BONUS CONTENT: Sketchbook: Kaagan-Vas Rustlers
The next several sketchbook pages will focus on the Kaagan-Vas “rustlers.” Since these were major characters (and the very first characters to appear in this story arc!), I put a fair amount of time into designing them. They also took quite a while to nail down because I wanted to go for a Western look without making it look too deliberately Western. Basically, I wanted to get across the cowboy feel on a subconscious level and not really slap you in the face with it.
On this first page, I just spit out a bunch of different alien heads to see which ones would jump out at me. I think it’s pretty clear which two were early favorites and eventually became the designs for Warsaw and Uskulon.
With their outfits and demeanor they remind me of thugs from Bollywood movies.
Kridik and his gang made me think of the Lobster banditos.
Funny. Just two weeks ago, I was going through some old toys to see what I wanted to sell and what I wanted to keep. One of the items was the Muppets Swedish Chef Kitchen playset by Palisades Toys, which I had supplemented with their convention exclusive set of 3 Lobster Banditos! In the end, I decided the set was too cool to sell.
Good choice! I’m very fond of the Muppet Palisades Toy Line.
Too bad they never got to release Sal Minella or the Sesame Street action figures…
Agreed. Palisades was pretty amazing as a toy company, especially with the Muppets line. Great sculpts and articulation, lots of accessories, and magnetic hats! I didn’t really collect much of the Muppet line because I wasn’t into the Muppets themselves enough to feel compelled. But the quality of the Palisades figures always made me wish I was more into the Muppets, so I’d have an excuse to buy all the figures. Back then, I thought if anyone were to do RUNNERS action figures, Palisades would have been a front-runner for me. Bummer they didn’t last.