EA NHL 94 Action Figures
Jeremy Roenick, celebrating yet another improbable goal - likely a backhand from the blue line.
I own a few McFarlane NHL figures (mostly Calgary Flame players), and they are awesome sculpts that are very detailed and lifelike. What I am proposing is the opposite of that: pixelated figures that celebrate the video game sports legends of the 16-bit era.
These nondescript blocky versions of athletes would only need to be 2-4″ tall, as it would look a bit too weird in the 6-7″ range (the size of McFarlane sports figures). The small size would be perfect for collecting a whole bunch, perhaps even assembling a re-creation of the video game (arena and all). Because the players of the 16-bit erea didn’t feature any names or numbers or likenesses, you could probably buy entire teams by the bag full (like green army men).
Though the current model in which McFarlane releases figures – a select series of several players released annually – would be fine as well. Standout players like Jeremy Roenick could receive the star treatment, like the design above.
Speaking of Roenick and NHL 94, it would be sorta cool/slightly disturbing to see a ‘Gretzky bleeding’ figure too. Well, it would be a humorous release that is for sure. UPDATE: added it!
This is all reference to the classic scene from Swingers, which Jeremy Roenick recently reenacted (language is NSFW):
Some basic pose-ability would be nice (like a Lego minifig), but is not essential. Obviously this idea can be applied to other sports video games like Madden, NBA Live, Tecmo Bowl, FIFA, etc. Even non-sports video games would have a lot of potential for ‘pixelated action figures’, such as Mario and Zelda and the like.
UPDATE: Here is a goalie figure:
Posted on September 8, 2011, in Hockey, Sports, Toys, Video Games and tagged Hockey, McFarlane, NHL, NHL 94, Sports, Toys, Video Games. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
I like the jerky 16-bit-computer-esque spinning GIF renders
takes me back somewhat.
Though the kid inside me wonders what fancy code you used to be able to get enough colours on-screen at once to be able to do light sourced shading and to make it run that quick with so many shaded surfaces in play.
You could assign a series/sequence of textures to the model, if you need it to appear different in every pose. The textures would be so tiny, given the pixelated nature. You could also do faux lighting/shading this way.
Some video games use pixel characters and environments in 3D.
3D Dot Game Heroes is a good example: http://kotaku.com/5522909/3d-dot-game-heroes-review-connecting-the-dots-to-the-past
I’m trying to build one, and let me tell you, Legos aren’t nearly as easy to build with as I had hoped.
Want.
Ok, I finished my build, it ended up being pretty tall.
http://30nhl.blogspot.com/2012/05/lego-nhl-figure.html
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