to a factory to make 1000 of them, the process loses something.
Besides, there are plenty of vinyl toys out there, a flood actually, so I will let those guys handle that. Resin will be our medium for the forseeable future.
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: We won't be at SDCC this year, and we are hustling to find someone who wants to buddy up at a table for NYCC. It is so close to us, but we really are just 4 guys with some pressure pots trying to make this work, so funds are limited. If anyone out there wants to sponsor a table at NYCC for us, we won't complain!
TOYSREVIL: Tell us, who are Halfbad Toyz? And why the name?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: "HalfBad Toyz"? We are a group of refugees from the planet Niser..
No, that's not true. I am Adam, I own the studio and do all the internet stuff and customer service. I also paint many of the hand painted stuff. Ahren is our alchemist and casting wizard, he makes sure the molds are doing what they should be, and we wouldn't be where we are without him. Alex does much of the casting, and is also now making molds as well.
Steven is our main sculptor and design guy, and he does a fantastic job. Everyone shares in the design process, and it is pretty democratic.
[Halfbad Toyz @ Toy Street 2011]
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Well, the first action figure I ever customized was a Glyos figure. I still have lots of love for them. I showed it to my father, and he said "that isn't half bad". I figured it was a good name as any. When we started out we never thought we would be doing action figures or big releases, just small runs. I wanted a name to reflect the lowbrow toys, and it just kind of stuck.
I have thought about changing the name to more reflect the action figures we make, so maybe next year we can do some changes and make a new branch.
(FYI: the sketches are for the 3 3/4 inch line, they are concept work for the figures and vehicles. The Pyrochroid sketch is for the FOEZ line.)
CONTEST: So how you folks feel like scoring a hand-painted Skekiltor from Halfbad Toyz? All you need to do is to leave a comment in this particular post, naming which particular character you are looking forward to from Halfbad Toyz - before the end of the 1st of July 2011, and we will randomly pick a single winner!
TERMS: A single comment per person, per email address please! And remember to leave your email address behind as well! (Anti-Spam-Suggestion: type name [at] whatevermail.com) - and no, I'm not going to go rooting thru the www for your address too LOL (Don't worry, we will remove the comments once the contest is over).
FYI: The comments are being moderated on this blog, so do not freakout if it does not appear immediately. Good luck!
UPDATE: Contest has closed, and a Winner has been randomly picked! Thank you all for playing!
TOYSREVIL: Who are the FOEZ? Can you do a breakdown of each character?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: The FOEZ are evil marauders from across time and space. They come from many dimensions and are here to terrorize your toys!
Skekiltor, The Mace of Hades was once a virtuous knight, but was corrputed by an evil shaman. In a harrowing evil ritual, he was changed from a knight to the monster you see today. His mace was fused to his arm so his weapon will never leave his side.
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Podiagon was a humanoid once, but ill fortune befell him after diving into the ocean on his planet. He did not see the evil symbiotic organism in the water, and as he dove in he was stuck, and the organism used his DNA to form Podiagon. All that is left now of the host is his feet, sticking out the top of the intelligent and evil mass.
There are more FOEZ to come, but we don't want to give too much away too soon. =)
TOYSREVIL: We've seen Skekiltor and Podiagon so far - who else is coming down the line? What can we expect from Halfbad Toyz?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Well we will be continuing the FOEZ line next with Pyrochroid, a sentient insect from a lava planet. He is a warlord of his tribe, and gifted with a flaming axe.
After that we can't say, we tend to brainstorm and release the figures when it feels "right".
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: We are going to do some mini figures this summer, very soon actually, and after that in August you will see our first 3 3/4 inch resin action figures. These will be painted and on a header card like any other action figure.
Unlike our FOEZ these will be a very limited number, and we will have sign ups available. We will be doing a few figures, two vehicles and if the stars align, a playset.
TOYSREVIL: Playsets? Vehicles? You guys are making me drool! More details!
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: That will be for our 3 3/4 inch resin action figure line, we don't have a working name yet. We will be doing two vehicles, totally cast in resin, with working wheels. They will be hand painted and assembled, and boxed. As you can imagine this is a daunting task, and they will be very limited.
However, how cool is a vehicle that fits your 3 3/4 inch guys, out of resin? It can be done easily. Model companies have been doing it for years, we just are going to be the first to break through and make small, functioning action figure vehicles in resin.
TOYSREVIL: Why create Villains, rather than Superhero-do-gooders?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Because good is dumb? Ah, Spaceballs. Seriously though. Being heroic is great, and we might have some do gooders in the future, but there are so many iconic heroes. Villians are just more fun.
TOYSREVIL: I personally like that you are basing a lot of figures-sizes of the old TMNT lines - how has that line, or even lines from that era influenced you guys?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: I credit Steve Patt (sculptor and design) for that size transition. All of us here really like those series from the 80's, and I think they have a great heft to them and are impressive on the shelf.
Not everyone likes that size, but we understand that you can't please everyone. We make the toys we like to make, and hopefully the community will like them as well!
TOYSREVIL: I like and respect that. Make what you like and for those who enjoy them. How long have you guys been around? And why resin? Anything planned for SDCC, NYCC etc?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: We have been making toys since November 2010. A short time really, and we are still getting our learning curve down.
Resin is the most readily available for beginners, but we are learning there are subtle ways in which you can produce it that really make it shine above other products.
You won't see a vinyl release from us. I really like the hands on approach to toy making, and I feel that if you sculpt something and then send it to a factory to make 1000 of them, the process loses something.
Besides, there are plenty of vinyl toys out there, a flood actually, so I will let those guys handle that. Resin will be our medium for the forseeable future.
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: We won't be at SDCC this year, and we are hustling to find someone who wants to buddy up at a table for NYCC. It is so close to us, but we really are just 4 guys with some pressure pots trying to make this work, so funds are limited. If anyone out there wants to sponsor a table at NYCC for us, we won't complain!
TOYSREVIL: Tell us, who are Halfbad Toyz? And why the name?
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: "HalfBad Toyz"? We are a group of refugees from the planet Niser..
No, that's not true. I am Adam, I own the studio and do all the internet stuff and customer service. I also paint many of the hand painted stuff. Ahren is our alchemist and casting wizard, he makes sure the molds are doing what they should be, and we wouldn't be where we are without him. Alex does much of the casting, and is also now making molds as well.
Steven is our main sculptor and design guy, and he does a fantastic job. Everyone shares in the design process, and it is pretty democratic.
[Halfbad Toyz @ Toy Street 2011]
HALFBADTOYZ ADAM: Well, the first action figure I ever customized was a Glyos figure. I still have lots of love for them. I showed it to my father, and he said "that isn't half bad". I figured it was a good name as any. When we started out we never thought we would be doing action figures or big releases, just small runs. I wanted a name to reflect the lowbrow toys, and it just kind of stuck.
I have thought about changing the name to more reflect the action figures we make, so maybe next year we can do some changes and make a new branch.
(FYI: the sketches are for the 3 3/4 inch line, they are concept work for the figures and vehicles. The Pyrochroid sketch is for the FOEZ line.)
CONTEST: So how you folks feel like scoring a hand-painted Skekiltor from Halfbad Toyz? All you need to do is to leave a comment in this particular post, naming which particular character you are looking forward to from Halfbad Toyz - before the end of the 1st of July 2011, and we will randomly pick a single winner!
TERMS: A single comment per person, per email address please! And remember to leave your email address behind as well! (Anti-Spam-Suggestion: type name [at] whatevermail.com) - and no, I'm not going to go rooting thru the www for your address too LOL (Don't worry, we will remove the comments once the contest is over).
FYI: The comments are being moderated on this blog, so do not freakout if it does not appear immediately. Good luck!
UPDATE: Contest has closed, and a Winner has been randomly picked! Thank you all for playing!
