Customizer’s Spotlight: Jesse Muniz Posted by D_Martin on January 30, 2008 at 03:03 AM CST: Cool Toy Review’s Customizer’s Spotlight: Jesse Muniz Name: Jesse Muniz CTR Forum Name: getoninja Located: Los Banos, CA Influenced by Michael Lau, the popular graphic artist toy designer from Hong Kong, Jesse has developed his own style and has created quite a few dynamic 1/6 scale figures in the last few years. The desire to customize action figures should never be confined to what we see in comic books or on the silver screen. In the last decade, many urban artists and graphic designers have used action figures as a new medium to express their ideas. Naturally, this has set in motion a brand new artist movement. As urban toys became more popular, many customizers tried their hand at it and the results are, like all forms of customizing, either not that good, or like in the case of Jesse Muniz' Cartoony Heads, quite spectacular... How Long Have You Been Customizing? I been Customizing 1/6 scale figures around 2002 but really got into in 2005 I mean making my full finished figures, the cartoon heads and the sci-fi bashes. Before I was just putting random figures together, nothing serious or permanent. What Inspired these customs? My main influence for my cartoon style heads and fashion style is from Michael Lau, a graphic artist toy designer from Hong Kong. He has his own 1/6 scale line called Gardenergala and has other small figure lines which has done many work for companies like Nike. Micheal Lau also open the door to other Asian artist that also had a small effect on me, Eric So, Jason Sui, Brothersworker, Pal Wong, and Da Team Bronx. What's the recipe? 1st figure, Radiokid-white long sleeve shirt by Dragon (from Chan G4), black shirt by SOTW, olive drab cargo pants by BBI, sneakers from War Journalist with custom added Nike swoosh and repainted, green bag by BBI (from green beret rogue) custom added carrying sling and shoulder strap to make it looks like a messenger bag and calculator watch (dont know the maker) 2nd figure, Kidnose-blue long sleeve shirt by Dragon (from Chan G4 exc version), blue shirt by Dragon, olive pants by DID (from BMX rider), sneakers from War Journalist with custom added Nike swoosh and repainted, desert backpack by Dragon, skateboard from Tony Hawk figure with custom painted graphics on the board and G-Shock watch by BBI. 3rd figure, Hawk-blue polo shirt by BBI (from firefighter), jeans by Threezero, Vietnam flak jacket by SOTW, Adidas sneakers by Threezero with some minor modifications, P90, belt, pistol, holster by Dragon, knee pads by BBI, bag by Dragon (from WWII) modified to look like a messenger bag and calculator watch (dont know the maker) 4th figure, Soko-black polo shirt by BBI (freedom fighter 5.11) custom added tiny sneaker emblem patch, camo cargo pants by Dragon, ends folded in to convert to shorts, sneakers from War Journalist with custom added Nike swoosh and repainted, backpack BBI (toysrus sets), G36 by Hasbro (weapon tech), and nixion watch from Tony Hawk figures. 5th figure,Punker rocker-white shirt by Dragon, ma-1 jacket by Dragon, jeans by Dragon, restiched for a tighter fit, boots by Dragon (WWII era) repainted dark red for punk look, and random chains. What's next? to finish more figures and hopefully have my own small Toy line which the figures will be sold. Where can we find you? At the moment I dont have a website, just my OSW gallery, but when I get a chance I will be setting up a Blog site for my works. Think your customs have what it takes to be featured? Drop us a line. 003