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08-07-2012, 02:40 PM | #1 |
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Some very cool videos and info Gyre-Viper posted back in 2010.
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Bill Merklein was a sculptor for Hasbro in the 80's. He sculpted more than 70 GI JOE 2ups for the line including Zartan, Jinx, Slaughter, Recondo, Night Viper, Lady Jaye and literally tons of others. He is the creator of the B.A.T. character and concept. He even sculpted the infamous canceled Rocky 2up. He also worked on lines like X-Men and X-Force for ToyBiz, Mighty Max, Star Wars (Kenner), Visionaries (the character Merklynn is based on his likeness or rather a nod to him as a sculptor for the line) and Dungeons&Dragons. He also worked on canceled concepts like the unrealized Krull and Tribes lines. He's responsible for the 1:1 sculpt that can be found in the form of a holographic dove on any given Visa credit card... 1:1 meaning that the sculpt the hologram is based on... is actually THAT small. This interview has been a long time coming. All of the questions submitted were from members of Hisstank.com. Within this interview, Bill covers some GI JOE history... some GI JOE stories... but he also talks about and goes into detail regarding a bit of his sculpting process: what he used when sculpting for Hasbro (tools and materials; the 2up process) and what it was Hasbro would actually send him to get a project going. So this interview should actually cater very much to customizers and people looking to possibly get into the toy making business, as well as people looking for a taste of GI JOE ARAH history. The interview is split up into 7 parts. It was edited by Hisstank.com's very own Jaimanstone, who as you may or may not know, has an insatiable passion for vintage Joes and is on a quest to absorb any and all knowledge of the subject, which is why I asked him if he wanted to edit the interview, actually. I would like to take this moment to thank Jaimanstone for all the hard work he put into editing the interview and cleaning it up. So THANK YOU, J-Man. I'd also like to thank Roshan but he'd rather I didn't, so I won't. HAHAHAHA. And of course I'd like to thank Mr. Merklein for being a great sport, great sculptor, great man, and a great friend. Some notes about the interview: Recently, it has been revealed, that a Big Boa 2up was sculpted in-house at Hasbro. Since Bill did NOT sculpt Big Boa, his assumption was that possibly his Rocky 2up had been retooled INTO Big Boa. But we now know that there are actually 2 separate sculpts out there (unless they were destroyed). Also keep in mind that as a freelancer... Bill was not always privy to changes that were made, unless he was asked to make the changes. I've also posted a link to the for sale thread regarding the internal Hasbro art copies that Bill is selling from his collection as well as a small interview regarding the canceled Rocky Balboa concept that I did for GeneralsJoes.com's review-o-rama, just a few months ago. Here is the small interview with Bill regarding the Rocky sculpt: Here is the art that is for sale with links to pictures of the art: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...ml#post1987660 |
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08-07-2012, 02:58 PM | #2 |
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Unfortunately the stuff Merklin sold through Gyre did not include a letter from Merklin re proof of authenticity. I'm told Gyre is still trying to get those from Merklin for those, including me, that bought from him, although I haven't heard anything lately.
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08-07-2012, 03:05 PM | #3 |
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Viva La Merklein thread!
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08-07-2012, 03:07 PM | #4 |
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Where is the original thread? I can't find it.
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08-07-2012, 03:08 PM | #5 |
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Here's a link to pictures of the concept art used. I never saw these pictures when they were first posted in 2010. I really like the Night Viper, Payload and WORMS art.
http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...ml#post1635433 Quote:
Last edited by spiderpumpkin; 08-07-2012 at 03:24 PM.. |
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08-07-2012, 03:09 PM | #6 |
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http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...ml#post2060689
you can always click on the 3 little blue squares by the author of a quote, and it will bring you to the original post
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08-07-2012, 03:09 PM | #7 |
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08-07-2012, 03:10 PM | #8 |
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Quote:
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08-07-2012, 03:11 PM | #9 |
Hisstank.Com General
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Yeah, that stuff was such a great find. I really loved seeing all those images.
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08-07-2012, 03:52 PM | #10 |
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I love my Spearhead.
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