Stan Sakai style Leonardo custom action figure

[Plasticplayhouse]

I’ve been a fan of Usagi Yojimbo and Stan’s rendition of the TMNT ever since their first crossover. That crossover was also my introduction to the Usagi character and I grew to really like him. By no means was I diehard fan like I was with the TMNT. In all honesty the availability of the Usagi Yojimbo comics at my local comic shops was random at best and I didn’t go out of my way to get them. But when I saw a copy on the comic rack I would buy it and it always proved to be an enjoyable read.

Over the years my appreciation for the character and Stan’s story telling has grown tremendously. TMNT, UY, and a few choice issues of Cerebus are the ONLY comics that I keep in my small but prized collection. Lol, I guess I have a thing for talking animals… I’m hoping that Stan will do an alternate cover for the new IDW TMNT series. That would be too cool. I can’t say that’s very likely but it’s always possible. At any rate, here is a custom figure that I was inspired to do to show my love and appreciation for Stan’s contribution to the TMNT world and all of his amazing art

Initially I went with a standard aggressive kind of facial expression, but while I liked it, I wasn’t getting the full fledged Stan Sakai vibe, so I came up with head sculpt #2 which is much more reflective of Stan’s personalized style. Art is like water; ever changing and adapting. Stan’s rendition of his characters has changed over the years. Most of the differences have been minor, such as the shell pattern, the plasteron design, and the heel of the foot. It was tuff to chose, but I went with his Mirage rendition. I know he didn’t color the issue (that was done by Tom Luth if I remember correctly) but I liked how clean and vivid the colors were and it just seemed to fit well.