Black Manta

Black Manta

Monday, August 20, 2012

Tiger of Tamura


The Black Tiger is the worlds most skilled big cat. He has rarely been seen by the eyes of man and is believed to have magical powers that can be transferred to one who can capture or kill him. The magical Black Tiger is also known to be the killer of evil spirits and protector of all that's good.



As far as fully articulated figures go, I think it comes no better than the Four Horseman. These cowboys of the plastic action frontier gave us the Bronze Tiger; arguably the best two head sculpts and action figure paint jobs to date. The new 52 is in full swing and all of our favorite superheroes have pulled out alternate uniforms. With the Tiger Cage being officially the only Bronze Tiger site on the web, I decided to do a custom figure and review for the Shogun of TaskForce X, the Bronze Tiger.

The Agent O version of an alternate uniform is based on this panel from Flash #46
Quick Trivia: BT and the Flash are both from Central City  (who knew).


The color scheme is inspired by the black tiger, BT's burnt orange uniform, Mia Cabrera's tiger mask the legend of the Tiger King and the idea of Ben being the direct descendant of  Sakanouye No Tamura Maro - Sei-i Tai, first man to hold the title SHOGUN.


The figure has all the standard articulation of DC Universe Classics. The combination of hands that bend at the wrist give BT the dynamic of martial arts stances. Now his mastery of the empty hand can be shown in his poses.



Tamura Maro was one of the greatest warriors of Japan. His sword and bow are legendary. Benjamin Turner being one of the seven sons of Tamura maro (story by OA1) I gave BT a seven ringed broad sword, a power bow and his great ancestors sword. the sword of Tamura Maro.


The medallion has the Japanese Tiger symbol in the center. The other symbol is the symbol of the Tiger King. It's engraved in the center of the belt and on top of the head of the tiger mask. The symbol is in  truth on the top of the head of male tigers, you should see it in the stripes and it means king; hence the Japanese legend of the Tiger King. Inside the quiver is a hidden compartment to store whatever dangerous compounds or secret bad guy paraphernalia that had to be taken.


To wrap it up, this is my first 6inch custom job. I tried to take this and pour in as much originality as I could and still stay true to the original Bronze Tiger character created by Dennis O'Neil and Jim Berry.
The new T.F.E. version
Omega Agent 1.













20 comments:

  1. i'm still not clear how you put this figure custom together. it looks like it was manufactured.

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    1. Thank you good sir. I had some serious paint problems though. But now I'm all into wanting to customize. Cowboys and Indians here I come.

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    2. As far as putting the figure together, the devil is in the details.

      The tiger mask is now removable and has the appearance of a mask or helmet, not a meta human tiger man.

      The Katana's hilt is painted burt orange as well as the gloves and clan Wakidate.

      The bow is cut in half with silver beads added to the ends, magnets on each end of the handle to hold it together and an extra piece for detail and stablility.

      the quiver is made from scratch miscellanous parts. Made to hold the arrows inside but each one can be taken out and used individually. A little secret compartment at the bottom holds two small accessories also.

      The broad sword, belt, figure and necklace have all been modified.

      The arm band is sculpted and his back had to be partially filled and painted.

      It's about one hundred and ten dollars in parts on this figure (labor cost not included).

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    3. that's what i call a labor of love. and as we all know "love hurts". and sometimes we feel that pain in our pocket books instead of in our heart.

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    4. So true my friend, so true. But I'd do it again. It's a lot of characters I want to see come to life. The new age Geppetto: AKA Omega Agent One.

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  2. You really did an awesome job! I love it! I've never tried to do a custom. Thanks for posting.

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  3. thank you young Miss. As a collector I thought you'd like it.

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  4. omega agent1 i really loved the figure especially the medallion.I think you should show the DC world your talent and see will they let you make alternative outfits or even your own character one day!

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    1. This would actually be dream come true, or at least part of a dream come true.

      We need to get together and work on some things. Charactter creation is awesome.

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  5. Dude, sweet fucking Jesus that rocks! Awesome, awesome custom job my man!

    It looks like you tool Red Arrows arms, most of the Indigo Atom's body, and BT's head to make that. Very, very slick job. I've tried my hand at custom painting...and it hasn't exactly worked out for me, so major, major congrats on this project. I do believe you have found your calling....

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    1. Your a collector and got the tooling exactly right. Dale we can customize together my friend. Talk and trade customization. But you do the skits. That's your calling. Long live the Squad

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  6. Holy moley - that is wicked!!! They seriously need to get something along these lines on the shelves so we can all have one - or at least get his costume in the books matching. Stunning job dude...

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  7. Dan, glad you stopped by, and thanks. Now let's send one of these guys to DC so wee can get a pro tooled version (I know it's wishful thinking but I'm a dreamer).

    It's a new Hawkman that's going to hit the shelves soon in the new armor. It looks good. You might want to check for him.

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  8. Yeah, definitely. I have no problem talking shop.
    In fact that job of yours might have just lit enough of a fire under my ass to finish up a little project of mine that's been sitting on the back-burners for couple of years. I have an old Toy Biz Avengers line Captain America figure, you know the one that came with the sparkle shield? Well I always imagined that big body buck was perfect as a custom US Agent figure. Might get back to that.

    I seriously hope someone from Mattel sees this custom job of yours. Just so damn good, and I'm not just saying that because we're buds:)

    You should submit pics to thefwoosh.net. They showcase tons of custom figures, and yours would fit right in.

    Do you have any more customs in mind? How long did this one take you?

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    1. A couple of weeks because I couldn't find the chest strap. then I had to go buy other figures to take weapons from them.

      I play the game Red Dead Redemption, and I'm into western movies. So an Outlaw or team of outlaws are coming up next. Then I'm going to make the Unkown Assassin, that's the guy that stabbed BT in the back during a fight with Batman.

      Check my next post for more details on the Unknown Assassin.

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  9. That is an amazing action-figure.
    What an amazing atention to detail and all that mobility!
    Incredible!

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    1. Thank you Aliera. I got a couple of other figures I want to add to the Bronze Tiger line. Is it anyone you want to see from the Squad, the LOA or any Tiger related character?

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  10. Great job on the custom figure Omega!In case you didn't know it, you do have some serious talent. I agree with Dale Bagwell you seem to have found your calling. Keep up the good work Dude!

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    1. Thanks, Gemini1 I'm really kinda diggin the customizing thing. I've done a quick post on wonder woman, I know she's your girl. See you overthere.

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