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Lady Minty's Explanation of The Gambler: In early 1998, the CBS television network began broadcasting a new series, The Magnificent Seven, based on the movie about seven men who keep the law in a town in the "wild west." I fell head-over-hooves in love with this program! It had diversity, interesting plots, comedy, drama... And a few very handsome guys, too! :D Unfortunately for me and the other 12 million fans of Mag7, the show was canceled after a season and a half. Actually, CBS canceled it twice... But that's a long story that has nothing to do with my custom pony, so I won't rant about it here. heh. Anyway, while I was watching one of the last episodes to be broadcast and lamenting the loss of "my guys," I started to ponder the fact that each character had a different category, a certain something he was known for -- rather like the symbols on MLPs! Images began to run through my mind of MLPs customized to represent each of the guys -- The Sharpshooter, The Leader, The Gambler, The Kid, etc. I had never customized a real 1980's MLP before, but this was an idea I had to act on. It would be a tribute to and a reminder of my favorite show. Of course, thinking up custom ideas is easier than actually bringing those ideas to life. I wanted all of the ponies to be made from Big Brothers, and it's hard enough to find any Big Brothers at a reasonable price, let alone Big Brothers in customizing- condition. However, my good pony-friend Flowerburst (of mylittleponies.com) came to my rescue! She had a Daddy Sweet Celebrations who had been heavily "decorated" with permanent marker warpaint which would not remove. She sent him to me, and I was ready to create my first Mag7 custom. Luckily, DSC still had his beautiful bright green hair; I had planned for one pony, The Gambler (based on the character of Ezra Standish), to have green accents, so I decided he would be a good custom to start with. Oh, I wish I'd been able to scan him in before I started! Unfortunately, no "before" pics of DSC are available. It's really too bad I didn't have my scanner at the time. DSC was covered in green scribbles. Even his face was stained liberally! :( The first step was to cover up those marker stains. I mixed a soft, smokey blue-gray shade of acrylic paint, and applied several thin, smooth coats. Then I let that dry for about three weeks while I summed up the courage to attempt his rather complicated symbol. ;) Since The Gambler is known for his fine card-playing abilities, I had decided his symbol would be a winning hand of cards. So one afternoon when I was feeling particularly brave, I planned out the exact design and sketched it onto his sides. Then I applied a few coats of white acrylic (to be the cards themselves) and let that dry for another day. Next, I shaded behind each card with a light gray. Then it was time to paint on the details of the cards, using a steady hand and a teeny-tiny paintbrush, and a shade of paint that matched the pony's gorgeous green hair. It took awhile, but they came out quite nicely. :) All that was left was to darken the green of his eyes to match those of the actor who played Ezra on Mag7, and to touch up the lashes with a fine-point permanent marker. The Gambler was finished! -- but something was still missing. I realized soon what it was. Every Big Brother needs a hat! I recut and remodeled a felt, doll-sized top hat until it looked like the dapper hat that Ezra often wore on the show. And then The Gambler was complete!
Here are a few pictures of The Gambler:
A Scan of The Gambler
A Group Shot of the Magnificent Seven:
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