Background
Joe Spada is a fan of the designer toy scene. You might have seen him around the various discussion boards. Living most collectors dream, he decided to have his own character design produced.
TOBOR “is a cyborg mercenary designed to eradicate the evil Zurblobz”. The character is based on old school wind-up robot toys.
Joe ended up releasing the TOBOR vinyl figure at last month’s NY Comic Con through his BCBCB Toys label. This initial colorway will be one of several different versions of the character.
Packaging
Each TOBOR comes bagged with a header card. However, since this is a DIY project, the bag is a Ziploc and the header card is the inside of a cereal box. Everything on the header card is hand drawn. The small comic is included within the bag.
The Figure
TOBOR stands approximately 5” in height and has zero points one point of articulation at the waist (due to the hand-painting, you'll really need to twist with some force). The rotocast figure is made of glow-in-the-dark vinyl. The piece is hand-sculpted and hand-painted by Joe Spada. The paint makes it so only the green head glows.
The clear helmet that sits upon TOBOR’s shoulders is actually the large plastic bubble from a capsule toy. The piece is packaged with a 6 page mini-comic, entitled “It Begins!” The NYCC Edition is limited to a run of 320 pieces. Each figure is signed and numbered.
Our Opinion
What collector out there hasn’t thought, “I have a bunch of characters rattling around my head. I wish I could produce my own figure.” Well, Joe Spada went ahead and did just that.
His TOBOR figure is roughly sculpted, but that was the look he was shooting for. The completely hand-painted piece doesn’t have many tight-lines to deal with, but it’s obvious that TOBOR was painted by hand. And the use of capsule toy bubbles, used cereal boxes and sandwich bags gives you the definite DIY vibe.
I like the different look this figure gives you…a little robot…a little alien…a little skeleton.
You can pick one up at the following:
BCBCB Toys: $25.00
TOBOR Grades:
Quality: 6/10
Paint: 6/10
Packaging: 6/10
Durability: 8/10
Hype: 7/10
Fun Factor: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 7.2/10
Have this figure? What do you rate it?
I picked one of these up at NYCC for the same reasons you mentioned above. I like the shape and who doesn't think about making their own vinyl figure.
Anyway, one mistake in your review. Tobor has one point of articulation, he turns at the waste. It might be difficult the first time because the hand painted silver makes the two pieces stick, but I promise he turns at the waist.
Anyway, if your reading this and you haven't already bought one of these, go do it. If anything, its a cool shape for a custom.
I picked one of these up at NYCC for the same reasons you mentioned above. I like the shape and who doesn't think about making their own vinyl figure.
Anyway, one mistake in your review. Tobor has one point of articulation, he turns at the waste. It might be difficult the first time because the hand painted silver makes the two pieces stick, but I promise he turns at the waist.
Anyway, if your reading this and you haven't already bought one of these, go do it. If anything, its a cool shape for a custom.
I met Joe at NYCC and he's a great guy to chat with. Good to see more DIY self publishing out there!
Here's a pic of Joe's tag in my sketchbook, and one of himself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevetalkowski/2430342984/in/set-72157604613109068/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevetalkowski/2429140473/in/set-72157604613109068/
I met Joe at NYCC and he's a great guy to chat with. Good to see more DIY self publishing out there!
Here's a pic of Joe's tag in my sketchbook, and one of himself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevetalkowski/2430342984/in/set-72157604613109068/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevetalkowski/2429140473/in/set-72157604613109068/