I ask fwooshmembers questions.
They answer them.
Arkenyon “because it is a combination of two of my favorite things – comics and sculpture”
What is in your avatar?
My custom Metallo figure, created years ago
Where do you live?
Southwest Virginia
Where do you work?
Virginia Tech
Who is in you family?
Wife and grown kids
Any pets?
2 dogs
What are your future plans?
Get back to customizing, one of these days
Do you customize?
Yes, well, I used to. Just can’t seem to find the time anymore
Do you cook?
If you call microwave corndogs cooking
What is in your collection?
Primarily 3 3/4″ Marvel and DC figures, including PVC figurines. I used to collect 6″ figures, but it got too expensive and too much of a pain to store them all.
What is your HolyGrail?
Currently to get the Giganta head and lower torso so I can finish that BAF
Do you openly display your figures?
Yes, but just a few at at time. I really don’t have a good display area at the present.
How long have you been collecting?
As an adult, about 15 years.
What is your earliest piece?
As an adult, a Sauron figure from the old ToyBiz X-Men line. My wife (then girlfriend) bought it for me, and unwittingly opened the flood gates to the hobby. As a kid, probably a Mego Superman or something. The first figure I bought as a kid with my own money was a silver Marx Knight, like this one the one http://www.packrat-toyz.com/images/Marx%20Picts/Marx%20Vintage/Silver%20Knight%20Open%20Set.jpg. I remember I went into the toy store with a little plastic money bag (had a $ sign on the outside of it) with about 600 pennies I had saved. The store clerk must’ve have loved that. The really funny part was that I left the bag on top of the car and it stayed there all the way to the store because it was so heavy!
Have you tried quitting collecting?
Yes, I have sold, traded, given away, and even thrown away major chunks of my collection several times. However, I have always been drawn back in by new offerings from the toy companies. Sigh…
Do you consider collecting a psychological disease?
The TV show “Hoarders” hits a little close to home. However, I at least keep my stuff relatively organized. 🙂 I really don’t why action figure collecting appeals to me so much. I guess because it is a combination of two of my favorite things – comics and sculpture, and lets me hang on to a little piece of my childhood.
Is the need to find and buy a certain figure stronger than
the need to own the same figure?
I think the urge to have have a complete collection gets some of us to buy a figure that we really don’t want or like that much. I certainly have been a victim and ended up with buyer’s remorse, however, I have thus far resisted the urge to buy that DCIH Alex Luthor figure. Blech.
What do your children think of your figures?
They are used to it, and just poke a little fun at me sometimes. My son collected Power Ranger stuff for a while, but grew out of it. Apparently I didn’t.
What other sites do you visit?
http://www.figures.com/
http://www.comicvine.com/
You have been a fwooshmember since the first day, what changes
have you noticed over time? Good and Bad.
Good: The quality of custom figures is amazing and incredibly creative
Good: News features describe pretty much everything I would want to know about the figures. Photos are excellent
Bad: If I had to complain, it seems as though the news is overly focused on 4 Horseman work. Granted, its some of the best stuff out there, but I would like a broader perspective and news.
Can you describe the early days of fwoosh?
Pretty wide open and chaotic. Seemed to have a younger crowd than the forums I was used to.
Most of us “found” Fwoosh one way or another. But since Fwoosh didn’t exist before, how could you have “found” it. So how did you come to it?
I was on a customizing listserv at Raving Toy Maniac I believe, probably about, sheesh, 12 years ago? Anyway, it went offline and the group split into two factions, one at Delphiforums and one at another place, I forget the name. Then one of the Fwoosh founders, I guess it had to have been Pablolobo talked about the Fwoosh. He, I, RoboKillah, and a couple of other customizers had done a Masters of Evil group project for Custom Con 7 (http://www.joeacevedo.com/docs/customzone/customcon/customcon7/d3moe/moe.html), and I got to know him (in an online sense) then.
Even though you have never met anyone have you considered
other fwooshers good friends?
Pablo, Robokillah, Jason in NC, and MattMan come to mind. I have met some older customizers in person like Chris Galdieri (founder of the DelphiForums custom site), but I don’t know if he customizes anymore, and don’t think he ever posted regularly on The Fwoosh.
What do you spend your money on?
Bills, debt, necessities, and figures, in that order.
What do you want for Christmas?
Peace
What is wrong with you?
I am a middle-aged man who collects action figures
Thanks!!