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Post by badgerboy80 on Oct 3, 2009 9:29:39 GMT -5
Hi: I'm the Guy with the Prototype Wrestlers on Ebay. Bear with me as I ramble a bit. I'm a middle aged guy with stories that are fading fast from my memory. I'll post a few pictures of general toymaking stuff and what ever wrestling pictures I can find. The first picture is of me and Paul. It's a fading Polaroid. My Buddy Paul did alot of work on figures. Wrestlers, GIJoe, Visionaries, all sorts of little stuff. Paul would develop and put the mechanicals in the figures. The Engineers knew how they would mold the actual product but we in the shop had to make the prototypes work. Urethane is not nearly as strong as injection molded plastic, so allowances had to be made. I'll detail out later how the figures are created. The guy who took the picture of Paul and me was Leo. Leo was another great guy who did a lot of sand and fill work on GIJoe and Wrestlers. There were always a bunch of figures to cleanup and prime. Figure this, Hasbro liked at least 13 of each figure, vehicle or infant toy. We needed enough to cover Toyfair, catalog shoots, TV ads, Packaging samples, and Sales hand samples. Then figure we could do 10 new GIJoes, 6 Wrestlers, New projects like Visionaries, Bucky O'Hare, James bond Jr. and Pirates of Dark Water. Each of those could have 8 or 10 figures, geesch. We used a lot of 3M green putty and body putty. I'd like you to notice something in a picture on an earlier thread. wfigs.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=wfnj&action=display&thread=142552Look at the Ultimate Warriors butt. You can see brush marks. Each of these characters were hand painted, the detail our four handpainters achieved day in, day out was amazing. Human nature is as a project goes on, you look to cut corners and get a bit sloppy. Not these folks, their paint quality remained throughout the projects. I remember them using Animators Cel vinyl paint. I don't know the brand but now you know the type of paint anyway.
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tibbo
Superstar
Photoshop Machine
Joined on: Sept 6, 2009 8:43:18 GMT -5
Posts: 710
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Post by tibbo on Oct 3, 2009 9:38:04 GMT -5
Hey there! Thanks so much for joining the forum, and sharing with us your experiences! You really wouldn't believe how much myself and all of the guys here love your work, and the figure range as a whole. We would love to hear any information that you have about working on the WWF range. Your stories could help to answer a lot of questions that we have been asking for almost 20 years! hehe. ....yup we are that lame What years did you work for Hasbro? Do you happen to know what figures would be included in the next line, which never went into production once Hasbro stopped work on the range?
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habrofan83
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 4, 2009 9:29:20 GMT -5
Posts: 1,033
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Post by habrofan83 on Oct 3, 2009 9:40:32 GMT -5
cant wait to here any info you have really glad you have joined
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cdp
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 28, 2009 1:18:51 GMT -5
Posts: 2,281
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Post by cdp on Oct 3, 2009 10:10:00 GMT -5
Thanks for joined us at this board! First of all: Congratulations for all you have done for Hasbro Fans! I'm waiting for other news from you... Please let the world knows....
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Post by badgerboy80 on Oct 3, 2009 10:17:22 GMT -5
I made the first model of this goofy wrestling ring. The idea was "Battling tops meets Rockem' Sockem' Robots". The little guys were set on the mat and you banged your hand on the lever/fulcrum until your opponents flew out of the ring.
Sorry to any of the kids that now have carpal tunnel or irreparable hand damage.
The model was made of Styrene and the haircell mold texture finish was simulated by attaching coarse sandpaper to the outside.
Same for the ring posts. Build one then make a RTV rubber mold.
A side note on the Urethane we used and the Green Rtv rubber: Ciba Geigy manufactured the Uerthane, good stuff but after about 20 castings the urethane had migrated into the Dow Corning rubber and started to tear chunks out of the mold.
I'll ramble about that later too.
Once a rubber was made the Casting crew would start making multiples of the prototypes for all the different uses as described earlier.
We would usually end up painting everything at least twice. The first color would be something the Designer would pick. The toy would be presented to Steve Hassenfeld, (and later Alan, his brother) to approve. Mr. Hassenfeld would then make changes and the toy would be dropped or modified. Usually the colors changed on Infant toys, since WWF was licensed and the PMS colors were pretty much established. Repainting usually was a hassle on vehicles and GiJoes as another layer of Primer and paint screwed up the hinges and joints of the figures.
Even though we made multiples of these toys in the prototype stages they ended up as dumpster fodder.
Face it, unless you were a fan of the line personally, or a pack rat like me, this stuff was thrown out. Tomorrow was another day and there was another set of figures to work on.
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Post by badgerboy80 on Oct 3, 2009 10:19:19 GMT -5
This is the Ring from the Toyfair catalog
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tibbo
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Photoshop Machine
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Post by tibbo on Oct 3, 2009 10:23:43 GMT -5
Wow! that is awesome! It sucks that so much stuff was thrown away on a daily basis! It would be worth so much these days to collectors!
Were the figures ever made for this too, or was the idea scrappped straight off?
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judge
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 8, 2004 17:16:41 GMT -5
Posts: 1,068
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Post by judge on Oct 3, 2009 10:41:12 GMT -5
Thanks so much for joining the board! Really intresting reading this information and much appreciated!
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Deleted
Joined on: May 6, 2024 10:13:09 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2009 10:46:45 GMT -5
hi brian, thanks for all this detail infos. its great to hear some background infos and i love your figures....
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Post by humanitarianaryan on Oct 3, 2009 10:47:59 GMT -5
Welcome to the Boards badgerboy80! This was the surprise! This could possibly be the greatest day in the history of Hasbro's. Badger knows i begged him to come here. He says his memory of this stuff is somewhat of a blur, but he has to remember somethings, right?
And yes....most of the stuff is old, some of the paints are starting to change colors on the figures, and some of us are paying big bucks thinking their variants/rares!!
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cdp
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 28, 2009 1:18:51 GMT -5
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Post by cdp on Oct 3, 2009 10:48:05 GMT -5
WOW!! You're the MAN!!!! +1 Love the ring!!!!
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cdp
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jul 28, 2009 1:18:51 GMT -5
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Post by cdp on Oct 3, 2009 10:52:53 GMT -5
By the way...any infos about Kamala w/moon and Greg Rhytm & Blues Proto?? I can't believe that you have joined this board
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Post by Guest on Oct 3, 2009 11:02:35 GMT -5
thats amazing! i love the ring photos - welcome badgerboy! Any info you can share would bevery welcome
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Post by humanitarianaryan on Oct 3, 2009 11:10:00 GMT -5
Does anyone have that pic inside Hasbro in the painting/model section with the figures being painted on those white trays? Im searching for it but can't find it! It shows a couple of the Rockers tag sets. I want to see if Badger remembers that part of the building and if that was his section! thanks BK
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judge
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 8, 2004 17:16:41 GMT -5
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Post by judge on Oct 3, 2009 11:21:59 GMT -5
This one? I had to take a photo of it a while back as I haven't got a scanner at home....
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Post by humanitarianaryan on Oct 3, 2009 11:28:16 GMT -5
thanks judge!! thats the one i was looking for! Brian, you remember that section? is that your section or is that more down the line, like the finishing Dept/final product section? thanks BK
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ICHIBAN 一番
Main Eventer
✮SINCE 1977✮
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Post by ICHIBAN 一番 on Oct 3, 2009 11:30:26 GMT -5
this is fantastic!
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meatybat
Mid-Carder
AYATOLLAH of plastic crapola .
Joined on: Dec 30, 2007 23:42:16 GMT -5
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Post by meatybat on Oct 3, 2009 11:52:53 GMT -5
Visionaries, Bucky O'Hare, James bond Jr. and Pirates of Dark Water is what I'm talking about . I collect those lines too , great work and glad to see you here dropping some knowledge.
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brandob23
Jobber
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Post by brandob23 on Oct 3, 2009 12:23:52 GMT -5
You my friend are what we refer to as a legend! Thanks for joining. Your work truly has never gone unappreciated through the years. Im sure this forum will prove that.
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TheRockers
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Post by TheRockers on Oct 3, 2009 12:29:57 GMT -5
Thank you for all the info.
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