Dad Makes Me into a Jedi Padawan

As of late, Boba Fett and I have been rockin' the same hairstyle. So when Hasbro released the new "Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack" in stores, Dad took the opportunity to use the new Boba Fett that came with the battle pack to make me into not only an action figure, but a Jedi padawan action figure. To do this he used two figures. he used an Episode III Zett Jukasa that he bought a few weeks ago strictly with this custom in mind, and an early release of the Clone Wars Boba Fett that Dad got on ebay from Tunghori's Star Wars Army Store at http://myworld.ebay.com/tunghori/. We played with the Boba Fett figure for a few weeks, until yesterday when we found and bought the new "Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Pack" in a Toys R' Us located not far from where we live.

After Dad cut off the ponytail and braid from Zett Jukasa, he krazy glued the pieces to the Boba Fett figure, and carved down all the joints on the Boba Fett action figure so he wouldn't have any paint wear. After that Dad gave it one of his customized paint jobs.

Me



ME as a JEDI PADAWAN

CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT #3: kr2700

Hello, and welcome to Customizer Spotlight #3. This time around we are happy to introduce customizer "kr2700".

VERGERE

Vergere (pronounced /vɚ'ʒɪɹ/) was a Fosh Jedi Knight in the waning years of the Galactic Republic. Almost immediately after she hatched, Vergere was taken under the wing of Jedi Master Thracia Cho Leem, who later instructed her in the ways of the Jedi. In 33 BBY, Vergere was part of a Jedi task force sent to Asmeru by Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum to capture the leaders of the Nebula Front.

According to an account given by Lumiya to Jacen Solo in 40 ABY, Vergere was a rogue student, secretly studying sources outside of approved Jedi doctrine. Lumiya claimed that Vergere's studies of other rogue Jedi, including Count Dooku, had led her to Darth Sidious, and at some point between 32 BBY and 29 BBY, Vergere became a student of the Sith Lord. According to Lumiya, Vergere subsequently attempted to kill Sidious when she discovered the extent of his megalomania, but her murder attempt failed, forcing her to flee from his assassins, accepting a mission from the Jedi Council to Zonama Sekot, where she was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong and disappeared in 30 BBY, finding the Yuuzhan Vong on Zonama Sekot and secretly living with them for half a century.

During the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Vergere reappeared and tortured Jacen Solo, wanting to turn him into a future Sith apprentice. She was hunted by the New Republic and hid herself, helping Warmaster Tsavong Lah and other Yuuzhan Vong as well as Solo.

At the climactic Battle of Ebaq 9, she sacrificed herself, killing many Yuuzhan Vong and saving Solo. By 40 ABY, the Sith revealed that Vergere had also, secretly, been one of them. Eventually, Vergere's training helped turn Jacen into Darth Caedus, the Dark Lord of the Sith.

It is possible that her difficulty to be easily categorized as a Jedi or Dark Jedi inspired the retcon that re-classified Vergere as a Sith. As Vergere's final words affirmed that she saw herself as a Jedi, it is possible she saw no difficulty in holding allegiance to both the Jedi and Sith orders simultaneously, that she believed herself to be redeemed by her actions prior to her death, or that she entirely rejected the moral restrictions of both the Jedi and the Sith, a potential view similar to that of Kreia in the distant past. It should also be noted that Vergere appeared as a Force ghost to Jacen Solo shortly after her death, an ability usually manifested by (redeemed) Jedi.

taken from Wookiepedia at: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Vergere

kr2700 designed and executed this wonderfully sculpted action figure from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. With a customized head, soft good skirt, and a borrowed body from Hasbro's Wioslea action figure, his Vergere action figure is top notch.

kr2700 has made a Vergere action figure 8 times already. Email him at kr2700@yahoo.com and see if you can talk him into making one for you.

With a long history like Vergere's, this is an action figure that is capable of providing hours of play time in your Star Wars universe.





You can also pick up other "kr2700" customs on his "ebay page" located at:
http://shop.ebay.com/kr2700/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

and check out his "profile page" on ebay at:
http://myworld.ebay.com/kr2700?ssPageName=ADME:X:CEM:US:1181

CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT #2: I-AM-BOBA-FETT

Hello, and welcome to Customizer Spotlight #2. This time around we are happy to introduce customizer I-AM-BOBA-FETT. I-AM-BOBA-FETT has been making custom figures, ships, accessories, you name it, for almost 20 years. We have seen many variations of Jedi on ebay for sale, but so far I-AM-BOBA-FETT is the only customizer we have seen to tackle the Selkath.

"The Selkath were a sentient aquatic species, native to the ocean-covered planet of Manaan.

As an aquatic species, the Selkath were skilled swimmers. They resembled anthropomorphic sting rays and had blue- or green-colored skin, which was patterned for underwater camouflage, and their mouths were bracketed by cephalic lobes. They tended to stroke these during conversation, analogous to the Human habit of stroking facial hair, such as mustaches.

All members of the Selkath race had retractable, venom-tipped claws. Similar to the Wookies, the use of these claws in any form of combat or attack was considered dishonorable and a sign of madness; to do this was to give in to animal instincts unbecoming of a sentient species. "

taken from Wookiepedia at: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Selkath

SELKATH JEDI

I-AM-BOBA-FETT sculpted the Selkath's head, left hand, and his feet then cast them in resin plastic. The clothing was completely handcrafted. The action figure is a unique piece of Star Wars inspired art. His work is generally made for display with the adult collector in mind, but I have been using him as a diorama filler as well.

Keep your eyes out for I-AM-BOBA-FETT customs for purchase at his ebay store located at:

http://myworld.ebay.com/i-am-boba-fett?ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1181

You can also check out I-AM-BOBA-FETT customs at:

http://s798.photobucket.com/home/I-AM-BOBA-FETT/allalbums

Thanks again for reading and see you at our next Customizer's Spotlight!

Battle Damaged Jet Pack Battle Droid

We had a chewed battle droid we got as a bonus for paying too much in shipping. We weren't quite sure if it was a bonus because he came with no blaster and no backpack, but we just got a sweet red battle droid rocket pack and blaster from a weapons lot, so Dad grabbed the paintbrush and painted them to match. He added some orange molten paint on the bite mark to give the droid some battle damage and added some carbon scoring all around to give him the look of a droid that's seen its share of fighting.

Battle Damaged Jet Pack Battle Droid

SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

The Infamous Frog Octopus

My first custom action figure was the infamous Frogoctopus. Frogoctopus was known to be seen in the Mos Eisley Cantina with her friend monkey sipping passion fruit juice. The two were known for adopting a different name each day when they introduced themselves to strangers, otherwise they were only known as Monkey and Frogoctopus. Monkey and Frogoctopus were former Jedi who had escaped Order 66. Her head was more squid like, but someone called her Frogoctopus and the name stuck.

FROGOCTOPUS

I made frogoctopus from an escaped creature of Jabba's food bowl and a spare Boba Fett rocket pack. I added a breathing tube for her with a spare clear wire tie.

Rustbucket Droid

Dad took an Episode I R2-D2, grabbed the paintbrush, and created this droid we nicknamed "Rustbucket" or "Salty-D2." We made him to go with our custom pirate gang that will be posted up at a later time. Dad wanted to give him the look of a droid that spent a few years on the bottom of the ocean of Kamino with a bluish green rusted paint job.

Dad even added rust to the boosters.

Bothan Jedi

Not a completed figure, but one in the works. We're going to keep the head, but probably change out the body for one that has more articulation and soft good clothing so he can be put in vehicles. We like the way the paint came out though.

BOTHAN JEDI

A One Minute Custom: Leia in Imperial Officer Disguise

For this custom action figure, Dad said all that you need is a Juno Eclipse: The Force Unleashed: Anniversary Collection action figure and the new Vintage Original Trilogy Collection: Hoth Princess Leia. Take the head off of each action figure and put the Leia head on the Juno Eclipse body and you have a sweet looking Leia in an Imperial Officer Disguise. Of course this is a trick that could be used with a variation of figures to create a desired action figure.

My First Customs: Space Slugs!!

I couldn't let Dad have all the fun. I wanted to make customs too. When I saw the feet of two action figures laying around I saw more than just a pair of feet. I saw what those two feet would become... Space Slugs!

The foot attachments made great telescoping eyeballs.

My first attempt at painting was these purple stripes on their backs.

The smiles were the hardest.

CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT #1: JACKOFTRADZE

Today's post we are showcasing the work of a fellow Star Wars customizer. The Customizer Spotlight will be a recurring post to spotlight great Star Wars customizing artists, the work they have produced that I have in my collection, and ways to see or acquire future work they produce. For our first Customizer Spotlight, I bring you JACKOFTRADZE.

About JACKOFTRADZE

JACKOFTRADZE is a professional Toy Designer who has been working in the industry for over 10 years designing real toy products! He has been a very committed 1/18th scale Star Wars collector since 1991! He collected when no one cared about Star Wars and has been with the line ever since. He recently created a blog and as you read his blog you get the unique perspective of a Toy Designer and a Collector. He has been an active eBay member for over 10 years and for over 4 of those years he has been creating custom figures to enhance his collection. He has a lot of cool customs and insights to share that I think you will enjoy.

We only started buying customs about a month ago and the first three we ever bought were from this great artist. Here are his custom action figures that we own below:

WOOKIEE JEDI

JACKOFTRADZE has awesome paint jobs and great concepts for his super-articulated action figures like this Wookiee Jedi.

CHAGRIAN JEDI

Here JACKOFTRADZE demonstrated how by switching and using parts of figures you have laying around the house, you can create a brand new figure that looks better than most figures you can find at your local store.



QUINLAN VOS


We really love JACKOFTRADZE Quinlan Vos custom action figure because of the removable soft goods. By creating the action figure in this way, it feels like we have several different figures in one. From what we've seen JACKOFTRADZE makes a lot of his figures with soft goods which is great for using his customs in vehicles.

With excellent concepts, paint application with attention to detail, super articulation, and soft goods for use in vehicles, JACKOFTRADZE customs are second to none and we highly recommend picking them up at his ebay auctions. He posts new customs every Sunday night so keep your eyes open.

We hope you enjoyed our Showcase Spotlight of this great Star Wars customizer and we hope you start to add some of his customs to your collection too. Dad said if it wasn't for JACKOFTRADZE he doesn't think he would have started customizing himself. So I owe a lot to JACKOFTRADZE and that's why he is the first artist we're showcasing in our blog. Hope you enjoyed the post.

Designed By A Six Year Old Boy

Not only do I like to play with Star Wars toys, but I love to draw Star Wars characters and scenes as well. I even create my own Jedi Knights and put them in my drawings.

When I asked my dad to make two characters that I invented into action figures, the first thing he said was, "Help me Obi-wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

Before he had made Vixey and Rebekkah, he had only painted Star Wars figures to customize them. Never before had he made characters completely from scratch. The idea of making a Twi'lek with hair had him thinking he was in over his head this time.

REBEKKAH

One of my favorite creations is a Jedi Knight named Rebekkah who was a Twi'lek with long dark hair. Yep, my Twi'lek had hair. She had a Wroonian as one of her ancestors so that's where her hair came from.

One of my 1st drawings of Rebekkah (bottom right) as she is being killed during Order 66 by a clone trooper with Maris Brood in mid-air.

Dad worked on Rebekkah first. He had an extra Cesi "Doc" Eirriss laying around the house and an extra Dark Woman too. He used the head of Cesi "Doc" Eirriss as Rebekkah's head and gave it one of his customized paint jobs. He used the body of Dark Woman for the rest. His biggest challenge was how to do the hair. Fortunately, Cesi Eirriss wore flight suit headgear that covered most of her head, so Dad didn't have to figure out how the hair would attach around Rebbekah's lekku. To his relief, he only had to figure out how to attach the hair where it would come out of her hat. For her hair he bought a GI Joe Baroness action figure, ripped off the hair, cut it into three pieces and glued it to three different places around her head. My dad is more in touch with the force than he realizes.

VIXEY

My other favorite Jedi Knight is named Vixey who is a Vulftes, a rarely seen alien species that I created who is based on a fox.

This is Vixey (left) and Aayla Secura on Felucia.

Vixey was an even bigger challenge. There were no Star Wars characters in existence with a head like a fox that Dad could use, but he remembered seeing small plastic animals in the toy section of Target on a few occasions. The next time he went to Target, he kept his eyes peeled to see if he could locate a fox to get the job done. While there were no foxes available, he did see a gray wolf. He bought the wolf, took it home, and got to work. First he used the saw on his Gerber to take off the tail and head off the figurine. Next he went to work on the head. He used the knife of his Gerber tool to shave away the plastic and give it the shape that he needed. Because he didn't have a drill, he had to use a screw and screwdriver to bore a hole in the bottom of her head to attach to a spare Obi-Wan Kenobi body he had laying around. Guess Obi-Wan answered his call. Again Dad gave her one of his custom paint jobs and then clipped off two dog paws that he glued to where Obi-wan's feet once rested. Vixey was born. When Dad finished, he said he was officially retired from customizing.

"NEW" VIXEY

Vixey has been updated since this post. To see the "new" Vixey action figure, click the link below:
http://customsforthekid.blogspot.com/2011/02/revisiting-old-custom-action-figures_23.html