Upper Deck’s All-Star Vinyl designer toy line got off to a
roaring start with the online only release of the All-Star edition of
Athlete LeBron, limited to 750 pieces, which sold out in just over an hour a few weeks ago.
The series is a partnership with Nike based on their popular ad
campaign “The LeBrons" and will feature a figure for each of his four
personas: Athlete LeBron, All Business LeBron, Wise LeBron and Kid LeBron. All four figures will be released as part of The Chosen One Edition
in April (limited to 1000 pieces each). We’ve already looked at the process of creating the turn-around sketches for All Business LeBron as described by Illustrator Chris Brunner. This week Rocco Tartamella describes his approach to turning the sketches into a 3d sculpt for the All Business LeBron figure:
The Business Lebron was started much like the Athlete Lebron. I started with his likeness, and tried to establish the attitude right from the start, which wasn’t to hard to do since the sun glasses and head tilt work pretty well. I then worked on the body referring back to the sketch from time to time. The Biz leg, hip, and leaned back posture were key to sculpting this figure.
Working on the straight leg pants, I made them skinnier by the knees and flared them out towards the bottom without over stylizing it. The final touch was to bunch the pants a bit around the ankles.
For the jacket, I started by flaring out the bottom of it and then worked narrow it in as I sculpted upward. Then I widened out his shoulders, sculpted the arms in the correct position while keeping in mind the bunching up of the jacket at the shoulder and forearm. It was important to angle the wrists correctly to add a little extra dose of style and attitude to the pose.
The final step was to sculpt his accessories like his phone, tooth pick and make the glasses fit to his head so they look good both on and off.
As you can see, Rocco’s completed sculpt is quite nice — highly detailed and dynamic. All Business LeBron brings a sense of GQ fashion and sass that’s not usually seen in designer vinyl. Check back next week (or so) for full-color pics of the paint master for this figure.
Hi… Im starting to do my own toys too, and I’d would like to know if u can tell me some treats couse im a bit lots about what are the best materials to make that kind of toys. By the moment im modeling with paraphine and I make the mold with silicone, but I have a lot of problems modeling with paraphine, thats why im looking for another materials to get better results. I think ur toy’s details are great and i’d like to know if you could share with me that information that will help me to continuate in that mood.
i very like this toy ….best of the best