CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT UPDATE: PEAKOB1 - RUMI PARAMITA (THE CLONE WARS - SEASON 2: EPISODE 17 "BOUNTY HUNTERS")

Here at home, one of our favorite episodes of The Clone Wars  is "Bounty Hunters"  from Season 2.  The episode is based on Akira Kurosawa's classic film "Seven Samurai" and it did a wonderful job paying tribute to one of the masters.  I'm a huge cinefile, and I collect movies the way Elias collects Star Wars toys so the "Bounty Hunters"  episode will always have a special place in my heart.  This episode was really exciting for me as a Kurosawa fan.  I've acquired almost all of his films over the last decade and a half while working to complete my library of Criterion Collection releases.  To have an episode of The Clone Wars  that not only featured Hondo Ohnaka, my favorite Clone Wars  character, but also paid tribute to one of my favorite directors of all-time was a real treat.  

As I watched the episode for the first time, I secretly hoped that Hasbro would one day release a Battle Pack of the infamous "Seven Samurai" crew from The Clone Wars.  As I saw plans for Embo and Seripas to be released, I started to get really excited that Sugi and Rumi Paramita may not be far behind.  Unfortunately, they never were produced.  While Hasbro did end up producing 5 of the 7, Sugi and Rumi never made it to store pegs.  Rumi Paramita's fate probably had a lot to do with Hasbro's decision on whether or not to produce the toy, but we always felt that Hasbro made a huge mistake not making Sugi, since she had such an enormous fan following.  Their absence left us feeling like we had an enormous hole in our collection that we desperately wanted to fill.

Peakob1 was so successful creating a version of Sugi for himself, that a few months ago I commissioned him to make Elias one too.  The results were beautiful.  Peakob1 is definitely one of the most skilled customizers out there today.  Once Sugi was in hand and posed on Elias' Clone Wars shelf, I decided to get the materials to make Rumi too.  Peakob1 and I spend a lot of time on the phone talking Star Wars together, and when I mentioned that I was planning to make a Rumi, he volunteered to take on the project.  Since he did such a wonderful job on Sugi, and I am already swamped with all the projects I already have started, I felt like it was a great idea.  Was it ever!  

With Hondo's Pirate Gang already created, I can now say that we finally have a completed set of action figures from The Clone Wars "Bounty Hunters" episode, and I can't tell you what a great feeling that is.  Thank you, Peakob1 for helping to make our dream a reality!

"RUMI PARAMITA"

created by Peakob1

QUICK HEAD SWAPS

 These are just two head swaps that you may want to try yourselves at home.

 Head: Star Wars 2012 Clone Wars Action Figure CW No. 12 Obi-Wan Kenobi

Body: Star Wars 2009 Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi (with Freeco Speeder)

 

 Body: Ahsoka Tano (with Rotta The Hutt), Star Wars The Clone Wars Collection, 2008

Head: Ahsoka Tano (Cad Bane's Escape), Star Wars The Clone Wars Collection, 2011

 

Peakob1's "Rumi Paramita" was featured in Yakface.com's "Customizer Mega Spotlight".

Peakob1 on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Peakob1

Peakob1 on Yakface.com:
http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5631

Peakob1 on Droids & Ewoks:
http://droidsandewoks.forumotion.com/customs-and-art-f13/

Peakob1 on Jedi Defender:
http://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=20796.0

To go to the ebay page of Peakob1 click below:
http://myworld.ebay.com/peakob1/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

"MARROK - EMBO's ANOOBA" created by Customs for the Kid

Marrok was an Anooba owned by the bounty hunter Embo. Marrok was featured prominently in The Clone Wars episodes "Bounty", "Revenge", as well as in the new Clovis arc just released in Season 6 of The Clone Wars on Netflix. Dad really wanted to add this cool Star Wars creature to our collection since Embo's companion Marrok took part in a lot of the action filled scenes that he starred in. Dad always had an interest in creating some of the creatures of Star Wars and always wanted to make the jump from Star Wars characters to their less sentient companions. Marrok would have been an awesome addition to The Clone Wars toy line if he was included as a pack in with a re-carding of Embo. Unfortunately, this repack of Embo with Marrok accessory will never come to be now that Hasbro's Clone Wars action figure line is no more.

To produce this Marrok, I created a 3D print file of him that I designed in Blender. I then scaled the model in Chitubox as an accessory for The Clone Wars Embo action figure and when finished, printed it on a our Longer Orange 30 resin printer. After we had a successful print, we molded that print with Smooth-On Mold Max 14NV and cast the figure in Smooth Cast 61D resin. Once taken out of the pressure pot and demolded, Dad and I took turns applying the paint to our figure and I painted in the final details. We love how he looks next to Embo!

 

"MARROK - EMBO's ANOOBA"
created by Customs for the Kid

PURCHASE CASTS AT 

REBEL KID CREATIONS

(AVAILABLE BOTH PAINTED & UNPAINTED)

click image to purchase!

Another Fan Fiction Custom from Dad

When Dad grabbed the Nicanas Tassu head from the fodder bag, he knew instantly that he wanted to paint the head to make the action figure resemble Pai Mei known for his appearances in Shaw Brothers movie classics Executioners from Shaolin, Clan of the White Lotus, as well as Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series to give the figure the "White Brow" look. Dad's a huge kung fu fanatic and I think he tries to slip in his influences whenever he can when he makes me a new custom. He said that when he made this action figure he was also influenced by a lone Ronin samurai that you'd find in an Akira Kurosawa movie or Kihachi Okamoto's The Sword of Doom. He was also greatly inspired by Jeff Bridges' character Rooster Cogburn in the Coen brothers new western True Grit. He said the whole time he made this custom he kept thinking about what true grit really means over and over like a mantra.

Every bounty hunter had a mentor. Yojimbo Barnes was Embo's. Barnes found the orphaned Kyuzo on his travels through Phatrong and raised him as a son. Barnes says Embo survived his training that he affectionately refers to as his baptism by fire. Yojimbo can still be found collecting bounties well into his old age. Regardless of the fact that he has a worthy successor. I guess that's what it means to have true grit.

YOJIMBO BARNES

Dad loves his old man belly from the Wilrow Hood action figure.

You should hear the tales about Embo's training. If you thought "Lone Wolf and Cub" was good....






ALSO INSPIRED BY RUSTYCUSTOMS
Order 66 Jedi Master Survivor

Dad saw this custom action figure by RustyCustoms and loved the way he used the head of Nicanas Tassu.



See the post for his figure here:
http://rustyscustoms.blogspot.com/2010/12/order-66-jedi-master-survivor.html