CREATIVE CUSTOMS: Ben Bishop's THUNDERCATS

[JeffSaylor]

Lion-O and Cheetara enter the 21st Century...

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There are several great cartoons from the 80's that are way overdue for a comeback. Perhaps the most sought-after cartoon from that era is the Thundercats. With how well the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line is doing, fans must be wondering how much longer they will need to wait for new Thundercats figures to be made.

One particular collector, Ben Bishop, is tired of waiting and has taken matters into his own hands, literally, by making his own customized Lion-O and Cheetara action figures using MOTUC body parts. This incredibly gifted artist has even created his very own Thundercats packaging to go along with his fantastic customized creations.

These cool custom action figures give us a taste of what a Thundercats toy line from Mattel would look like if they were done in the MOTUC style. Ben did an amazing job sculpting Lion-O's hair, vest and belt. The painted details on both figures is breathtaking and incredibly precise. All the body parts on both figures were sprayed with sealant to keep the paint from chipping or flaking off when the figures are being handled or posed.

BEN BISHOP'S THUNDERCATS RECIPE:

Lion-O was made mostly from a combination of MOTUC He-Man and Skeletor parts. His claw shield hand is from a Marvel Legends lab coat Beast, his feet are from a DC Universe Classics Vigilante, and his crotch is from a Marvel Select Thor, because the MOTUC crotch is very small. His hair, armor, and belt are completely sculpted from scratch. Lion-O's sword is actually a metal diecast sword from the original 80's collectible; a keychain Ben ordered from Argentina. The packaging template is from a DC Universe Classics figure.

Cheetara was made completely from a MOTUC Adora figure with a button on the front for her Thundercats badge. Her staff is simply a bamboo skewer. The outfit on Adora needed to be trimmed, and sanded down quite a bit, to look more like Cheetara's unitard. Ben also cut a little divot on the side of each of the boot cuffs. Her packaging also comes from a DC Universe Classics figure.

Ben is planning to make all the Thundercats eventually using MOTUC bodies and judging by how incredible his Lion-O and Cheetara turned out, we can't wait to see them. Lets just hope that Mattel announces the acquisition of this incredibly popular license soon so that everyone will finally have a chance to add some updated and highly articulated Thundercat figures to their toy collection.

For more information and to view images of Ben's other work, visit www.bishart.net.


- Jorge Pelaez
Special Thanks to Ben Bishop

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[SamRock]

WOW! Ben you are really talented and its shows in the great level of detail you put into these two figures...

Plus designing the whole box art... very professional. Hope to see the other figures soon!!

And Jorge ... well written article for a Custom figure

[bishart]

wow great pics jorge, thank you, and thanks to everyone at figures.com. i really appreciate it, and im glad you liked my figures. just wanted to pop in and also mention that CHEETARA is currently up on EBAY for a few more days, so go get your bids in!

custom CHEETARA motuc THUNDER CATS masters figure - eBay (item 170485384194 end time May-19-10 14:56:29 PDT)

-ben bishop BISHART — Official website of Portland, Maine artist Ben Bishop

[dreamcatcher]

This is beyond amazing, I really like the style, the parts, the paintjob and the art of the package, simply great, congrats.