Saturday, May 24, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT #37: HYPERDRIVE
When it comes to customizing, Hyperdrive is usually known for his signature "weathered
and worn" soft goods. Hyperdrive's soft goods work is just amazing!
What many people don't know, is that Hyperdrive has created some customs that have no soft goods work at all involved. One of these figures can be found in my own collection. Every holiday season, Customs for the Kid participates in Yakface.com's Secret Santa event in their forums. Darth Daddy and Hyperdrive were each other's Secret Santa, and Hyperdrive made us a unique droid in the old Vintage style that Dad grew up with. Both Dad and I were really impressed with this figure. Dad was most impressed with the sticker that Hyperdrive created on his computer to attach to the torso of the droid. This figure was a really cool addition to my collection and he is now posed with the complete Vintage Droid Factory playset that I found under my tree this past Christmas.
Originally, we had planned to post this action figure back in January, but Hyperdrive had sent us two packages. One with the figure and one with the diorama. Unfortunately, the diorama was lost in the mail for a long time until the box and diorama had been returned by the post office to Hyperdrive's home completely damaged and beyond repair.
VINTAGE DROID
created by Hyperdrive
To see more Star Wars custom action figures created by Hyperdrive, click the link below:
While you're here, why not check out Darth Daddy's "Clone Wars General Pong Krell" custom action figure with soft goods created by Hyperdrive:
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: DAN OF THE DEAD
Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer Dan of the Dead in the latest Customizing Corner over at The Star Wars Underworld.
CLICK HERE TO READ
One of my favorite parts about writing the "Customizing Corner" feature is introducing you all to the artists who have influenced me on my journey through the world of Star Wars custom action figures. One artist that really stands out and always releases one exciting figure after another is Dan of the Dead.
Although Dan gets most of his notoriety for his G.I. Joe custom action figures, his Star Wars figures are certainly nothing to scoff at. He always makes such creative characters and his color pallette constantly demands my eye's attention. He always takes such great photos of his action figures, and a lot of customizers could learn a lot from Dan about how to present one's art. Best of all, Dan of the Dead is another artist that provides the recipe that he used to make every one of his figures. A trait I have always admired a great deal.
Dan has played with and taken apart toys all his life. On his blog, he's very open about his dabbling with customizing action figures for as long as he can remember. Dan of the Dead really got involved in the hobby in 2009 after he was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma/vestibular schwannoma. His surgery came and went, and somewhere during his recovery, toys became art and art became therapy.
Not only is Dan an incredibly talented artist, but he also pens some super cool stories about the action figures that he makes that are always a lot of fun to read. Hopefully his art will be just as inspirational for you as it was for me.
Although Dan gets most of his notoriety for his G.I. Joe custom action figures, his Star Wars figures are certainly nothing to scoff at. He always makes such creative characters and his color pallette constantly demands my eye's attention. He always takes such great photos of his action figures, and a lot of customizers could learn a lot from Dan about how to present one's art. Best of all, Dan of the Dead is another artist that provides the recipe that he used to make every one of his figures. A trait I have always admired a great deal.
Dan has played with and taken apart toys all his life. On his blog, he's very open about his dabbling with customizing action figures for as long as he can remember. Dan of the Dead really got involved in the hobby in 2009 after he was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma/vestibular schwannoma. His surgery came and went, and somewhere during his recovery, toys became art and art became therapy.
Not only is Dan an incredibly talented artist, but he also pens some super cool stories about the action figures that he makes that are always a lot of fun to read. Hopefully his art will be just as inspirational for you as it was for me.
Click the link below for more of Dan the Dead:
or go to his blog:
Friday, May 16, 2014
CLONE WARS ARC TROOPER "FIVES" created by Darth Daddy
This custom action figure was just a simple repaint of an ARC Trooper Blitz created by Hasbro. I used the head of the Fives action figure that came in the Battle Pack with the Echo. The neck peg hole in the Fives head was exactly the same size as the one for the ARC Trooper helmet so no modification was needed. This is only the second clone custom that I've ever done. Usually you'll find me making an action figure of some strange alien, but after watching Season 6 of The Clone Wars, I felt his character deserved an action figure standing alongside the rest of Elias' action figure collection from The Clone Wars TV series.
CLONE WARS
ARC TROOPER "FIVES"
created by Darth Daddy
KITS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
"CLONE WARS CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES"
on Facebook:
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: LUCASCLONES
Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer Lucasclones in the latest Customizing Corner over at The Star Wars Underworld.
When it comes to Star Wars customs, Chad Hitchcock aka Lucasclones creates some of the best Star Wars clone figures out there today. He's particularly fond of making ARC troopers.
As a commissioned artist, his figures have been some of the best selling I've seen in the community. Lucasclones is a customizer that dives into everything. He customizes Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Desolation, and several other toy lines. He even created an H.P. Lovecraft inspired custom.
He also has an extremely active Youtube channel complete with figure reviews, tutorials, and custom action figure debuts.
Lucasclone's podcast, Custom Action Figure News, has been gaining traction for a few years now and its creation has been a boon to the custom action figure community. On his show he has interviewed the most famous customizers around. Working with Imperial Shipyards administrator Tamer, his podcast's success has made customizers accessible to their fans, all while providing some great tips on how to make one-of-a-kind toys. His recent addition of "Roundtable" discusssions to his podcast need to be archived for all interested in the artform. These roundtable discussions feature the experts who have teamed up to provide a free custom action figure education that's worth a fortune to the beginner and advanced customizer alike.
I can't even begin to list the many contributions Lucasclones has brought to the community. He's definitely an artist to watch.
As a commissioned artist, his figures have been some of the best selling I've seen in the community. Lucasclones is a customizer that dives into everything. He customizes Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Desolation, and several other toy lines. He even created an H.P. Lovecraft inspired custom.
He also has an extremely active Youtube channel complete with figure reviews, tutorials, and custom action figure debuts.
Lucasclone's podcast, Custom Action Figure News, has been gaining traction for a few years now and its creation has been a boon to the custom action figure community. On his show he has interviewed the most famous customizers around. Working with Imperial Shipyards administrator Tamer, his podcast's success has made customizers accessible to their fans, all while providing some great tips on how to make one-of-a-kind toys. His recent addition of "Roundtable" discusssions to his podcast need to be archived for all interested in the artform. These roundtable discussions feature the experts who have teamed up to provide a free custom action figure education that's worth a fortune to the beginner and advanced customizer alike.
I can't even begin to list the many contributions Lucasclones has brought to the community. He's definitely an artist to watch.
ARC Trooper "Fives"
Lucasclones on Imperial Shipyards:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=3618.0
Lucasclones on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasclones/
Lucasclones on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/cha1man2?feature
Lucasclones' blog:
http://lucasclonecustoms.blogspot.com/
Go here to listen to the Custom Action Figure News podcast:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/CAFN/index.html
If there is anything you would like him to feature on a future podcast be sure to let him know at:
chad.cafnpodcast@yahoo.com
Go here to listen to the Custom Action Figure News podcast:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/CAFN/index.html
If there is anything you would like him to feature on a future podcast be sure to let him know at:
chad.cafnpodcast@yahoo.com
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