Howdy Ramrodkid! Welcome to the Ranch, been out on the Range, or I would have welcomed ya sooner! I reckon you'll find the Ranch, a great place to kick off yer boots & talk Johnny West; you'll find some really enthusiastic, creative, & down right great folks here, who all share the common bond,,,Johnny West! Lookin' forward to seein' those pix from yer mom's photo album! Sadly only 1 pix exists of anythin' to do with Johnny from my childhood,(that's a pix of my sis & I X-mas mornin' 67, on the floor in front of sis, is her new Thundercolt, & Janice!) it's okay though, cuz I remember like it was yesterday, that right after that pix was taken, I opened Johnny, & Thunderbolt! Like ya said, as with many of us, our treasured collections, were handed down, lost in the dunes of the sands of time!
It was only a couple years ago, for me, that I began collectin' again! I too, played with G.I. Joes, Captain Action & Dr. Evil, Major Matt Mason, etc., etc., however, (beyond some custom heads, & some Saloon Girls figures, & Costumes, by Amy; I've tried to limit myself, to Johnny West, and the Fort Apache Fighters, & of coarse, Terri & Noah's Circle X Ranch Marxman Bros. Creations; their figures, are stellar! Why limit? Cuz Johnny was the guy who helped birth this imagination of mine, as well as turned me into a fan of all things "Western," since I was a kid! In fact, my collection of Western Movies, is 2nd only to, my Johnny West collection!
I got my little sister a Covered Wagon & Jane, Janice, & Josie, & Thunderbolt, a really nice starter set, for her 47th birthday a few years back! I scored it on eBay & was thrilled to give it to her,,, but not half as thrilled as she was to get it!!! She raved about it for months! With that set had come a chewed up Johnny, which I'd held back! Every time I looked at the chewed up Johnny, I wondered, what fate my childhood collection had met! One by one I started gatherin' figures I'd had as a kid, until I had most of the major players! Besides bein' the best freelance gig this artist ever had; getting to do the Johnny West Circle X Ranch Coloring Book, for Terri, gave me the excuse I needed, to acquire all the figures in the collection!
The reason bein' I employed an old Disney technique in doing the illustrations! Starting with photo shoots, of the figures, in action!!! Pretty good excuse eh!? It worked for me! Then 1 thing led to another as things always do, I've been havin' a blast buildin' a sellin' "Old West," building facades/diorama/playsets, & customized wagons ever since!!!
I invite ya to check out a couple photbucket albums I've created, to archive the the dozens of buildings , Customized/Retrofitted Marx Wagons, most of what you'll see has gone to a handful of collectors, around the country, some of whom are Ranchers! Be prepared, however, to spend some time in Johnny West land; cuz, the 1st album is just over 1000 pix,,, the 2nd link, is a Cannon & Limber Wagon, project I'm still workin' on!!! But as it has progressed, I've begun work on a Fort Apache facade/playset, to display the Cannons, when they are done! A few months back now, I decided, to start doing multiples, of everything I'm doing, so that I get to keep 1 !
That's just the tip of the haystack, as far as ideas for Johnny West related projects; don't get me started!
Of coarse, one of those ideas, has for a while been, doing some Johnny West featurette films! I've actually got some story boards etc., in the works, but haven't shot anything yet, (although that's part of the reason for the archive as well, cux lots of them can be used as stills, or pans, etc.! ) I'm just now, as mentioned, startin' to do multiples, soze I can have a town of my own!!! Which I'll use as the set! Ya gotta have some fun, am I right!?
Speakin' of fun,,, wait til ya'll see what else I've been workin' on lately!! Multiples,,, I just finished 3 Blacksmith Forge & Bellows sets, & I'm about to finish 4 Gallos sets!!! I'll be doin' a proper photo shoot, soon, when I do, I'll let ya'll know! So the attached, is a teaser!
here's the link to that album!
s149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/Mykol-707/Johnny%20West%20Dioramas%20with%20my%20Old%20West%20Buildings/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16
here's the link to The Cannon Project album!
s149.photobucket.com/albums/s52/Mykol-707/Johnny%20West%20Dioramas%20with%20my%20Old%20West%20Buildings/The%20%20One%20Sixth%20Scale%20Cannon%20Project/ I'm really havin' fun with that project,,, like I said, earlier, about 1 thing leadin' to another; when I had all 3 cannons built, I realized, I had to do it up right, & do Limber Wagons!!( I've since realized, after gettin' some Cannon reference books, that I need to modify, the design of the undercarriage of the Cannon, to be more accurate, the the era, of the Fort Apache Fighters!) Havin' to do Limber Wagons led me on an eBay quest, for wheeled Brown Thunderbolts!!! Having to figure out a way, to beef up the original Marx Wagon Wheels, led me to Magic Sculpt, which in turn led me to my experiments, in head customization/modification!!! Sure has been a fun ride!!!
Well,,, I reckon I've rambled on long enough ,,, enjoy the pix, let me know what ya think!! Oh yeah,,, & since I mentioned it, here's a link to the Johnny West Circle X Ranch Colorin' Book! I think you'd get a kick out of it!
www.createspace.com/3446186 Here's a link to Terri's blog, where ya can see the cover painting a little larger, and 3 sample interior illustrations!!
readinrittinrhetoric.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-am-proud-pleased-to-present.html Once again, welcome, to the Ranch,,, I've said it b4, & I'll say it again, pardon my enthusiasm!! Adios Compadre! Mykol
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