*ADULT SUPERVISION & PROPER SAFETY EQUIPMENT ARE REQUIRED WHEN UTILIZING THE TOOLS, PRODUCTS & TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED HERE ON OUR BLOG TO CREATE STAR WARS CUSTOMS.
We think this is an old Slayer Design Studio head cast that Dad used with a Clone Wars Mace Windu body. We love the Clone Wars Mace Windu figure for all the articulation it could add to a custom action figure. Especially in the hips. Ball jointed hips should be included on every Jedi action figure in our humble opinion. We can't tell you how disappointed we were when Hasbro released the Vintage Collection Ahsoka Tano and Starkiller with only swivel hips. With Hasbro announcing that the Clone Wars action figure line is now going to be discontinued, everybody who customizes should grab this figure whenever they see it. It is easily one of our favorite action figures to use for customizing here at home.
JEDI GENERAL
created by Darth Daddy
Dad's Jedi General was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.
Dad's Jedi General was featured in Yakface.com's Customizer Mega Spotlight.
Lucasclones is a customizer that dives into everything. Right now he's building mini-dioramas for his custom action figures. He customizesStar Wars, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Desolation, and several other toy lines. He recently even created an H.P. Lovecraft inspired custom. He has an active Youtube channel complete with figure reviews, tutorials, and custom action figure debuts. Lucasclone's podcast has been a boon to the custom action figure community. Working with Imperial Shipyards administrator Tamer on his podcast Custom Action Figure News he made customizers accessible to their fans while getting some great tips on how to make our toys better. His recent addition of "Rountable" discusssions need to be archived for all interested in the artform. These discussions provide a free education worth a fortune. I can't even begin to list the many contributions Lucasclones has brought to the community. Dad became friends with Lucasclones shortly after we appeared on CAFN. Most of these figures from this post were the result of swaps that they have done through the years. Dad has always loved the "Eyeball" figures that Lucasclonesmade. They are some of Dad's favorite figures in my collection.
PHASE I: ARC TROOPER "EYEBALL" created by LUCASCLONES
We got this guy on ebay.
PHASE II: ARC TROOPER "EYEBALL" created by LUCASCLONES
Digitsl painting created by Lucasclones.
PHASE I: ARC TROOPER "SPARK"
created by LUCASCLONES
PHASE I: ARC TROOPER "MONSTER"
created by LUCASCLONES
Lucascones needed an Ahsoka Tano head for a commission he had to do and Dad had a few extras. Dad told Lucascones he was just getting ready to paint an Ahsoka head to make a Darkside Ahsoka as she appeared in the Mortis trilogy. When they were talking Dad mentioned that he wasn't sure if he could pull off painting the head properly. Lucasclones said he could paint it for him and Dad sent him both heads Lucaclones way. A short time later I received the alternate Darkside Ahsoka head from Lucasclones for the custom action figure of Ahsoka that Dad had made.
"DARKSIDE - AHSOKA TANO" ALTERNATE HEAD created by LUCASCLONES
"Ahsoka Tano" Custom Action Figure created by Darth Daddy
Now, this is some inside scuttlebut talk from the custom action figure community that I'm getting ready to share with all of you. Believe it or not, most of the artists that create these custom figures talk to each other, and rather frequently at that. We all chat about the history of the art, where to get our supplies for the cheapest, and share tips on how to achieve desired results on a project that we have tasked ourselves with.
Anyway, here's the scoop! If you think Hasbro's figures are getting expensive, the price of custom action figures has skyrocketed, and for good reason too. A lot of conversation has been had on this topic within the community and from what I can tell, the history of price points for custom action figures starts around the time Customs for the Kid got into the hobby and started this blog.
Our blog got started when I bought Elias a few Star Wars custom action figures created by a customizer named JACKOFTRADZE who sold custom Star Wars action figures for around $30 - $125 per figure on ebay. Every Sunday night at 9:30pm EST, JACKOFTRADZE would post at least five new figures a week on his ebay store. Let me tell you ALL the figures made by JACKOFTRADZE were
masterfully crafted. The action figures that went for the most money
were just the more highly sought after characters that people wanted in
their collection. Characters like the Tonnika sisters, Fozec, Jaina Solo, or a Jedi Master Luke Skywalker would be available in an ebay auction or if you got there early enough, you could grab a figure at a "Buy It Now" price. Rarely did the "Buy It Now" price go over $40, but it sometimes did. The cost of the figures were insanely cheap and they sometimes sold out in minutes! Highly sought after figures increased in price whenever they were the center of bidding wars. Looking back, JACKOFTRADZE was a lot like Santa Claus. He made beautiful toys and practically gave them away for free. His prices were so low that very few customizers could compete in the market at all.
Tonnika Sisters
created by JACKOFTRADZE
Consumers familiar with the auctions of JACKOFTRADZE had unrealistic expectations when it came to cost. They started to approach other customizers that were looking to sell their art with severely lowballed offers whenever they tried to commission work from these artists. As a result, most customizers refused to sell their work. Heck, the parts used to createone of JACKOFTRADZE figures almost always outweighed the price of his entire completed figure. He never even charged customers for his labor. Not for assembly or for painting it. He was a customizer that just enjoyed creating the figures, while pulling down a couple of hundred a week to support his hobby and buy more supplies.
If you were a collector of custom Star Wars action figures, this was the Golden age. Beautiful works of art were available for so cheap. The only negative, any customizer who wanted a return on his parts and his labor was lowballed and usually to great insult. Customers wanted the JACKOFTRADZE price. Consumers need to realize that JACKOFTRADZE was an exception and not the rule. There are several customizers who create action figures professionally and it is their only job. They support their families with the sale of their art.
Now this is by no means a criticism of JACKOFTRADZE. He has every right to sell his work at any price he feels fit. Personally, I'd like to thank JACKOFTRADZE, because if it weren't for him, there would be no Customs for the Kid,
there would be no blog, and I wouldn't have found my way into this fun
and rewarding art form. Elias loved his work and his blog. So much so, that he wanted us to get in on the action, create our own toys, and start our own blog. The custom action figures of JACKOFTRADZE have been an inspiration in our home and are awesome
addition to our collection. Years later they are still proudly on display in Elias' room. We have almost 20 of his action figures.
Unfortunately for the consumer, this all came to an end. One Sunday, about a year ago, his store didn't restock and there have been no new figures since. Almost immediately custom action figure prices started to soar. Collectors who were used to paying low prices were now spending up to $250 for an action figure made by artists like Mercury Art Studios or Stronox, and the prices are still going even higher. Now when you search on ebay for custom action figures, you have two types of custom action figures. The very cheap custom action figures and the very expensive.
Vilmarh Grahrk by Stronox
While you can still find cheap Star Wars customs on ebay, the cheaper figures aren't of the same quality as the ones that were created by JACKOFTRADZE. If you want action figures from an artist of his skillset, be prepared to spend big money for a good quality action figure in today's market. It's getting to the point where $250 is cheap. And for good reason.
These aren't just action figures. They are
action figure "art".
Hasbro can sell their action figures for a low cost because their
figures are mass produced, and the company is able to make the
money back for the time that was invested to create their prototype
figure. Think of it as consumers crowdfunding the creation of a figure for a company by absorbing the costs if creating the prototype. When you commission a custom, you are absorbing 100% of the labor and production costs yourself and the more expensive Hasbro's figures get the more expensive it becomes to make a custom figure.
Now, we definitely have several figures on this blog that wouldn't be
expensive. For example, there are several figures on here that I threw together in under an hour just to have a custom action figure posted on the blog for
the week, but a majority of the figures on this blog
were
created with parts from three or more figures that all had to be
purchased to create a new figure. The parts alone for a custom action figure can usually run $50+ per
figure creation. Customers want maximum articulation in an action figure if they are going to make a purchase, and that requires more expensive figures ($15 - $30+ for
each figure used to create the custom) to meet their demand. I've
seen customizers use over $100 in parts to kitbash just one figure.
Consumers of action figure art really don't understand what goes into making a figure. Hopefully, by the time they finish reading this article they will be a bit more educated and they will see the logic behind the higher price point.
It could also be helpful if I explain exactly what a consumer should expect if they decide to commission an artist to make them a custom action figure. First, don't treat the transaction like you are walking into a store to make a purchase. Art means you have to work around the creative schedule of an artist. What does that mean? Simply put, it means the artist finishes when they finish. Believe me... you want a good product, so it isn't wise to nag, rush or bully the customizer to get your figure faster. These figures are very labor intensive. Action figures like the Ziro the
Hutt I created took 3 ten hour sittings of sculpting, followed by painting, and I still
don't feel like he's done. That is why the cost of figures is going up.
I don't know many artists who would accept less than $100 for 30 hours of labor and on top of that not be reimbursed for the supplies. Customizers definitely deserve a living wage and not even an entry level wage. An entry level worker is not a skilled worker, most of the artists who create these figures are extremely skilled. Customizers are changing their perspective on what they feel they deserve and who can blame them?
Anytime anyone contacts us asking for us to make a figure for them, we are always
flattered and honored that they would want one of our figures, but when approaching any customizer for commission work be prepared to pay and pay handsomely. It can take anywhere from 5-20 hours to make a figure depending on the amount of work involved and you are asking a complete stranger to invest that on your behalf. Just painting a figure takes almost 5 hours even before sculpting is even figured in. Respect these artists the same way you would a plumber, mechanic, or any other professional individual you solicit services from.
The action
figures on display here on the blog are all one-of-a-kind pieces and some can go for hundreds to
sometimes thousands of dollars depending on what it is. That puts a lot of these figures out of most people's financial reach. But, well, isn't that why art that is in galleries goes for so much.
I recently sent an email to JACKOFTRADZE to figure out what happened and why he quit selling. I haven't heard back, but he is certainly missed.
Feel free to leave comments below. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic.
-Darth Daddy
Lucasclones and Tamer were
joined by a very esteemed panel of custom action figure artists to talk
about the very controversial subject of commissioning a custom action
figure project. Just what is a fair price on a custom action figure or
vehicle? Custom Action Figure News aimed to cover this entire process from start to finish, including both the commissioner and the commissionee perspective. CAFN would like to thank Luke Sprywalker, Darth Daddy, and Ratfink's Customs for giving CAFN some time to talk about this.
Well CAFN planned on having a lighting roundtable and while they apologize for that not happening, they were able to discuss a few interesting UV and glow paint techniques thanks to Clonehead. Of course they had to unload about the new 6-inch line announced by Hasbro. CAFN wants to thank Clonehead, Luke Sprywalker, and later SpookyMufu for checking in to give us their views on this new announcement. And stay tuned folks, CAFN is not giving up on bringing you a dedicated podcast on how to light up your stuff!
If you haven't seen
the brand new and improved CAFN Page yet, be sure to give it a look.
Go here to listen to the Custom Action Figure News podcast:
