It’s time to wrap-up this year of updates in the usual way: content based on toys from the eighties and some unfinished business!
Custom Sprites:
– G.I.JOE: Wild Bill, B.A.T.s
– Thundercats: Mumm-Ra
– Toys and Cartoons:B.P. Vess (C.O.P.S., all-new sprites), Miles Mayhem (M.A.S.K.)
– Double Dragon: the alley cat from arcade version of Mission 1, NES design Billy and Jimmy Lee
– DC Comics: Stargirl (yes, I’m going to miss that show)
Mini-Logos: Venom (from Kenner’s M.A.S.K.) added to Toys and Stargirl added to DC Comics
All new custom sprites and mini-logos have been added to the image generators. The main “Fighter-size” generator now an 80s action figure toy aisle in the Group, Vs. and MvC ending screenstyles. It’s still a work in progress, because I spent more time searching for image and scale reference than I did working on it so far. This version’s toys are mainly centered around 1985, the last year the first wave of Transformers were still being made. I’ll continue to update this in the future, and possibly add more versions and years (like a late-eighties version with a big TMNT section) if enough people want to see that. BTW: some of the most helpful reference pics were from this post on 20th Century Toy Collector, because I was able to see how some boxes from different lines of the era scaled next to each other.
ToyBoss: My custom New X-Men/classic Cyclops Marvel Legends figure is done enough to show, so I finally… FINALLY… have a full Konami X-Men playable character roster in 1:12 scale. I’d have had this roster (and others) finished earlier if I didn’t have to practically restart my Marvel Legends collection in 2020. I also added an updated shot of the Red Skull’s crew in Data East’s Captain America and the Avengers to show I’ve got the Controller in there.
Speaking of toys, a lot of my 2023 figure hype is aimed at Jada Toys’ Street Fighter and Mega Man action figure lines. Three figure in each wave and all at a price point that won’t K.O. your wallet, and they’ll fit in with 6-inch/1:12 scale figures, so they’ll be part of my Marvel vs. Capcom set-ups. All the little details, like the Hadoken having hands molded in like the old sprites and one of the two optional heads being based on the Super Street Fighter II Vs. portraits (still some of the best art of those characters), I’m definitely hype for these. Check out this Fwooshcast episode that drops info on these and the other figure lines Jada is working on right now:
Storm Collectables is still putting out Street Fighters, though their figures seem to be in a slightly larger scale than Marvel Legends and closer to Mattel’s Masterverse and McFarlane Toys. It’s great to have options with these and I hope both companies get into more classic video game lines.
It’s time for me to thank everyone who has visited the site this year, and I’m giving a really big thank you to those who commented here, by e-mail (yes, some people do!), and on social media. There are times when my day job has worn me out and I don’t have a lot of energy to do anything when I get home, but things like your feedback, seeing pics you made in the image generators, being surprised when the pixel minilogos pop up in fan projects, and things like that refill my energy again. Take care and see you in 2023!
Merry Christmas
This is a good holiday gift
Thanks, hope you had a Merry Christmas and I’m glad you enjoyed the update.
Dang, Mumm-Ra and Miles Mayhem in a single update? That’s Mawesome!
Thanks to you, for this site! Every update always adds a little spring to my day, and your talent for this art ensures they’re always amazing!
See you in 2023
I really wanted to make up for MASK (those red boxes in the background that aren’t easy to identify) and Thundercats not having villain sprites for so long, so I tried to go all-out on both. Wilykit, Wilycat and Snarf will probably be next, but I’m really looking forward to Slythe, one of the best cartoon villain designs possibly ever.
Thank YOU and the others for the comments, because it keeps me from feeling like I’m just throwing pixelart into the void. I had a lot of extra work to do at my day job (definitely not a desk job) and was extra tired when I got home, but knowing other people were having fun with it made me push and keep going.
Take care and see you in 2023!
Please don’t forget to put Miles Mayhem and Mumm-Ra back to the main list
Thanks for this and all the other alerts about the image generators, I just put those new villains in the main Toys & Toons list ahead of time.
Today is Lunar year of Rabbit , happy new year
Thanks, and Happy Belated Lunar New Year to you, too!