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The 2018 Poppies Judges
Panel
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Introduction
This is the
twelfth year for our
awards, and as always we
have judges from 5
different categories
- Companies,
Websites, Collectors,
Retailers, and
Artists. The final
list includes a total of
146 people. They
come from all aspects of
the industry - large
companies to small,
general websites to niche,
online to print, contract
artists to customizers,
and fans of just about
every major license.
I'm also happy to say that
there's a global
influence, with judges
from North America, Asia,
Australia and Europe.
And so
without further ado,
here's the folks that will
be selecting the winners
of the 2018 Poppies:
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Companies:
In this
category of judges, the
companies are represented
by 36 different
judges. The
companies represented
range from one guy
operations to
multi-billion dollar
organizations, from mass
market to specialty
market, with headquarters
around the world.
- Howard
Chan - the
Founder and CEO of Hot
Toys Limited, is a
Hong Kong based
entrepreneur and a
creative director for Hot
Toys Ltd. Howard has been
an enthusiast of
collectible figures since
his childhood and turned
his passion into a
successful career. He
initially started his
business by producing
1/6th scale military
action figures. In view of
the popularity of the
military action figure
series at that time,
Howard attained a great
success and further
expanded his product scope
by specializing in 1/6th
scale popular movie
character and world*-
renowned celebrity
collectibles.
- Georg
Brewer: After
spending 15 years as an
award*- winning creative
leader at DC Comics, where
he spearheaded the
creative growth of Design,
DC Direct and the
Collected Editions groups,
Georg formed The
Brewing Factory
in 2011. A creative
consulting agency, TBF has
clients all over the world
and is involved in
everything from product
design and development, to
franchise and business
planning to animation and
even music development.
After several successful
video game related
products Georg formalized
his working relationship
with a small group of
industry veterans in 2014
to form Rvckvs
serving as its lead
creative partner. Rvckvs
is a full service turn*-
key operation that
produces highly sought
after premiums, retail
products and full
Collectors Editions for
the video/mobile game
industry.
-
Scott Tipton
serves as design
consultant and copywriter
for Toynami,
where he's worked on
product lines like
ROBOTECH, VOLTRON, THE
HERCULOIDS, THUNDARR THE
BARBARIAN, and FUTURAMA,
as well at the company's
CINEMAQUETTE line. Scott
also writes a variety of
comics for IDW
Publishing,
including such series as
STAR TREK: THE BURDEN OF
KNOWLEDGE,
ILLYRIA:HAUNTED, KHAN:
RULING IN
HELL, DOCTOR
WHO: PRISONERS OF TIME,
and the New York Times
Best*- Selling STAR
TREK/DOCTOR WHO:
ASSIMILATION
SQUARED. He is
also the co*- owner of
BLASTOFF in North
Hollywood, California, a
book store specializing in
vintage comics from the
Golden, Silver and Bronze
Ages. He has a startlingly
large toy collection, but
in this crowd it's
probably about
average.
- Jim
Wampler is
currently the Sales
Director at Factory
Entertainment Inc. Jim has
worked in the toy, hobby
and collectibles
industries for over 30
years. A fan and collector
himself since he was in is
early teen years he has a
passion for toys and
collectibles from all
things Sci Fi and Fantasy.
- Zach
Oat is Marketing
Supervisor at Diamond
Select Toys, and before
that he was the editor of
ToyFare magazine for a
bunch of years. He is also
the co*- author of Pop
Sculpture: How to Create
Your Own Action Figures
and Collectible Statues,
a book about sculpting
techniques he wrote with
pros Tim Bruckner and
Ruben Procopio. He loves
Minimates, Megos and
C.O.P.S., and he likes to
take pictures of toys *-
*- you can see his
work on Instagram
@zachoat.
- The
Phrenologist: This
anonymous judge has worked
in some area of the toy
industry for over a
decade. He oversaw
all action figures for
what was once the largest
toy specialty retailer in
the US and Mexico.
He has handled contests,
press releases and public
relations for several toy
companies. As a
writer his work has
appeared in Fangoria, Baby
Boomer, Omni, Psychology
Today, Playboy, ASB
Magazine, Time Out New
York, Rolling Stone,
Entertainment Weekly, and
numerous other
publications. He is
the author of two books
currently available on
Amazon (and at a bookstore
near you!) has just
finished a book on the
artwork of imprisoned
artist Michael Lee Ford,
and is working on a new
book about Halloween in
New York City. He
believes thatthe MAC
Rescue Center (aka MAC
Mountain) is one of the
greatest toys that ever
was, and misses old
fashioned toy commercials
of the 70's.
- Damien
Glonek is product
manager at Mezco
Toyz and co*-
creator of Living Dead
Dolls. He is a
horror movie junkie and
collects everything
dealing with horror,
please find him a bigger
house to hold his
collection.
- Mark
Weber... After
ten years at McFarlane
Toys and five years at
Hasbro, Mark Weber left
the world of G.I. Joe
behind to join Toy State
this year. It's a whole
new world of lights/sounds
and R/C vehicles, and he
spends his days overseeing
the Hot Wheels, Marvel,
Cat and Road Rippers
franchises. He spends his
spare time watching his
Steelers lose to the New
England Patriots.
- Randy
Falk is the Director
of Product Development for
NECA.
He manages the development
and production for all of
NECA's action figures. He
is also an obsessive
completist when it comes
to his toy collection
especially 3 3/4" Star
Wars and the classic MEGO
Supe-Heroes.
- Adam
Van Wickler grew
up during the heyday of
action figures. Star Wars,
GI Joe, He*- man,
Thundercats, Transformers,
Super Powers, Secret Wars,
Mego. You name the line
and Adam had at least a
few figures from it. His
mother still likes to tell
people that Adam was potty
trained with the promise
of a new Star Wars action
figure each time he went
like a big boy. To this
day he still expects a new
action figure each time he
goes like a big boy.
His younger brother
certainly did not
appreciate his desire to
take apart their toys and
swap parts around, or why
he needed to “ruin”their
figures by repainting them
to be other characters.
Even now you can find Adam
hunting for new toys
during his lunch breaks
and visiting his local
comic book shop every
Wednesday.
Adam has been involved
professionally in the toy
industry since 2001 and is
lucky enough to have
worked on many of the toy
lines that he grew up
playing with.
Adam is a part of the 3D
Systems - Gentle Giant
Studios team in Burbank.
Working as the Director –
Creative Services in their
External Prototyping
division, he collaborates
with various clients
throughout the prototyping
process. Overseeing
concept artwork, digital
sculpting,rapid
prototyping,
molding/casting, painting,
and working directly with
licensors to gain
approvals are among his
day to day tasks.
- Bob
Fulkerson: his
journey into the
toy/collectibles industry
began as young boy with a
Kenner Han Solo Blaster
and has only gotten worse
from there. He started as
a Collector then a
Collectibles Dealer and
now an Account Rep/Janitor
with Quantum Mechanix,
Inc. Where
will it end when they peel
that Blaster from his cold
dead hands.
- Joe
Amaro has been
involved in the toy
industry in some way or
another for over 15 years,
from making custom figures
for ToyFare magazine,
puppets for Robot Chicken
and sculpts for various TV
shows and Feature Films.
Currently he is working
with most major toy
companies and design
studios like the Four
Horsemen Toy Studio.
- Joseph
Reiter, CEO of
Symbiote Studios. Has
worked in the toy
marketing, licensing and
manufacturing industry for
two decades. He loves the
company and the people
that he works with. Will
continue working to bring
the best toys to market.
The ultimate goal is to
make the best products and
merchandise in the
business. If you have a
video game license and
would like to see
merchandise made for it;
contact him.
- Joe Ahearn
- Co Founder - Captain
Action Enterprises LLC;
Product Development /
Graphic Design; Joe enjoys
every step of the product
development process seeing
things through from
beginning to end whether it
be roughest sketch to
completed comic book or
working toy or collectible.
A graduate of Montclair
State University, Joe has
spent 30 years by day as a
Commercial Insurance
Professional where he
has built up his account
management and negotiation
skill sets.
Joe’s love for all things
retro lead him to a hobby
which he tturned into a
successful business venture.
In the mid 1990s, he began
recollecting some of the
original action figure sets
he had as a boy from both
GIJOE and Captain Action.
When Hasbro began to reissue
the original GIJOEs as
collectibles, it lead Joe to
the idea of doing the same
for Captain Action.
Joe spearheaded the
Captain’s return to toy
shelves in 1998 after
a two year battle, brokering
the concept to a mid west
toy and collectibles company
called Playing Mantis who
had recently had much
success reviving the Johnny
Lightning brand of die cast
cars from the 60s and also
reissuing all of the old
monster and figural hobby
kits made by Aurora in the
60s and 70s. Joe was
hired as a product
development consultant to
the line during its run.
Subsequently, Joe partnered
with a well known artist in
the world of Ed “Big
Daddy”Roth style monster car
art John Detrich and
together they brokered their
monster die cast car line
CREEPSTERS to Playing Mantis
which was released in Toys
RUs & Kmart in 2003.
There’s something to be said
for being at the right place
at the right time and Joe
was, allowing him to acquire
the rights to Captain Action
in 2005, partner with Ed
Catto and establish Captain
Action Enterprises which
continues to grow and
flourish in the areas of
toys, collectibles, comic
books, apparel, etc. CAE has
recently welcomed a third
partner, Michael Polis who
is currently spearheading
CAE's entertainment efforts.
Joe continues to work
in insurance by day and at
Captain Action by
night. He also engages
in some freelance graphic
design, while also handling
most of CA Enterprise’s
graphic design needs. Joe
lives in New Jersey with his
own Action Boy who shares
his Dad’s love for baseball
and appreciates all of Dad’s
vintage collectibles.
- Steve
Forde is the
founder and principal of Go
Hero where he directs,
designs, and develops
award*- winning pop*-
culture collectibles and
content. Since 2001 Go Hero
has been a creative force at
the forefront and behind*-
the*- scenes on amazing
original and licensed
projects in designer vinyl,
1:6 scale, comics, web, TV,
and film. Go Hero
collaborates with an elite
group of like - minded
artists & organizations
to create art objects,
original properties, and
iconic collectibles.
Notable
properties include: Stan
Lee, 2001: a space
odyssey, Buck Rogers,
Flash Gordon, Boris
Karloff, Harryhausen, Bela
Lugosi, Doc Savage, The
Shadow, The Weekly World
News/Bat Boy, Captain
Action, Sheena, Steve
Reeves, Space Elf, and
Mechabot.
2018, Go Hero will make a
big move into original
content. Stay tuned to GoHero.com.
- Terry
Smith infused
his blood with pop culture
at an early age with a
concentrated solution of
movies, comic books, and
sci*- fi/fantasy novels.
According to legend, the
characters and stories and
worlds in his brain
reached critical mass
sometime around 2003, and
his head exploded.
The next day, his entire
house was populated with
statues and figures of
heroes and villains and
robots and monsters.
So Terry started to
photograph them. He
continues to do so to this
day, publishing the
results on the Toys Will
Be Toys Facebook page and
YouTube channel.
- Ed
Catto loves
building brands and
helping them find their
true potential. With 20+
years total spanning the
agency/consulting side,
solid, classic CPG
grounding and an
entrepreneurial stint, Ed
possesses a unique, proven
blend of marketing,
strategy, and business
leadership skills.
Throughout his career, Ed
has always steered his
activities to the “fun
stuff” – including kids
marketing and
entertainment, in both the
B2C and B2B arenas.
Ed is founding partner of
Bonfire Agency, the
world’s first “geek
focused” marketing agency.
As a self-styled
“retropreneur”, Ed also
brings back old toy and
entertainment brands for
today’s audiences. Most
recently, Ed, with Joe
Ahearn, worked to shepherd
the rebirth of Captain
Action, the original
super*- hero action figure
in comics, collectibles
and even a national toy
line.
Ed and his wife Kathe
recently moved from Metro
NYC to Auburn, NY. He is
probably too actively
involved with community
affairs, including the
Auburn Public
Theater. Ed
continues to work very
hard to whittle down the
pile books on his
nightstand.
- Michael
Polis - CEO
/Creator /Exec Producer
Michael Polis is a senior
level strategist and
producer specializing in
brands and intellectual
property. With his proven
expertise in marketing,
licensing and product
development and an ability
to work in all media, he
has successfully
developed, managed and
produced content for some
of the world’s most
celebrated brands and
companies including:
Universal Studios, HBO,
Nickelodeon, Disney and
The Jim Henson Company.
He now runs Atomic Toybox
Entertainment developing,
writing and producing
content for film and
television with a first
look deal with Pukeko
Pictures (sister company
to Weta Workshop).
Nominated for 4 Emmy
Awards, he has developed
and produced award-winning
content for film,
television, live
entertainment and digital
media. He has
experience overseeing
companies, large project
teams (150+) and managing
multi-million dollar
budgets.
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Other Company Judges
include Andy Gore,
Antonio Barranco,
David Igo,
Scott Klauder,
Jess Bansal,
Jim Fletcher
(DC Collectibles), Rola
Chang (Asmus
Toys), George
Gaspar (October
Toys), Ashly
Powell (Gentle
Giant), R.
Cody Fultz
(threezero), Charles
Howell (Toy
Factory), Rick
Phares (Peak
Advantage/Trinity
Toys), David
Stephan, Jason
Lenzi
(BifBangPow), Pierre
Kalenzaga
(Mezco), Nanjin
Tam (Qmx), Enrique
Watson
(Diamond), and Starlight
Attic.
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Media:
Where would
our hobby and the industry
be without the many
websites and podcasts out
there that report the
news, promote the
collectibles, and provide
the social networks for
our geek selves. The
judges in this category
represent websites,
podcasts and print
publications that cover
every aspect of the
industry, from niche
licenses and products to
general themes and
news. There are 48
judges from a wide variety
of outlets, some of which
I'm sure you'll recognize.
- Daniel
"Julius Marx" Pickett
is the co-creator/co-owner
of Action
Figure Insider, a
toy news site with a focus
on the creators and
process of making pop
culture
collectibles. He has
been writing about toys
for 15 years and has been
collecting his whole
life. He also has
consulted with many
companies on toy and
collectible projects,
hosts panel discussions at
conventions, and answers
questions from readers all
over the world.
Action Figure Insider and
Daniel was regularly
featured on “Attack of the
Show” on the G4 network as
the primary contributor to
their “Mint On Card”
segment, and AFi’s front
page has been linked to
from USA Today’s “Pop
Candy” Blog twice.
Daniel’s content has also
been featured on CNN,
MSNBC.com, BBC, Market
Watch, The Wall Street
Journal, Wired.com,
Fark.com, Boing*- Boing,
Gizmodo.com, Ain’t It Cool
News, the Official Star
Wars blog, Geekologie, G4,
CNet and Toy Fare
magazine, among many
others. He has consulted
on toy lines, books,
documentaries and TV
shows. For his “day
job” Daniel works for
Gentle Giant LTD so he is
basking in toys and
collectibles 24/7… and he
loves it!!
- D.
Martin Myatt is
the lead event/photo
archive photographer and
editor for Rebelscum.
He's been contributing to
the Star Wars community
through numerous media
outlets since 1996 and
found his online home with
the Rebelscum team in
2000. In addition, he
wastes his time writing
about silly stuff on his
own site Totally
Ridiculous.
- Brian
Slivka has been
covering the designer toy
industry for 5
years. It started
with a few Happy Meal toys
and a dream. But
that just lead to eating
thousands of unnecessary
calories and waking up
from the dream 30 pounds
heavier. Plastic
and Plush started up
over 3 years ago, and it
continues to deliver daily
news and reviews from the
designer toy and limited
edition toy worlds.
- Nerdlocker
was originally a blog for
one guy to talk about all
the nerdy things he loved.
In 2010 the site made a
huge change and started
producing a weekly
webisode to further
explore all things nerdy.
Since then the brand has
gone international and
nerds everywhere check Nerdlocker.com
for news on toys, comic
books, movies, video
games, gadgets, etc. It
truly is a place for your
inner nerd. And of course
everyone involved in
Nerdlocker is a nerdy kid
at heart so we are honored
to be asked to give our
opinions on the best toys.
- Mark
Picirilli is
the admin and webmaster of
Yodasnews.com,
a daily news site for Star
Wars news and
collectibles. He has been
involved in the collecting
online community for over
19 years. He also owns and
admins several other
collectible fan sites and
is a regular contributor
to many online and print
publications as a
collectible and movie
memorabilia expert. In
2015, Mark started to do
work as a Topps Sketch
Card Artist, he has
sketched cards for Star
Wars Chrome Perspectives:
Jedi Vs. Sith, Journey to
The Force Awakens and Star
Wars Finest coming out in
December. Mark's
collection has grown a lot
over the last 20 years, he
now mainly collects Hot
Toys, Gentle Giant,
Sideshow, Funko, Hasbro
Black Series,
Kotobukiya and eFX
and is a longtime
autograph and trading card
collector. He often
posts collections room
photos and videos on his
Instagram account,
@Yodasnews.
- Jason
"Slick McFavorite" Spiller
is owner of Slick McFavorite
Toys, LLC and along with an
amazing team of toy
aficionados, hosts the
action figure podcast, Open
Your Toys Cast. OYTC
is the official podcast of OpenYourToys.com,
the site dedicated to the
four greatest action figure
franchises of the 80's and
all time: Star Wars,
Transformers, G.I. Joe and
Masters of the Universe.
Aside from his ridiculous
10,000+ piece collection and
the standard set of geeky
interests (gaming, comics,
movies and tech), Slick
enjoys all things Colorado.
Seasonally he camps, dirt
bikes and snowboards, while
year round he plays
basketball and practices Tae
Kwon Do.
- Adam
Pawlus has been
writing about toys online
since 1995. A former
contributor to magazines,
several web sites, and
other Internet
publications, his
currently best known for
his "Figure of the Day"
and weekly "Q&A"
columns at Galactic
Hunter. He
maintains a general toy
news blog and a second
"Figure of the Day"
feature at 16bit.com, and
his day job is the
merchandiser/Toy
Evangelist for Entertainment
Earth.
- Mick
Baltes collects
action figures for almost
27 years now. Apart from
pure collecting he works
on kitbashes and dioramas.
Furthermore he published
action figure comics such
as Memento
Mori.
In 2012 he founded the
German online action
figure magazine Action
Figure District,
bringing reviews,
previews, features,
interviews, videos and
podcasts to German 1/6th
collectors.
- Jack
Muramatsu -
Founder and editor of Vinyl
Pulse, the premiere
news site providing
coverage of designer vinyl
toys. After opening
countless toys over the
past four years, he's got
a strange gleam in his eye
*- *- one too many
sniffs of vinyl fumes.
He's living the dream of
blogging full*- time about
toys and loving every
minute of it from sunny
Pasadena, California.
- Ron
Mirasol - Ron
became a life*- long fan
of toys when he got a G.I.
Joe with the Kung Fu Grip
as a birthday present many
years ago *- thanks
Mom! Today, he is the
publisher of ActionFigurePics.com.
He still gets upset when
an action figure can't
hold its accessories
properly, and is
completely devastated when
their fingers break off.
- Bradley
"Crazyjaco" Jacobs
is a co*- founder, admin,
and contributor for Powet.TV,
a site dedicated to
bringing high*- quality
web programming on pop
culture subjects to a new
level. Crazy is probably
best known for his regular
video series called
PowetToys, a segment where
he gets to show off the
latest and greatest toys
he has encountered
in an information*- rich
format all his own. As an
avid collector of many
lines (Transformers,
Marvel Legends, Marvel
Minimates, MOTU and the
Four Horsemen's Fantastic
Exclusive project to name
just a few), Crazy decided
he wanted to give back to
a fandom that he had so
actively been a
participant. Thus, the
launch of Powet.TV and
PowetToys, its first
regular feature.
- Thomas
Wheeler, known to
some parts of the
collecting community as
"GI Trekker", is a
freelance writer and
photographer (and
definitely for hire!) who
has maintained an
extensive action figure
collection since G.I. Joe:
A Real American Hero
arrived in the scene in
1982, and as a child,
counted Captain Action,
Major Matt Mason, and a
host of very varied Megos
among his prized
possessions. Today his
collection features
everything from G.I. Joe,
to Masters of the Universe
Classics, to Star Trek, to
DC Universe Classics, to
Gundam, and much more. He
has written reviews on a
wide range of action
figures for MasterCollector.Com,
and contributed file cards
to the 1997*- 98 run of
G.I. Joe for Hasbro.
- Engineernerd
(John V.) has been
collecting Star Wars
figures since the original
12 came out. To
appear to his wife that
he's doing something with
his varied collection, he
posts reviews, action
figure comics, and other
related items on his
website, TV
and Film Toys.
- Scott
Anderson launched
his website, Action
Figure Blues, in
2006. He now co*- hosts
the weekly Action
Figure Blues Podcast
and continues to review
toys and statue from the
worlds of comics and pop
culture at the AFB
Website. Originally from
Chicago in the USA, Scott
married an Australian lass
and moved to Oz in 1991.
Currently he resides in
Melbourne and enjoys being
part of the local comics
and collecting community.
His main collecting
passions are currently
focused and statues and
busts and other such
expensive items, much to
his wife (and his
wallet's) despair!
- Ayleen
Dority is a
lifelong toy collector who
has has worked in the
independent toy industry
since 2004 and currently
coordinates toy focused
events including Bricks LA
in Pasadena, CA. Since
2006, she has also been
the host/producer of the
video/blog Toy
Break.
- Newton
Gimmick is a
longtime toy fan who was
baptized in a love of GI
Joe, Ninja Turtles,
Pro-Wrestling and Godzilla
toys as a youth. Now that
he's "all grown up", Newt
enjoys reviewing toys,
movies and general pop
culture goodness over at InfiniteHollywood.com.
Newton continues to build
his plastic empire, one
toy at a time and hopes to
continue to provide
insight and analysis from
a common man perspective
on the plethora of toys
that inhabit toy aisles
today or have been
forgotten into the
labyrinth of time.
- Jason
Devall has been
involved in the world on
on*- line toy reviews for
7 years. Starting with the
gang at figures.com,
he went on to co*- create
the hit weekly on*- line
toy show, That New Toy
Smell and
PopCultureNetwork.com with
co*- creator and co*- host
"Pixel" Dan Eardley. He is
currently an Executive
Producer for ToyWorldOrder.com
and is still cranking out
all*- new video toy
reviews, including
reviewsof the new Bandai
Thundercats line for Thundercatslair.org!
- Justin
Gammon has two
defining passions:
creating design work and
searching out new members
for his ever*- growing
family of not*- so*-
normal toys. He puts his
art smarts to the task to
pay the bills, directing
creative projects for
national*- level clients
with WorthWhile.
While off the clock, he
mans the helm of WeirdoToys.com
*- the home for odd,
ugly and neglected toys.
When he has a rare break
to daydream, Justin spends
time plotting out his next
move to combine his two
loves, art and toys, into
an army of original weirdo
creations.
- Colin
Dorman: Editor and
Publisher of the "Action
Figure Resource" magazine,
the only digital magazine
dedicated to the hobby, and
owner of Mcfarlane*-
figures.com and Action
Figure Resource. Colin
has been an avid collector
all his life and before
moving to Thailand had a
highly successful business
in the UK trading in Action
figures, CCGs and Trading
cards as well as all forms
of Sports and Movie
memorabilia. He has been
featured and interviewed on
local and national TV and
radio and has written
regular articles for several
magazines, including
Sported, FIBA and Model
Mart.
- Arnie
Carvalho is
the co-founder and
president of the
Venganza Media
podcasting network and
the co-host of
collecting
podcasts Star
Wars Action News,
focused on Star Wars
toys and collectibles;
and Marvelicious
Toys,
based on the figures,
statues and collectibles
from the pages of Marvel
Comics. He is also
a writer for Movie Magic
magazine.
- Sohaib
I. Awan is the
Host of Fictional
Frontiers with Sohaib.
Recognizing the dearth of
serious pop culture
discourse, Sohaib launched
Fictional Frontiers in
June of 2008. In
addition to hosting
duties, Sohaib serves as
Executive Producer, Talent
Supervisor and Liaison,
Public Relations Director,
and CEO of Fictional
Frontiers. Sohaib is
also the founder and CEO
of international
transmedia company,
JabalEntertainment,
LLC. He is the
creator of IDW
Publishing's
Jinnrise. The
internationally-recognized
series is Jabal's first
comic book series.
Prior to Fictional
Frontiers, Sohaib was the
founder and managing
partner of The Law Offices
of Sohaib Awan. He
received his Bachelor of
Arts degree in Political
Science from the
University of Richmond,
his Juris Doctorate from
Rutgers School of Law*-
Camden, and Management
Certification from The
Wharton School of Business
(University of
Pennsylvania).
In addition to his efforts
on Fictional Frontiers,
Sohaib is an active member
in good standing of the
District of Columbia
Bar. He is a duly
qualified and admitted
attorney, with mediation
and conflict resolution
certification from the
Community Mediation Center
of Harrisonburg, VA.
Each week, Sohaib records
a weekly audio segment for
Random House's Suvudu
entitled Fifteen Minutes
of Fiction...with
Fictional Frontiers.
Sohaib is also a member of
the Broadcast Film Critics
Association (BFCA).
- Jed
W. Keith makes
squiggle-thoughts into
word-thinkems on the
Internet as managing
editor of FreakSugar.
He has the strength of ten
grinches, plus two. He has
two rotten but lovable
bassets named Otto and
Igor, whom he adores.
- Electrified
Porcupine is based
out of London, Ontario,
Canada. Being an action
figure/toy fan all his
life, site
writer/photographer/social
media man, Peter
W., finally
hunkered down after
friends started pushing
him to start writing and
blogging about his love of
a variety of toy
properties, music, gaming,
and wrestling instead of
just reading other
people's thoughts.
Starting the site in March
of 2016, he's built up a
fan base and brings his
unique perspective to all
the different things he
reviews and discusses. The
one*- man*- show tries to
get new material from a
variety of properties and
entertainment styles every
week while juggling a
professional career, a
family, and his bank
account to buy the stuff
he reviews.
- Mike
Richardson is
the owner/operator of Mike's
Toy Blog.com, a
website he founded in late
2010. Which is dedicated
to reviewing not only
mainstream collectibles
and toys , but niche
market ones too. The site
also provides a platform
to showcase his custom
work and features a very
popular and helpful toy
shop guide for toy hunting
in Japan. He has also
written guest reviews for
MWC Toys and Collection
DX.
Mike has experienced
almost every aspect of
being a toy collector,
from being a customer, to
seller, to wholesaler, to
even working for a
distributor of 1/6 scale
brands in Australia.
With one foot in Australia
and one in Japan, Mike
divides his time between
the two countries and is
fortunate to experience
two very different
cultures when it comes to
toy collecting.
A child of the late 80's
and early 90's Mike has a
deep*- rooted love of
Transformers, Dino*-
Riders and Kenner's
various movie themed toy
lines . He is also a big
fan of high end 1/6 scale
figures.
- Jeffrey
Lyles initially
started Lyles
Movie Files as a
movie review site, but it
quickly evolved to include
other interests including
TV recaps, comic book
reviews and one of the
main staples of the site —
action figure reviews.
Lyles Movie Files features
reviews of a little bit of
everything on the action
figure front from Marvel
Legends, WWE Elite, Hot
Toys, SH Figuarts, DC
Multiverse, DC Essentials,
Storm Collectibles and
NECA. LMF leaves the
pretentious talk at home
and shares one fan’s love
of pop culture with
others.
- Khai
@ Kool
Kollectibles grew up
on a steady diet of
classic 80s cartoons and
movies, then moved onto
90s gaming arcade culture,
all of which ingrained
into his mind the love of
pop culture. Fast forward
through university and
early work life, it was
the bluray release of the
Star Wars saga in 2011
that rekindled the
nostalgia flame. Stumbling
across the best of the
3.75" Star Wars Vintage
Collection opened the door
to everything that was new
in the collecting world.
Through the realization
that Masterpiece
Transformers existed, the
introduction to the
incredible world of 1/6th
scale figures, and that
YouTube was a haven for
toy reviewers across the
world, Khai channeled his
passion to share his love
of toys by founding Kool
Kollectibles, a
combination of website,
YouTube channel, and
Facebook page where anyone
and everyone can chew the
fat on all that is kool
and kollectible!
- FLYGUY.net
has been around since 2000
with as a review site
focusing primarily on Star
Wars collectibles. A site
merge with TekSushi.com
collaborators brought
Marvel and more into the
fold and now 17 years and
14,000 YouTube subscribers
later the site runs not
only reviews but several
regular video podcasts
covering POP!, Hot Toys,
Hasbro and more.
- The
SkeletonPete blog
was created in the spirit
of sharing things we like
and hope you might too. We
also love to shine a light
on the projects of our
very talented friends and
colleagues.
Pete Parrella:
Editor – Photographer
A life long collector of
books, toys, and LP’s.
Pete loves to play music,
capture images, paint
pictures and write
sensible sentences.
Adriana “Andy”
Melendez:
Editor – Social Media
Coordinator
Andy (aka Sylverwhisper)
is a New York City based
writer, musician,
& dream architect. A
self*- confessed geek, she
also loves all things
vampiric, anglophilic
& episodic.
- Craig
Moore - After
3 years as the Host of the
Fwoosh.com's Fwooshcast,
Craig and his co-hosts set
out on their own and
started The Repacked
Podcast in 2013. 4 years
and over 200 episodes
later, The Repacked
Podcasts has 2 spinoff
shows and over 8 hosts
regularly letting you know
which toy you should waste
your money on. Born and
Raised in Sydney,
Australia, Craig is an
avid collector of American
and Japanese action
figures and mecha. He
dreams of one day having
room to display them all.
- Barbecue17,
AKA Jerry Reed, has been
reviewing action figures
online for over a decade
and has been collecting
them for over 30 years.
That first General Hawk v2
action figure he received
at the age of 3 set off
what has turned out to be
a lifelong passion!
Barbecue17 currently
spends his days as an
advocate, his evenings
reviewing action figures
and podcasting on the
Confirmed Epic Podcast,
and as much time as he can
playing with his 4 year
old daughter who,
fortunately, seems to be
following in his
footsteps. You can
find more of his reviews
at Action
Figure Barbecue.
- Kevin
Hawkey is the
co-founder, head writer
and editor of Riot-Nerd,
a Philadelphia
entertainment blog that
also plans and promotes
events such as Guardians
of the Galaxy “Awesome
Mix” and Stranger Things
“Upside Down” dance
parties. He enjoys
Fighting Games, Metal,
Marvel, Horror and all the
weird stuff in between. A
lifelong Philadelphian,
Kevin is just as
comfortable in a circle
pit at music venue
Underground Arts as he is
drooling over the new Hot
Toys figures at comic shop
Brave New Worlds. Kevin’s
idiosyncratic sensibility
gives his company it’s
unique dichotomy between
“riot” and “nerd”.
- Dabid
Kuhrt lives,
breathes, eats and sleeps
toy collecting. His love
for toys fuels his
interests in movies,
comics, TV, books and
video games. Wanting an
exclusively Marvel*-
centric site to talk about
all aspects of Marvel
figure and statue
collecting, Dabid founded
Marvel Toy News to fill
this niche and publish
daily news articles and
reviews of Marvel toys
from every major Marvel
toy line in the world.
When not posing Funko POPs
in epic battles with
Marvel Legends figures,
Dabid also writes articles
for Gamer Toy News, a news
site covering video game
toy collecting.
- Cat’s
the publisher of Green
Man as he has been
for some decades now. He
enjoys a lot of things
from the writings of
Charles de Lint, K.B.
Wager and CE Murphy
currently to comics such
as Catwoman, Sandman
Universe: Dreaming and The
Life of Captain Marvel.
His music tastes are wide
ranging but lean towards
the Celtic and
Scandinavian traditions.
He likes his coffee black
and his cats are named
Taliasen and Freya.
He just found two vintage
Tomb Raider figures from
the very early Nineties
and has on on order
several Thirteenth Doctor
related items.
- Ryan
aka "Sinister Collector"
on YouTube, grew up with
80s & 90s
cartoons. He runs a
YouTube channel called
"Sinister Collector"
focused around reviewing
statues and interviewing
other toy/statue
collectors. Ryan
grew up collecting/playing
with 1/18 model cars,
"Battle Beasts", "TMNT",
McFarlane Toys,
Transformers G1, He-Man,
G.I. Joe, and ToyBiz X-Men
toylines. Ryan came
back to collecting in 2014
starting with Funko
Pops. After becoming
frustrated with a lot of
the paint apps, he then
changed to collecting Hot
Toys and statues.
Earlier this year, he
changed to collecting
mainly 1/4 statues with a
focus of mainly X-Men,
Justice League,
Transformers (G1 and Beast
Wars), and Anime.
Ryan is also a big fan of
Star Wars and Comic books.
- Jesse
DeStasio - One
half of Toy Pizza on
YouTube (a Frederator
co-production), Jesse
spends his days designing
and manufacturing the
Knights of the Slice
independent action figure
line. The recently
launched "Action Figure of
the Month Club" fully
funded on Kickstarter
within 5 days.
-
Other Media Judges include
Michael Breaux,
David Yeh,
Sal Cipriano,
Eric Resnick, Stacey
Rader, Sean
Long,
John
Charles, Ben
Mulder (Action
Figure Blues), Ryan
Ashton, Justin
Bell (General
Joes), Frank Patz,
James Chillcott
(Shelf Life).
|
|
Artists:
You can't
produce amazing products
without designers,
fabricators, sculptors,
painters and other
artisans. These
judges come from that side
of the business.
Many are freelancers, but
some work for specific
companies. Others are well
known and respected
customizers, who do
commission work for
individuals, magazines and
others. There are 24
judges in this category:
- Jerry
Macaluso is a toy
designer/sculptor whose
love affair with the
industry began (way back)
as a child when he
received his first Mego
Micronauts figure. That
life changing event
inspired him to pursue a
career in the arts, first
with his special makeup
effects company SOTA
Effects, which supplied
props, makeups and effects
for films such as Spawn,
A.I., Gods and Monsters,
Toxic Avenger 2 and
Darkman, as well as
television shows including
Weird Science and Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers.
Seeing his first Todd Toys
Spawn figures in the mid*-
90s reignited his love for
action figures and Jerry
began contacting toy
manufacturers to see if
they would like to use his
special effects company
for creating toy
prototypes. This
quickly led to work with
industry leaders like
ReSaurus, Applause, Toy
Biz, Palisades, Mattel and
Diamond and the forming of
a new company, SOTA
Sculpture and Design.
In 2001, Macaluso made the
jump from prototype studio
to full fledged toy
manufacturer by acquiring
the action figure rights
to Street Fighter and Tomb
Raider. Both were a
big success and led to the
formation of SOTA Toys
which enjoyed years of
success creating action
figures and statues from
such popular licenses as
World of Warcraft, Johnny
Cash, Legend, The Thing,
Charmed, Micronauts and
Marvel, among many
others. In 2006
Macaluso sold SOTA Toys to
focus on his film
producing career, making
the films 'Night Skies'
and 'The Devils Tomb'.
In 2008, Macaluso formed
his new toy and
collectibles company, Pop
Culture Shock Toys.
Currently, PCS is enjoying
much success crafting high
end polystone statues and
busts from licenses such
as Street Fighter, Mortal
Kombat, Judge Dredd and
Masters Of The Universe.
- Not
satisfied with the limited
options available at
retail, Cason
Pilliod has been
crafting his own toys
since he was a
child. His passion
for toys merges with his
background as a theatrical
prop designer, allowing
him to find unique
customizing solutions,
which he shares with the
ever*- growing customizing
community via Inanimate
Objects, and its new
sister site DC
Animated Universe Comics.
- Jean
St. Jean is
a musician turned
sculptor, who began his
career in a small upstate
NY toy sculpting studio
doing mostly preschool
toys and dolls. Five years
later he joined McFarlane
where he spent almost 7
years helping them develop
their hyper realistic
style, the last 4 years as
Sculpting Supervisor. In
2004, he left McFarlane to
start his own company,
Jean St. Jean Studios
offering sculpting,
painting and prototyping
services working on such
licenses as Diamond
Select’s Stargate SG*- 1,
SG Atlantis and Battlestar
Galactica, DC Direct’s
Blackest Night series,
Mezco’s Mega scale
Thundercats line, and Mega
Scale Frankenstein,
Diamond Select’s Munsters,
Universal Monsters, Sin
City, and Kill Bill
action figure lines and
Diamond’s Batman’66 series
of mini*- busts and banks.
2015 will see Jean St.
Jean Studios first
original action figure
line hit store shelves
under his new toy brand
Creatureplica, showcasing
cryptozoological and
mythical monsters Jean St.
Jean Studios handles
sculpting, fabrication,
prototyping and painting
and is well known for
their distinctive style
and versatility, creating
for some of the most
notable producers of fine
toys and collectibles.
- Jonathan
Matthews has
been a professional toy
sculptor since 1998 when
he began sculpting for a
small toy company out of
Ohio called Resaurus. When
the company dissolved a
few years later, he began
a freelance career with
clients that included
Palisades,
Graphitti, Plan B,
Diamond Select and DC
Collectibles. Check out
some of his work at www.matthewsculptor.com.
- Derek
Handy has been
working in the toy
industry for over 15
years. Currently he is
Design Director at Mattel
over the DC and Jurassic
lines. Over the past
several years, he has
overseen development of
many lines including Max
Steel and WWE. Previously
he was Sr Manager of
Product Development at
Gentle Giant Studios,
where he worked on just
about every brand
imaginable either by
making GGLTD licensed
product or prototyping for
other
companies. Before
that, he worked at LEGO
with a small group in the
LA office. Having fun and
being oblivious to how
badly Galidor was going to
fail.
- Matt
'Iron-Cow' Cauley,
probably best known for
his custom action figure
work, formed Iron*- Cow
Prod. LLC to better serve
his illustration,
animation, design, and toy
production clients. In
addition to being a
featured contributer to
ToyFare Magazine, there
are over 50 ICP*- designed
DC Direct, Battlestar
Galactica and Marvel
Comics Minimate action
figures currently on sale.
His artwork is exhibited
and published worldwide
and he is currently hard
at work developing a line
of t*- shirts for Macys
featuring his
illustrations. Matt's
illustration, broadcast,
fine art, and toy design
portfolios can be seen at
the official
Iron-Cow Prod.
- Joe
Allard is an
artist and designer
working in the toy and
collectible industries for
way too long. In the
beginning…there were comic
books, and Joe colored
them. Working for Malibu
then Marvel Comics, Joe
was at the forefront of
the digital coloring
revolution. After several
years of coloring some
good, but mostly terrible
90’s comics, Joe stumbled
his way into the toy
industry and found what
would be his dream job
*- designing toys.
Joe found himself
designing toys and
collectibles for all of
his favorite things, Star
Wars, Marvel Comics,
Muppets. You name, Joe
worked on it. After many
years of the 9*- 5 grind,
Joe left the full time
world behind to carve his
own path as an artist and
designer. Based out of
Southern California, Joe
founded Design Devil and
set the toy industry on
fire. (Not really, that
just sounded cool.) He did
however quickly make a
name for himself working
with clients such as
Hasbro, Mattel and Disney
to design and develop
innovative new toys. Now
after 14 years, Joe and
Design Devil are still
lighting fires and having
fun doing it.
- Ken
Lilly - Ken Lilly
had disappeared from the
public side of the toy
industry for quite a
while, spending most of
his time since 2009
focusing on the Special
Needs of his youngest son,
working a little as a
freelance illustrator,
writer, product
photographer, graphic and
product designer and
product manager under the
company name Creatus
Maximus. Now he's been
brought back into the fold
by Jerry Macaluso to work,
as he likes to call it, as
a Creative Development
Gunzerker, for Pop
Culture Shock
Collectibles, doing
some product design, art
direction, factory
communication and
'anything else Jerry needs
me to do!' He was briefly
the Director of Product
Development for a
short-lived company called
The MVP Collection, a
company created in late
2008 to produce NFL Mini
Busts where, much to the
chagrin of the long*- time
Ravens fan, they released
one product, based on
Pittsburgh Steelers Strong
Safety Troy Polamalu. But
Ken is probably best known
for his work as the
VP/Director of Product
Development for Palisades
Toys, where he was the
main community liaison and
creative force behind many
product lines including
G.I. Joe &
Transformers Statues
&Busts, Invader Zim,
Adult Swim, Resident Evil
and the extremely popular
figures and play sets
based on Jim Henson's The
Muppet Show. Prior tot hat
he was part of a team of
Product Managers from the
long defunct toy company
ReSaurus, working on
classic toy lines like
Duke Nukem, Quake, Street
Fighter, Crash Bandicoot,
Sonic the Hedgehog, and
the much*- anticipated but
sadly canceled Badlands
and Magic the Gathering
action figures and play
sets.
- Kat
Sapene has been a
prototype painter for the
toy industry since 1999.
Kat has painted everything
from Disney characters to
monsters, from action
figures to statues and
busts. She was head
painter at SOTA toys for a
number of years before
deciding to try work as a
freelancer. She now runs
her own studio, WAK!
Toys, with the help
of her cat who dutifully
wears a tie to work
everyday.
- Eamon
O’Donoghue is a
freelance illustrator and
designer which includes
toy design and packaging.
He is mostly recognised by
his fantasy and science
fiction book covers for
the worlds top publishers
and last but not least
hisluscious pinup art
which has gained him some
notoriety in some corners
of pop culture fandom!
Since the original Masters
of the Universe at age
eight, Eamon hasn’t really
stopped collecting and his
passion for action figures
doesn’t seem to be slowing
down with his extensive
collection of Hot Toys and
Masters of the Universe
Classics and hosting The
Hottoycast.
- Jeremy
Sung is President
and Head Designer of Spy
Monkey Creations Inc.
Founded in 1999, Spy
Monkey Creations Products
include the Spy Monkey
Armory, The Weaponeers of
Monkaa, and Battle Tribes:
Weapons & Warriors, a
2.5" fantasy action figure
line that hearkens back to
the classic toys of the
1980's. In
2018 Spy Monkey launched
their newest expansion of
Battle Tribes; BTW -
Battle Tribes Wrestling.
- Hugo
Dourado may be
better known as
grungethemovie on figurerealm
for his awesome custom
figures and not for
writing in the third
person about himself. He's
also worked as concept
artist and 3d modeler (and
2d animator back in pixel
times) in video games and
animation, and would
absolutely love to work in
the Toy Industry. I don't
believe anyone will read
this, but if you happen to
be reading go check my,
uh, i mean his facebook
page.
- Guillermo
Barbiero is a
sculptor and graphic
designer from Argentina.
He has his roots in
traditional sculpture and
Fine Arts. Currently he is
working with the latest
digital tools, without
putting aside the
techniques of the old
school. In 2008 he joined
forces with Martin
Canale’s GoreGroup,
designing characters and
sculpting amazing figures
for Sideshow Collectibles.
- John
Harmon is an
action figure customizer
of Mint
Condition Customs.
He has been customizing
professionally sincy 2007.
His work has been featured
on various sites such as
io9, Geekologie, and even
Bloody Disgusting. He's
created custom action
figures for famed comic
book writer Peter David,
and has created movie
props and figures for
independent films. John is
also an avid toy
collector, perhaps his
favorite collection being
his DC Universe Classics
figures, of which is
nearly complete.
Customizing is his full
time job, yet he still
hopes to someday work in
some capacity for a toy
company. You can find his
entire custom action
figure catalog at http://www.mintconditioncustom.com
-
Artist Dayton
"sith_fire30" Allen
suffers from habitual
creativity (HB). HB is
defined as “the
intrinsically creative
nature of customary
action, reflected in the
way habits adjust to
dynamic contexts, the way
they are used, combined
and ultimately perfected.”
He is a Graphic Designer
for a manufacturing
company by day, a fine
arts enthusiast, a sci*-
fi movie geek and all
around imaginative person.
By night, he's creating
toys, custom action
figures and dioramas to be
more precise. He began
many years ago doing
simple repaints and minor
custom tweaks to store
bought figures. Today, he
builds his own *-
from the articulated
frame, the sculpting, all
the way down to the last
paint stroke *- what
you see are original,
one*- of*- a*- kind
creations. Check out his
library of work on his
FLICKR Photostream
*- sith_fire30
*- or simply do a
search for him on Google.
- Ray
Alma: A
graduate of the School of
Visual Arts where he
majored in Cartooning. A
caricaturist and humorous
illustrator, Ray's work
has appeared in magazines,
newspapers, books and on
TV. Ray is a contributor
to Mad magazine, earning
him the status of one of
"The Usual Gang of
Idiots".
The last few years have
seen Ray venture into the
world of animation and
storyboarding where he
worked on an updated
version of "Speed Racer",
Disney Kid's "Transformer
Rescue Bots" and
Showtime's "Our Cartoon
President"
Ray won the National
Cartoonist Society Reuben
award for Best Magazine
Illustration – 2009 and
has had his original
artwork hung in numerous
art galleries including
the Museum of Comic and
Cartoon art.
Ray has returned to his
alma-mater as an
instructor in the
Animation Department at
the School of Visual Arts.
Over the last few years
Ray has been involved in
volunteering his talent to
help brighten the lives of
those that are
recuperating from life
threatening medical
procedures. He is a
director in The Ink Well
Foundation – a group of
cartoonists and artists
that travel to pediatric
wards to draw for sick
children. In 2010 Ray
became active volunteering
for the USO. He has made
numerous trips to various
Veteran’s Hospitals across
the country and has
traveled abroad to draw
for our troops. In this
capacity as an entertainer
for the USO, Ray has gone
to Germany, Kuwait,
Turkey, Kosovo,
Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, and most
recently, Afghanistan.
In his spare time Ray
enjoys collecting and
customizing action
figures. Much to his
wife's chagrin, he's
amassed a large collection
of vintage and modern
G.I.Joes, dinosaurs and
super heroes.
-
Other Artist Judges
include Tim
Bruckner, Bill
Mancuso, Jim
Maddox, Brian
T. Stevenson, Tim
Miller, Mark
James Hiblen, Allen
Bradley Freeman,
and Joseph
Dunaway.
|
|
Retailers:
Without
retailers to sell the
stuff, there'd be a whole
lot less to buy. In
fact, that's one of the
current issues for the
industry, as fewer and
fewer retailers carry the
figures, statues and busts
we love. These 13
judges represent some of
the best known specialty
and mass market retailers,
from small to large.
- Marc
Bowker is the
owner of AlterEgoComics.com
and the Alter Ego Comics
retail store in Lima,
Ohio. Launched in 2003,
Alter Ego is an
award-winning shop staffed
by a small, passionate
group of collectors.
Marc's a longtime
collector of Star Trek:
TOS and Indiana Jones
items.
- Lee
Ward opened
The
Good The Bad and The
Robots in November
2009 with a business
partner and has enjoyed
every minute of offering a
personal service and
chatting to collectors.
Although he is based in
the UK, his European wings
are spreading.
He started
collecting Star Wars
figures in 1980 followed
by Action Force,
Transformers, Thundercats
and He*- man. (He really
wishes he still had them).
He took an interest in
statues approx 8 years ago
but is more ofa fan of
1:6th these days. He is
also a semi pro magician
and has a real passion for
magic.
- Michael
Shah is the owner
of on*- line retailer,
Mikes Comics N Stuff,
an on*- line retail store
that specializes in Doctor
Who, DC action figures,
and whatever else catches
Mike's eye. An avid
and life*- long comic book
collector *- he
still has his first comic
book he bought off the
newsstand, Avengers #158,
buried somewhere in his
collection *- he
finally decided to take
his 30 years of comic book
and action figure
collecting knowledge and
pursue his dream of
opening a comic book
related collectible
business.
- Troy
Emmi is the owner
of Fanboy
Collectibles. He has
been collecting comic books
all of his life. Like most
young collectors, he started
with action figures. This
would eventually lead to
statues and mini*- busts, of
which Star Wars and comic
book related fill the
majority of his collection.
Over the past few years he
has also began acquiring
original pages of comic book
art and commissions by a
varied number or artists.
Now with a retail and online
store he gets to spend his
days dealing with fellow
collectors.
- Steven
Loney is the
founder and CEO of Toynk.com. Toynk
is a toy, collectible and
costume company
specializing in licensed
popculture related
products. Toynk
markets/distributes its
product library worldwide
through various online,
convention and wholesale
channels. Toynk is also
involved in the creation,
development, and
manufacturing of similar
licensed and non*-
licensed products through
its subsidiary company,
Locoape, LLC and
Incogneato, LLC. Toynk's
primary warehouse is based
in Addison, IL. Toynk also
has a warehouse in
Adelaide, Australia.
- Randy
Herkowitz is
one half of the duo:
KNERDOUT! An action
figure, toy and movie
webcast on YouTube.
In addition, Randy has
been selling toys for
decades as Primetoystore,
specializing in anything
1980’s. You can find
him on Youtube, Instagram,
Twitter & Facebook at
KNERDOUT (the K is
silent). Get it?
- S.R.
Kheas - Kheas
has been in the
collectibles industry for
a decade working with
comics and action figures
for much of his
career. Having
worked for several major
retailers over the years,
Kheas has been involved
with many of the top toy
and collectibles
manufacturers in addition
many comic book publishers
during this time
. In his spare
time, when he and his wife
are not taking care of
their dogs, Kheas writes
for the blog www.latetothegame.blog
where he covers everything
from movies, tv series and
music, occasionally
touching on a new figure
from time to time. He is
also an avid collector and
kitbasher of 1/6 scale
figures.
Other
retailer judges include Adam
Stinson
(Capstone Comics), Thomas
Gaul
(CornerStoreComics), Kit
Chen
(OneSixthKit), Steve
Anne (Walgreens),
Wyatt Edwards
(Fun.com), Paul
Sheppard
(ToyOrigin).
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Collectors:
In the end,
it's the buyers that
decide what gets made and
what doesn't. They
vote with the money in
their wallet, and smart
companies and retailers
listen. I selected
25 collectors that I feel
are opinionated,
respected, and
experienced. Some
are collectors of very
specific lines, while
others buy just about
anything, but they all
know the industry well.
- One of the
top toy experts in the
country, Mark
Bellomo has
written a number of
bestselling books on toys
and popular culture, and
consults for TV and movies
where readers may view him
on Netflix's The Toys
That Made Us, Amazon
Prime's Batteries Not
Included, and
YouTube's Collectible
Spectacle.
- Jeff
Parker aka
Wookster, a onetime
freelance illustrator and
designer whose work has
graced everything from BBC
television titles through
to a burlesque/fetish
artist’s logo. He now
works for Merlin Magic
Making as a creative lead
in the visitor attractions
sector as an experiential
designer!
Though it
has to be said toy
collecting remains one of
his passions. He’s
interested in all areas of
pop culture and has a
virtual OCD for collecting
high*- end 1/6 scale
figures… a sickness he can
give it up anytime…
ANYTIME!
- Guy
Klender - A Los
Angeles based toy
collector, he moved to
California ten years ago
and brought his love of
toys to the sunny state.
He lucked out with a
collectors show or a major
show, i.e. SDCC nearly
every week so the lust for
toys is easy to nourish.
He started years back with
the new STAR WARS line and
it all grew from there. He
gained recognition as a
toy collector with the
film STARWOIDS that made
for a fun time at shows
with the occasional
autograph and he did
receive a fan letter as
well. He moved on to the
higher end products and
Sideshow Collectibles sees
his bank statement nearly
as often as he does. He
loves finding the rarity
or the obscure toy that he
may not have known of but
for some reason must have.
It's a wacky life sure but
he wouldn’t trade it for
anything in the
world….except for a 12
back vinyl caped Jawa
perhaps.
- Monte
Williams has
photographed action
figures in Northern
California, in and atop
the Snake River Canyon in
Twin Falls, Idaho, at
Stonehenge and Windsor
Castle, along the shores
of the uninhabited Dahret
Island on the RedSea, in
Istanbul, in Asmara,
Eritrea and, most
recently, in Lahore,
Pakistan.
- Josh
Long: Computer
Technology Teacher/Avid
Collector. Josh has
collecting something in
some form for as long as
he can remember. When he
was a kid, he was very big
into sports cards of all
the major sports but one
athlete in particular.
That athlete was Michael
Jordan. During his playing
career he hit nearly 2,000
different cards filling
multiple books and shelves
so they could all be
displayed. After he
retired the second time,
Josh decided to take a
break from collecting but
he didn'tknow what he
would find that he was so
into.
In 2003, just about the
time Return Of The King
was going to be hitting
the big screen, he found a
little site called
Sideshow Collectibles.
Josh saw all the various
statues from the movies
and kicked himself for not
having found them sooner.
He didn't waste any time
getting into it though
going back and getting
several that he had missed
and getting his Pre*-
Orders for ones that where
still to come.
At one point, Josh was
very close to having all
the Sideshow/Weta statues
but had to sell off
several of them to take
care of adult
responsibilities. Now,
that he has taken care of
those he has slowly
rebuilt his Middle*- earth
collection. Thanks to the
great products from
Sideshow, Weta, The Bridge
Direct, and Gentle Giant
he has a collection he can
truly drool over.
In April of
2011 he joined the staff
of The
One Ring.Net and has
been writing the
collecting column there
called, "Collecting the
Precious". Through his
countless reviews he
covers much of the comings
and goings dealing with
Middle*- Earth related
collectibles.
- Jason
Jerde (TCM Hitchhiker) is
a professional toy
photographer who has been
collecting toys since
1986, 2016 being his 30th
anniversary of toy
collecting. He collects
vintage and modern toys of
all scales and styles from
many different properties,
as well as both loose
and/or MOC/MIB, depending
on the line.
- John
Morey aka
"Ridureyu" is
a writer and editor
who has been collecting
toys ever since he
received his first pack of
M.U.S.C.L.E.s on his
fourth birthday. He
founded the first American
site based on Kinnikuman,
which became Little Rubber
Guys under different
ownership. He mostly
collects obscure or
small-scale toys, but
enjoys just about
anything. He
currently writes Life In
Plastic, a regular
toy-collecting column at Nerditis.
*- Brian
Ashmore is an
illustrator and avid toy
geek. Brian has
produced illustrations for
many companies including
Marvel and DC
Comics. His "toy
heart" is firmly planted
in the nostalgic past with
the toys of his childhood
(Megos, Evel Knievel,
Kenner Star Wars, Six
Million Dollar Man) but he
continues to collect many
pieces from modern toy
lines, as well. He
is still struggling with
the idea that a new Batman
or Star Wars action figure
can cost over $200. Check
out his work at his
website here!
- Adrian
Faulkner is former
Editor*- In*- Chief and
owner of Action*-
Figure. He has written
for ToyFare, Memorabilia
Magazine and Action Figure
& Toy Collector.
His debut Urban Fantasy
novel, The Four Realms, was
published in 2012 by Anarchy
Books. Adrian lives in
Berkshire, England and in
his spare time is one of the
country's leading
geocachers. You can
find out more details at http://www.adrianfaulkner.com
- Will
Ripamonti is an
Indie comic
book artist/Illustrator,
he's mostly a 6" scale
collector (Star Wars being
the exception to the rule)
with a pretty decent
Batman collection he's
very proud of.
Will lives in Italy, in a
nice little house in the
woods... where no one can
hear you scream.
- Matthew
Kaplowitz -
Editor-in-Chief of NerdNewsToday.com
since 2011, a website
dedicated to all levels of
nerdom ranging from
comics, movies, video
games, and of course,
toys. He is also the
Editor-in-Chief of TheFightNerd.com,
an MMA (mixed-martial
arts) news website, which
has been in operation
since 2009. Outside of his
blogging efforts,
Kaplowitz works in TV
& Film, and has a
documentary out, "Girl
Fight: A Muay Thai Story",
which has been a selection
in seven film festivals.
- Kevin
Clarkson is a
collector from the UK, who
much like many kids of the
80s cut their teeth on a
staple diet of Hasbro,
Kenner & Mattel
offerings during a decade
of inspired merchandise
based toys such as Star
Wars, MOTU, TMNT and
Transformers. It wasn¹t
until the early noughties
in adulthood when he
started collecting again,
buying 6² figures that
interested him and Gentle
Giant mini-busts and
statues. These days his
collection and focus is
primarily 1/6 scale
articulated figures from
high end companies such as
Hot Toys. But being a
father of two young
children means his eye has
recently been drawn once
again to the entry level
end of the market. Kevin
is a well established
member of many 1/6 social
media groups/forums and
also runs his own group
specialising in assisting
collectors interested in
learning more about 1/6
scale toy photography.
- Shahzad
Bhiwandiwala is
a 25 year old toy
photographer from Mumbai,
India. He is among the few
toy photographers from
India and has been
photographing action
figures for a little over
2 years.
What got him interested in
shooting action figures
was the fact that he could
combine his love for
photography and all things
geeky into one epic
passion and hobby. The
ability to create your own
story and mythology for
characters you have grown
up with is a truly surreal
feeling.
Over the last 2 years he
was fortunate to have had
his work noticed by
various companies and
getting to collaborate
with Sphero, Kotobukiya,
Asmus Collectibles,
Herocross, Beast Kingdom,
Storm Collectibles, ACI
Toys, Devil Toys, DiD,
Mighty Jaxx, BlackOps
Toys, Ori Toys *-
Acid Rain, GTP Toys and
IHNS Toys to name a few.
He is also a part of the
team over at Exclu
Collective and a former
contributor to the
erstwhile Stuck in
Plastic. He has been
interviewed on toy
photography by BuzzFeed
India, Indian Express -
EdEx and Men’s World
Magazine.
His work can be found on
Instagram and Facebook
under the account name
SBPhotographs1.
- Ken
Davis - A
cartoonist and storyboard
artist for TV animation
for over 32 years, Ken has
been a collector for just
as long. He's worked
on numerous projects, such
as Ren & Stimpy,
Freakazoid, Mummies Alive,
Action Man, Wing Commander
Academy, Reboot, and many
others. He's been a
animation studio
co-founder and co-owner
and an instructor at
several film schools in
Western Canada.
A detail and
articulation-junkie, he's
collected at least
something from every major
action figure line over
the past 50+years, with
the exception of Wrestling
figures. Because sweaty
people are just....weird.
- Daamon
“GeneralZodLives” Bintz
started actively
collecting comic books and
toys in grade school in
the early 80’s. His
collection has evolved
over the past few decades
to include comic books,
art prints and giclees,
action figures and statues
of every scale, prop
replicas, and even a Star
Trek: The Next Generation
pinball machine. He
runs Collection Stash, a
community-maintained
database site that allows
you to keep a record of
your collectibles,
provides a Price Guide,
and lets you share your
collection with other
collectors. He’s
been a member of several
collectibles forums over
the years and is currently
a moderator at primegeekcollectors.com.
For the past four years,
he’s attended San Diego
Comic Con and shared
thousands of pictures of
the collectibles at the
convention on the forums.
-
Other Collector Judges
include Joseph
Dunnigan, Jason
Chirevas, Matt
Guzy, Kenneth
Yu, Markwin
Chuah (OneSixthRepublic),
Greg
Iacono, Chris
Karukas,Chris
Lawrence, Devan
Danzig Silva, Alex
McPhee, and Mike
Kelley.
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And there you have the
146 judges for 2018!
I'll be looking to expand
this group of judges in
2018, so if you or a
colleague are interested,
please drop me an email.
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Please share
with your friends!
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