Tim Bruckner: Hands Behind The Heroes

Tim Bruckner is a sculptor, based in Wisconsin, who has been working professionally for the past 30 years, for nearly every major gift and toy company. His work is likely well represented in many an action figure collection, including a great many of the action figures, and statues, produced in the popular DC Direct line.

Tim first started sculpting at the age of seven. He would take those wax candy toys that were filled with juice, and after sucking out the juice he would ball up the wax and sculpt heads of out it.

He never received any formal training for his craft, but rather continued to work at on his own, continuing to hone his work. Tim carefully studied the work of a great many classical sculptors. As a kid he was fascinated with the work of Michelangelo having "never seen sculpture with that much power". He also counts artists such as Bernigni and Augustus Saint-Gaudens amongst his influences. He studied the work of sculptors and artists from the Rennaissance to the Boroque period.

"If you want to learn how to sculpt, steal from really good dead guys", he says. "If you find yourself stuck with a problem, chances are it's already been solved by someone 400 years ago."

Tim got his first paying gig as a sculptor was when he was 18 for a goldsmith in Beverly Hills, California. Much of what he did there was pieces based on African wildlife.

He considered, for a time, pursuing a career as an art history teacher. "But," Tim explains, "I soon learned I was going to have to teach alot of things I didn't like and that pretty much killed it for me."

In the late 1970s, Tim landed a job working on the movie "Alligator" which was released in 1980. Tim sculpted the head and tail for the giant alligator terrorizing the sewers of Chicago. A full 22-foot gator was made, but only the head and tail were actually used in the film. Tim recounts that the film-makers attached the head to a car and drove it into scenes. So, if you ever see the movie watch for a fast, straight moving gator noggin.

Tim had also helped create the alligator used in the 1976 release, "Joe Panther".

Like most artists trying to "make it", he bounced around from job to job. He spent some time working on album covers before making his way, at last, to the toy industry.

Over the years he's seen the climate for sculptors change radically.

"It used to be limiting", he says. "If you worked in giftware, you stayed in giftware. If you worked in toys, you stayed in toys. That's not the case anymore. Things have changed so dramatically. There is a much bigger market...more opportunity to explore..."

Opporunity has abounded for Tim, as he worked for company after company. His list of clientele is impressive to say the least.

Hallmark Dakin Applause Enesco Hamilton Danbury Mint Hasbro Kenner Mattel Toy Biz

Racing Champions Revell Henson Warner Bros. American Greetings Bradford Exchange Geometric Sideshow Toy DC Direct

During the period when Tim was doing alot of work for Toy Biz, he produced in the neighborhood of 25 figures a year for them alone. Tim sculpted much of the first wave of the WCW line, several heads for the Famous Covers line, Captain Commando from Marvel vs. Capcom, some Xena stuff, J.Jonah Jameson and Doctor Octopus from the Spider-Man: Spider Powers assortment. He also worked on some of the recent X-Men: The Movie action figures. One of his favorite figures he sculpted for Toy Biz, though, was Dimitri from the Darkstalkers line.

"I'm a big anime fan, and capturing the unusual proportions was a challenge..."

At one point Tim was juggling 11 different clients. "All-nighters were just something you did," Tim says of that time. "Of course, I was younger then..." Eventually that went down to 5 clients, then 2. These days, Tim is pretty much working exclusively for DC Direct where he continues to turn out amazing work.

The volume and variety of the DC Comics work is keeping Tim both happy and creatively challenged. "DC keeps me really, really busy professionally," he says of his current situation. "I could happily spend the next 10 years at DC and not satisfy my curiousity. George Brewer [DC Direct's Design Director] and DC in general has been a huge pleasure". That's good news for the legions of fans of his work on the DC Direct line. Some of the items he's worked on for DC Direct include:

Statues Wonder Woman Promethea Sgt. Rock Flash of Two Worlds Supergirl Voodoo Crisis on Infinite Earths

Action Figures Watchmen assortment Aquaman, Aqualad set Raven Cyborg Sandman 2 pack Golden Age Wonder Woman Golden Age Green Lantern Golden Age Flash Golden Age Starman Zatanna John Constatine, Hellblazer Dr. Fate The Spectre Starman (modern) Spider Jerusalem Sandman (Vertigo) Black Canary Green Arrow Green Lantern Saint of Killers Tulip Cassidy

Tim also did some tweaking on the heads of the Legion of Super-Heroes assortment.

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