Zinggia! Custom Unbreakable Mr. Glass Action Figure, Samuel L Jackson doll

Our Custom Unbreakable Mr. Glass Action Figure

Alison & Jason 10/02/2014 25260 art, Custom action figure

I’m notoriously bad at getting Jason Christmas presents. Every year I think I’ve nailed it and have finally gotten him something amazing and cool. And every year I fail. Like the year I got him a t-shirt of a monkey on a toilet holding an ice pick saying “Go bananas.” I’m not sure why he was holding an ice pick instead of a banana, but it was hard not to make the split decision to purchase that gem. Jason was perplexed to say the least.

Years ago I came up with the PERFECT gift. I put together a case filled with everything he’d need to customize his own action figures since he’s a big toy collector…files, modeling compound, dremels… and a Samuel L. Jackson Unbreakable Mr. Glass head. It was an unpainted, sculpted head I found on Ebay. Jason dubbed him “Butter Head” since it looked like he was carved out of butter. The case was a big hit. He declared that I finally got him an awesome present. Then the case sat untouched in the basement for years.

Jason’s toy customization kit is made from an 80’s cassette tape case. Sweet.

Until I decided to make him another cool Christmas gift (after all, I had to make up for the box of packaging tape I gave him the year before for Christmas). So I made him a custom Mr. Glass action figure!!!

I did a bit of research to figure out how to proceed and won a few auctions for bits and pieces to compile Mr. Glass. The main components were a 12″ GI Joe body and a vintage Wheelchair Becky Barbie Doll wheelchair. The pants and boots came with the Joe figure, but I made the coat and shirt by hand. The coat is a soft purple fabric on the inside and a black satin on the outside, complete with pockets to stash his comics in. I found a glass cocktail drink stirrer at a flea market and molded the top and bottom of the cane to it. And of course I hand painted his face, hands, and wheelchair.

Speaking of the comics, I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t realize Action Comics were real. I assumed that was just fictional for the movie. So instead of going to google to grab comic images, I watched Unbreakable, then paused the movie so I could take a photograph of the TV screen so that I could print out tiny duplicates of the actual comics from the movie. I feel a bit daft and old school knowing there was probably an easier way to do that, and perhaps the quality would be better too, but hey, Jason liked it all the same. And the process of making the mini comics still amuses him.

“This is an art gallery, my friend, and this is a piece of art.”

I wasn’t done being clever after I finished the figure. A Limited Edition card was taped to a purple wrapped box with the figure inside. So I think this is the best present I’ve ever gotten Jason at this point. Although it would’ve been cooler if he had been surprised. He kinda figured what I was up to when 1. We watched Unbreakable the week before, 2. I purchased purple and black fabric the next day, 3. I had ebay packages delivered that he wasn’t allowed to see.

Tagged: art, custom action figure , pop culture art , toy