WHO AM I?
So you really want to find out who I am? OK, here goes... (don't say I didn't warn you!)
I'm a recently turned 40-something guy who just loves Star Wars. Always have. Always will. I went to see the first film with my parents when I was 7 years old, and it left an impression on me that I've never been able to shake. That next year, when Star Wars toys first started hitting the shelves, I was hooked! I remember the day I walked past Fuil's Luggage and toy store on Washington street with my Mom, and I saw the Star Wars display in the window. I asked her if I could buy some, and she said yes! We went inside, she told me I could buy ANY 2 figures that I wanted! They had Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Stormtroopers, Han Solo... they had them all!! So, who did I end up buying that first day?? Don't ask why, but I decided on R2-D2 and C-3P0. I guess I thought it was a good idea at the time....
As I got a little older, I became interested in art of all kinds. My parents encouraged me to draw, and soon after they started buying me model kits of all kinds. Race cars, military tanks and planes, battleships, space ships... everything under the sun. I built model kits constantly. I wasn't very good, but I tried hard. And then as I started doing them more and more, I did start to get better at it. Soon I had progressed onto figure kits. I was always a fan of horror movies and had plastic kits of Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Mummy, and whatever else I could get my hands on.
Around the time of RotJ (1983) I started wondering why Kenner had not produced certain action figures from the movies, and decided to apply my model kit skills to action figures. Right around this time, GI Joe was starting to be re-issued in the smaller, more kid friendly 3.75" action figure size as well. So I started taking apart my action figures and putting them back together in different arrangements, and painting them... basically action figure customizing. The GI Joe figures were a LOT easier to do this with at the time, since they had the back screw and everything was attached with a rubber band. So I started mixing and matching parts between Star Wars and GI Joe as well, and coming up with my own Bounty Hunters and Jedi Knights.
Soon after that I progressed onto more expensive vinyl and resin model kits. There was a model kit store in NYC across the river from where I grew up in NJ, and I would go there every weekend. Of course, I would also hit up the comic stores since I was a big comic geek, and the music stores since music is my second passion.
And here I am, many years later... still destroying my toys and rearranging parts and pieces, adding some paint and clay, and coming up with characters that Hasbro will probably never release. Guess I'm still just a kid at heart.
20 questions (give or take) for the StarWarsGeek
So you really want to find out who I am? OK, here goes... (don't say I didn't warn you!)
I'm a recently turned 40-something guy who just loves Star Wars. Always have. Always will. I went to see the first film with my parents when I was 7 years old, and it left an impression on me that I've never been able to shake. That next year, when Star Wars toys first started hitting the shelves, I was hooked! I remember the day I walked past Fuil's Luggage and toy store on Washington street with my Mom, and I saw the Star Wars display in the window. I asked her if I could buy some, and she said yes! We went inside, she told me I could buy ANY 2 figures that I wanted! They had Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Stormtroopers, Han Solo... they had them all!! So, who did I end up buying that first day?? Don't ask why, but I decided on R2-D2 and C-3P0. I guess I thought it was a good idea at the time....
As I got a little older, I became interested in art of all kinds. My parents encouraged me to draw, and soon after they started buying me model kits of all kinds. Race cars, military tanks and planes, battleships, space ships... everything under the sun. I built model kits constantly. I wasn't very good, but I tried hard. And then as I started doing them more and more, I did start to get better at it. Soon I had progressed onto figure kits. I was always a fan of horror movies and had plastic kits of Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, Mummy, and whatever else I could get my hands on.
Around the time of RotJ (1983) I started wondering why Kenner had not produced certain action figures from the movies, and decided to apply my model kit skills to action figures. Right around this time, GI Joe was starting to be re-issued in the smaller, more kid friendly 3.75" action figure size as well. So I started taking apart my action figures and putting them back together in different arrangements, and painting them... basically action figure customizing. The GI Joe figures were a LOT easier to do this with at the time, since they had the back screw and everything was attached with a rubber band. So I started mixing and matching parts between Star Wars and GI Joe as well, and coming up with my own Bounty Hunters and Jedi Knights.
Soon after that I progressed onto more expensive vinyl and resin model kits. There was a model kit store in NYC across the river from where I grew up in NJ, and I would go there every weekend. Of course, I would also hit up the comic stores since I was a big comic geek, and the music stores since music is my second passion.
And here I am, many years later... still destroying my toys and rearranging parts and pieces, adding some paint and clay, and coming up with characters that Hasbro will probably never release. Guess I'm still just a kid at heart.
20 questions (give or take) for the StarWarsGeek
- What's your real name? Dave
- Married? Single? Kids?? Divorced, actually, but I'm currently in a serious long term relationship. No kids at all.
- Pets? YES, I'm a huge animal lover. I currently have 2 kitties, and we had another that just passed away in January 2008.
- Occupation? I lost my last "real" job as a New Media Designer in June 2008, where I was making websites and advertising emails and such. Since then, I've devoted my full resources and time to producing the custom action figures that you see on this website. I do commission work, and when I have time I'll make other pieces and sell them on ebay.
- Favorite Music? Being a guitar player of 20+ years, I really learned to appreciate ALL kinds of music. If you look through my CD collection, you'll find everything from AC/DC to Faith No More to George Michael to Jay-Z to Frank Zappa. But if I have ONE love, it's definitely Black/Death/Thrash/Speed Metal. I've played in metal bands for most of my 20 years of playing guitar, and I just can't get enough.
- Favorite Foods? Well, I'm definitely a junk food junkie. Nothing better than sitting down to watch a movie with a bag of Doritos, or popcorn, or some kind of candy... like caramels, especially the ones with the cream in the middle! But if we're talking real food, I love Asian and Mexican. And hot dogs.
- Favorite Drink? I'm a Guiness man, through and through. Non-alchoholicly I prefer Pepsi, but will drink just about anything that has sugar in it!
- Favorite Movie? I guess this is a duh type question, but it's Empire Strikes Back. BUT I'm like a movie junkie, and I have well over 4000 DVD's in my personal home theater collection. I love horror films, especially the classics, and old school Kung-Fu movies, anything by the Shaw Brothers, and I'm seriously in love with just about any action and horror films from Asia. Guys like Takashi Miike just blow me away whenever they make a new film.
- What turns you on (or off) creatively? I take everything in, good, bad, or indifferent, and use it to my advantage whenever I can. If I see a piece of art, or a figure, statue, bust, etc. that I think looks great, I'll save a picture of it and refer to it if I want to attempt to make something similar. If I see something that looks horrible, I'll save a photo of it in a seperate folder on my PC and make a mental note that this is NOT what I want my work to look like.
- What is your favorite curse word? Have to go with Fuck. There's just so many ways it can be used. It can be a noun, verb, adjective... it's an all purpose curse word.
- What's your main fault? Personally I think I'm never satisfied with anything that I do. I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce quality products, whatever they may be, and I never feel like I live up to the fullest extent of my potential and that I can always do better.
- What's your favorite color? I would say black, since 75% of my clothing is black, but technically black is NOT a color, but rather the abscence of it. So I'll go with blue, since of the remaining 25% of my clothing, the majority of it is blue.
- Do you like to read? And do you have a favorite author? I love to read, I just wish I had more time. It probably goes without saying that I've read every Star Wars novel that's ever been published. I love the works of Karen Traviss, Michael Stackpole, Kevin Anderson, and Timothy Zahn to name a few. Non-Star Wars authors I love are Doublas Preston and Lincoln Child, Chuck Palahniuk, William Gibson, H. P. Lovecraft, and Dean Koontz. But if I had to pick one guy, one guy to call my all-time favorite, it would have to be Stephen King. I'm not talking about recent works, since I haven't been a huge fan of his recent stuff, but I'm talking classic work - The Shining, IT, Firestarter, Carrie, Cujo, Pet Sematary, The Stand... he's got so many classics that I could name that kept me awake at night when I was younger, either turning pages or scared to close my eyes!
- What kind of car do you drive? Right now I drive a classic 1989 Cadillac Hearse every day. And no, I don't work for a funeral home, it's my personal car!
- What's your oddest collection? Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers. I think I have like 28 or 30 pair. And I wear them, or at least try to... just not all at the same time!
- Name one thing that people don't know about you, but if they did they would find it weird/odd. I don't think I can name one thing... a lot of people who meet me for the first time or don't know me very well think I'm odd and weird anyway, lol.
- How do you want to die? Not really sure on specifics, but I just want it to go quick and painless.
- If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Yo Big D! What up?
How about some photos?
Here I am at my favorite destination!
My cat Fred, asleep in MY bed, under the blanket and all
My other cat, Lilly (but we call her Moo-Moo because she looks like a cow!)
Me at New York Comic Con 2009
Band practice circa 2007
With Linda at Chiller Theatre con circa 2008 (I look so happy)
Here I am at my favorite destination!
My cat Fred, asleep in MY bed, under the blanket and all
My other cat, Lilly (but we call her Moo-Moo because she looks like a cow!)
Me at New York Comic Con 2009
Band practice circa 2007
With Linda at Chiller Theatre con circa 2008 (I look so happy)