* As a child, one of my fondest memories was working with my dad on this HUGE Marvel Jigsaw puzzle, which was going to adorn this blank area of my room. Now I wasn't much of a comic book reader back then, and I couldn't name more than twenty characters in that puzzle, but I was mighty proud of this accomplishment and of the bonding moment that I had shared with my pop.
* Almost two decades went by and the movie, Avengers, came out. I was floored! I instantly remembered that puzzle from many years back and for the first time ever, decided to head to the toy store to purchase the WHOLE Avengers team. Originally meant to be posed on a random area of the house, my team was awesome and I was hella pleased.
* Now since I already had the Avengers movie team, I figured why not complete ALL the heroes from my youth? I remembered loving the X-Men, the Fantastic 4, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, and most especially Spiderman! So the buying began..
* And buy I did! After completing most of the iconic heroes, I figured that it wouldn't be a real battle without the VILLAINS. And so exactly a year after I first purchased that Avengers action figure set, I was stuck with a proud collection of Marvel warriors. Since I didn't have any space to display all of the toys, I had the brilliant idea of starting my own website. There, I could highlight each character's individual story, and in the process, clear out my collection for easy organizing.
* Thus, MARVELOUSDANE was born! Back then, my website was hosted in Tumblr and this photo of Charles Xavier and Magneto was my first ever post!
* Thanks to my website, I was able to pose my action figures in scenes inspired by the various movies and comic books that I had come across. A good year and a half after the Avengers movie came out, I was able to pose my team in that epic battle of New York.
* Not only did I focus on the new Marvel movies, I also lovingly recreated scenes from my childhood including this photo of the Uncanny X-Men, my favorite 90's era cartoon second only to Batman: The Animated Series. As an added bonus, by collecting these Marvel toys, I had become updated to all the storylines in the Marvel continuity of the past 15 years. Never again was I bored, as I always had a comic series waiting to be read on my Ipad.
* Soon, in 2014, the inevitable had arrived, my collection had equaled what was actually created by Hasbro (also makers of GI JOE and Star Wars), which meant that I was no longer playing catch up in the collection campaign! Now instead of waiting for the release of the next wave of figures, I started to experiment with creating my own. After reading loads of tutorials on the internet and purchasing all the necessary customizing tools and paint, I unveiled my first ever sculpted figure, Ant-Man.
* And create I did! Using parts from other toy lines and fast-drying clay, I was creating figures on a weekly basis. While initially concentrating on characters that were as of yet released by Hasbro, I was soon contacted by several interested buyers to purchase some of my creations. Among these, was Mephisto, my first official sale as a customizer-sculptor.
* Fast forward to 2015 and I am still creating! I find that I am definitely better now than I was exactly a year ago and though there is still much room for improvement, the thought of creating more of these characters to actually complete the Marvel Universe drives me with enthusiasm.
* Of course, none of this would have happened if not for the immense love for Marvel planted all those years ago by that jigsaw puzzle. Today, that puzzle that my dad and I had worked on together, hangs in front of me, in my home office.
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