garbagemon's customs, new- the SHOCKMASTER, Tugboat, Andre!

MSF, I am so glad somebody recognized these fellows! I was afraid I'd missed the mark somehow, and nobody was sayin' so. I have to say, after watching some of the hijinks in the IWA matches, I have a fondness for their promotion in particular.

For Eric, he is a Classic Superstars Jim the Anvil Niedhart. Cannon was a little tougher to pin down. Nobody in the WWF lines quite fit his unique physique. He's actually a heavily modified Buccaneer figure from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Ride toy line. His head is from Brodus Clay's first series figure. His letters are stickers I bought online, while his flag patch is a laser print on standard paper. I'd actually bought Niedhart years ago planning this figure, but until I decided to include Crybaby Cannon within this last month, I'd kept putting it off. I'm really happy with how they turned out, and I'm going to try to add some more pictures of them a little later, Eric without his fur coat, and maybe Cannon with his helmet off.

My future plans...it's like you read my mind! I'm going to see about the Mighty Igor, in fact. I've already got the proper figure in mind, at least for the body. Based upon what Igor wore, I'm thinking a TNA Kurt Angle in his sneakers and singlet will provide a good base with the right height. Tex McKenzie was one tall customer, I'm not exactly sure just yet as to who might fill those rather large boots.

I'd love to see your Ernie Ladd, the man made the heel into an art form! Even now I can hear him challenging "Andre the Dummy" to a match, with that characteristic swagger. What fun!

And, as promised: a shot of Crybaby Cannon showing off a new belt he helped Eric to win in a "completely legitimate" fashion.

Look at the Big Cat! That's a custom, no spam clothing there, and a new hand to accommodate a taped thumb? That's the details right there, and necessary ones, too! He looks great, a fine improvement upon the original figure!

I wouldn't have thought of Eugene, but I certainly will now. I still might just lean on Kurt's bald head as a good base, but saving effort on sculpting hair is never a bad thing. As for Mil Mascaras, if you've got a spare head, does that mean you already tackled one yourself? I'd love to see that!

Thanks for the comments Supreme, definitely looking forward to seeing your classic customs, too! With the work of yourself, MaskedSuperstarFan and lumania, there may end up being a pretty nice collection of territory era figures posted on this board! If you haven't seen 'em yet, lumania has some pretty wicked cool figures a few posts down the custom board, especially his Destroyer, which is spot on!

I'm not familiar with these two. I was born in 1984, so they are a little before my time. I've heard of Eric the Red, but I've never heard of "Crybaby" Cannon, but reading your descriptions of them makes me feel like I know them. "Crybaby" Cannon sounds like quite the character and I will certain look him up on YouTube.

I love seeing customs from bygone eras. Wrestling's history is so rich and wonderful. I wish more people appreciated it as much as they do flips.

Crybaby!!!

Nice to see an update! Very cool Mighty Igor custom - another one where I don't know if I've ever seen one of him. The head and face are a great likeness. I know we had previously spoken of using an RA Eugene figure as a base, but your method came out looking fantastic. My concern was the torso choice as he had more of a "barrel chest" power lifter-type physique but the more I look at it, you were definitely able to make it work with the great sculpting and painting. The kielbasa as an accessory is pretty damn funny - my first recollection of seeing Igor actually involved him crushing a watermelon with his bare hands. Aaah, the memories....

Great job, my friend. Can't wait to see some more IWA alumni (did I hear someone mention the name, Tex McKenzie -Lol?)

Thanks you for the feedback, both MSF and Supreme! I admit, it was a tough decision as to which torso to use with Igor. I was torn between Kurt Angle and Finlay. Some pictures seem to portray Igor as more trim with the bigger powerlifting build, while others show him with a bit more of a stomach. I decided I wanted the more powerful looking Igor, so that drove my choice of the torso. The ragged shorts were a detail I decided to leave on rather than sharpen up, as I read that that part of his costume was just a pair of long underwear he cut off, so I figured a little ragged line would match the ragged edges he left on his own costume. As for the shoes, as I understand it, he wore white nurse shoes. They did have a heel, as you mentioned, but trying to find a wrestler wearing tennis shoes as it was either meant going with this Kurt body, or else taking the legs off of an early John Cena and putting them on a Finlay body. Perhaps I ought to look at customizing the shoes a little further. A little heel shouldn't be too tough.

As a side note, I found him a pageboy cap to wear, I just need to get in onto him for a photo op. Unfortunately, Igor and the others are currently bolted to the base you see him standing on, entries at the diorama portion of our county fair.

Cool figures! You did a great job.