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?

JJ Watt - Houston Texans - Custom McFarlane Sportspicks figures

Being a Wisconsinite, I love my Badgers. So I love any opportunity to make a JJ Watt figure. Luckily, I've recently had three separate requests for different versions of JJ.

First up is JJ Watt from his his college days as a Wisconsin Badger. I work with a good friend of JJ's cousin so he was able to get this signed.

The second order was for JJ Watt in his "battle red" Texans jersey. I went with the same pose as my original Badgers version but added a completely scratch-built arm brace identical to what JJ Watt wore during the 2012 NFL season.

The most recent version is Watt in the "steel blue" jersey doing a "Watt Swat". Given how well this pose fits Watt, I wouldn't be surprised if McFarlane uses this pose for Watt's debut figure. Though if anyone deserves an original sculpt it's Watt.

McFarlane Toys • The Walking Dead Custom Zombie Merle Dixon Figure • Season 3

I decided to take a short break from customizing McFarlane football figures and took a crack at another McFarlane product. As a huge fan of The Walking Dead it was too tempting not to take their Merle Dixon figure and customize it into his "walker" form. This was my first time customizing something at this scale with this type of articulation. I learned a lot and had more fun than I've had in a long time.

It's available for sale on eBay!
Link to eBay Auction

• Removed holsters & pouches and the two leg bands. Resculpted the pants in their place and put back in seams, wrinkles and details.
• Resculpted the face looking carefully at the prosthetic used on Rooker's face and matching those.
• Sculpted a bit of flesh coming from his mouth.
• Removed the knife from his stump and replaced it with his prison shank.
• Added the tear to the back of his jacket and sculpted entrance & exit wounds.
• Removed his two fingers that were bitten off and added bony nubs in their place.
• Repainted the pants and jacket to match Merle's wardrobe in the episode "This Sorrowful Life"
• Carefully painted the blood in the same patterns as seen the episode, referencing dozens of screen shots.
• Shaved the shoulder & hip joints to allow more movement and limit the amount of rub

Vincent Jackson - Tampa Bay Buccaneers throwback jersey custom McFarlane figure

You just have to love these uniforms (even though you hated them originally).

Deion Sanders - San Francisco 49ers custom McFarlane figure

Basic repaint of the original Sander's mold. A few added details like resculpting to the shoes to accommodate the longer tongue and strap across the top. I also eliminated the shorter socks and went with the longer layered-look that Deion often wore.

NFL Legends: Steve Van Buren, Sammy Baugh & Arnie Weinmeister custom McFarlane figures

While most Hall of Famers end up in Canton, these three are heading to Canada. My customer continues to build his collection of NFL Hall of Fame legends.

All player notes were pulled from Wikipedia.

A first-round draft pick in the 1944 NFL Draft, Van Buren ran for 444 yards in nine games during his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles. He also led the league in returning punts as a rookie. The following season, Van Buren led the NFL in rushing for the first time. He would win three additional rushing crowns in 1947, 1948 and 1949, becoming the first running back in NFL history to achieve three consecutive rushing titles. Jim Brown (1957–1961, 1963–1965) twice, Earl Campbell (1978–1980), and Emmitt Smith (1991–1993) have since managed that feat. All four are in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.

“Slingin’ Sammy” not only helped establish the pro game in the nation’s capital, he also was a major influence in the offensive revolution that occurred in the late 1930s and early 1940s. By the time Baugh was through, the forward pass was a primary offensive weapon. Obviously, such a change could not be totally brought about by one individual. But Baugh was the catalyst that changed the game. No one had seen a passer who could throw with such accuracy.





Few players ever have been so dominant at their position in pro football than Arnie Weinmeister was in his six-year stint as a defensive tackle that began with the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference in 1948 and ended with the New York Giants of the NFL in 1953.

Arnie was one of the first defensive players to captivate the masses of fans the way an offensive ball-handler does. At 6-4 and 235 pounds, he was bigger than the average player of his day and he was widely considered to be the fastest lineman in pro football.

With a six-year tenure in the AAFC and NFL, his career is one of the shortest of any Pro Football Hall of Fame member.