HOME | DD
Batced — The Main Event
Published: 2012-12-27 05:27:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 837; Favourites: 26; Downloads: 13
Redirect to original
Description
Probably a potential cover to a book I'm working on (spoilers!). Extensive retouches with the lighting to match the angle of a photo of Andre and Hogan squaring off during the main event at Wrestlemania III. I intentionally made Andre much more evil looking through the lighting, to signify his role as a monster heel at this point, but also to hide some of Mattel's sculpting defects with their Legends Andre: to a certain extent it looks like him but is missing that titanic forehead of his, and while I assume the five o'clock shadow was welcome the real-life Andre never had one. The Hogan is a custom I bought off ebay, and a pretty dang good one for a representation of his early career.Related content
Comments: 27
Thank you. Though I think I could have made this a lot less dark in hindsight, I had to hide Andre's slightly inaccurate sculpt a little
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Love this, am working on a custom Mattel Hogan myself!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! Bought the custom off of ebay, otherwise I would have worked on one myself. The paints already chipping a lil bit because I put it through a rigorous workout haha. Can't wait til Hogan leaves TNA and goes back to the WWE so we can get a legit Matty fig
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Give it a year or so, he'll be back!
Will need to get a Jakks Hogan for the head, a Mattel Texas Tornado for the body and some red kneepads and yellow boots, this custom will take a while but should be worth it in the end. Can't imagine how much Mattel will charge for a Hogan figure when it finally comes out!
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
P.S.: I just remembered Arn Anderson comes with the smaller red pads in case you wanted to go with that look rather than the large leg sleeves. From my research Hogan wore both at different points in his career but it looks like the leg sleeves are more common to the 1985-1990 Hogan (Rock n' Wrestling Era), and the red pads begin making their appearance around 1991 and he interchanged between the two until he left the company.
Then there's also the red pants and cowboy boots combo he sported for his first year and a half in WCW hehe...haven't seen a custom of that one yet
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
would rather the smaller knee pads because a) they would look better and b) I hate the larger Mattel knee pads, nowhere near as good! as I live in the UK, getting hold of an Arn figure would be mighty expensive sadly, would love to get him purely for the classic WWF Tag belt that he comes with!
thanks for all the feedback though, its a great help!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Just keep an eye out on ebay, seen a few loose Arn's and I'm sure there's another WWE superstar who has the smaller red pads that would be cheaper and affordable for you my friend across the pond
And no problem at all...I'm not a great customizer myself but I love offering advice since I study sculpts and stuff for my photo work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Its all appreciated! Arn and Tully are very expensive over here, looking at around £30 easily for each, which is nearly $50, way to much just to strip the figure of its kneepads and for a belt! Daniel Bryan is the only other one I can think of with the smaller pads, but the colour may be a bit too maroon for Hogan!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hehe, if you want, the older Jakks tag-team titles are still floating around. I gave mine to the Road Warriors (even though they're in their NWA/AWA outfits) just so they'd have some gold around their waists.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I actually bought some of the Jakks titles before starting to collect the Mattel figs proper, not really keen on those belts as they were almost always unpainted and never had the right detailing, and would be way too big for Mattel figures in scale!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I hear you there. I know the Deluxe figs usually came with better painted belts (like the winged eagle Championship with Hogan). I like the tag team titles they did tho, as a cheaper alternative to getting Arn and Tully.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
We can hope. Now that Flair is officially back from TNA, 2013 looks to be a big year for the Nature Boy...hopefully we see both basics and Elites from across his career
The Hogan head used for this custom was the Classic Superstars 8 head, with Hulkster bandanna that the customizer painted over. It works since that's a fairly common head and a pretty good generic scan of Hogan (I think the one without the bandanna that came in the Jakks Hulk/Andre two-pack is mighty expensive).
The recipe for this one as far as I can tell: I wanna say the torso used was a Jake Roberts, but it also could have been a recent Tully Blanchard or Arn Anderson due to the fact that when you lift up the top half you can see a bit of the spots indicating chest hair and a pale body. The arms and thighs may have come from a Texas Tornado, but I've also seen the same on Paul Orndorff. Lastly the boots are a heavily repainted Randy Savage yellow from either the All-Stars pack with John Morrison or his Legends 5 release. I think the pads come from Savage too, also repainted red. The guy I bought it from also repainted the whole figure in a pretty good approximation of his tan, much more in line with Hogan's skin tone than the Jakk's figures.
Hope that helps any!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It does indeed, thanks! For the head, I'd prefer it without the bandana, but if push comes to shove, I'll plump for the cheapest Jakks fig, after all my figures are just for display really. I think the Tornado body (God bless you Kerry Von Erich!) would be quick and easy, without changing the arms and legs, as I'm not confident enough to swap too many body parts! The skin tone I reckon is pretty close to Hogan's, although the head obviously won't match!
Oh yeah, Flair is another I can't wait for Mattel to do...seen some customs online that look brilliant, so the real thing should look fantastic...well, in theory!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I have an extra Hogan, from the Mega Maniacs 3-pack. He's got the yellow wrist-tape and the lazy eye Hogan sported at the time but he's lacking both headband and bandanna. Was pretty cheap to get since that 3-pack I think was in such droves that it shelf warmed forever. That'd be your easiest Hogan choice, second easiest would be the Hogan from the Wrestlemania VI two-pack: Angrier head, only time they used that scan, but again lacks headgear and is pretty basic. Afterwards, I've seen others use the heads from the modern TNA Hogan which never really look quite right for the era they're going for. Seen one guy use an Ezekiel Jackson body and repainted it, which looked pretty good but the boots were far too tiny looking.
I just bought two Flair custom off the 'bay that I can't wait to have. Both are using the "Woo!" headscan, not my fave but it's all good. All I'm thinking now is they need is Barry Windham and my favorite Four Horsemen lineup will be complete (as soon as Flair is released now that is hehehe)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That Jackson figure sounds interesting to say the least, must be a good painter that guy! One Hogan figure from TNA that might work would be the one of him in Japan from early in his career, he has more hair in it and no bandana, although his mustache is grey, so it still may not work. However, it is rather cheap to buy, so I'm in two minds about that!
Enjoy those Flair customs, would love to see some images on here when you get them, would look great against Ricky Steamboat!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The paint on that Hogan fig with the Jackson body could have been a lot better to say the least, trying to match Hogan's tan best he could, but the results had the body looking a little too dark with Jackson's natural skin showing through. I think that TNA Ichiban Hogan is the same one they used for Thunderlips in the earlier Rocky line. I think he had the blonde mustache there...dunno about his rarity since that line was such a flop but that's also an option for a Hogan with no bandanna.
Funny you mention the Flair customs: one of em comes with a Steamboat repainted in black pants and white gi, so I think that's from a WCW period in their careers.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Check this forum page out for unbeliable pics of a Flair/Steamboay custom pack, simply amazing stuff!
[link]
I might just go for a cheaper Hulk...not keen on the idea of paying a lot for a figure just so I can take its head off! We'll see anyway!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I remember that! Those two came through ebay some time ago and the auction jumped really high for it. I think it was the allure of the accurate knee pads for Flair, since no custom has ever really gotten em right. I tried to win it but it got too high for my blood haha.This other Flair/Steamboat pack is a nice concession (would have been worried about the green fabric on Steamboat staining over time)
I also have a custom Junkyard Dog, Magnum T.A., bloodied NWA-era Dusty Rhodes, and a Tito Santana on the way (along with another Magnum T.A.).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That's quite a collection of customs! I'm still building mine slowly, didn't go for the Jakks, but the Mattels look great, currently have the Defining Moments Bret Hart (personal fave!), the recent Steve Austin elite, Mr Perfect with the IC belt, Mankind, and the Entrance Greats Undertaker. Still building at the moment!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I missed out on the Jakks too, but by choice. Aside from a few, they always looked really extreme with their proportions and generic bodies. Mattel does a lot of the same but least they look better in comparison. First Matty I got was a Legends Sgt. Slaughter and haven't looked back haha. I want to get that DM Bret Hart, since he'll go nice with the new Elite 19 Flashback Shawn Michaels for some Montreal Screwjob fun. I keep wanting to get that EG Undertaker (never saw it in stores) and customize it to be Elite, since I've heard you can use the Kane body for that. After that, I've got a bunch of others, mostly Flashbacks and a few current superstars
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I actually want the new Michaels, its a little expensive at the moment (£25 approx) so I'm hoping it'll decrease in price soon. It may actually increase in price, who knows! Plus that European title belt sweetens the deal!
The Undertaker EG fig was one I found online, only paid around £12 for it, very reasonable considering the fact that you get the coat, hat, tie, shirt and music playing stand with it. If you get a chance, pick it up, its a nice fig for display!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I really do want the new Michaels, he's a perfect example of the pre-DX/Kliq/pre-Attitude Era douchebaggery he was well known for hahah. All kidding aside, he's a good 90s Michaels. I never paid much attention to him at this point (Bret Hart fan here) so I missed most of his great matches in the 90s, but what I do remember is a right solid performer who could go toe to toe with Hart. (not really surprising that of the New Generation of the WWF in that time, the best performers were boiled down to Shawn, Bret, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, X-Pac, and Triple H).
The EG Taker makes me want to get a Paul Bearer figure now!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Jakks made a Bearer figure didn't they? It may have been way too big though!
I was also a Hart fan growing up, so I know what you mean, I still gotta get Michaels though, it's my favourite version of Shawn (pretty sure he wore those tights during the Cell bout against the Undertaker at Bad Blood) so its still a must have!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Jakks did, and so did Toy Biz...I may pop for the Toy Biz one, uber tiny but not as huge as the Jakks. The new Shawn is from his HiaC match at Bad Blood, which means that when I get him I'll have to repurpose his European title to give to Davey Boy Smith hehe
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
"Titanic Forehead."
Truer words have never been spoken
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I think it was less noticeable when he had his giant afro, but what disappoints me is that even the old Jakks Andre missed the boat on his forehead. It was definitely something you could balance ping-pong balls on
👍: 0 ⏩: 0