Spy Monkey Creations - Official Discussion/Photos Thread

[Eterniandreams]

Fantastic! Spymonkey makes some great stuff, and I love my toys to be funny! Motu in particular has always had that ridiculous side, and this shield will fit right in!

MOTU can always been campy, but saying this would fit right in is pushing it a bit IMHO. Mostly the names were campy, the line was a sorcery and science toyline.
So please name the original things that are just as ridiculous, because I don't remember them. Maybe Snout spout heads comes in that direction, but he still made sense for kids.

[TheFallen]

And I want to thank the Fallen for the PTM idea. Brilliant!
I've got a full Hordak body sitting on my work bench left over from when I made my Filmation style one using the blue Webstor body.
Tomorrow I start a Powdered Toast Man - MOTUC style.

Don't thank me, you guys are the ones putting out some awesome accessories Just do me a favour and shoot me a PM when that custom is done. I do love me some Powdered Toast Man

Spymonkey Creations just seem to be going from strength to strength. You are the FansProject of MOTUC and I am happy to see you grow

[sephron13]

Spymonkey Creations just seem to be going from strength to strength. You are the FansProject of MOTUC and I am happy to see you grow

Exactly, I agree wholeheartedly!

[Aramis]

I think it's funny... and Wun-Dar is funny anyhow...

[Soulgem]

MOTU can always been campy, but saying this would fit right in is pushing it a bit IMHO. Mostly the names were campy, the line was a sorcery and science toyline.
So please name the original things that are just as ridiculous, because I don't remember them. Maybe Snout spout heads comes in that direction, but he still made sense for kids.

Just as ridiculous as a toast-shield? Rotor, twistoid, meckaneck, gwildor, prince adam's outfit, that red interchangeable horde dude, most of the vehicles, spikor, king hsss, squeeze, orko. Hey i love motu, and the "anything goes" approach is a good reason. Toast shield? Why not?

[Brian Ozone]

Its really not even funny. but what is is his prices. that always makes me laugh.

[Eterniandreams]

Just as ridiculous as a toast-shield? Rotor, twistoid, meckaneck, gwildor, prince adam's outfit, that red interchangeable horde dude, most of the vehicles, spikor, king hsss, squeeze, orko. Hey i love motu, and the "anything goes" approach is a good reason. Toast shield? Why not?

Sorry, I disagree. All the things you mention work fine within the MOTU theme: Sorcery and Science.
I cant recall of any item that was meant as a tongue in cheeck joke, made fun of the figure or ridiculed the figure.
Only the names did that.

[Sandman]

It's fine as a joke, and looks quite good. I don't order custom accessories, but I appreciate the effort put into making them.

Whether it's "too silly" is personal preference, since you're not getting this as a pack-in

[RocketPunch]

I suppose it works okay as a silly joke accessory, but I won't be buying one. Even figures like Mo-Larr and the loaf of bread that came with Wun-Dar aren't as ridiculous as a shield made of toast!

[Brian-Man]

Its really not even funny. but what is is his prices. that always makes me laugh.

.......and we're back.

For those that seem to still be hung up on the price thing.... which always makes me laugh to be honest.
All I can say, it costs us money and time to produce this stuff. We just about break even on each piece and actually lose money on exclusives offered through other sites like Poe Ghostal's POA or AFI. But we don't really do it for the money. If we did, we'd charge $15 each. We do it because other fans like it and get as much enjoyment out of our accessories as we do.

If we were a huge corporate, publicly traded entity with millions in assets, if we had a factory in China that was churning out tens of thousands of units that were distributed throughout the world to major retailers, then yeah they'd be about $2-$3 each. But we are just a few guys (one who does the lion's share) buying supplies, conceptualizing, designing, sculpting, casting, testing, assembling, painting, processing, packing, shipping, and what ever else we have to do. It is laborious and costly, and none of us pocket a dime, all proceeds contribute to going through the process again for the next item.

Add to that, all of our pieces are original and of the highest quality we can achieve. Since each piece is done individually the margin for error is nonexistent. If something comes out looking like a dog chewed it up, we eat it and won't send it to the customer. We'll make another and another until it's right.

The Transformers community has some great guys doing awesome stuff. Each piece runs anywhere from $60-$100 for something that if it was mass produced for retail would only run between $10-$20. Granted they have fully transformable toys and all we're doing are swords and shields. But like us these guys aren't huge companies they are fans with talent and skill who want to share their love and ideas with fellow fans.
There's some cat out there in the G.I. Joe community simply recasting star wars and joe heads and charging $7-$10 per noggin. Now that's laughable.

Simply put, if we charge any less than $10, we'd have to stop doing this for everyone that wants one because we wouldn't be able to afford it. If $10 for one piece seems too steep for some, that's okay. No one is obligated to buy anything. We're not gonna call anybody out because they didn't buy our stuff. We understand that some people don't like certain things or get the joke in something we found humor in. We understand that our product can be cost prohibitive for some fans.

Heck I drive a Honda Pilot because a Range Rover is too expensive. I drink more Johnny Walker with the black label because the blue label costs way too much. Of course the blue label is more rare and of higher quality so that cost is justified. I guess you could just think of us as the Johnny Walker Blue of the fan produced action figure accessory world.

Until Next Time.....ba ba ba ba da....... dun dun dun.

[Rodster6]

Not my thing but of course I dont have to buy it. Dont know why some people take their toys so seriously lol. I agree their seems to be a sense of entitlement some people have on here making them moan and groan like spoilt brats about everything. Though this then makes me want to moan about them moaning lol.

[Soulgem]

For those that seem to still be hung up on the price thing.... which always makes me laugh to be honest.
All I can say, it costs us money and time to produce this stuff. We just about break even on each piece and actually lose money on exclusives offered through other sites like Poe Ghostal's POA or AFI. But we don't really do it for the money. If we did, we'd charge $15 each. We do it because other fans like it and get as much enjoyment out of our accessories as we do.

If we were a huge corporate, publicly traded entity with millions in assets, if we had a factory in China that was churning out tens of thousands of units that were distributed throughout the world to major retailers, then yeah they'd be about $2-$3 each. But we are just a few guys (one who does the lion's share) buying supplies, conceptualizing, designing, sculpting, casting, testing, assembling, painting, processing, packing, shipping, and what ever else we have to do. It is laborious and costly, and none of us pocket a dime, all proceeds contribute to going through the process again for the next item.

Add to that, all of our pieces are original and of the highest quality we can achieve. Since each piece is done individually the margin for error is nonexistent. If something comes out looking like a dog chewed it up, we eat it and won't send it to the customer. We'll make another and another until it's right.

The Transformers community has some great guys doing awesome stuff. Each piece runs anywhere from $60-$100 for something that if it was mass produced for retail would only run between $10-$20. Granted they have fully transformable toys and all we're doing are swords and shields. But like us these guys aren't huge companies they are fans with talent and skill who want to share their love and ideas with fellow fans.
There's some cat out there in the G.I. Joe community simply recasting star wars and joe heads and charging $7-$10 per noggin. Now that's laughable.

Simply put, if we charge any less than $10, we'd have to stop doing this for everyone that wants one because we wouldn't be able to afford it. If $10 for one piece seems too steep for some, that's okay. No one is obligated to buy anything. We're not gonna call anybody out because they didn't buy our stuff. We understand that some people don't like certain things or get the joke in something we found humor in. We understand that our product can be cost prohibitive for some fans.

Heck I drive a Honda Pilot because a Range Rover is too expensive. I drink more Johnny Walker with the black label because the blue label costs way too much. Of course the blue label is more rare and of higher quality so that cost is justified. I guess you could just think of us as the Johnny Walker Blue of the fan produced action figure accessory world.

Until Next Time.....ba ba ba ba da....... dun dun dun.

Hey, don't think about those guys, they're not potential customers, and would most likely find something else to complain about if the price was different. Keep up the fantastic work. Real fans (of third party upgrades) know what this is worth.

Hordak's sword is so insanely cool and evil looking. And Zodac suddenly became a favorite character after he got a new sword. Money well spent.

[Brian-Man]

Hey, don't think about those guys, they're not potential customers, and would most likely find something else to complain about if the price was different. Keep up the fantastic work. Real fans (of third party upgrades) know what this is worth.

Hordak's sword is so insanely cool and evil looking. And Zodac suddenly became a favorite character after he got a new sword. Money well spent.

Thanks Soulgem. And thanks to the Fallen, sephron13 and all the others out there who have given us kudos. We're having fun with this and I know SpyMagician really loves what he does, that's why we do it. We're fans and collectors and we started making the weapons (Empyrean) because we felt the same way. We wanted to have something cool to display with figures that were already awesome.

I realize I got a little ranty in the above post. That's likely my last one trying to justify the prices. It always leaves me kinda torqued and that is a feeling I don't dig. I think I'll just take those type of posts for what they are in the future and move on to the next.

I'm off to have lunch with Spy now and get my first batch of 'the set'. I'm gonna give them the Brian-Man once over (see the Ape w/ the American Tourister luggage commercial from the '70s) before stamping my seal of approval for Spy to finalize the molds and move forward.
This I am very excited for & can't wait to post about.

[Rainboy]

I find this cute. Not sure If I'd be willing to spend the $ on it, but I have bought 2 items from Spy in the past and have been sold ever since. The price seems like a lot for just a simple accessory, but I understand that they have to throw down money for materials...not to mention time and energy spent making them. So in the end I believe the price is justifiable. Instead of fans complaining about the prices, we should instead be thanking them for doing this for other fans. I look forward to their next creation.

[Darkspecter]

I haven't purchased any of SpyMonkey's creations, but plan to buy most of them once I find gainful employment. Everything looks awesome.

About the toast shield: it's neat, funny, clever and very well-sculpted. I really like the bread detail and the "Wun-Dar" symbol even looks burnt on the bread! The only thing that would make it more perfect, would be a butter knife sword...with some butter on it.

[kagamigod]

Well I have purchased from Spymagician before (JLU Hal Jordan head) and I can tell you they/he does excellent work. Definitely top quality. As for the toast shield, it is very cool and hilarious, I on the other hand have a different problem with it. I collect mostly MOC, so the shield is useless to me. I will get one though cause it's too cool to miss.

[Master of Disguise]

This is not a great endorsement coming from the likes of me, especially with the etiquette that has been established and adhered to over here, which I have been a rebel to(I think), but I actually quite like this. I couldn't be bothered to check if this has been mentioned, but a butter knife instead of the sword of he would be quite cool also.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

I am very interested in this item, and I have a question about what the final product will look like.

There seems to be 2 different colored shields pictured (I suppose it could be the same shield under different colors of light, but it really looks like 2 different versions to me).

In the pictures with Wun-Dar holding the sheild, the more "toasted" areas (like the symbol from his and Zodac's armor, and the crust) appear to have more of a golden-brown color. But in the close-up pictures of the shield by itself, it has more of a blackened-burnt look to those same areas.

So, I guess the question is, which of these will the final product be closer to? Or will both be made available? If both are available, is it 'random' as to which one we will get when we order, or will there be a choice?

I will happily buy one of these no matter which one it ends up being, however if given the choice, I would prefer the more golden-brown colored version.

[Brian-Man]

It is the same piece in both photos. The one with Wun-Dar holding it was taken with lights and flash and all that jazzy stuff. The c/u of the shield alone was taken without the lights, but it appears the photographer was casting a shadow over it which may be why it looks darker.

The ones I have are actually somewhere in between what these photos show.
Each piece is hand painted so no two are exactly alike. There may be slight color variations and the toasted & burnt areas will differ from piece to piece.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

[kagamigod]

I just can't wait to order one. It's just too cool to miss.

[Kane429]

This is supposed to be available on www.actionfigureinsider.com starting today. Let's post a heads-up once it's available!

[Pixel Dan]

I LOVE this shield! Can't wait to add it to my collection!

The guys at Spy Monkey rock!!

[Muscle of Grayskul]

Hahaha That is great, you guys always do great work, can't wait to see what you come up with for Mo-Lar

[kagamigod]

Are theses purchasable yet?