Lego Hex Girls

Yesterday’s update was about a Lego version of Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics. Tthose familiar with Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated may have been wondering where the musical counterpoint to the undead skankers were.  So today I present a Lego version of the Hex Girls.  To be honest, the Hex Girls were originally the only band I was going to create in Lego form, but as I started working on them I decided it would be fun to recreate both bands in the episode Dance of the Undead.

 Much like the Rude Boy display this stage is modeled more to represent the theme of the band than it is an accurate depiction of the rooftops used in the episode.  This one is still a work in progress too.  The two bright red areas have changed a couple of times and I have the pieces for two more versions.   Dusk, the drummer, also has the wrong hair piece.  The blonde pigtails that I need won’t be available until September when series 16 of the Collectable Minifigures is released.  It’s hard to see in photos, but the stage actually has a clear red line bordering the edge.  It helps to offset all the black and I love the look of it.

I spent a ton of time obsessing over how to bring the Hex Girls into Lego form.  The first thing I had to figure out was the version.  In the classic Scooby Doo look they all wear vampire fangs.  Luna, the keyboardist, has a skin color that seems to change a little between appearances too.  Because I love Mystery Incorporated I decided to do that version.  Even using that as a guide the girls changed up their appearances a few times in their two episodes.  As much as I wanted them there was no way I could make the Dia des los Muertos versions with stock Lego parts. 

Once I figured out faces and hair that would work I had to figure out torso and legs.  Finding a perfect match for these things was sadly impossible unless I wanted to print my own stickers.  So I really picked things that I thought would match, even if it isn’t a perfect representation of what they wore on the episodes.  I’d like to do a Crush minifigure to represent Daphne when she joins the band, but I don’t even know where to start because of how little she wore.  If I ever figure it out I’ll post an update here.

Lego Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics

I’ve been very open about my love for the show Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated.  I honestly think it is one of the best written cartoons I’ve ever seen.  One episode in the second season (Dance of the Undead) introduces Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics as the monster of the week.  The back story is that Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics were a one-hit wonder that failed to catch on.  The group faked their own deaths in order to take a year off and write the perfect song.  The perfect song actually took them 30 years and when they were ready to come back they realized the ska movement was dead.  So they dressed as zombies and infused their music with voodoo to turn everyone that listened to them into dancing zombies. 

When the Scooby Doo Lego sets were released last year I immediately started thinking of other things from the shows that I wanted to see put into Lego form.  Rude Boy and the Ska-Tastics were one of those things.  The first thing I have to say about it is that the stage isn’t show accurate.  In Dance of the Undead the band is playing on a rooftop with a large checkered banner behind them.  I knew I’d never be able to do their logo correctly; so I did a checkered floor instead.  I was able to keep the coffin backdrops, so I was pretty happy about that.  I added a few skulls for some additional flair.  It doesn’t look like a screenshot from the show, but I think it fits the characters.

You’d have to really look closely at the picture to notice, but it also isn’t finished.  Despite the big bags of Lego bricks I posted yesterday I’m still missing a number of tiles that I need to complete the stage.  Those will be fixed after I make my next order. I somehow mixed up the drummer and the keyboardist in this picture, something that probably no one else besides me would ever notice.  That one is an easy fix that will happen as soon as I finish writing this.  I'm pretty happy with how the band translated into Lego.  Obviously there are repeated pieces between the band members.  Sticking with official Lego parts didn’t leave me a whole lot of options to work with when I needed Zombies in suits.  I was happy that I was able to get the two different heads and bodies to split up between the four figures.  They really would have looked like clones if they all had the same head and clothes.  

This mini-Lego week continues tomorrow with another original build and then a Lego Flash Friday to end the week.

Scooby Doo and the WWE

So last night I ran to Twitter and laid out the plot to a sequel to Scooby Doo Wrestlemania Mystery movie.  Someone had mentioned the movie early that morning and then I couldn't get my idea for a sequel out of my head.  So during a night of everyone being political I carpet bombed Twitter with my 12 part story.  It's hard to get a lot of information out there when you're worried about character limits.  So instead of letting all that brain power go to waste, I'm reposting it here where it is easier to read.  Of course this is all made up in my head, there is no chance in hell of this story becoming real.

The film opens to a shot of Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins wrestling in WWE city. Fog rolls in, there is a ghostly flash, and the sounds of a fight. When the fog clears the ring is empty. Other wrestlers look around shocked.  Then there is a quick cut to the theme song.  After the theme we cut to the Scooby gang showing up to WWE City.  After all their help the last time, John Cena called them to help look into the missing wrestlers.  When the gang walk into the training center they see Miz practicing with Kalisto.  Suddenly a ghostly Roddy Piper appears.  He taunts the wrestlers before smoke fills arena. When the smoke clears the Miz is gone.  

In the confusion the lights go out and the Wyatt family arrives by lantern light.   Bray cuts a promo how he is the true evil and how his family will be taking over the WWE.  Luke Harper makes faces at Shaggy and Scooby, scaring them while Bray talks.  Meanwhile Eric Rowan wordlessly stares at Velma.  When the Wyatts leave Cena, Kalisto, and Paige offer to help the gang investigate the ghosts and the missing wrestlers.  Everyone was creeped out by Wyatt's and Shaggy and Scooby are sure that they are behind the missing wrestlers.

As the team look for clues the pattern repeats itself.  Ghosts of past wrestlers show up, taunt the living, and then disappear with current wrestlers.  Then the Wyatt family show up saying how they are going to take over WWE City.  Everyone is getting worried and the big WWE Championship match is coming up, because someone will have to face Bray.  When Paige is kidnapped the Hex Girls quickly arrive to help.  Because of course the Hex Girls are friends with Paige.

The night of the big match arrives.  It will be John Cena versus Bray Wyatt and the winner will get the championship belt.  But before the match Cena is attacked by the ghost of Andre the Giant!  Before the gang can save him he disappears.  The WWE is terrified the Wyatts are going to capture the belt and only midcard wrestlers are left to challenge him.  Before any of the other wrestlers can step up, the Hex Girls volunteer a plan.  Using their magically infused rock and roll they summon the Undertaker.

The Undertaker begins to fight Bray Wyatt when the ghost of the Ultimate Warrior arrives.  But the Scooby gang have an elaborate trap to catch the ghost this time.  Except Luke Harper scares Scooby and the trap is disrupted letting the ghost go free.  The rest of the Wyatt Family tries to interfere in the match but the Hex Girls fend them off.  Scooby and the ghost end up crashing down onto Bray Wyatt letting the Undertaker pin him one, two, and three. 

The ghost is quickly unmasked to find Damien Sandow!  Banished to the midcard, Sandow thought he could get a title shot by kidnapping all of the higher ranked Superstars.  He used his acting ability to impersonate all of the past wrestlers.  He would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those meddling kids!  All of the kidnapped wrestlers were stashed under the ring, because that’s the kind of silliness that would fly in a movie like this.  The newly crowned champion Undertaker scares Scooby as everyone else watches and laughs.  After staring at Velma all movie Eric Rowan shows up and gives her a flower, obviously geniuses can recognize each other.  Cut to credits and the theme song.

First Comic Book

I’ve talked about the first comic I can remember liking, but I honestly can’t tell you what the first comic I’ve ever owned is.  I grew up in the era of spinner racks at the convenience store, so my first could have been any number of different things that would have made me happy.  I can without a doubt tell you what my son’s first comic book was though, because we just bought it this weekend.  Sure he had all sorts of kid’s books about superheroes, but he didn’t have an actual comic. 

The week before I had heard him ask for one.  Not in a store or anything.  I think something on television had mentioned them, but I heard him say, “Where’s my comic book?”  At that very second I knew what he and I were doing on Saturday.  I took him down to a local shop.  It wasn’t where I got my first comic, but it was as shop I’ve been going to since I was 8.  By complete chance the owner was there, the same man who helped me start my first comic pull file.  We chatted for a bit and then headed off to the kid’s shelf where my son found Scooby Doo.

Not only was it Scooby Doo, but it had a dinosaur.  Or to be more correct a gh-gh-ghost dinosaur!  The little man was thrilled.  We read it together as soon as we got home.  The book actually has two short stories; one about a ghost dinosaur and another about a town given bad luck by black cats.  The dinosaur one is certainly a favorite, but since we have a black cat at home the second story was still pretty popular.  Sadly there was no Hex Girl appearance in the book, but that’s okay since it was for my son and not me.

The end of the book had some superhero stuff like “spot the differences” and stuff like that.  Oddly it also included character files on Darkseid and the Highfather.  I get the concept, but I found the character choices a bit funny. 

 

Lego Mystery Machine

The August Lego sets have started to sneak onto the store shelves.  That might not mean a lot to some people but I’ve been anxiously awaiting their release.  The reason I’m so excited is that this year Lego has created a line of Scooby Doo toys.  I’ve always liked Scooby Doo but that love has been rekindled lately.  A while back I realized even though I had all these streaming services I couldn’t show my son the original Scooby Doo Where are You? cartoons.  Just showing him the show opening had him excited so at that point I pretty much had to order the DVD set.  We’ve watched all four discs, two full seasons of Scooby Doo and we both loved every second of it.  Charlie the Robot is easily my son’s favorite.

So the Scooby Doo line consists of sets across all sorts of different price ranges.  The smallest is a Mummy set, then Headless Horseman/biplane, then the Mystery Machine, a haunted lighthouse, and finally a huge haunted house.  I showed incredible restraint and only picked up the Mystery Machine.  That night I started up a mini-marathon of Mystery Incorporated and started putting the set together.  The Mystery Machine comes with Fred, Shaggy, Scooby, a Zombie, and a tree monster.  Notice it doesn’t include the girls.  Sadly to get everyone you’d have to pick up the big haunted house as well.  I get separating the figures but having to pick up the big set to round out the gang sucks.

What also sucks about the wonderful Mystery Machine model is the number of stickers.  It makes sense, the less printed pieces Lego makes the cheaper it is for them but the Mystery Machine comes with 23 stickers.  If you don’t have a steady hand you’ll probably want someone’s help when putting this one together.  The other thing I didn’t love is it is going to be a tight, tight fit to get everyone in the van.  Lego is a strange size.  Make a vehicle fit the right amount of people and it looks out of scale.  I think they could have gotten away making the van a little larger than it is. 

All that said, it is a fantastic toy.  Looking at it just makes me happy.  The sides fold out so you can see in the back easily and the roof lifts off for the same ease of access.  The mini-figures are great.  In the other sets all the villains can be unmasked to show that they’re really people.  It’s that level of detail that makes these sets so much fun.  I had so much fun I couldn’t resist throwing together my version of the Wacky Races.  I had so much fun with the Scooby Doo sets I’ve already got some customer Lego ideas in the planning stages.  I won’t spoil it now but I’ll give some hints.  The first and easier is putting together a few of my favorite supporting cast members.  The second would be more involved and would be building another Hanna-Barbera character that would be right at home in that race picture…