VARIOUS REPAINTINGS...

Well since I have hardly any cash due to the winter killing my business....I gotta repaint instead of do new projects.

Here we go.  The first time I had the MOTU tiger was in Mattel´s 1979 Tarzan line.  But those tigers are HUGE money now so.........

 I painted a Battlecat I found at the pulgas to look like it.  It is the same mold so why not.  Ray did a great job.

It looks spectacular!  Love this.  I am sure I will find more naked Battlecats in the future.

 I took my boring old regular faced Jeff Hardy and had Ray paint this awesome style to him.  It really brightens up the figure.

 Now he could be a world title contender!

 Same with my ECW Lance Storm.  He was a boring old green color.  I had Ray paint these colors instead.

 Really freshens up what was once a dead figure to me.

 They sell these little ape like guys down here.  Cheap knockoff ones.  Worshippers of Kong or something.  I had Ray bring out a faded paint color.  He looks much better now.

 I also recently scored a 3.75 inch Joker with orange colors.  Tony at Toy Break also got him.  I hated the orange.  He looks much better now.  I probably should still do something about the eyes.

Speaking of eyes I decided to paint black areas around the Toybiz Magneto figure.  It makes him look all the more sinister.

I also had Ray repaint some wrestling figures that had lost their paint.  Since it was not new paint but rather touchups I didn´t bother to photograph them.

I want to do a few more here and there.

MORE TRIPS AROUND SALTILLO!

We are heading to that large mountain.

Wow...kind of deserty...

WHOOOOO!

More whooooo!

My turn on the mountain for whooooo!

Doing our old thing by the creek in Arteaga.  The trees get so big because of the water near them.

Right in the middle of the town.

That is all the root system of these trees on the left side.

MY FIRST THANKSGIVING IN 20 YEARS

We had our chef make us an entire Thanksgiving feast for November.

We even had a pumpkin scented candle!  YIPPEE!

We had the whole thing...Stuffing, Sweet potatoe souffle, Mashed potatoes with white or brown gravy!  Macaroni and cheese!

This thanksgiving is for you kid...

Only thing I hated was to cut the turkey.  Our chef could have done a better job than me.

And thanks to this beautiful wifey for coming up with the idea of it.  I love her so!

TWINKIES, KING DONGS, AND CUPCAKES OH MY!

YES!  It is true.  We finally have Vanilla Wafers and this...

That is right folks!  We finally after years have Twinkies, KingDongs, Cupcake substitutes.  They taste just like the real thing.  I am in heaven.  Junk food heaven I tell ya!

However as good as it is...There are just a few things missing that I miss from the states.  Here are the top 10 food items I crave but cannot get in Saltillo.

1. Dinty Moore beef stew.  Dad used to make this on thin pepperidge farm bread toasted and buttered.  Oh my was it good!  Yeah I wish they had this here in Saltillo.

2. Eggnog-  We do not get eggnog down here.  Boy I miss it alot especially at Christmas time.

3. Yeo´s lychee drink-  If you have never tried this it is like a little slice of heaven in your mouth.  It is SO good.  They do get lychees down here but not the full drink like above.  I used to buy it by the case in Atlanta.

4. Mello Yello- They have most of the soft drinks down here except this one.  I remember sugarhighed out of my mind watching HBO drinking these by the can.  Oh good times.

5. Overstuffed ravioli-  There is ravioli down here but it is the kind ya gotta soak in water and cook then add your own sauce etc.  Boy I really miss the Chef Boyardee Ravioli though.  That and the above Mello Yello and I could call it a day.  

6. Smucker´s mint jelly- We get the Strawberry, peach jelly down here but not mint.  Mint Jelly is an acquired taste mind you but I used to love it as a kid.

7. Smucker´s Orange Jelly- I cannot believe I cannot find this down here in Saltillo.  You would think it would be really common to get but it is not available so far.

8. Fanta grape soda-  The best.  I loved it when the Dreadnoks from Gi Joe would have this in the comic and cartoon.  I JUST found some Fanta grape at a little tienda the other day BUT it was in a bottle.  I need the canned version.

9. Entenmann´s chocolate donuts- These are so awesome.  Even better were the milk chocolate kind that came out a few years later.  

10. Peppermint ice cream-  Oh yeah!  Another Christmas classic that I miss was this spicy concoction.  

Well that is it.  Get crackin Saltillo!  

REPAIRED STAR WARS ACKLAY

I have always wanted this figure.  Much to my delight I bought him in a broken toy lot.

He was in perfect shape except for the hole in his neck and his underbelly latch broken off.  One of his arms is really loose too.

 Look at that.  You cannot tell he was broken at all!  Ray did an awesome job!  Thanks buddy!

 Acklay squares off against the giant mutant bug from the Monster Scenes...

The bug grabs him by the face!  Oh no!  Will the bug open more holes in Acklay?  Who will win?

CUSTOM AVENGERS GROWING MAN

Yeah...what else was I going to do with the very cheap headless Bobby Lashley figure I found?  Had to turn him into something.  I hate seeing abandoned toys like this.  In the U.S. I probably would have thrown him in the trash...But down here Ray has opened up my mind to cool stuff.

The Growing Man has been an Avengers villain for decades.  I have already done Three Goliaths now it is time for another villain.  Not sure why he is steel colored up above but...

 This is the head Ray sculpted.  Yeah it looks a LITTLE large.  Oh well.  It is made entirely out of resin so those things are difficult to sculpt I guess.  But it turns on the ball jointed socket like a real head.

 He has already dealt with some Avengers...oh no!  Yeah I wish I had the MU kang figure for scale as the Growing man was one of his creations.

He is pretty cool for me.  Perhaps in the future I will address the head issues.  It looks like he has a pencil neck.

The fault is mine.  I think this may be the first head Ray has ever sculpted for an action figure.  I should have shown him one.  That the sculpt has the jaw coming down so it hides any pencil neckedness.  Rest assured if I ever have another headless creation to make I will help with this oversight.

LJN GEORGE STEELE AS TOR JOHNSON!

I had an extra LJN George Steele hanging out for sale in the café for the past 6 years with NO bites...So I decided to customize him.

Yeah, I got inspired after a viewing of Ed Wood.

 Ah...too much light on that photo!

 He looks great.  Ray erased the tongue and painted him up awesomely.

He is going in the display case for sure.

CUSTOM KENNER STAR WARS LIGHTSABERS

So my Luke and Vadar were great and all but they were naked.  Well, I had Ray fix them up real nice.

Added a cape to Darthie boy and more.

well....It didn´t turn out quite like I wanted.  But something is better than nothing.  Now I can duel em!