Erol Otus -ish plastic/rubber figures

For whatever reason when I saw these things in a local Toy/Hobby/Pools store (pools? you say?...yeah, me too...dunno but they sell outdoor pool supplies there too), the first word that popped into my head was Otus.


They aren't really that close to these incredible Erol Otus illustrations referenced in this post, but at least to me, they remind me of his organic style...one which I absolutely love. IMO, he's one of the reasons that so many young kids were able to let loose the binds of reality while playing D&D, and allow their minds to so easily conjure up such vivid imagery.

Some people (as wrong as they may be) don't care very much for Otus' art. I (displaying a much improved opinion...hehe) disagree with them. Erol Otus plain rocks! Always has - always will. Obviously I jest on the opinion labeling, as everyone is entitled to their own. Heck I dig Erol Otus and Jeff Dee. It seems a lot of folks like one but not the other. To me, they are both amazing different stylists, each with his own flavor and strengths. I just like it all, I guess.

At any rate, here are few more shots of these kooky looking beasts, doing battle with a couple of my Reaper figs, and some Erol Otus art that I think they imitate to some degree. BTW, I posed them and snapped the pics without any particular drawing/painting in mind. With a little better forethought on my part, I might have tried to mimic the actual artwork for better comparisons. Ah well, maybe next time.

Anyway, as a wise little old dude once said...
"Fear not, Ranger..."



"...Cavalier..."



It may seem kinda silly (in fact it may actually *be* kinda silly) for a grown man to buy, yet alone pose, some crazy looking, distorted, almost mutated plastic and rubber dinosaur-ish toys, not to mention the fact that I ... err... *he* would then take pictures of these scenes. However, I think they're pretty sweet, and they definitely remind me of some of Mr. Otus' amazing work. I actually hope to put these things into play someday soon, populating some old-school flavored dungeon crawl with them.

Oh, and they were less than a buck a piece...how could I say no?

And I almost forgot this one, from Target's $1 bins in the front of the store. Not necessarily Erol Otus inspired, but a nice huge spider for our hero to smite:

"Taste my holy steel, fowl arachnid!"