Prepare for B.A.T.T.L.E.!!!

So this is the post I had previously warned you about. If I may be serious for just one post, I've always been a creator and throughout my career have put on different hats - graphic artist, graphic designer, 3D modeler, product designer, illustrator - and I trace it all back to my youth. Ever since I could draw I've made my own board games, video game concepts, comic books, magazines, flip books, etc. If I had a positive experience with something, I immediately went ahead and created my own version of it. One of my favorite gifts as a kid was a stack of plain white paper. I can't tell you how much time I spent losing myself in my thoughts. Today I am blessed to keep that mindset as I co-own a creative studio where we get to create goodness for some great people.

So that's the preface. Now onto the rest of the story - my dad was good friends with famous iconic toy designer Harry Disko, creator of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and Marvin Glass' right hand man (Google them. If you're reading this, chances are you've touched one of their inventions). Well, my dad (and mom) had an attitude towards me that I could do anything. It wasn't because they were trying to be encouraging, they just literally believed I could do anything and succeed at anything I attempted. Well, my dad knew I loved toys (still true today), and I told him I had an idea for a toy and I don't know what the next steps were that transpired, but I found myself a short time later at the age of about 9 presenting my toy concept to Harry in our family kitchen. It was so long ago and I don't remember much of what he said except "You can't show blood on toys."  The only other thing I remember is that he was such a gentle and nice guy. I am still super grateful for the time he took and only wish I would have been older and more mature to get to know him better and have learned from him.

Well, I recently found the illustrations I had presented to Mr. Disko and here they are for you to enjoy a good chuckle.

Having grown up in the 80s, I was a huge fan of He-Man,
Transformers, ThunderCats and GI Joe. FYI - B.A.T.T.L.E. Men
stands for Buffed And Tough True Leaders Everywhere!!!!

The technology behind this guy was based on Zartan from GI Joe
who changed color in the sun. You would drop this guy in cold
water and his battle wounds would appear. Here I even created
a sweet collection of accessories including mustaches.
Waaaaay ahead of my time.

To further enhance the battle-ness of the situation, I developed
backpacks that they'd wear and would include sounds of weapons
and of them getting hit and also a signature phrase.
My favorite is the one that says, "LOOK, YOUR SHOELACE IS UNTIED."
Distraction is a master tactic one must master if one wishes to emerge victorious.
I knew that at age 9.

I couldn't just post these guys and leave it at that. I wanted to reinterpret the design but still keep the 1980-awesome vibe. While playing around I even created the Japanese version (if there's anything incorrect or offensive in translation, blame the internet translation tools.) Hope you enjoyed! Keep up the awesome and if you're reading this then here's proof you still have time to see any childhood dreams to reality. Thanks folks!