AFHub Handle: rrargh
Real Name: Arg Galinato
Year of Birth: 1977
Location: Quezon City

He is Arg Galinato and he collects action figure like most of us. But unlike the most of us, he plays with his toys. Nope, it’s not what you think (and shame on you if you were thinking of that). You see, while many try to fight the impossible battle of keeping action figures “minty mint” inside their original packaging in the hopes of preserving them against the ravages of time, Arg does the exact opposite. He takes the figures out of their packaging so he can stage them in action poses and then compiles several of those action scenes into what he calls “stweeps“.

I first came across Arg’s stweeps through another toy forum and I immediately took a liking for them. I personally find his materials to be filled with more depth and creativity than the ones I see on some dailies (which I have to pay 20 bucks to read). AFHUB has been very fortunate to have the privilege of having his work published regularly on our web site. If you haven’t seen any of his stweeps yet, I suggest you start now by clicking here. And for those of us who are already familiar with his wry brand of humor, let’s now try to get to know a little bit about the man behind the funnies.

1. Please tell us a little bit about you and your background. And why Rrargh?

I’m Arg and I work as a graphic artist. I’m also an aspiring (frustrated?) voice actor. I chose rrargh as my handle because all the args, arghs and arrghs were taken.

2. When was your very first stweep made? What inspired you to start making them?

I made my first stweep in November of 2004. About a month before that, a friend introduced me to TFW2005’s Them Funny Robots. I found the strips amusing, and thought of making my own using the toys I have (mostly Transformers then). It’s ironic, though, since I only have about a handful of TF stweeps to date.

As for inspiration, I said to myself that collecting toys, especially poseable ones, is no good if I’d just end up displaying them. Toys are meant to be played with, otherwise I’d be better off with statues. Since I couldn’t play with them like I used to when I was a kid (with all the action features and cheesy TV dialogue), I decided to flex my writing skills a bit and have others join the fun. There’s nothing quite as inspiring as reading someone’s hilarious reaction to a funny you wrote.

3. How long does it take to make one stweep – from the formation of the idea to the staging to publishing?

In the early days, when all I did was think of ideas for stweeps, it usually took me a week to come out with one. I’d come up with the general idea for the stweep on the first day, shoot the scenes on the next, then add the dialogue the day after. The rest of the week is for revisions in the shots or the dialogue, and for added special effects courtesy of Photoshop.

4. Where do you get your ideas for the stweeps?

At first, I had plenty of input from my friends, as well as the shows and movies we watch, particularly JLU. Some of the (punch)lines I use come directly from the show dialogue, which make them more memorable especially after having watched the specific episode. Now that JLU is gone and I rarely get to watch shows these days, I rely on recent blockbuster movies for material.

I don’t dive too much into comic book lore, since not all of my readers are comic book fans. I do like to play with the obvious differences of each character (such as Daredevil’s blindness), sometimes to the extreme, resulting in wildly different interpretations of the character, much to the disagreement of some loyal fans. If I’m experiencing a drought, thankfully there’s still the actual physical appearance of the toy to make fun of.

5. How many stweeps have you done so far?

105 and counting. As of this writing, I am in the process of making #106.

6. When did you start collecting action figures?

I was more of a Transformers fan at first, and started collecting TF Armada the moment I chanced upon Optimus Prime and Megatron at 30% off in toy stores. When the Armada line was over, I set my sights on the revived Masters of the Universe, and I’ve been collecting 6″-scale figs ever since.

7. What was it that brought you to collecting? And what is it that keeps you going?

Money. I had a lot of it to spare. I was single then.

Seriously? It’s Transformers! It’s two toys in one! And if you call now, you get a mini-Transformer that interacts with your big Transformer OR any of your other big Transformers! We’ll even throw in a free mini-comic book! What an amazing deal!

With the 6″ figs, though, it has to be the astounding work of the Four Horsemen. I also came to respect the efforts of Toybiz in blending superb sculpting with detailed articulation. Hey, it’s my favorite comic book characters in plastic!

8. What toy lines do you collect? And why? (please give a short reason for each toy line).

Transformers Armada: see #7

Transformers Binaltech and Masterpiece: New molds of old favorites! And they’re die-cast, baby!

Masters of the Universe: I only had He-Man, Skeletor Battle Cat and a couple others from the first toy line. Now I have the whole bunch. And they look so much better!

Justice League: I’m a big fan of the cartoon series. I didn’t collect beyond the four you see in the stweeps, though.

Batman: He’s one of my favorites, thanks to BTAS, and he has a rich rogues gallery.

Street Fighter: I’m a big fan of the game! I also get a kick (no pun intended) out of recreating the fighting poses.

Marvel Legends: This line has one of the most diverse collection of characters (heroes and villains alike) I’ve ever seen. So many possibilities! And they’re super-poseable! This line has truly set the benchmark of action figures.

Basically, nowadays I collect mostly 6″-scale figs, since that scale has the most diverse set of characters available at a reasonable price. Of course, they have to be poseable for me to use them in my stweeps!

9. What’s the first thing people tell you when they see your collection?

Andami! (that’s a lot!)

As for the why, they don’t ask anymore, because they know what I use them for. :)

10. Tell us one good thing and one bad thing about this hobby.

The good: the thrill of the hunt!

The bad: the crimp on your savings!

11. If you had to choose only one, which item in your collection would you say is your absolute favorite and why?

MP-01 Masterpiece Convoy, hands down. To quote a review from Michael Crawford’s Review of the Week, “Masterpiece Optimus isn’t just a toy — this is an event.” It’s Prime from the G1 show in die-cast! Who cares about the new trailer? It’s too big to display for me, and it’s rarely missed, anyway!

12. What prompts you to purchase an item?

It largely depends on the availability of the item, and wholly depends on the price tag, though I have experienced mixing that up on occasion.

13. Where do you do most of your toy purchases? Do you shop online?

I purchase my toys in retail stores, with the occasional visit to specialty shops and ebay.ph.

14. How do you display your collection?

I display my figs out-of-the-box in a (hopefully dust-free) clothes cabinet, for easy access in time for the next stweep.

15. How do you decide which items to open and which ones to keep mint-in-package?

I actually only open a fig when I have use for it in my stweeps, or if I really like the fig.

Here are some of Arg’s toys…

To see more of his toys, visit Arg’s Playroom

Leave a Reply