Scruffy - Janitor

When I'm painting miniatures, I don't always do it in the best lighting. So, sometimes I don't notice things looking off until after I've photographed them.

In this case, it's Scruffy's hat. It looked fine when I was painting, but in the photo it's just kind of a lump.

Scruffy is one of those great Futurama characters that shows up just to react to whatever is happening and then you don't see him again for a while. It would be hard to pick a best Scruffy moment. Every Scruffy moment is a best moment.

For Scruffy, I used the Heroclix Hired Henchman and attempted to make his hat and mustache with green stuff. Maybe I should have given him a broom...

Professor Farnsworth - Scientist

It's hard to write about Professor Farnsworth without opening by saying, "Good news, everyone!"

So instead of doing so, I just did it indirectly.

I'll admit that this mini is kind of a cop-out. I used the Dr. Sivana Heroclix and pretty much just painted his pants, shoes, and glasses. Everything else is the same.

I did consider making the walking stick into Professor Farnsworth's Fing-longer, but that would be a really thick finger.

Bender - Bending Unit

Hey, remember that episode of "Futurama" where Bender traded his hands for the blades from the robot in "The Black Hole"?

OK, that didn't actually happen but my Bender miniature kind of looks like it.

Instead of using a figure as the base and building on top of it, for Bender I used the robotic arms from a Doctor Octopus Heroclix and built the body and head from green stuff. I think his antenna might be a piece of wire.

I thought about trying to make his hands look more like normal, but after a while I just kind of got used to it. I bet Bender could make his hands look like that if he wanted to.

If I ever decide to make a human Bender version, there are plenty of Blob Heroclix.

Zapp Brannigan - 25-Star General

If Kif is Smithers, then I guess that makes Zapp Mr. Burns, which sort of makes sense. Mr. Burns is obviously evil, where Zapp is obviously stupid.

And yet, they both always seem to come out ahead (or at least better than average).

Zapp is one of those characters that is like a walking quote machine. Almost every line he says is funny and  every time he shows up in an episode, it's worth it.

It's hard not to wonder how Zapp would have turned out if Phil Hartman had gotten the chance to play him as planned...

Anyway, for Zapp, I use the Earth Man Heroclix and added the skirt and shoulder pads with green stuff.

I don't know anything about Earth Man. I just picked him because his mini looked like a pompous jerk, so it worked great for Zapp.

As a side note: Earth Man is a really bad superhero name.

-c

Kif Kroker - First Officer

With Futurama, there is a tendency to try to map characters to similar characters on The Simpsons. Thinking along those lines, Kif would probably be the Smithers of Futurama. Which would make Zapp the Montgomery Burns.

Hmm.

It's nice when I find a miniature that not only has a similar look, but a similar mood. For Kif, I used the Star Wars Miniature Duros Scout and added some green stuff to make his uniform. I'm not sure why, but the Duros Scout mini looks kind of depressed, which seems just right for Kif.

-c

Amy Wong - Ph.D.

The problem with trying to make miniatures based on Matt Groening characters is the hair. His hair designs in 2D are hard to adjust to 3D, but I tried.

What to say about Amy? I feel like she was more of a background character than some of the others in Futurama. She had a few episodes centered around her, but she seemed like she got less development than others, which is a little sad.

I will say though that her relationship with Kif was something I liked. It helped flesh out both their characters and gave Kif the chance to be something other than a punching bag for Zapp.

I used the Jenny Quantum Heroclix for Amy and added green stuff to make her hair.

-c

Hermes Conrad - Bureaucrat

When I first started watching Futurama, I felt like it was sometimes too easy to see some of the characters as filling the same niches as Simpsons' characters. (Bender is Homer, Leela is Marge...sort of...etc.)

Hermes was the character that stood out to me as not having an easy Simpsons' equivalent, which I like.

Plus, he's basically a walking quote-generator.

"Sweet something of... of someplace."

For Hermes, I wanted someone bureaucrat-looking, so the Lucius Fox Heroclix (with paperwork) was just right. I used green stuff to *attempt* to make his hair. Not sure about how that turned out. And I guess he lost some weight?

Favorite Episode

"How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" because what else would it be. It's just a great episode all around, and a good spotlight on Hermes.

Favorite Quote

I thought about going with, "My Manwich!" because it's iconic, but my favorite quote is a line from his bureaucrat song:

"When push comes to shove, you gotta do what you love, even if it's not a good idea!"

That's kind of inspirational...if you don't think about it too much.

-c

Turanga Leela - Spaceship Captain

Katey Sagal (Leela's voice actress) described Leela as "...vulnerable and hard at the same time", which I think is 100% accurate and why I like her character.

She's smart, tough, and probably the only competent person on the Planet Express payroll. But they avoid the trope of the "tough chick" by letting her be emotional and feminine as well.

Her relationship with Fry feels realistic because she's every bit as messed up as him. Neither one is perfect and as they grow to understand that, they grow as a couple.

Also, Leela is a total bad-ass.

For Leela, I used the Starling Heroclix and used green stuff to give her one big eye (and also her hair and boots).

Favorite Episode

Like Fry, my favorite episodes with Leela are ones about their relationship. For Leela, my favorite episode is "The Sting". It's a great Leela-centered episode and, to me, it shows how she's starting to feel something for Fry, even if it's still a bit subconsciously.

Favorite Quote

"Please don't stop playing, Fry. I want to hear how it ends."

-c

Philip J. Fry - Delivery Boy

The great thing about Futurama is that the show can be what you want it to be: Sci-Fi Comedy, Space Adventure, Social Commentary.

Or, if you're like me, Love Story.


What I like about the show is that Fry and Leela's romance may not be an epic love story, but it is in many ways realistic. (Minus the time travel, robots, and crustacean doctors.)

Fry is a screw up, but Leela is just as messed up in her own ways. As he learns to be more mature, she learns to be less judgmental. While the show has plenty of funny moments, the things that stick with me tend to be the times Fry and Leela realize what they mean to each other.

And also when Fry does something really, really dumb.

For Fry, I used the Rick Jones Heroclix and added a little extra to his hair to try and capture Fry's do. (Now that I notice, the angle I took the picture at makes Fry look like he has a weird squint...)

Favorite Episode

For Fry, my favorite episode may be "Parasites Lost", since that's the first episode where he can really tell Leela how he feels (even though he needed parasites to do it).

Favorite Quote

My favorite line by Fry comes from the episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back":

Morgan (examining Fry's locker): "I-- I've never seen anything like this. [She picks up a cap.] Why is there yogurt in this cap?"

Fry: "Uh, I can explain that. See, it used to be milk and, well, time makes fools of us all."

That line sums up Fry in a nutshell (or yogurt cap).

-c