NAME: Joe Hanus
CM: Any Personal Info you are willing to share: (married? Kids? Pets? Occupation? Where from? Other hobbies,/Interests?).
JH: Married 16 years, four dogs- two ShihTzus, a Yorkie mix and a Schnauzer. I'm a Gardens Supervisor at Historic Bok Sanctuary in FLA. Originally from Toluca Illinois, transplanted to FLA in 83.
CM: How did you get started collecting mego?
JH: Little kid memory's a bit foggy, but pretty sure my Grandma got me all four solid box WGSH at the Amana Illinois Sears.
CM: What is your favorite original mego figure and line?
JH: WGSH RC Bats and line would be WGSH
CM: What is, in your opinion, the biggest "hole" in mego's original lines. (what figure or figure line is missing that should have been done).
JH: More DC figures such as GL, Flash, and Super Foes for all the heroes.
CM: What motivated you to start customizing?
JH: Hasbro's DC9 line really brought back the Mego feeling for me, then they cancelled it!!! In searching for customs on ebay, I ran into Brian Leitner's DC9 style Flash. I contacted him, bought a resin Flash head and kept on going from there. If I would have known at the time there were all these sources for Mego repro stuff, I would have done that scale. Now I have over a hundred customs and I'm not going to change scales.
CM: You work primarily in a 9" format, very similar to Mego. What are it's advantages and disadvantages compared with Mego?
JH: The big dissadvantage is the difficulty in taking the bodies apart. The heads and gloves and boots are glued on. Luckily Hasbro's glue degrades pretty fast. The big plus for me are the hands, I really like them, and I think if Mego stuck around they might have added this feature.
CM: What was your first custom?
JH: It was the Flash, and I don't have a pic of the original, but I do of the upgraded one.
CM: How did it come out? (looking back on it now)
JH: Pretty good, the upgrade was mostly because I cheesed out on the boots and used the clunky FC boots.
CM: What have you done/learned that has improved your customizing skills?
JH: SEWING!! I've started doing some sculpting to existing heads.
CM: What areas of customizing is your strongest points, or favorite things to do?
JH: I've recently started doing stuff where I get away from the generic design of the character, that's my favorite. I've been leaning more and more towards a movie serial vibe. Strong points for me are sewing and painting.
CM: What resources make it easier for you as a customizer? (is there a source for parts? Information? Etc. that aids you more than anything else?).
JH: The megomuseum custom forum has opened up new techniques and ideas. Resin head casters like Leitner, Austin, Vince Callaghan and Fred. The discovery of after market 1/6th places like Monkeydepot really helped me get more detail into the figures.
CM: What is your favorite custom you've done and do you think it's your best work? If not, what do you think is your best work?
JH: My Favorite is a tie between Hellboy and my latest Batman. Austin says Metamorpho is my best, so I'll go with that. I do plan on revamping him a bit.
CM: Why do you choose the projects you choose?
JH: I started out doing all DC silver age stuff to fit in with the Hasbro line. Now I lean towards stuff that is more classic in comic book sense. I don't go for guys like Spawn or the Punisher all that much. I have been considering a Cable based on Ladronn's run on the book, tho.
CM: What are your favorite customs others have done and why?
JH: Leitner and Nick Robinson got me going in the 9 inch direction. Can't think of any specific customs, but guys like Captain Mego and Type 3 Toys really get me. I also love the strict Mego customizers like Austin, his printed suits really make the customs look like they fell right out of a Mego truck. Lately a guy named Glorbes that does Marvel Legends scale has really got me going off in new directions.
CM: What is on your "to do" list in the near future?
JH: Finishing the Challengers of the Unknown, Bane, and other assorted foes for my Serial style Batman and Robin. Maybe a Kirby-esque Cable. Amazing Screw On Head.
CM: How do you think customizing affects the mego collecting hobby?
JH: I think Mego collecting spawned customizing in the less than 12 inch format. Most adult collectors wish Mego would have done Dr. Doom, Green Lantern, or Sulu, so they customize them, or buy customs of them.
CM: Any tips or words of customizing advise to new customizers?
JH: Be patient and don't give up if it looks like crap the first time. use the MM customizing brain trust, they are the best around.
CM: Do you sell custom figures or parts? If so, why?
JH: I sell figures when people just ask about them, but I don't actively sell on ebay.
CM: What does your family/friends think of your mego custom work/hobby?
JH: My dad thinks its cool. The wife would like it more if I made R.E.M. dolls for her. My schnauzer when he was a puppy really liked the taste of them.
CM: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Joe!