garbagemon's customs, new- Igor Mark II

[garbagemon]

Here they are, my best shot at George "Crybaby" Cannon, and one of his most notorious wrestlers, Eric the Red, whom Cannon professed he had never, NEVER seen use his bone to hit any of his opponents.  Of course, anybody watching knew the truth.  And Eric?  He was just a brute Dane in the ring, often coming out and clicking that very bone along the top rope before the match.  If you want a good rundown on Cannon's managerial attitude, and Eric's strong but silent agreement, just check out the youtube video between Eric the Red and Argentina Apollo.  Seriously, it's some epic 70s wrestling!

[MaskedSuperstarFan]

I'm a little sad that no one has yet to comment on these, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of members here may have never even heard of Crybaby Cannon, Eric the Red, or the IWA. I,for one, think these are awesome as I am a great fan of the IWA (and old school wrestling in general). I grew up watching Mid Atlantic Wrestling so when I discovered the IWA in the early 80's, it was the first chance for me to see a lot of the guys who I had only heard of or seen in magazines. But I digress.....

Sticking to topic, I really dig these figures. It's great to see something different from the norm and I don't think I've ever seen any customs of these two before. They're great likenesses and I've love to know what figures you used. Is Eric the Red an RA figure? The lettering and the small flags on Cannon's jacket are a nice touch (decals?). The use of a "real" IWA backdrop just makes it that much cooler. Just a great job overall.

Any chance of more IWA guys in the future? I'd love to see guys like Mighty Igor, Tex McKenzie, or Bulldog Brower. In fact, I have an old IWA-inspired Ernie Ladd custom that I'll post here later. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

MSF

[garbagemon]

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!

[Nick Maniwa]

Knew my dude MSF would be the guy commenting on these. I love them. I love love love when people think outside the box. These are incredible. Thank you for sharing. Hope to see more of your work soon!

[garbagemon]

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

[MaskedSuperstarFan]

Hello, Nick! Great to hear from ya again, my friend! I echo your sentiments about thinking outside the box, especially when it comes to old school guys.

And garbagemon, I've posted my Ernie Ladd custom although it's more of a fix-up, I guess. I just swapped out a CS Ladd's torso with one of the molded jacket torsos and repainted it. To top it off I swapped out his hand with that of Umaga. That way, he has the dreaded and infamous taped thumb to ram into the throats of his unsuspecting opponents -Lol!

As for future customs, have you considered a Eugene head as a base for Mighty Igor? The hair may need resculpted a bit but I've always thought it was a pretty close resemblance. Furthermore, if you want to tackle a Mil Mascaras custom (a former IWA Champion, no less!), I may have an extra recast Mil Mascaras head that I acquired from another member here a few years ago. If I can find it, I'd be more than happy to send it to you.

Here's my Ernie Ladd fix-up, by the way:

[garbagemon]

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!

[Supreme]

I love seeing customs from the territory days. Really nice use of a Brodus Clay shelf warmer. The Eric the Red turned out super nice. Like your IWA interview set as well. Sometimes I like the backgrounds and accessories more than the figures. Love the details.

The Ernie Ladd is awesome as well. Totally would have never thought of doing a jacket version. The tape was for the Oriental Spike, correct?

The IWA is a bit forgotten in the history of pro wrestling. Although, if you watch the wrestling, maybe it should remain forgotten. If I remember correctly, Thesz made a few shots for them which is about the only thing I remember being worth watching.

Working on a few of those "outside the box" customs myself. Gino Hernandez, David Von Erich and Lou Thesz just to name a few.

[garbagemon]

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!

[Supreme]

Jun 17, 2016 1:37:23 GMT -5 garbagemon said:

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!

Thanks for the heads up on checking out the Destroyer.

I don't post much on WF anymore, so not sure if they'll ever get posted here.

Keep up the customs. Took another look at them and they're just too cool.

[Deleted]

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.

[garbagemon]

Thanks for the comments, stingersplash84, I admit, I'm only a year behind you, having been born in 1983, but I love going back to see some of the early wrestlers, it really is a rich history! As for George Cannon, he had a career even before management as "Man Mountain Cannon," a wrestler in his own right in the 50s. They say the way he wiped sweat from his eyes earned him the nickname "Crybaby," which stuck with him throughout his career.

[Deleted]

Crybaby!!!

[garbagemon]

Joining the ranks of my IWA crew, the Mighty Igor makes his debut, carrying his signature Polish kielbasa to the ring to feed to the ref, or one of the fans, or himself. You just never know. (Edit: In my haste to get out of photobucket altogether, I must have deleted this pic.  I'll update again with a new and better one).

[MaskedSuperstarFan]

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?)

[Supreme]

I do love the Igor. The lines (for the most part) are great, the head is a match and for me it's always in the details so I love the kielbasa.

Some constructive criticism. The lines on the shorts are more ragged than the rest of the figure (I have the same problem with my figs too). And being a stickler for details, the shoes don't match. Looks like he's wearing Air Jordan's. I do remember the shoes he wore, wasn't it a dress shoe with a heel? Not really sure how you'd be able to replicate that though.

[garbagemon]

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.

[garbagemon]

It's been awhile since my last update, but the workshop's been far from quiet! Joining the ranks of my IWA collection, a revamped Mighty Igor with new shoes, joined by his manager, Ivan Kalmikoff. Igor is still carrying that keilbasa, but he's added a cap, too.




Also in the ranks, Big Tex McKenzie, big man from the Alamo! Tex stood a mighty 6' 9", and once even tagged in Dallas with the Big Cat, Ernie Ladd, who was of like height.



And a real bruiser, the man of the hour, Dick the Bulldog Brower. Brower was a colossal heel in his day, known for fighting dirty, and being an absolute nutjob during interviews.




And last, more of a guest spot for the IWA collection, the Giant Haystacks pays a visit from Great Britain, crushing the competition internationally (the Giant Haystacks tights by Ralph's Figure Clothing, fur wrap by me). Mean Gene Okerlund is a minor custom here, as I added a neck swivel to the WCW figure.

[joes7164]

Cool figures! You did a great job.

[deskjet]

Nov 10, 2017 21:30:02 GMT -5 garbagemon said:

It's been awhile since my last update, but the workshop's been far from quiet! Joining the ranks of my IWA collection, a revamped Mighty Igor with new shoes, joined by his manager, Ivan Kalmikoff. Igor is still carrying that keilbasa, but he's added a cap, too.




Also in the ranks, Big Tex McKenzie, big man from the Alamo! Tex stood a mighty 6' 9", and once even tagged in Dallas with the Big Cat, Ernie Ladd, who was of like height.




And a real bruiser, the man of the hour, Dick the Bulldog Brower. Brower was a colossal heel in his day, known for fighting dirty, and being an absolute nutjob during interviews.




And last, more of a guest spot for the IWA collection, the Giant Haystacks pays a visit from Great Britain, crushing the competition internationally (the Giant Haystacks tights by Ralph's Figure Clothing, fur wrap by me). Mean Gene Okerlund is a minor custom here, as I added a neck swivel to the WCW figure.

This needs to be a pic fed:)