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Less than 7 to 10 days away from releasing our all new 25-inch long Ultimate 3D Bruce Shark Collector's set of Sequel Sharks! We still have a ton of work to complete her all the way, and we are actively finishing over a dozen orders as well as four different commission displays. But I think we can do it.
Did you know that this is actually the THIRD model I have made for the Ultimate Bruce 3D shark?! Let me tell you about that in a winding little tale of curious happenings [warning lots of words ahead!].. 2012 and 2013 were BUSY years for us. I had modeled the Bruce 3D I think in early 2012 but was never thrilled with it. Because back then I modeled it after the Sea World display shark, which as you all know is most different than all the other half dozen sharks used for Bruce 3D in the film. Maybe from the same mold but certainly not what you see on the DVD. I liked our model but I didn't LOVE it! Anyway, back then America was seeing unprecedented cutbacks everywhere from the permanently skyrocketed Gasoline prices. As everyone witnessed the National Daily Average cost of gasoline just one day before the 2009 election results was a mere $1.74 per gallon! *OH HOW WE MISS THOSE DAYS! But I digress, I will take this opportunity to brag on my family. It sure beats hearing about almost a decade of unparalleled economic decline am I right? This brings us into 2012. That sir is WHEN OUR PHONE STARTED RINGING AND RINGING! ****** >>>>RING_RING_RING_RING--BABY YEAH!<<<<****** And we all know who was calling ****** SyFy CHANNEL! 2012 saw the Schultz family BUSIER THAN EVER! In 2012 we were contracted and provided Special FX for 3 separate SyFy Channel prime-time films! Not only did we get to provide a Mechanical Bruce Shark recreation for SyFy's Ghost Shark, we also got to be on location running it with the crew; and our Youngest daughter Rae was actually an extra in the film to boot! And what many of you may not know is that WHILE we were finishing the mechanical Ghost Shark we actually [due to SyFy scheduling conflicts] were also rushing to finish the physical Alligators for SyFy's Cajun RedNeck Gators as well as the deep-sea monsters from SyFy's Beast of the Bering Sea! At one point we had in one corner of our shop the 95% completed Ghost Shark and scratch-built support equipment, and on the other side of the shop was 10 feet of severed Alligator tail, a 5-foot giant Alligator head and shoulders prop, and a 49-inch long dead baby gator prop; PLUS we had TWO chestbursters and the 11-foot Bering Sea Beast Monster-Villain as well under construction! Just think of the space all these molds takes up still to this very day!! Now if this isn't enough to blow EVERYONE'S mind let me throw another straw on the camel's back for you that we bore as a family. Are you ready for this? SIMULTANEOUSLY to all these SyFy Channel FX builds we were keeping up on shark collectible orders as best as we could; AND -------- We were also in the 11 month long process of refurbishing a farmhouse and MOVING! That's right, for 11 months we struggled 7 days a week trying to get it all done. And let me tell you the hardest part was the farmhouse refurbish. WHY? Because we are still doing it! Yep, for all of 2012 I lived at the farmhouse working on it and the SyFy FX creatures. And that was little more than camping out! This old farmhouse had been abandoned for MANY YEARS and stripped by vandals of EVERYTHING but the frame and roof! And I mean that friends, nothing left. No toilet, no sinks or plumbing, no interior doors or even trim or any light switch covers or ANYTHING but bare walls and bare floors. While GhostShark was being built I had no bed, no kitchen, no sinks, no form of air conditioning or heat, no stove, no refrigerator.. HECK not even kitchen counters or anything! I spent the first 4 months here sleeping in the back of my pickup truck on a pool float under the stars and eating out of a party Igloo container and cooking on a Coleman camp stove! Can you believe that? And what could we do but roll with it and work together? So we rolled up our sleeves as a close-knit little family does, and we sacrificed and we worked our rumps off every single day of all of 2012 and into 2013. * And I would not trade one single day of any of it! But the happy ending came. After one month shy of a FULL year of intense labor and sacrifice we were finally able to move to all be together once again here at the little farmhouse out in the boonies. What an adventure it all has been for us. And this brings us around again to Bruce 3D. That's why we didn't release it in 2013 like we wanted to. >>When in all that could we?<< 2014 has been calmer thank the good Lord Jesus Christ. Only FX for one film. And we did get to finally bring to resolution the long awaited Tow-Sled Shark release with none other but Cal Acord himself as well. Plus we finally after 8 months of furious labor are able to get our build and ship wait times down from 90 days to I think maybe 14 to 30, depending on commissions and order loads. And now for the THIRD and final release model for Bruce 3D. We finally have the time to release her and especially we have the time to carry the load of orders her release might bring us. This release is not based on the cable-controlled or animation miniatures. Nor the over-sized head build. Nor is our release based on the Sea World display shark whose head-shape, eye-size/location, paint-job and tooth placements were not the same as the end scenes Bruce 3D full size location shark. Our Bruce 3D ships out with the fins on just like the screen used full size shark. And we have her posed fluidly in motion, just like the real deal. And I will make one final point before I grant mercy and hush up. And that point is that we do not make perfect sharks. We strive to make perfect replicas of the filming models. Our sharks are not German engineered to glide if you toss them. Ours are made like historically accurate recreations of what went before the cameras. Wherever the original sharks had a wonky look or some random flaw, or one nostril higher than the other, or an odd wrinkly or repair in the rubber skin etc, well sir that is what we captured for posterity's sake. I firmly believe that is what owners of all our Bruce Sequel Sharks will see in their own Ultimate Bruce Shark's Collector's set from us here at SCO. Owners of our work see history recorded on their own collection shelves. Just like X-Plus did with their incredible line of suit-accurate Godzilla figure collectibles. Their 12-inch collectible figures are modeled right after the screen-used Godzilla suits, scale for scale. Seam for seam. Well sir, our sharks are all SUIT-Accurate so to speak. If the eyes were bulbous or the tail was wonky back then, or if the seam was visible then it is just the same for you today in miniature in all of our SCO sharks. Right down to each tooth placement and angle! That's what we all love about the real Bruce sharks to begin with. Because if you wanted 100% perfect White Shark then the Discovery Channel shark videos are over by the TV anyway, am I right or am I right!? Mike SCO
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Yep, less than 2 weeks away from launching the THIRD Sequel Shark in our 25 Inch long Ultimate Bruce Shark Collector's Set, The All New Bruce 3D!
Our posted goal of also releasing the final Sequel Shark in the 25 Inch Ultimate line, The Revenge Bruce is still set before the end of the year, time permitting. Also we may be limiting the number of sharks that we sell each month. We are working through the Pro's and Con's now as to should we only advertise selling a limited number of sharks per quarter or not. This way we could advertise that we are selling Edition numbers 'X through X' of the 'X' shark for this quarter and first come first serve... We are not quite sure which is the wisest way to proceed as yet. The problem that we are trying to solve is that every single time without fail that I fill all Paid in Full orders and get caught up, another large amount gets paid off super-early and instead of being able to finish prototypes and release other sharks all I ever get to do is fill orders. Not a bad problem to have for sure. And I am grateful for the orders and the sooner I can get friends their sharks the better. But I have so many things that could be added to our Online Catalog right now if I just had the time to add them. I have a ½ Scale Bruce Shark Dorsal that is INCREDIBLE, and an all NEW Life-Sized Great White Shark Head in a Full Attack pose that includes the gills that is one of the best sculpts I have ever made, and it is AWESOME.... So Friggen Awesome that it doesn't even need a laser-beam strapped on...baby! So, as it stands we are also trying to get so far ahead of things as to have sharks fully completed before people Pay in Full with the goal of which being that we can publish our wait times for shipping a shark down to 3 weeks maximum. Also in other news, this month is the month to pay your shark off in full if you seriously want to beat the Christmas frenzy and get your shark shipped for sure well before the New Year. Every year we have people beg to be included in getting their shark shipped early, well in time before Christmas; but all the way up to just one week before Christmas! No, I cannot make from scratch 22 of the 3 foot long sharks and get them shipped in time for Christmas just a few weeks before Christmas... So if you want it before the big day then PLEASE do us all a huge favor and start working with us clearly to get your shark paid in full including its shipping and handling for us to have plenty of time to build it along with dozens of other last minute rush sharks. I think that is all the news so far with the exception of releasing that one of our goals is to have the first 10 Bruce 3D Sharks already made before we go live with their Pre-Order in 2 weeks. That is a goal. Some have taken our goals as posted promises, but a goal is something that we want for our customers and are working very hard towards making happen. We don't always meet a goal but we like people to know what we are trying to do for them. Yes, as with all our sharks they will be numbered in order of paid in Full status and yes they will ship with our Family Signed Certificates of Authenticity and a free stand of which we are working to decide on. Did I mention that this Bruce 3D shark is posed in an action-pose very much like you might see it on film? And did I mention that just like the screen used shark that the fins are all modeled on and blended to the body, making this shark we hope more affordable? And did I mention that yes of course we would love to customize your paint, details and gore level for your shark so please communicate clearly with us what you have in mind so we can work towards your dream shark! And did I mention that this Bruce 3D shark is modeled more after the full sized shark used in the final scenes rather than the many other miniature, or sea World Display, or cable-controlled, or animation or partial sharks that looked nothing like each other? * For more details on some of these items look back a few posts for a taste of what we will be releasing in just a few short weeks! Mike |
Mike V. SchultzOn The Bench... Archives
July 2024
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