JACKOFTRADZE CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT: UPDATED

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.

Since our previous Customizer Spotlight on JACKOFTRADZE, we have acquired several more Star Wars custom action figures and we decided to use the slideshow format to showcase them all just so we could save on space. Check out the newest JACKOFTRADZE additions to my collection!

JACKOFTRADZE CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT:
UPDATE

Click the graphics below to check out JACKOFTRADZE's blog & his Sunday night auctions on ebay.

JACKOFTRADZE "Jedi Master Count Dooku" featured on Action Figure Customs. Click image above to read the article.

That's My Face.com

Click the photo to get to the website.

In early July, Dad checked our email for the blog and we got a really cool email from one of our readers named Mary Shummer. She told us about a really cool website where people could obtain a super-realistic doll head of just about anybody if you provide them with just a photo. You have the ability to get a head sculpt of yourself, your kids, your boss, ANYONE!!

Apparently they make the heads in many scales to fit Barbie dolls, 12 inch figures, 3 3/4" action figures and more. Thanks Mary for the information!!

Dad apologizes for being so slow posting this. He read it one day while he was at work and planned on posting it that night, but never had the chance when he got home. Better late than never I guess.

"Martinez Family" Benifit Auction: Star Wars Custom "Twi'lek Smuggler" by INCOM Customs

Bid on this action figure before it's too late!!

"Twi'lek Smuggler"
by INCOM Customs

100% Proceeds to benefit the family of Micheal Martinez of Mercury Art Studios

For those of you unaware, we (the customizing community) lost a great friend and fellow artist, Michael Martinez, on July 2, 2011. However, a mother, fiance, and children, also lost a great father, friend, and future husband. Michael is survived by a young daughter Mikayla, a finace' Hollie, and an unborn child. We as a community have come together in their time of need to see what help we can offer them, and all proceeds from this auction will go to the family. Other groups such as the ImperialShipyards, and Echobase forums, are also doing their part to help the cause.

All of the customs in these auctions are brought to you by folks that do this for a living, so you can be assured you will receive a unique and quality piece or pieces for you contribution.

I thank you in advance for your bids and contribution to this worthwhile cause, and would be happy to answer any questions you may have with regards to the cause, or how you may otherwise contribute directly. Thank you and happy bidding!

Item Description

Up for auction is this custom made, hand painted, one-of-a-kind TWI’LEK SMUGGLER action figure.

This figure stands 3 3/4" tall and features a carefully modified head, two blaster pistols, one of which is a custom made double barreled one and has 14 points of articulation. Painted with Reaper, Vallejo, Games Workshop and Tamiya paints and sealed with matte and gloss varnishes.

IT'S THE B'S KNEES!!

B as in Barriss that is, or Bane if you consider the source of this modification. One night while talking to Luke Sprywalker on Skype, Dad mentioned that he wanted to create a more articulated Clone Wars Barriss Offee action figure and Sprywalker mentioned that Cad Bane's elbow joints would be perfect for her knees. The advice was so cool that we thought we'd share it. It takes only an Exacto knife and the small drill bit set for your Dremel. Just cut out the knees of your action figure, use the 1/16" drill bit from your drill set to go the desired depth into her thighs and calves then reassemble the limbs using the elbow joints on the Cad Bane. We still have to use some Apoxie Sculpt to smooth out the rough edges and paint her, but we thought a lot of our readers may want to tackle this one so we thought we'd show you this WIP action figure.

CW BARRISS OFFEE
with ARTICULATED KNEES

Work In Progress Picture
If you use the elbow joints of the 1st Cad Bane action figure, you can use the joints to create articulated knees in the CW Barriss Offee action figure.

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.