"Medcha Wanto" created by Darth Daddy

After a very warm December, it finally feels as if winter has arrived.  We had one of our first snowfalls here at home, and we felt that now would be the perfect time to post an action figure that fit the frigid temperatures we are beginning to experience.  

In The Clone Wars first season episode Trespass, Anakin and Obi-Wan were caught in the middle of an escalating conflict between the furry territorial inhabitants of a desolate ice world and the greedy representatives of a nearby moon while investigating the disappearance of a clone security force.  The Talz species was first introduced in A New Hope in the iconic Cantina bar scene with the character of bar patron Muftak.  We loved that this species was brought back for an educational episode about the perils of advocating ethnocentrism.  So much so, that we wanted to pay tribute to the episode by immortalizing one of the Talz characters in plastic.  

Medcha Wanto was a Talz who was scribe to the Talz chieftain Thi-Sen.  Hasbro produced an action figure of Thi-Sen that was one of the best figures we got from The Clone Wars action figure line. With removable accessories, the action figure gave consumers the ability to army build all the Talz warriors that they liked.

Good friend and Star Wars customizer, Peak-OB1 had the brilliant idea of adding accessories to the base figure to create the Medcha Wanto action figure.  To do so he fabricated a headdress and removable clothing to create the character.  We really admired his brilliance, and were very thankful when he let us borrow his sculpted headdress to mold and cast to make one of our own. The casting process wasn't perfect (air bubbles are the enemy) so I had to make a few adjustments to his original sculpt to repair the cast that was made.  After that I made a sculpt of his clothing and parchment from Green stuff to complete the figure.  Like Peak-OB1 Custom Creations, I made the accessories removable. We really liked how the figure came out!

"Medcha Wanto" 

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED

Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.

This is for a fan who asked if we could start sharing work in progress pictures.

"CHOPPER DISGUISED AS AN IMPERIAL DROID" created by Darth Daddy

So It has been a few weeks since The Force Awakens has been released in theaters, and here at home we are already looking ahead.  Already we are missing Star Wars Rebels and can't wait until its return this January.  After a very successful first half of their second season, we can't wait to see what is in store for us in the last half.  The other night we started to watch the Stealth Strike episode and shortly after I had the itch to get a certain project done that I had been putting off since Season One, make Chopper in Imperial disguise.  Ever since he appeared this way in the Rebel Resolve episode I knew I wanted to make this version of Chopper.  Just a simple repaint of the retail release, there wasn't anything complicated to make this one.  Elias was really pleased with the results and was more than happy to add him to his Rebels shelf.

"CHOPPER DISGUISED AS AN IMPERIAL DROID" 

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

"Customs for the Kid" 2015 - Year In Review

A less productive year for "Customs for the Kid" than in previous years,  2015 was a challenging year for both me and Dad. Outside of our responsibilities to keep the the blog going, we spent a big portion of the year house hunting and making a big move in the middle of the year. 

Well, while the blog certainly suffered for it, Elias and Darth Daddy were still able to crank out 36 Star Wars custom action figures regardless of all the big changes. As you know the output is a lot less than what was accomplished in the past, but it was still quite the achievement under the circumstances.  

Now, we made a lot of customs for beginners, where a quick kitbash was all that was needed to get the job done, but we made sure to include plenty of intermediate and advanced custom pieces peppered throughout to keep the more seasoned customizers intrigued.  From head swaps to 100% sculpted figures, we made sure we had something for everyone.

A lot of exciting things happened in 2015 for the blog.  Earlier in the year, we had our action figures featured in Star Wars Celebration's "Star Wars Custom Action Figure" Panel which was the biggest honor a Star Wars customizer could ever receive. 

Big thanks to swnut77.com for posting this video.  It's the first one we found so far.

We also held our second ever custom action figure contest again teaming up with RebelForce Radio to promote the Star Wars radio drama "Smuggler's Bounty" created by Kyle Newman and F.J. DeSanto.

Once summer hit, Dad was asked to create High Adventure's album cover for their latest "High Five" release. 

Thankfully, the end of the year winded down at a quiet pace as we eagerly anticipated the mid-season finale for Star Wars Rebels and the big release of "The Force Awakens".  Here's looking to 2016! Hope you enjoy the video below of our action figures created in 2015.

"Customs for the Kid" 

2015 - Year In Review

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