Special Feature Posts – Page 18

HOPE INDUSTRIES “TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES” :: MICHAELANGELO & RAPHAEL Digital Watches (( 1988 ))

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–>> Two watches given to Tokka in the 1990s by dear people in my life, a couple who are no longer here. Both of these have not worked in quite awhile.

** View LARGE On Black **

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** View LARGE On Black **

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Mike’s name is inscribed on the inside of the watch, Raphael’s watch does not have this. I’m unsure on the variations of this.

The Raphael watch i actually had working in early 2012, but like a fool .. i wore it on a “special occasion”, going onto the fast paced “TMNT – SHELL SHOCK” ride at the NICKELODEON UNIVERSE park in the Mall of America and some other rides.

Whatever happened, perhaps the moisture from some the water rides or maybe the stress on the Turtle of an adult wearing a kids watch – or whatever .. .. by the end of autumn i noticed the battery on Raph cut out again and that i had busted the original wristband that came with it.

The Mikey watch has not worked since i got it. My friend gave me the watch piece only and the backer card.

Replacement watch batteries were obtained at Radio Shack & two, inexpensive.. water-proof replacement wristbands were purchased at Walmart. All of the new items were put into place.

Each Turtle has a flip-top cover, there is a small clasp on the back side of the shell to hold the cover down over the watch while you wear it. Mike’s cover was nice and tight, but Raph’s ..as i noticed last year, while it would stay down sometimes.. it would flip up often and was fairly loose. A small amount of super-glue on the clasp and some fidgeting up & down with the cover created a tighter hold on the clasp. It seems to have worked, hopefully the hatch won’t pop up unexpectedly now while wearing it.

** View LARGE On Black **

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With the replacement parts, the watches are as good as new and fit me much better. Given the sentimental value of the pieces, i only will wear these on special occasions .. or maybe when i’m needing some cheering up & to remember the the love of the people that i’ve lost who gave them to me.

2 versions of each Teen were made into watches, a mold in the style of the counterpart vintage Toys, and a mold featuring “HAPPY” Teens. Apparently April, Shredder, and Splinter were made into watches as well. I cannot say i’ve seen anything but the SPLINTER watch. The molds for the watch covers also doubled for HOPE as they sold them in 2-pack sets of magnets. I only have the vintage Shredder / Mikey magnet set. I have no clue as to the entire variety in the line of the magnet sets. I presume the Shredder watch cover looks like the magnet sculpt. I have seen the Happy Mikey sculpt on a watch before.

Ironically, somewhere i came across a broken “Happy” Leonardo watch cover that i easily modified into a magnet for my fridge.

~ t

Dragonfly – A Graphic Novel by Jim Lawson

Well, looks like we’ve got some more original projects coming down the pipeline from our beloved Mirage guys.

Talking with Steve Levigne a few weeks back, he had mentioned that Jim was working on an original graphic novel. Jim explains a little bit about his new project:

I came up with the idea to do Dragonfly about a year ago. I’ve done dinosaur comics in the past, but I wanted this one to be a little different.
Although I’ve just labeled this a dinosaur comic, I don’t really consider it simply that. In the pages of Dragonfly, I knew that I wanted to gather all the creatures, things and characters that I have an affinity for- aliens, robots, funky post-apocalyptic vehicles and then of course, the occasional T-Rex.
Secondly, I made my decision early in the creative process to include both human and anthropomorphized characters in this world. I think that the cast of a story is terribly important and I’ve put a lot of thought into developing characters that work well together and enhance one another. The relationship that these individuals have seems like it could lead to some fun interactions and situations. Along with that, I wanted this new comic to be a little wacky and strange- I didn’t want to be constrained by scientific fact, or things that just wouldn’t be possible in our reality.

I’d not heard of this Kickstarter website before, so I looked into it. To contribute, you can offer Any amount… even a dollar. And Jim’s got all sorts of little treats and privileges to offer as a thank you for helping him reach his goal.

So if you like Jim’s artwork and want to chip in, or if you’re just curious to see what he’s up to, stop in and take a peek:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1056947565/dragonfly-an-adventure-tale-of-dinosauric-proporti

~Machias

You’re gonna Love my Dad: Shellback Artworks, Wells Maine

Happy New Year, my fellow Machines!

Ahh, a new year, new beginnings… one of my personal resolutions being to get Back into drawing again. Unfortunately, I’ve had such a drought of creativity, I didn’t know where I was gonna find my starting point.

Then, last week, I received an e-mail from a pleasant fellow named David, and a link to a ‘commercial’ he created involving his best friend’s dad – Steve Lavigne – and his comic/art shop “Shellback Artworks”.

Needless to say, the commercial inspired me to go to the shop. It’s just over the border in Wells, and it was a nice drive today.

It’s a simple two-level set up, with original artwork on the walls TMNT and Non-TMNT. The main level has plenty of current comics, old swag from the Old Toon days, art supplies and even the full-sized Turtle statues. And they are BIG. They made me feel normal-height. 🙂

The upstairs was part art gallery, part classroom setting. Steve has some short classes where he helps kids and adults learn how to draw their own characters and make their pictures look like comic book covers. Talk about an experience to treasure…

The Mirage guys have taken part in a few signing events there, and they’ve all contributed to the shop in different ways. It’s nice to know that they still get together … like a wacky, slightly dysfunctional family.

Steve was a great host. We ended up talking for two hours about everything from comparing traditional vs digital art, Mirage comics and the current TMNT cartoon, even things like cars, transformers and best of all, the Mirage crew’s original projects.

One project in particular I liked were two children’s books Steve’s illustrated, which have music written by Tim Janis – very well known, if you’re from New England. “Shine like a Lighthouse” and “Twinkle Star’s Adventure”. It’s the tale of the sea creatures that live in the waters surrounding the Nubble Lighthouse in Cape Neddick. The illustrations are cute and colorful, the music is enjoyable (sounds a Lot like James Taylor), and the plushies of the two main characters are sure to become favorites with your little ones.

So after taking a picture and buying a few things, we bid farewell with plans to meet again – next time, with my brother’s antique car and some new artwork – if there was ever such a thing as a creativity transfusion, I received one today.

Be sure to check them out on facebook, learn of the glory that is the Eberhard Faber indigo blue drafting pencil, and stop by the shop and say Hi to Steve. Things are quiet right now, but as the weather warms up, so will the activities and upcoming events.

So Stay Tuned!

~Machias