Down the Hatch: The Swan Station is finally finished!

12/5/11 UPDATE: Thanks to Badassdigest for getting the ball rolling on spreading this link around, io9 and ThinkGeek have likewise picked it up. It's been tremendous fun to have so many Lost fans take a look at my playset.

9/15/11: After a year and a half of design and redesign, illustrating over 16 square feet worth of artwork, extensively customizing Dida Displays parts and creating/sourcing numerous props I'm officially unveiling my custom-built Lost Mego Swan Station Playset. When packed up as a  carrying case it weighs 20 pounds, and when unfolded and assembled it measures 45x30 and 20 inches tall at the top of the backdrop.

I unveiled this at the Barracks party at San Diego Comic Con two months ago, but needed to put the finishing touches on it and properly document it to give you a true sense of what it's like. You can find a huge gallery of photographs with notes at Dida Displays and you can check out this video tour of it right here.

Can you have one? Mayyybe. Check the DidaDisplays website for more information. 

Full Gallery of Swan Station photos at DidaDisplays.com

 

 

Lost Home At Last! Wave 2 shipping NOW!

I've been so busy with other projects I haven't had a chance to report on my trip to San Diego Comic-Con. It was a blast, and it was a fitting way to wrap up the adventure of Wave 2 of Lost. I was in fact the very first person in line at the Entertainment Earth booth on Wednesday's Preview Night and the first buyer of Wave 2 of Lost. If that wasn't exciting enough I got to attend a party of hard-core Lost fans, including the 2 biggest supporters of Lost Megos, Bonnie "andalone" Craft and Rob Perrin.  I had been crunching to complete my Swan Station playset and was able to set it up at the condo where the party was held and show it off to some of the most enthusiastic Lost fans in the world. The reception was overwhelming. I will be doing a detailed guided tour through the playset in another post later and will do a final review of the figures themselves as well. Oh! And I handed Damon Lindelof a flyer for The Mego Museum and Lost Megos, I asked him if he was a Mego kid but alas he was not. 

Long story short--the figures look really good, they are more successful than the first Wave as I predicted they would be. In the meantime here are some pictures. 

Wave 2 is now shipping from Entertainment Earth! So if you didn't pre-order get an order in now, because they are limited to 1,000 pieces. Jack and Sayid, Miles and Claire, Sawyer and Juliet

Dharma Brick in the House

The long awaited Brick Mantooth doll from Plaidstallions.com has arrived. Brick comes dressed in smoking 70s duds, but he looks damn fine in a Dharma jumpsuit. Jack and Sawyer don't stand a chance, Kate's felt the bite of the Mantooth now. The first set is already sold out, but keep an eye on the MegoMuseum forums for the next batch to go on sale!

Swan Station Nearing Completion

2/3rds of the Swan Playset is built. Finally seeing it all assembled like this is really exciting! I think I've been planning this for a year and a half at least.

Much more to come! I'm crunching to take it to Comic-Con!

Older posts about the Swan Station

Swan Station Nearing Completion

2/3rds of the Swan Playset is built. Finally seeing it all assembled like this is really exciting! I think I've been planning this for a year and a half at least.

Much more to come! I'm crunching to take it to Comic-Con!

Older posts about the Swan Station

Swan Station Nearing Completion

2/3rds of the Swan Playset is built. Finally seeing it all assembled like this is really exciting! I think I've been planning this for a year and a half at least.

Much more to come! I'm crunching to take it to Comic-Con!

My Costume for Comic-Con

Well, actually, I'm not really a cosplay type of guy, but here's an outfit I will be taking with me!

 Comic Con is almost 3 weeks away now. I'm going to be meeting up with a group of Losties, including a few of my Lost Mego buddies.  Some of us have been preparing ahead of time to redress the new Wave 2 figure's we'll be picking up at Entertainment Earth's booth (Wahoo!) I wanted to have an island outfit for Jack Shephard most of all. So I commissioned this amazing set of jeans and t-shirt from Mego Seamstress Jessica. 

Now, I feel like I have gone a bit crazy with Jessica's clothes. But really, it's just been the Hurley's so far, and those were a must have. Certainly, there are a number of jeans and t-shirts available from CTVT (see photo below) and other sources that are perfectly acceptable for redressing Jack and Sawyer when the time comes. CTVT makes a white t-shirt that can be easily dyed to whatever color you like. 

But the detail on these jeans is amazing, and the fit is so much better and more lifelike. Look at the way they gather around the ankles! The pockets really work. I gave her some promo photos of Jack that look almost exactly like the finished product. I can't wait to get them on the star of the show! 

Man In Black

With the excitement of San Diego Comic-Con 2011 coming up in just a few weeks it's a good time to revisit one of last year's SDCC Exclusives, the Man in Black.  There were a few things I wanted to change about Jacob's dark brother. Primarily, I wanted him to be darker!  Both figures had a funky jaundiced skin tone, and for MIB as played by the well tanned Titus Welliver this needed to be tweaked.

Another issue for me was wanting to put MIB in removable sandals. Mego's Friar Tuck came with sandals and they've been extensively reproduced, I think CTVT, Dr Mego and Castaway all carry them. I didn't like the sandals molded to the figure's foot and painted. It's a logical enough choice for a toy manufacturer, but it's not Mego enough for me. Problem is, if I take his head and put him on a spare Dr. Mego body the difference in skin tones will be remarkable. So, off to the tanning salon with him.

When I tanned John Locke I tried it first with MIB. He got too dark. I touched up the contrast on his paint, and that helped, but then I dunked him in some RIT color remover and he lightened up enough to match the body nicely. 

Run Kate! Run like a Cheetah!

Yay! Got to do some customizing this weekend. I've been wanting to take a crack at fixing Kate from Lost for awhile. Long story short: She's hot....

The BifBangPow Kate was not my favorite. I've always thought the sculpt was there but the paint job was weird with mint green eyes, brown pupils and the regrettable freckles, and the hair was quite roughly modeled in comparison to the hair on the other Lost females. 

Rose

Okay, so this custom project is a decidedly mixed bag, but it was so interesting to try it and I'm glad to add her to my band of Lost castaways. 

The character is Rose Nadler, a survivor of Oceanic flight 815. She's a beloved figure in the story, a wise lady who was healed of her cancer when she came to the Island and who ended up spending the rest of her life there with her husband Bernard. 

It's a Tropical Island, Get Some Damned Sun!

One of the problems I've had with the BifBangPow Lost figures is the very light skin tone they chose to use. It seems to be a trend across the board with these ReMegos that they are all several shades lighter than their 70s forebearers, but the BBP figures are especially light. I asked about this in our Mego Museum interview with Jason Lenzi and he said it wasn't a conscious choice to make them lighter than old school Megos, this is what they went with. I think for some of the figures its fine. Ben Linus was always a pasty little creep, but John Locke was a fairly well tanned outdoorsman. The BBP head is very pale and a lot of the great facial detail doesn't show up at all. So this week I finally took some time to experiment with fixing it.

Introducing John Locke: Tanned and Ready for Action!

The Prop Department

Lost is so fantastic for making custom Mego accessories... A favorite aspect of the show are the literary connections, books featured prominently often reflect on themes the show explored. There were many Lost Book clubs that formed during the run. I can't say I've read too many of these books, but I enjoyed tracking down images of the editions used by researching Lostpedia and The Lost Encylopedia, then heading over to Amazon or eBay to find the copy used in the show.

UPDATE: Here's a link to my Prop Labels PDF so you can print your own on sticker paper. And here's a link to the Flash/Green Lantern Comic book that Hurley carries and the Walkabout Brochure.

More new clothes for Hugo!

 

Update 4/18/11: Jessica sent me my new Hurley clothes with an added bonus. I had nixed the idea of doing the long jeans shorts Hurley usually wore on the Island because they'd look weird with his skinny legs sticky out. Jess wanted to try beefing up the calves and it turned out really cool. Here's what she says: " I just added Apoxie, a two-part air dry epoxy medium on his legs, avoiding the joints and moving parts. Just made sure both legs were even and natural-looking. Once cured (takes about 2 hours or so to cure), I sanded smooth and then painted."

I photographed him in front of the new playset artwork for the Swan station. 

Lost Wave2 Card Art Preview from BifBangPow!

A nice bonus in my in-box today! BifBangPow sent us an exclusive look at the new card art for Lost Wave 2. The background art is the same as used on Wave 1 with the addition of the "Freighter Folk" card for Miles and Claire's "The Caves" background. The back of the card is new showing the full lineup of figures. The packaging uses the catalog prototype pictures they've been using at Entertainment Earth for some time.  The biggest surprise here is the confirmation of something I'd suspected after seeing the Jack costume up close: It's not his suit from the Pilot, it's the suit he wore on the Ajira return flight--it's "Oceanic Six" Jack. 

Each card will have a sticker denoting it's number in the 1,000 produced. I've already asked if I can have the 23/1000 Jack, 15/1000 Sayer and 16/1000 Sayid, but no such luck. Some lucky collector will get those.  Pay attention to the numbers!!

Get Up! You've Got Work To Do...

Now that we know Wave 2 of BifBangPow's Lost will be coming to us this summer it's a great relief to just go back to having fun with Lost customs. I'm especially eager to go forward with my large playset ideas now that I know I will have the cast to populate them. The Flight 815 playset was placed on hold until I knew for certain I'd be able to fill most of her seats with actual Losties and not just civilians. I'll be back to that soon, but first things first: The Swan Station.

Click on the image to see a much larger version that easier to read....

It's Official: Wave Two Is Saved!

The word just came in officially from BifBangPow! Wave 2 is going into production!!!!

BifBangPow! Lost action figures Wave 2 will be released in a limited edition of 1,000 pieces per character and will come individually numbered for collectors. Figures will arrive at San Diego Comic-Con 2011. If you pre-ordered you are guaranteed to get your figures, they are not exclusives to the Con. So it's still a good idea to pre-order now because they will not last long at those numbers.

Please use these links and help support the Island of Lost Megos: Sawyer/Juliet, Jack/Sayid, and Miles/Claire. Thanks!

In regards to the recent poll...alas, BBP is unable to produce any additional figures. It was definitely something that was seriously discussed and considered but just couldn't be made to work. I know, it's a bummer, but considering the ups and down of this line I am very grateful to have these TWELVE Mego style Lost action figures in my collection, it's kind of a miracle, all things considered.

Thank you so much to Jason Labowitz and Jason Lenzi of BifBangPow! for being so gracious with all of my questions and nudging and "helpful" suggestions and thanks for sticking with this line through all the turmoil. I like to think we made some kind of a difference, I know I sold a few people on these figures. It seems that the ability to do a much smaller production run is what made this possible. Whatever the case, we're happy.

Last week they actually mailed me the Wave 2 sample figures to photograph for the blog. I had asked to get my hands on them and to my surprise they agreed! Getting to pose and light and shoot the figures was an honor, and the best part was this: After 2 days I boxed them up and sent them directly to the factory in China so they can begin the production process!!

Please visit each character's individual page to see new up close photographs of these figures and rest easy knowing they are finally on their way to you! Thanks to EVERYONE who has supported this campaign, it's been fun. And now that the hype is done we can relax and focus entirely on making fun custom projects for our Lost figures!

Namaste, Losties!

POLL: Who do you want to see at SDCC for Wave 3?

Well, here we are after March 1st awaiting word from BifBangPow to find out if Wave 2 will actually get produced. BBP tells me they can't say anything one way or the other right now. I hope it's a No News is Good News scenario. We shall see. I've been tracking the Entertainment Earth Top 50 Coming Soon and Wave 2 of Lost has been trending upward, placing at #9, 11, and 13 today. Not bad...

Please place a Pre-order for Sawyer/Juliet, Jack/Sayid, and Miles/Claire as a show of support for continuing this great line of Lost Action figures!

In the meantime, let's dream BIG. We know that BBP's license for Lost is running out in July, but they left open the possibility of doing at least 2 more figures as exclusives at San Diego Comic Con 2011.

Let's pretend those are the first 2 of a six character Third Wave...who would you like the see BifBangPow make? I'll make sure BBP gets the results.

Please share this poll with your Lostie friends. It'd be nice to send a strong signal that the fans are out there wanting more....and of course, make sure they're placing a pre-order for Wave2!

Update 3/15/11: The Poll is closed. You may view results here. Please note that on the results page Faraday is mistakenly listed as Eloise Hawking. All of her results count as Faraday, don't worry.

Desmond and Charlie won in a landslide, but alas, it was all just for fun. BBP was unable to produce any additional Lost figures.

Namaste, New Recruit!

So excited to see this write up on Bonnie's Dharma Kate custom! I'm happy to know I'm not the only nut doing this kind of thing. She's outpacing me on some projects!

Bratz dolls turn out to be a good source of clothes for Megos. Their heads and feet are huge, but their bodies and some accessories are about the right size, and they sold so well there's tons of lots on eBay. Especially good for the more modern clothes you see on Lost, though this turned out delightfully retro. Well done!

Nice Pants, Mr. Reyes!

We've had a lot of success with off-the-rack clothes for the Lost gang, but Hurley is a special problem. His robe and pajamas cry out to be replaced, but there's not much on the way of big and tall for Megos, even if he was on a standard Mego fat body. So I contacted my friend Jessica, a Mego seamstress extraordinaire who happens to also live nearby. She makes amazing Planet of the Apes customs as well as some really nice jeans I will want to get if we ever get Jack and Sawyer. I described what I was envisioning and she really delivered. If you'd like to get a set for your own Hugo email me at lostmegoisland@gmail.com. She's asking $30 for the pants and shirt combo.

LOST on the top shelf at the BifBangPow Toy Fair Display

Toy Fair has come and gone! Here's a great video tour of the BifBangPow toy fair display starting with a good close up look at Lost Wave 2. So nice to see new angles on these figures. The look so damned good, I can't believe this line won't get made! We are 2 weeks away from the first of March deadline, I have no idea how well pre-orders are going. I know things have slowed down on the affiliate links here at the Island of Lost Megos. Hopefully there will be a bump in interest coming from Toy Fair. BBP's Dr. Who line has been warmly received as has the extension of Venture Brothers and Twilight Zone.



In the meantime, I got my Polar Bear yesterday and it's really awesome! You can grab one cheap at Gummy Lumps, or email me, I bought an extra.

Drive, man! We've only got 3 weeks to Save Lost Megos!

Thought I'd show off my custom Dharma Jeep today, mainly to give you something new to get excited about so you'll GO PRE-ORDER Lost figures from BifBangpow! We should see some photos and press from next week's Toy Fair in New York, BBP will be debuting their hotly anticipated Dr. Who line along with Twilight Zone figures and Wave 2 of Lost. Please get your pre-orders in now, the March 1st deadline is fast approaching.



The Jeep is a simple custom job, much easier than the Dharma Van. This is a Mego Action Jackson Safari Jeep with a blue spraypaint job and some printed stickers. Visit our Tumblr page, Lost Mego Survivors for more pics, and sumbit your own!

And by the way, the CTVT water bottles? AWESOME. I know the label isn't authentic, but I think this design shows up better at a small size like this.

Welcome to the Island! Help Us Save Lost Megos

I'm so grateful to the Jay and Jack Podcast for recording an interview with me about the BifBangPow Lost figures. After years as a listener I emailed Jay last summer on a hunch that he was a Mego sympathizer, and he couldn't have been nicer. We chatted at Comic-Con and he was eager to do a segment on the figures to help promote them. (read all about it here) I really enjoyed it and I hope it brings some new fans to the Island of Lost Megos so we can keep this great line of toys going.

But then to my surprise the gang at After Lost read my email on their latest show and had a great discussion about the blog, the figures, and even the Mego Museum. I have really enjoyed their podcast for it's depth and professionalism and all the good suggestions for coping with life After Lost. I had to laugh, I hadn't ever thought to post a spoiler warning on this blog! Thanks, guys.

I'm also really enjoying the #Lost community on Twitter. We've got a small but vocal group determined to #SaveLostMegos!

I tells ya, all we need is one good tweet from Darlton and this thing is in the bag!

Keep reading below to find out the latest info on Wave 2 of Lost and what you can do to help get them made!

Jacob with custom-made loom by Andalone

Save Wave 2, plus a Bonus? SDCC Exclusive a possibility?

UPDATE: Responding to a thread the the Mego Museum BifBangPow leaves open the possibility of doing one last San Diego Comic Con Exclusive pair if there is enough interest!

Can we Save Wave 2 and go for the bonus? Can this be done?

1. Twitter with the hashtag #SaveLostMegos and encourage your #Lost connections to pre-order Wave 2.

2. Post a comment here and/or direct a Tweet @bifbangpow with your votes for the final two Lost figures you'd most want to see.

Save Wave 2! #SaveLostMegos!

I got to speak with Jason Labowitz, co-owner of BifBangPow yesterday to get the latest news on the status of the Lost action figures.

The Good News: Sales of Wave 1 have been better than they expected. They will eventually sell out and will not be discounted, so act now on Locke/Hugo and Kate/Ben.

The Bad News: Wave 2 is still in danger of being cancelled. BBP says that if they don't get enough pre-sales by March 1 they won't be able to start production on Wave 2 in time for a July delivery. Their Lost merchandising license expires in July and they can't run the risk of not being able to sell what they make, they need to be confident that the sales will be there.

I almost never do pre-orders---most of us don't---but this is a special circumstance. This line has had it's share of delays and set-backs that has pushed it to this point. It's up to us Lost Mego fans to make our intentions known. If you think you want these figures now is the time to say so.

Place a pre-order, your credit card won't be charged until the figures ship so you have nothing to lose.

Jack and Sayid

Sawyer and Juliet

Miles and Claire

This seems to be about timing more than anything else. If Wave 1 is doing well this next one should do even better. The characters are almost all winners, there's no odd costume choices in the bunch, and the likenesses are even stronger. For all of Kate's flaws you can't tell me Juliet doesn't look great. I think the Jack is very strong, as is Sayid. Sawyer and Miles are going to be fine and while Claire is the weak link she may surprise us and the Crazy Claire customs will be a blast to put together. C'mon people! Let's get this plane in the air!

The Next Wave of Lost Bobbleheads are coming!

The guys at BifBangPow just sent me these photos of their newest Lost bobbleheads! This next series is available for pre-order now (links below) and will be shipping in July. First series bobbleheads are still available at Entertainment Earth if you haven't added them to your Lost collection yet.

There will be an exclusive San Diego Comic-Con 2011 bobblehead to be revealed later. Who can it be??

No doubt these are essential characters to round out the BBP Lost bobblehead collection. Sawyer holds his famous note and a handgun, he's looking to settle a score. "Pilot" Jack is presented with Vincent on the beach with 815 wreckage.

Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Jack Shephard Bobblehead

Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Sawyer Bobblehead

Up next: Desmond at last! We are still hoping and praying for a Desmond action figure, but at least we have his bobblehead poised to push the button on your desk for all eternity. Lastly, what a great surprise to see Dr. Leslie Arzt carefully carefully CAREFULLY handling some Black Rock dynamite.

Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Desmond Hume Bobblehead
Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Dr. Leslie Arzt Bobblehead

Reviews for Wave 1 continue

Rob at The Mind Boggles is a Lost Super Collector and a big supporter of the Island of Lost Megos. Here's his reviews of his new action figures

Uber Super Collector Andalone also has her first review up. She's way into the customizing idea, I expect to see great things!

While you are there browse through both of their jaw dropping collections of Lost stuff.

Previously: MrNerdyReviews are up: I get a kick out of this guy's reviews. He's super psyched about Ben and Kate Austen is winning him over.

All of my reviews are in the character links to the left.
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Send me your reviews!

Sayid Jarrah

Sayid Jarrah will come in a 2 pack with Jack. They are available for pre-order now and are scheduled to ship in July 2011. Please consider placing a pre-order for these figures as a show of support for this line. Your credit card will not be charged until the figures actually ship.

Update 3/15/11: BBP graciously allowed me to photograph their Wave 2 samples at my home before they were sent to the factory for production.

Sayid comes in a grey muscle shirt, black cargo pants and black shoes. Note that he comes on the new EMCE swivel biceps body for added poseability and a hunkier look for the bare armed costume.

The sculpt has been widely regarded as one of the best of the line.

The original prototype shown with the factory sample (revealed 1/28/11)