Yakface.com's Secret Santa 2015

Every year we participate in Yakface.com's Secret Santa event.  This year was no different.  We saw our package was delivered on Christmas Eve so we figured we'd post what we sent as our gift. This year Star Wars customizer JediStyle was the recipient of this year's custom action figure from Customs for the Kid. Two years ago, we did a figure swap with JediStyle for the holiday outside of Yakface.com. so when we found out he was who we were assigned to, we tried to create a companion figure for the first one we sent him.  

Since the last figure we created for JediStyle had a Steampunk feel, we tried to add a little of that flavor here as well.  We decided on a fan fiction figure because we know this artist has created a plethora of his own Star Wars fan fiction figures over the years. We also wanted to maintain the desert vibe from the last figure so the new gift would look good posed with the older one. We really wanted to create a diorama stand that would have housed both figures, but the album cover for High Adventure's "High Five" release cut too deep into the time we had to devote to this project.  

When making this figure we imagined him to be an individual on the run. Hiding on the fringes of the desert, behind a mask, rounding up criminals trying to disappear on the fringes of civilization. This was the first time we attempted doing wig work for an action figure.  Adding in the thread was also daring to venture outside our normal process.  

We included some pictures below of the previous Secret Santa action figure from 2 years ago that we mailed to JediStyle.

"Twi'lek Bounty Hunter"

created by Darth Daddy

  

FEMME MANDO

created by Darth Daddy

Chris Seekell from The Star Wars Underworld Visits "Customs for the Kid"

Earlier this week, Chris Seekell from The Star Wars Underworld came to our home to see the "Customs for the Kid" collection first hand.  While he was here, he filmed the part of our collection that was on display and had a chance to interview Elias and me. The interview covered our origins as a customizing team and we shared information about our Customizer Directory page as well as where you can find information about custom action figures in our personal collection made by artists from all around the world.  Chris Seekell's mini-documentary should be released in a few weeks, so keep your eyes open for a future post on our blog that documents his visit.

photo by Chris Seekell

Super-Accessorized "Kylo Ren" created by Darth Daddy

Nothing too intensive needed to create this custom action figure.  In fact, you can probably make this figure in less than a minute.  All you need is the new Black Series Kylo Ren figure that is exclusive to Wal-mart and the head and plastic cloak from the Armor-Up Kylo Ren action figure. With a few seconds of drilling to expand the hole on the Armor-Up head, you can do the head swap needed to make this figure. The last head we added was from the Unmasked Kylo Ren action figure. I'm sure a lot of people will be doing this quick modification if they haven't already.  The cost for the parts can be a little pricey, but the results are too good to not give it a go!

We personally feel that the Armor-Up parts and unmasked Kylo Ren head that we used for this figure should have already been included with this particular Black Series action figure.  When one considers the steep price tag, $15.83 on this so-called "collector's series" action figure, it's easy to call poor form on Hasbro's part for not following proper etiquette when not including all the proper accessories for a figure. Even more so when the parts were already manufactured.  We never collected their 6" Black Series line for this very reason.  Hasbro is a company cutting corners where they shouldn't. Collectors are frustrated. Consumers who used to spend thousands of dollars a year are walking away in droves.  

Super-Accessorized

"Kylo Ren" 

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

 

Customizer Spotlight #43: Parintachin73

Parintachin73, aka Blaise Bear, hails from Kingston, NY where his time is divided between working full-time, being a parent to a beautiful little girl, freelance graphic designing, and cramming in as many hours at his customs workspace as possible. He has been doing custom figures for about 7-8 years now with an emphasis on Star Wars figures. Although he has been known to delve into the world of superheroes from time to time, his primary goal these days is to expand his skill set and take on new challenges. 

Parintachin73 is a veteran with powerhouse skills. We added this particular figure to our collection over a year ago, but we weren't able to post the Jedi Temple Guard on the blog until now. Hasbro has only released a version of this character with five points of articulation, so having Parintachin73's super-articulated version is a real treat.  We love the soft goods he added to the figure.  The handmade keys positioned along the waistline is probably the coolest detail on this figure.

We really love his paint work. His colors are so rich and warm. Very nice on the eyes!

"Jedi Temple Guard"

created by Parintachin73

Link for his work on rebelscum.com:

Parintachin73's customs thread

For commissions please contact:

blaisebear@yahoo.com

"JAXXON" created by Darth Daddy

This is a character I always thought about making, but kept putting off to do later so I could create a character that I had wanted to make more.  I actually planned on making him in a completely different way than what I did here. This version was just the result of making what the commission required. This figure was born from the need to make a Jaxxon for High Adventure's "High Five" album cover that recreated the look of the cover of the Marvel edition of Star Wars #8: Eight for Aduba-3. 

I'm glad I got to make this figure the same year that Marvel took back the Star Wars comic line after years of Star Wars being handled by Dark Horse.

Jaxxon was a quick-witted Lepi smuggler from Coachelle Prime. The most rambunctious of his family's thirteen children, he left his homeworld at an early age, after stealing an unprotected freighter. He made his way to Nar Shaddaa, where he began to perform odd jobs, quickly becoming familiar with the important elements of fringe culture. After a short stint as a mercenary, he decided to try his hand at smuggling, and he bought a WUD-500 star yacht, christening it the Rabbit's Foot. However, the starship was fraught with mechanical problems and he was forced to land at the shady spaceport of Aduba-3. Needing to acquire funds in order to make repairs, he accepted a job from Han Solo, and became part of the Star-Hoppers of Aduba-3, a mercenary force tasked with defending the small village of Onacra. After protecting the community from Cloud-Riders, the group was forced to fight off the Behemoth from the World Below. Due to Solo's efforts, the giant monster was killed, and Jaxxon was able to get the money needed to repair his ship.

"JAXXON" 

created by Darth Daddy