Two years later he started another endeavor, McFarlane Toys.
McFarlane started the company after a disagreement with Mattel over a toy line based on his comic book characters.
Of the founded members, three remain.
Chris Dahlberg left the company in 2012.
Eric Treadaway is a sculptor and designer.
He works on both the two dimensional and three dimensional stages of the figure design process.
He also occasionally works on the paint masters.
Cornboy works as a designer and fabricator.
He works mainly on the mechanical aspect of the figures as well as weapons and accessories.
Preziosi handles the mold making as well as some fabrication.
One can easily see the DNA of McFarlane Toys coursing through the veins of Four Horsemen Studios creations.
McFarlane Toys paved the way with their detailed designs but Four Horsemen present an almost ideological break.
McFarlane produces a lot of statues (and near statues) alongside their action figure and diorama lines.
Along the way they have developed their own style and following.
Their early work on the 2002 Masters of the Universe revival was angular, elongated and stylized.
TheMasters of the Universe Classicsfigures might be the ultimate illustration of this phenomena.
In fact, they might be the ultimate nostalgia figures.
The Studio has talked about the extensive preparations that went into sculpting those figures in great detail.
This attention to the imagery and mythology of the series pays off in the final design of each figure.
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Four Horsemen Studios would apply this philosophy to other lines as well.
The second was the 1983 Power Lords figures produced by Revell.
The Four Horsemen have become incredibly prolific.
Their work with Mattel has produced an incredible amount of figures.
Their MOTUC line has run longer than either of its predecessors.
That eight years and counting lifespan already trumps the original toyline by two years.
Their DC Universe Classics line ran for a total of six years before it ceased production in 2014.
Their first original, in-house toy line was 2006sSeventh Kingdom.
This line consisted largely of a cross between realistic anthropomorphic animals and a high fantasy aesthetic.
This would become something of a hallmark of their style.
The Seventh Kingdoms figures focused on mammals.
TheAntitheriansexpanded the scope to African megafauna like rhinos and elephants and theQueens Councilrounded out the line with big cats.
Their next line,Gothitropoliswould apply the same sensibility to birds.
Versions of these figures would be incorporated into the studios next major project.
These figures draw on a number of classic fantasy inspirations.
These figures display all the hallmarks of the Four Horsemen style.
Next month is going to see the release of the first of Four HorsemensThunderCatsfigures.
Like the MOTUC, these are meticulously detailed and incredibly faithful to the original aesthetic of the franchise.
They are also seeing their release using the same subscription system that Mattel uses for the MOTUC figures.
Personally Im rooting for a few Silverhawks figures, but Ill settle for a nice Ro-Bear Bill.
This article Four Horsemen Studios And The Figures We Love originally appeared onCompleteSet.com.
