More Pics of the TICK

Because I love this Dude so much, here are some more pics for everyone to enjoy! Remember, these guys are available for sale at Cherry Bomb Toys in Victoria BC.

How a Gypsy Changed my Life

Building the Aquaman Cube Dude was relatively easy. Cut a few pieces from the Batman pattern, a lot of pieces from the Superman pattern, and use orange and green paper, and VIOLA! Your very own Aquaman! Ok, for someone as talented as Bill he makes it look easy, but in reality it's difficult to think outside the box to see the potential, instead of just the pattern. And that's where Bill excels.

So for Christmas of 2010, he got a Gypsy to go with the paper cutting machine.

A Gypsy

The Gypsy allows him to take the existing pattern, and twist it, and mix it, and use only bits and pieces of it, and work some amazing magic with it. At least to almost everyone else it seems like magic. Online discussion forums about crafting often have people bemoaning how with the Cricut and the Gypsy, you are limited to the patterns provided in the cartridges. Bill refuses to be limited by those patterns, so has taken his portable design studio to lengths no one else has ever heard of.

And so, Black Manta was born. Yes, it's a relatively simple looking Cube Dude, but considering the entire Dude was custom designed and built by mixing and matching parts and pieces of an assortment of pre-existing patterns, it's pretty impressive.

Black Manta: the first Cube Dude customized with a Gypsy

Once the mechanics of the Gypsy were figured out, there was no stopping Bill. Check out the PROTOTYPES page for all of the characters which have been Cubed so far!

Breaking Free of the Pattern

Easter 2010: The "original 4" had been built several times until the sizing had been perfected so they all stood the same height. The Gypsy has yet to be purchased, but a dilemma arises: if we were to build one for each of our nieces and nephew, how do we give them each their own without giving someone the shaft of a villain? A total of three children, but patterns for only two heroes and two villains. What to do?

Bill had already been debating about how to make Aquaman, and this was the incentive he needed.

Aquaman: The first customized Cube Dude

By combining elements of the Superman pattern with the Batman pattern, customizing some parts with an old fashioned pair of scissors, and changing up the colours, viola! We have three Heroes for three children.

This leads Bill to a new dilemma... Superman has his Lex Luthor, Batman has his Joker... where is Aquaman's nemesis?

And now that he has three heroes, can he make an entire Justice League?

SPOOOOOOOONNNN!!!

For some reason, of all of the Cube Dudes built so far, everyone seems to love the Tick. He is by far the most simple to build, as he has the fewest pieces to put together. Maybe it's the goofy expression on his face, or maybe it's the smiles at remembering the Tick TV shows.


Whatever the reason, when we finally decided to try selling these things, he was the first one we chose to exhibit. They're our way to test the waters of the market I suppose.

And so a limited edition run of 15 Ticks were created. Each Tick Cube Dude is individually serialized by the artist.

A Standard Tick Cube Dude

A "Vegas Version" Cube Dude Tick was also built. This is a SINGLE ISSUE, and is also serialized by the artist.

Vegas Verion Tick Cube Dude



These Cube Dudes are exclusively available at Cherry Bomb Toys. They're a GREAT local (by local I mean Downtown Victoria, BC) toy store.

If you're interested in purchasing one of these guys, send me a message, or head on down to Cherry Bomb and ask for your very own!

The Beginning

It all began in 2009 when we got a Cricut for Christmas. It's a fancy paper cutting machine most used for scrapbooking. We had used one to make place cards for our wedding, so of course we needed the big one (at least at the time it was the biggest and fanciest... oh how times change).

Cricut Expression

From there we bought a myriad of cartridges, the most important being the Superman and Batman cartridges. In those two cartridges is the patterns to make four different paper action figures: Superman and Lex Luthor, Batman and the Joker.

The Original Four (patterns available from Cricut on Supermn and Batman cartridges)

From there, Bill's mind began running rampant with how to customize them to make them truly unique. The first few were merely combinations of existing parts with different colours to make new people, but Christmas of 2010 things changed when Bill got a Gypsy for the Cricut.

Gypsy for use with the Cricut

The Gypsy is a small hand held computer thing which allows the user to use elements from different Cricut cartridges in one pattern. Essentially it allowed Bill to truly begin mixing and matching. And thus, the Cube Dudes were born. He has made an entire Justice League, and then began taking requests from his neices and nephews.

Photos were shown at a local toy shop (Cherry Bomb Toys), and next thing you know the owner of the shop is pushing us to sell them. Will trade for toys....