Members of the 2013 NFL Hall of Fame Class: Warren Sapp, Curley Culp, David Robinson & Larry Allen - custom McFarlane Sportspicks figures

I have client that is amassing a collection of every NFL Hall of Famer. For this round, my client decided to focus on this year's class of Hall of Famers. The first four we decided to give the "plastic treatment" were the Buccaneer's Warren Sapp, the Chief's Curley Culp, the Packer's David Robinson and finally the Cowboy's Larry Allen.

First up in Warren Sapp. Upon first glance this looks identical to the version put out by TMP. For this figure, my client wanted me to simply modify Sapp so that his his front hand was up on his fingers, rather than his palm. Additionally, we upgraded his facemask to something more sturdy and accurate. While, I may have gotten off easy with this request, I more than made up for it with Larry Allen. 

 

 Up next is Curley Culp. Now we get our first original pose of the batch made up of approximately 7 different figures.

 

Next is Packer great David Robinson. A lot of feedback that received on this figure was questions asking what parts or figure did I use? By simply swapping Nitschke's arms on the Butkus figure and changing the angle at which the figure stands, I was able to accomplish a pose that appears very unique.

 

 Finally, we have the big daddy of them all. Larry Allen was larger than life when he played and this figure is larger than most. Unfortunately, McFarlane doesn't have a lot of base figures to choose from for offensive lineman. Most customizers when asked to make a large offensive lineman, they go to the William Roaf/Johnathan Ogden figure.

I did the same thing.

If you are familiar with the Roaf/Ogden base figure, you'll notice that my Allen looks nothing like the original figure. I really wanted to challenge my sculpting on this figure so, I completely disassembled an Ogden figure. I cut the figure apart at the hips, knees and ankles and completely pinned together a brand new pose. After finessing the sculpt on the legs, I bulked up his gut and resculpted the shoulders. What we're left with is a completely unique figure and pose that stands just over 6.5" high. A true tribute to this amazing Hall of Famer.

 

 

 

Curley Lambeau - Green Bay Packers - custom McFarlane Sportspicks figure

The same customer that ordered the Don Hutson display also ordered a figure of Curley Lambeau from his playing days. 

Curley Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun formed the Green Bay Packers on August 11, 1919, while Lambeau was working as a shipping clerk at the Indian Packing Company. The Packers initially played teams from Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula; however, the success of the team in 1919-20 quickly led to its joining of the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922.

Lambeau played for the Packers from 1919 to 1929. Although Lambeau played halfback, he was both the primary runner and passer, as was common practice during that period. Lambeau threw the Packers' first official pass, first official touchdown pass, and kicked the Packers' first official field goal.

Randall Cobb & Don Hutson - Green Bay Packes New School & Old School - custom McFarlane Sports figures

It was week 14 of the 2012 NFL season on a cold Lambeau Field. Aarron Rodgers threw high pass to an open Randall Cobb who made an astonishing one-handed grab for a 24-yard gain. My customer Lee, couldn't have picked a cooler play to have immortalized in plastic!

View the play here on NFL.com

Now let's jump back about 70 years as we revisit a play between the Green Bay Packers & the Detroit Lions. Here we see Don Hutson hauling in a pass in stride. This is my second attempt at this custom pose but my first adding in the defender. Click here to see my original post. I've come a long way in my sculpting and painting. I love dissecting a 2-dimensional image like this and bringing it to life in 3-dimensions. Since we don't readily available video of this play, this becomes the only view at how this play may have looked from every direction.

It's hard now to choose which is my favorite historical reenactment - this classic Hutson match-up or my Bednarik over Gifford custom. What do you guys think?