TRAGEDY IN THE CUSTOMIZING COMMUNITY

Michael Martinez of Mercury Art Studios and his fiance Hollie.

This holiday weekend the customizing community suffered a great loss. Saturday night Michael Martinez of Mercury Art Studios was killed in a head on collision with a drunk driver leaving behind a daughter and his pregnant fiance, Hollie. The 27 year old from Georgia wasn't just one of the coolest customizers out there, he was also a good friend. When Dad first started customizing, Mike and Dad would spend time chatting on Facebook about customizing and the joys of fatherhood. He would share stories of his little girl holding a Dremmel to action figures and making the appropriate sound effects as she imitated her dad. He would always speak about his family with great adoration. Mike was always so generous and eager to share his wealth of customizing knowledge and help Dad out with tips or parts for a new customizing project. It was Mike who recommended Dad use Animoto.com to create the videos we feature in our Customs I Wish I Owned. To Dad, Mike was truly an inspiration. I think at some point or another, all customizers have often dreamed about what it would be like to earn a living solely from the toys we produce. Mike was doing just that. Mike told Dad he was able to support him and his family by making just ten custom action figures a week and selling them on ebay. We've loved his customs ever since we first saw them on Yakface.com and couldn't tell you how saddened we are by the loss of one of the greatest talents within this community. Just Thursday night we sat and listened to him express his enthusiasm for the customizing hobby that we all share when he was interviewed on Custom Action Figure News by Lucasclones and Tamer not knowing it would be the last we'd ever hear from him. We offer our condolences to his family and all his loved ones. Mike you will truly be missed.

MERCURY ART STUDIOS

Click any of the three links below for more from Mercury Art Studios:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mercur ... 9501317704

http://www.myspace.com/mercury_art_studios

http://www.youtube.com/user/mercuryartstudios

Imperial Shipyards is currently sponsoring a Charity Drive and Auction for Mike's family. Any support that can be offered would be greatly appreciated.

Custom Action Figure News - Episode 11: Michael A. Martinez aka Mercury Art Studios

Get ready to listen to the latest episode of the podcast Custom Action Figure News with hosts Lucasclones and Tamer from Imperial Shipyards. Their special guest this episode is Michael A. Martinez aka Mercury Art Studios.

 
Custom Action Figure News - Episode 11: Michael A. Martinez aka Mercury Art Studios

http://echobase.d2i.net/index.php?topic=631.0

Go here to listen to the Custom Action
Figure News podcast: 

 http://www.imperialshipyards.net/cafnpage.html

If there is anything you would like them to feature on a future podcast be sure to let them know at:

chad.cafnpodcast@yahoo.com

tamer@imperialshipyards.net

FIRST COMMISSION

Back in February, Dad was approached by James Robert Neff to create a Mandalorian custom action figure on a commission basis. Dad had never been asked to do a commission before and he was hesitant to take on the project due to his demanding work schedule. He explained to James that he worked anywhere from 70-80 hours a week and still had to take care of me when work was over so it could take a while for him to make the action figure because he still had to make an action figure a week for "Customs for the Kid". Dad was truly flattered by the offer. Especially when our blog featured so many incredible customizers that James could have asked. For a while it seemed as if the project may not happen. Dad had asked James to track down the parts he wanted used and hadn't heard from him for a while. Other requests for commissions came in, but Dad was starting to get overwhelmed with all his responsibilities and couldn't take on any projects. Then recently, he heard again from James and the project started to move forward again. Dad had never made a custom Mandalorian before, so he was a little intimidated, until he realized James had provided the exact specifications that he wanted. So without further ado, here is the Mandalorian designed by James Robert Neff.

James Robert Neff's Mando Design
created by Darth Daddy

BACKSTORY
by James Robert Neff

"A former Jedi knight operating under the name Calus Ordoan, Calo Ordoa turned his back on the Jedi after the end of the Clone Wars and went back to his roots as a Mando'ad. Apprenticed by Jedi master Coleman Trebor, Calo's skills with his unique orange Lightsaber were most impressive, having fought opponents such as General Greivous, Pre Vizsla, and Asajj Ventress. After the end of the Clone War, Calo served as a bounty hunter with many beings, such as his modified CZ secretary droid, his friend Zaron Diin, and many others."

IN THE NEWS!!

Dad's "Booma the Hutt" featured on the front page of Echo Base News.

Dad's "Carbonite Tutorial" featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

BLU JEDI

Dad put some of our Indiana Jones fodder to use to create this Jedi Knight. He cut the neck off one of the Easter Island heads, and mounted it to a Vintage Obi Wan Kenobi torso that he painted. A great way to get a head for a custom when you are running low on heads is to get one wherever you can and this piece of fodder worked like a charm. Dad drilled a whole on the bottom just tight enough to snap onto the neck peg.

BLU JEDI

The Blu Jedi uses a double sided shoto-sized lightsaber blade.

Dad's "BLU JEDI" featured on the Front Page of IMPERIAL SHIPYARDS