Name: Laurie Halbritter
CM: Any Personal Info you are willing to share: (Occupation? Where from? Other hobbies/interests?)
LH: I have a fine art background in painting and have been employed at various things including graphics, teaching, and woodworking. Currently I take care of my grandmother and make money I can on the internet selling vintage toys (http://www.toyfanatic.com/ and eBay). It allows me to work at home and be there for my grandmother.
A number of years ago, I discovered eBay and was toying with the idea of selling my childhood stuff (including my Mego figures). However, once I started nosing around online, my appetite for toys overcame me and I started collecting again. As an adult, I was able to find all of the stuff I wanted as a kid but couldn't have-such as a lot of the horror figures that I wasn't able to obtain. Collecting is a sickness, really. But I love my dollies.
I also like to paint, turn wood, and do resin horror Super-deformed kits. I have too many hobbies really. But at least I'm never bored.
CM: How did you get started collecting Mego?
LH: I collected them as a young child (starting in probably first or second grade). My friend Kevin Allmand down the street also collected them and we would get together and play. Probably my Batman accessories are still lost in his house in a floor crack in the attic. I kept all of them and saved all of the boxes. When I went to college, I threw out the opened cards, however. I sort of regret that. I was fairly retentive and kept them neatly packed in a cabinet. So they survived pretty well.
CM: What is your favorite original Mego figure and line?
LH: I collected super-heroes, Mad Monsters, Wizard of Oz, Western, Robin Hood and a couple of other offbeat figures. My first Mego was an Action Jackson that I ordered from of a Honey Combs Cereal offer. My second was Shazam. I also collected AHI monsters. It's hard to pick a favorite figure and line. I loved the DC characters. What they lacked in terms of likenesses, they more than made up for in sweetness. Batman and Shazam were among my favorites. However, being the big horror fan that I am and was, I really loved my Mad Monsters. I especially loved the Wolfman with his dog-like head (which was not so characteristic of Wolfman at that time).
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?)
LH: More monsters like B-Movie ones (like that would happen then). And I really wish they had made more female characters-- and also, that they had made them more in keeping with the male characters (in terms of realism). For instance, how would a heroine even stand up on tiny feet like that-let alone kick as*? And wouldn't the gigantic heads cause them to topple over in real life? The non-hero lines could have benefited from more girls as well. As an adult, I've come to appreciate the dolly-like quality of the girls and I have a complete collection of heroines. However, as a kid, I thought they were hideous and I wouldn't touch them.
CM: What motivated you to start customizing?
LH: Given my artistic inclinations, it was probably inevitable once it occurred to me to do it. I didn't modify my dolls as a kid. I did however, make monster puppets and heads out of clay. About the time I started collecting Mego figures again (in my adult life), I discovered the Mego Museum and the cool customs that people were making there. Matt Jaycox was especially inspiring as he was creating a lot of the horror figures I would've loved to have.
CM: What was your first custom (and do you have a pic)?
LH:I think I worked on Morbius and Nosferatu at the same time. Both have heads I sculpted out of Sculpey and both had minimally sewn/modified outfits. It was really difficult to sculpt at that scale (and still is actually).
CM: How did it come out (looking back on it now) ?
LH: Morbius--a bit childish but Sweet -close to the original Mego vein. Both my sculpting and sewing sews have improved a fair amount since then. I'm modifying the Nosferatu head as I like the simplicity of it.
CM: What have you done/learned that has improved your customizing skills?
LH: Learning to sew has been huge, as has improving my sculpting skills.
CM: What areas of customizing are your strongest points, or favorite things to do?
LH: Painting heads and sculpting are my favorite parts. I sew fairly well but that's my least favorite part of customizing. Designing/layout out suits is a very tedious process and I get a bit impatient with it. I tend to make several outfits and tailor them to fit as I go, keeping the best one. It's painful. However, when I'm done, a nice fitting suit is very satisfying.
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?)
LH: The most important thing for me was finding quality boots and shoes for figures. The rest can be hand-made or modified. I like Classic TV Toys and Castaway boots. I deal both on my website, in fact.
Because I am sometimes lazy about sewing, I've bought/traded with BL many occasions because I love his hand-made suits. I also like his Mego-style heads. His customs have a connection to the original Mego figures that I really like-especially to the "sweetness" of the original DC heroes.
A lot of people now make really cool heads so I've made customs using other people's work including: Dave Mc, TY, CL, MJ and others.
I didn't grow up learning how to sew so I made good use of the tutorials Matt Jaycox contributed to the Mego Museum. I hand-stitched some suits and actually learned a lot about putting them together by taking clothes apart with a seam ripper. There used to be some Famous Covers websites that were helpful too.
I learned how to cast resin from various sources on the internet, as well as experimentation (and, unfortunately, ruining a few things).
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?
LH: I like different aspects of different pieces. The Cyclops was one of my earlier works and still one of my faves. I'm also fond of my recent Brain That Wouldn't Die Pinhead (and friend Jan). Pinhead and Cyclops were custom sculpts cast in resin. Jan was a modified head cast in resin. I got a kick out of making a monster in pajamas and a custom figure without a body. It's one of my favorite B movies.
CM: Why do you choose the projects you choose?
LH: It's what the spirit moves me to do. Sometimes it's a horror character I wished for. I like doing girl figures but need to devote more time to it. Sometimes, I look at a head or an outfit, and it reminds me of something. I found a head that looked somewhat like my cousin, so I decided to make a Dennis doll.
Most of the time, I have too many projects going at once and it takes me a long time to finish stuff as a result.
CM: What are your favorite customs others have done and why?
It's hard to narrow it down because I like so much that is out there. I've always loved Matt Jaycox's work (and also have a lot of figures that he gave me). I like his Monster from Hell, his new Chris Lee Frank and his Teenage Frankenstein a lot. I like Brian Leitner's Ms. Marvel (and am fortunate to own one). She is so sweet and her seventies curled hair is to die for. Alberto Malnati has a wonderful spirit to his work (which he cranks out like rabbit babies). His new Midnight and Hootie set are awfully sweet. His customs have a wonderful "hand-madeness" to them. Todd Waters Vampirella is pretty hot. I really dig Todd's work and the way he is able to transform things. I like the Star Trek figures that Dave Mc and Captain Dunsel have worked on, including their girl dolls (with cool sculpted hair). Troy Younger's Shazam and everything else he does is impressive. He sculpts his heads all from scratch and is very meticulous. David Lee's Punisher is awfully cool. His work is always very clean and professional looking. Jason Schiermeyer has a painterly technique (more akin to model-making) that is interesting. He posted a cool Lizard at the Museum recently. Black Knight has been doing some really impressive figures and seems to be headed down a very unique path. His work is very fastidious and the end products look like prototypes. His new Stryker, with multiple arms is a real killer. Don C. from Canada is not very public but he does nice work. If you haven't seen his bunny custom from Snowbuni, it's very impressive, as is his other work. He has a couple of folders here at the Mego Museum. Austin Hough has been customizing for a long time and has a very impressive body of work. Anthony D. makes really fantastic boxes of every character you can imagine. I've got a great set of Marvel Monster boxes waiting for figures.. There are tons of other customizers out there doing interesting and fun stuff as well-too many to mention here but I feel like I'm slighting some folks by not doing so. I think whether one is a prolific artist and fanatical about customizing or just wants to dabble and have fun, there is a lot happening right now with customizing. People are customizing friends; making customs of customizers; and redoing their childhood heroes. It's all very inspiring seeing adults rekindle that child's "joy of making." I think people really need that. For a bit of fun, check out the "Fun With Photoshop" section where you'll find dioramas with displaced Hulks and naughty Dinahs--- anything and everything you can imagine. The customizing spirit is catching.
CM: What is on your "to do" list in the near future?
LH: Hmm, I'm somewhat hesitant to be specific but there are girls on the way and I'm working on some resin SD kits.
CM: How do you think customizing affects the Mego collecting hobby?
LH: Um-see past couple of paragraphs under work I like. A lot more people are both collecting and making their own custom Mego-like figures now, partly due to the visibility of customizing provided by the Mego Museum and its forums; and partly due to the availability of ready-made heads and parts, which makes it possible to throw together a non-vintage figure at a reasonable cost.
CM: Any tips or words of customizing advise to new customizers?
LH: Learn to sew and learn it now. It's not that hard and will save you lots of money and enable you to do a lot more. But have someone who is adept show you the basics. Use good quality brushes and paint thin. Be patient. Sometimes I paint, touch up, and repaint my eyes repeatedly until I get them right. Modifying heads is a skill that can be learned, I believe. Proper tools help a lot in sculpting things like hair. Casting is not hard. With practice, anyone can do it. Give it a try. Check out the free resources on the internet. There is a whole lot of information out there provided by other customizers. Most importantly, just have some fun. If you want to buy some ready-made parts and throw together a custom, why not? It's all about having a good time.
CM: Do you sell custom figures or parts?
LH: I deal some parts for customizing on my vintage toy site (such as accessories, bodies and shoes/boots). I also sell some generic resin heads for customizers who want to get a little bit creative. These are mostly things I've used for some of my own projects. Occasionally, I do some custom work like sewing and painting if it's something that I'm interested in.
CM: What do your family/friends think of your Mego custom work/hobby?
LH: Some of my family members think they're cool (there are also some horror fans in my family). I have friends in the hobby who collect and make things. Some of my friends aren't all that interested and I'm certain some people think it's silly and juvenile but I don't really care. I like to do it.
CM: Thanks Laurie for taking the time to talk with us.
Here are some links to some of Laurie's sites and a few more pics of some of her work.
My Websites: http://www.toyfanatic.com/ http://www.monstercrypt.com/lcust/dolls/index.html
Custom Galleries: http://www.thedarkmask.com/ Scott Metzger's fantastic Mego-spirited gallery. http://www.hauntkraft.com/ Erik Von Gorr's horror 8" figures. http://hometown.aol.com/bleit1703/index.html Brian Leitner's gallery.
**Laurie asked us to note that Uncle Marvel is wearing a Brian Leitner suit. Also, the Cheetah that is up on the Mego Museum under her name has a Brian suit and head (that she painted).