Wookie-Balls added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

"LE-BO2D9 aka Leebo" 

created by Wookie-Balls

Ray, Wookie-Balls, is 37 (just) and lives in Buckinghamshire in the UK. He is a lifelong Star Wars fan having first seen the movie projected in his own bedroom wall in Berlin in 1978 (the joys of being an army brat.)

He works in London - but lives in the countryside with his wife (another Star Wars fan and Gamer!) and his Dog Halo (beamed after a 2000AD character.)  He enjoys SciFi, GMing RPGs (SW, Aliens and Supernatural.)

Customizing wise - he prefers the realistic style of figures over CW ones. His projects have included "A Clone squad (The 349th)", an all new Shadows of the Empire Line, Expanded Universe New Jedi Order figures and some Star Wars crossovers including 2000AD and the Centurions!

Rays other major hobby is the restoration of classic Kenner Star Wars toys - he started with his own much loved figures and ships and has since moved on to rescuing beaters that he discovers on his travels.

Ray has completed commission work for collectors however his pieces are for display rather than play! He can be contacted at ray7@btinternet.com.

Wookie-Balls

Wookie-Ball's older customs (rephotographed to a better standard are here):
http://m194.photobucket.com/albums/red5_album/Wookie%20Customs?src=www


Wookie-Ball's vintage restoration work is hosted here:
http://m194.photobucket.com/albums/red5_album/Restored%20Vintage/?sa=true

And Wookie-Ball's most recent customs including his Imperial Judge and New Jedi Order Luke Skywalker are here:
http://m194.photobucket.com/albums/red5_album

Mando Assassin added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

We know that it's been a long time since we did one of these video posts and it isn't because we don't want to.  Truth is, it has been hard to track down customizers to get their work shown.  We're hoping more customizers come forward because we certainly sent out plenty of feeelers.

Our latest inductee is 11 year old, Zach Mann aka Mando Assassin. Back in 2009 when he was only 8 years old, he saw Wrathnine's customs for the first time...and he's been hooked ever since! He started to customize in 2010 with Sharpies then moved on to paints. When he saw the Clone Wars TV show, he loved it! He's also a huge fan of the Original Trilogy too. One day he though to himself, "What if I mashed these AWESOME ingredients together. That is how he came up with his really cool Clone War conversions. Now they are his main focus. He has even got into sculpting.

Mando Assassin

Your can see more of his work at:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7626.0 

Peakob1's video updated

Chad Peak (aka: Peakob1 or CAP) has been a Star Wars fan all his life. He makes customs for the love of the hobby and you won't find a more dedicated fan. He hopes one day that he can have an entire custom collection simply because it is personalized to him and he never seeks financial gain by doing his customs, although he has done a few commissions at reasonable prices. He started customizing in '95,but that's because he doesn't count some of the vintage Ewoks that he colored over with black and brown markers as a kid.

He refers to his style of customizing as "hard sculpting" opposed to using sculpy to mold his own figures. He uses bits of existing parts and dremels those down to make a new result. He believes that it makes for a much stronger figure because he's a little like Jar Jar, "hesa clumsy" and often drops figures. Usually they don't break if he builds them properly. He finds customizing very exciting and he has many projects on the horizon. 

Since Peakob1 and Dad just finished working together on my Hondo Ohnaka Pirate Gang, it felt like a good time to show you the other action figures Peakob1 has created.  This video is a great introduction if you are new to his work.  We know you will enjoy his customs!

He displays his customs on Yakface, Droids and Ewoks, and Jedi Defender.

Peakob1

drod26 added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

drod26 is an engineer during the day and a dedicated father and husband. When he is not attending to his family or doing house work, he is digging throughout his pile of fodder, consulting art books, looking at the color wheel for inspiration for his next custom. His style is to come up with a well-designed character visually and aesthetically. drod26 got started customizing in 2011 when he joined YakFaceForums and his inspiration to customize came from seeing all the great work there and the welcoming members like Chewie.. If you like his work drop him a line. Want to know what his recipes are? Just ask, he will gladly share them with you.  Unfortunately, he doesn't do commissions at this time.

drod26 was the first subscriber to our blog and it's really cool that we now have the honor to share his work with all of you.  Dad and drod26 started making customs around the same time and were fellow padawan learners over at Yakface.com.  Dad is really blown away by the paint work of drod26, especialy on the horns of his Iktochi custom.  Dad hopes one day he can paint as well as drod26.  This video is a must see! 

drod26

Your can see more of his work at:

 http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6031

JediStyle Added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

Yeah, we know it's been a long time since we added any Star Wars customizers to "Customs I Wish I Owned", but our delay came about when two of the customizers that we were going to feature had some new additions to their families.  Knowing all the demands that can be put on a parent when a little one comes into the home, we did our best to give them some time to adjust to the new changes. 

All that said, you are in for a real treat and let it be said that the delay in our "Customs I Wish I Owned" posts will be well worth the wait.

JediStyle not only has one of the coolest monikers in the Star Wars customizing community, but he also has creativity and skill that fits his name.  This Southern California customizer was one of the first artists that really caught Dad's eye when we first started making our own figures and posting in the Yakface forum. JediStyle created some of the most unique Jedi action figures that we ever saw and his unorthodox color combinations make every figure he creates just pop.  We just love this customizer's imagination and his creations are a testament to how far reaching it is.  There is so much to appreciate in every unique piece.  To this day we still haven't seen anyone who paints quite like him and our "Customs I Wish I Owned" page would have never been considered complete unless he was included.  Just looking at his work when putting together this video, we learned how painting a wash over your figure can really enhance the appearance of the figure and provide you with an action figure that while being created before the implementation of ball joints and super articulation stands a figure that anyone can admire and appreciate.

Dad has been wanting to feature the work of JediStyle ever since we started to create the "Customs I Wish I Owned" posts, but for a while JediStyle took some time off from the hobby. Fortunately, he's back now and still has the ability to unhinge jaws. 

He's created so many Star Wars custom action figures that Animoto wouldn't let Dad load all the pics that we had.  Because Dad loves JediStyle's work so much, leaving some of his action figures out of the video was just torture for him, but Dad was able to get a great introduction to JediStyle's awesome creations from his earliest figures to his latest show stoppers.  All that said, grab the popcorn, sit down, hit the play button, and enjoy!

JediStyle

To see more Star Wars custom action figures created by JediStyle go to:

http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=357

TTT Added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

TTT's dad collected Star Wars figures in the 70's-80's, him & his brother used to modify their toys as kids, usually with a bench vice for Hot Wheels and a lighter for their model planes/cars.

In high school he started getting into model cars and got pretty serious about them for awhile, but eventually got out of it.

In 1998 he became a serious toy collector, everything from HotWheels/NASCAR, Spawn, Star Wars, GI Joe and Transformers.

In 2007, some toys had fallen off of a shelf, everything was OK except for a Transformers Alternators Smokescreen figure, he was busted in half at the waist. TTT replaced the figure but now had this busted useless piece...what to do ? He thought..."Hey, I used to paint model cars the same size as this !...maybe I can customize this, huh?" But being busted in half, he wasn't about repaint the whole thing so he came up with adding some battle damage...why not - nothing to lose. So he started one day, just went at it, melted some bits, dremeled off chunks, it was fun and it worked rather well. Soon, he had to do another...and another...and...well the rest is history.

He started collecting G.I. Joe 25th in 2008 which lead to customizing them shortly after and here we are today.

TTT now specializes in pretty much anything, models, figures...cars, statues...nice clean and shiny to rusty, burned and trashed & zombiefied. Most know him for battle damage & zombie type work. 2012 marks 5 years of TTT "torturing your toys".

Ever wonder what the zombie apocalypse would like like in the Star Wars universe. Check out these customs. The paint work is just phenomenal.

TTT

CAFN GALLERY

To see more customs created by TTT go to:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7082.0

TTT's FACEBOOK PAGE

http://www.outofcommissiontoys.com/

"INCOM" Video Updated in "Customs I Wish I Owned"

When Incom isn't working in business services, this customizer hailing from Hengelo, Netherlands is busy making some of the sweetest customs you'll ever come across. His swoop bike racer is one of Dad's all-time favorite customs. We were really excited to update Incom's video adding a lot of the new cool pieces that he has done his past year. We recommend you become a follower of his work, because he won't disappoint.

Incom

Click any of the links below for more from Incom:

http://s740.photobucket.com/home/incomscustoms/allalbums

http://incom-t65.blogspot.com/

Dad's Incom video was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

Helix88 Added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

Twenty-three year old customizer Helix88 from Utah is one cool artist. He sports some of the coolest paint applications you'll see in the Star Wars custom action figure world. He has been customizing for over two years now and he has created some really well executed pieces of art. But don't take our word for it, check it out yourself. We're sure you'll be impressed.

Helix88





To see more custom action figures from Helix88, check out his thread over at Imperial Shipyards:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=1330.0


Dad's video featuring the custom action figure art of Helix88 was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

Flaccideagle added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

Flaccideagle is a thirtysomething from New Jersey, and has been collecting Star Wars since his high school days. He used to customize POTF2 figures for a while in the mid 1990's, and 1:6 Scale for a few years before finding ImperialShipyards.net site, and turning his attentions towards Star Wars vehicles and the occasional figure. All of his recent customs can be found on the Imperial Shipyards Forums.

We've been huge fans of his work ever since the first time we saw it, and we especially love the vibrancy of his color palette. A true master!!

Flaccideagle

To see more from Flaccideagle check out his other customs at the links below:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=2678.0
and
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7023.0

stitchfett added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

stitchfett WIP

Dad came across the work of stitchfett while searching ebay to find cool custom action figure auctions to post to the blog's Facebook page. stitchfett had created a unique sculpt that Dad never saw before. Something stitchfett has labeled as the Microman series. The action figures have incredibly good articulation and an assortment of interchangeable hands.

stitchfett WIP

"Microman Jango" by stitchfett

Dad reached out to Yovitt Planadeball a.k.a stitchfett of Puerto Rico, and when stitchfett responded he also provided some really cool work in progress pics for you all to check out.

With 100% Positive feedback, you can't go wrong.

There is a time when a kid is supposed to grow up, mature and get rid of his toys... well stitchfett will surely tell you that he didn't quite do that and that's how he ended up the man he is today (lol). He still remembers using toilet paper dowels, card board & clear blisters to make ships, painting his figures with Testors paints, and playing with them under his bed. His advice to beginner customizers, the secret to success is practice. By failing you discover new techniques that no one else could teach you, but most importantly... it's about having fun!

stitchfett

You can go to the ebay page of stitchfett by clicking the link below:

http://myworld.ebay.com/stitchfett/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

Dad's "stitchfett video" featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

ACTION FIGURE EMPIRE ADDED TO "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

TK-9849, the poster boy for Action Figure Empire, official mascot, and founding member, started collecting action figures as a young kid. He was turned on to the world of pop culture, sci-fi, and all things nerdy by his father who also worked for many companies including Lucasfilm, Marvel, DC, Jurassic Park, Warner Brothers, Visa, Exxon, Shell, Goosebumps, Ghostbusters, Hasbro, Mattel, and many other licensing companies, creating toys, sculptures, artwork, and holograms. Together they collected movies, comic books, and of course action figures. For TK-9849 collecting, especially toys and comics, has always been a joyful experience and one that brought him closer to his father. To be a collector is another way to be a serious and dedicated fan of a franchise, story, or toy line. Having studied art in College, TK-9849 started to apply his imagination, combined with his creativity, to his collection of Star Wars action figures (having spent thousands of dollars in amassing it), and thus creates kit-bash/part-swap custom creations. The fun is in the challenge of not painting anything, nor permanently altering anything. All items are removed and the figures are returned to their original states after photographing each custom creation. He has also been known to branch out into charity work for young collectors in need. He pioneered the Toys For Eli Toy Drive (with the help of Darth Daddy, Tamer, ISY, Rebelscum, Yakface, and many more) to bring hundreds of Star Wars toys to a young fan in a difficult situation. Nothing compares to the giddy rush that comes from scoring some new figures, opening them and posing them, photographing them and reviewing them on the Action Figure Empire Blog, and then using their pieces for future custom figure projects!"

Action Figure Empire


"Plastic is a way of life" --TK-9849

AFE Blog:
http://actionfigureempire.blogspot.com/

AFE Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Action-Figure-Empire/196704237028097

AFE on Imperial Shipyards:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=6619.0

Look for fodder on eBay and Star Wars items for sale under seller name:
sdan9300

"STRONOX" VIDEO UPDATED IN "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

Dad wants to apologize to everyone for falling behind on our "Customs I Wish I Owned" postings. No need to worry, we have plenty of new customizers on the way for you all to check out. Dad has four new artists that he is waiting to introduce you all to in the weeks to come.

We also have a lot of new pieces to feature in our "Customizer Spotlight" with Star Wars custom action figures created by customizers Luke Sprywalker, Peakob1, Sillof, Omar Rivera, and two new additions created by kr2700/SWK Kustoms and Wraithnine who have been featured before in the "Spotlight".

To hold you all over, Dad just updated the video for Stronox in our "Customs I Wish I Owned" archives. Check out what he has been working on since Dad completed his last video.


STRONOX

Stronox is a 33 year old nurse from Pennsylvania. When he isn't parenting, he's either customizing figures, drawing, painting, reading, collecting toys, or gaming.

STRONOX

You can get to the blog for Stronox by clicking the link below:

http://stronoxcustoms.blogspot.com


You can see more Stronox by clicking the link below:

http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=5253


Go to his ebay sales page:

http://myworld.ebay.com/stronox117/


Dad's "Stronox" video featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

SWK KUSTOMS (kr2700) VIDEO UPDATED in "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

Kevin, or SWK KUSTOMS / kr2700, is a customizer we introduced you to in our Customizer Spotlight #3 with his Vergere action figure. When he sent us some more images of his custom action figures, it was only natural that we feature him on our Customs I Wish I Owned page as well. He started making custom Star Wars figures in 2007. He said his wife Lynn bought him a Han Solo figure as a birthday gift. “You should always get at least one toy on your birthday,” she said.

His own collection started shortly after. He thought about making a battle mock up of 100-200 Jedi and Sith, a scene that he imagined would be in the Clone Wars! The prequels went down a different path however…

Soon he had around 50 custom Jedi & 50 Sith (Jedi spray painted black). A few months later he began to get bored with just doing simple figures, so he started to experiment. He went through a phase where he made a lot of alien Jedi . He also did more interesting Sith Lords. Lynn then suggested that people might be interested in his figures, so he put some on eBay and his new hobby started to generate some interest!

Now four years later & around 300 customs under his belt, SWK KUSTOMS specializes in fully articulated figures!

SWK KUSTOMS (kr2700)

SWK Kustoms creates fully articulated and detailed Custom 4” figures. Star Wars, Star Trek, DC, Marvel or anything you can think of. With SWK you can also become your favorite character as well: Jedi, Sith, Storm trooper, Mandalorian and much more. Figures can be purchased upon request. Price is based on how hard the piece is to make, usually between $50-150. All figures come with specialized weapons or gear & name plate stands.

Add an SWK action figure to your collection today!

Visit him on facebook: www.facebook.com/swkustoms

Email him at SWK1138@yahoo.com for a quote.

"PEAKOB1" VIDEO UPDATED in "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

Chad Peak (aka: Peakob1 or CAP) is a 35 year old artist in Denver, Colorado and has been a Star Wars fan all his life. He makes customs for the love of the hobby and you won't find a more dedicated fan. He hopes one day that he can have an entire custom collection simply because it is personalized to him and he never seeks financial gain by doing his customs, although he has done a few commissions at reasonable prices. He started customizing in '95. He doesn't count some of the vintage Ewoks that he colored over with black and brown markers as a kid.

He refers to his style of customizing as "hard sculpting" opposed to using sculpy to mold his own figures. He uses bits of existing parts and dremels those down to make a new result. He believes that it makes for a much stronger figure because he's a little like Jar Jar, "hesa clumsy" and often drops figures. Usually they don't break if he builds them properly. He finds customizing very exciting and he has many projects on the horizon.

After Dad finished working on his Ziro the Hutt action figure that was inspired by Peakob1's Ziro, Dad figured there was no better time to update the video he made for the artist. Peakob1 recently added a bunch of really cool customs to his thread including a really killer Dash Rendar you all should check out. Hope you enjoy his customs!

He displays his customs on Yakface, Droids and Ewoks and Jedi Defender.

PEAK-OB1 CUSTOM CREATIONS

For more images from Peakob1 click here:
http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5631

here:

http://droidsandewoks.forumotion.com/customs-and-art-f13/

and here:
http://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=20796.0

Dad's "Peakob1" video posted on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

DROIDWORLD ADDED TO "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

Christopher aka Droidworld, has been making custom figures and dioramas since 1978, when he used a marker to change R2-D2 into another robot and put him in a bookshelf diorama with packing material walls and a cut out door. He has improved since then, though still uses found objects and dollar store materials to manipulate and expand on what Hasbro/Kenner has to offer us. (Or has not offered us!) Droids, being his first love, have been the focus of his customs, but as he started seeking other customizers on the internet, through Curto's Alliance, NiubNiub's Universe and Forgotten Force, he has expanded to humans and aliens of the Star Wars universe as well. Now showcasing his work on Rebelscum and Imperial Shipyards, he is quite happy pass on any information that has helped him along the way.

DROIDWORLD

Check out Droidworld's custom threads at Rebelscum:

http://threads.rebelscum.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB7&page=364&view=collapsed&sb=3&o=all

and

http://threads.rebelscum.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB7&page=365&view=collapsed&sb=3&o=all



Diorama threads on Rebelscum:

http://threads.rebelscum.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB46&page=46&view=collapsed&sb=3&o=all



Check out Droidworld's custom threads at at Imperial Shipyards:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=6938.0



Diorama threads at Imperial Shipyards :

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7009.0

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=6846.0

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=6845.0

Dad's "Droidworld" video featured on the Front Page of Imperial Shipyards.