AGE APPROPRIATE WARNING

*ADULT SUPERVISION & PROPER SAFETY EQUIPMENT ARE REQUIRED WHEN UTILIZING THE TOOLS, PRODUCTS & TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED HERE ON OUR BLOG TO CREATE STAR WARS CUSTOMS.

Saturday, May 4, 2024

TVC "RETURN OF THE JEDI" FOZEC created by "Customs for the Kid"

May the 4th Be With You! This will only be one of many reveals you are sure you to come across on this year's Star Wars Day!

Today we have a figure reveal for you all! Fozec is an action figure Dad has been wanting to add to my collection for many years now. Fozec received some serious screen time in the Jabba's Palace scenes from "Return of the Jedi". Fozec can be found behind Han and Leia after Han was freed from his Carbonite block and Fozec was also standing behind Jabba when Luke first arrived at Jabba's Palace and making his iconic fall into the Rancor pit. 

Thanks to some friends of ours we were able to bring Fozec to life. We had a friend overseas, John Evergrey who provided us with a headsculpt that they had made and another friend, Peak-OB1 Custom Creations provided us with Fozec's trident. From there we just needed to sculpt our own torso, some legs, and some arms. Dad and I took turns with all of the sculpting passes on this figure until all that we had left to do was add some paint to the completed sculpt. Dad and I took turns here with the paint too and what you see is the final result of all of our efforts.

Fozec was a spy for the Empire who kept tabs on Jabba's activities for the ISB. Obviously he was good at his job because Jabba trusted him to have his back when Jedi Luke Skywalker paid him a visit and he was right behing Han and Leia after Solo was freed from his carbonite prison makingbsure he had arms length control over the situation. Fozec secretly hoped to leave the Empire and pursue lucrative opportunities in the criminal underworld. He died on Jabba's Sail Barge at the hands of the aforementioned trio and a few of their friends. 

Strange that such an integral character to Jabba's court who had so much screentime  never made into figure form yet. Demand is growing though. @swtvc had their March Madness this year and he made it into the bracket to he voted on, so collectors do want him. We can't tell you how many custom versions of him we have gotten from the customizer community. 

We had to do so an exhaustive number of screen captures from the film to figure out what Fozec looked like from behind to determine what the leather strapping looked like along his back, then find good angles on the inside of his gauntlets so they were represented well. It took quite awhile before we figured out if he was wearing kneepads or just leather bindings. Figuring out if he had a gun and holster was a chore too. We think we delivered the best Fozec available and if he ever does get released, we hope our research saves people a few hours of pressing rewind and pause. Anyone who wants the screen captures for one of their own projects shoot us an email.

We hope we did him justice.


THE VINTAGE COLLECTION
"RETURN OF THE JEDI"
FOZEC
created by "Customs for the Kid"















































Jimmy Mac and Jason Swank of Rebel Force Radio with Darth Daddy & Elias of "Customs for the Kid".

After we completed Fozec, photographed him and posted him here on the blog, we then traveled to meet up with friends of the blog Jimmy McInerney (Jimmy Mac) and Jason Swank of Rebel Force Radio and the band High Adventure at a fun May the 4th event. Many years ago we teamed up with Rebel Force Radio to promote the radio dramas of Kyle Newman that were performed at Star Wars Celebrations with Star Wars custom action figure contests hosted here on our blog. Dad even made Jimmy Mac a Ziro the Hutt action figure around that time. High Adventure performed at the event. It was cool to see the band and learn that all of them still had their action figures from the "High Five" album cover that Dad created for them. After the live RFR podcast, we watched "Empire Strikes Back" on the big screen to cap off the night. Definitely a May the 4th well spent!





Grammy and Tony award-winning composer Robert Lopez was a guest on the podcast.



High Adventure performing.

Celebrate Star Wars Day, May The 4th Be With You, at Downtown Live!

Star Wars Day is an informal commemorative day observed annually on May 4 to celebrate the Star Wars media franchise created by filmmaker George Lucas. Dress in your best Star Wars costumes and enjoy the day with fellow fans! The cost of admission includes all activities offered, no additional purchases necessary for the film (food and drink not included). Kids under 3 are free!

Beginning at 3PM, the art gallery below the theater will have art work, comic books and photo opportunities with your favorite Star Wars characters! Enjoy food and drinks from our vendors inside and outside. Bristol Public Library will be in attendance providing giveaways and paperback books of the Star Wars variety from 3-6PM.

4-6:00PM - Travel upstairs to the Rockwell Theater, where the renowned podcast, Rebel Force Radio will perform a live show!



Fast-paced, fun, and informative, Rebel Force Radio offers the best in STAR WARS news and commentary. The show is unmatched when it comes to interviews with the legends of Star Wars. RFR listeners have enjoyed our conversations with Star Wars creator George Lucas, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Frank Oz, Billy Dee Williams, Jon Favreau, Seth Green, Anthony Daniels, and many more STAR WARS film and TV actors, authors, artists, and producers. For more about Rebel Force Radio, please visit www.rebelforceradio.com



Art Gallery: 6:00-7:00PM - Meet and greet with Rebel Force Radio co-hosts, Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac. We'll also have photo opportunities inside and outside of the theater (weather dependent).




Theater: 6:00-7:15PM - Join Kessel Temple for The Padawan Training Institute! Younglings (suggested ages 6-10) learn about the ways of the Force and how to wield a lightsaber from real Jedi Masters! At the conclusion of the program, younglings are given the rank of "Padawan"! Kessel Temple is the Connecticut chapter of Saber Guild, an international Star Wars lightsaber performance organization. There will be two classes, with availability for 18 younglings, signups will be first come, first served at the theater. Enjoy a live light saber performance on stage, great for the kids!



7:30-9:30PM - Get comfortable in Rockwell Theater and enjoy the 1980 film, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (PG) - The Rebels scatter after the Empire attacks their base on the ice planet Hoth. Han Solo and Princess Leia are pursued by Imperials, while Luke trains with Jedi Master Yoda. But when Luke battles Darth Vader, he learns the shocking truth of his past.




Saturday, April 20, 2024

TVC "AHSOKA" MORGAN ELSBETH (GIFT OF SHADOWS) custom action figure created by Elias of "Customs for the Kid"

Morgan Elsbeth was a Force-sensitive human female Nightsister and industrialist who was instrumental in the construction of the Imperial Navy during the reign of the Galactic Empire and a dedicated follower of Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo. After the fall of the empire, Morgan sought to return Thrawn to the galaxy, and led an army along with the aid of Imperial sympathizers to achieve this.

By the era of the New Republic, she led a ruthless regime and served as magistrate of Calodan on the planet Corvus. Elsbeth was in possession of a spear made of pure beskar, and offered it as payment to the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin for him to kill the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano. At that time, her forces wore stylized versions of a chimaera, the personal symbol of her patron, Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, and the emblem of the 7th Fleet. However, Tano and Djarin banded together and ended up defeating Elsbeth and her forces.

Upon besting the magistrate in combat, Tano demanded Elsbeth to reveal the location of her master, Thrawn. Elsbeth was then deposed and arrested for acting as an Imperial sympathizer. However, her forces survived with sinister agents at work to free her from New Republic custody. Tano eventually forced Elsbeth to reveal the location of a star map that showed the way to Thrawn. Eventually, Baylan Skoll, a former Jedi turned mercenary with his apprentice Shin Hati freed her from imprisonment and she resumed her efforts to reach her master.

Upon retrieving the star map from Tano's apprentice, Sabine Wren, she rallied her forces on the planet Seatos and prepared for her journey. Despite Tano and the New Republic's efforts, she retrieved the last hyperdrive core from Corellia to complete the Eye of Sion with the ability to travel to extragalactic locations, specifically in the Far Galaxy where Thrawn was exiled. Tano and Wren attempted to prevent Elsbeth's departure, but she succeeded in completing the hyperspace jump, taking the latter as a prisoner.

Upon arriving in orbit of the planet Peridea, the homeworld of her people, she made contact with the Great Mothers Klothow, Aktropaw and Lakesis who allied with Thrawn. Reuniting with the Grand Admiral, Morgan coordinated the efforts to kill Jedi Ezra Bridger, also stranded with Thrawn. With the Great Mother's cargo transferred, she was officially inducted into the Nightsisters and received the Blade of Talzin as a reward for her efforts. However despite bombardments and reanimating dead troopers, the Jedi persisted in their attempt to prevent Thrawn and Elsbeth's escape. Morgan, at Thrawn's request, agreed to stay behind to slow the Jedi down. With her new weapon, she engaged Tano in a rematch. She managed to destroy one of her lightsabers but was eventually slain by her. However, she still allowed Thrawn and the Great Mothers to escape Peridea, leaving Tano and Wren stranded.

We recently received a really awesome gift box in the mail from our good friend and fellow artist Peak-OB1 Custom Creations that included an amazingly cool green resin print of Mother Talzin's Sword that inspired the below custom. We had a spare Morgan Elsbeth TVC action figure on an extremely damaged card (Thanks to Amazon's horrible practice of shipping collectibles in paper envelopes! WTH!). All we had to do was break out our paintbrushes and get crackin'!

I based her face, neck, and hands in Reaper's Elf Flesh paint, and then used Caucasian Flesh as a medium tone.  I generously highlighted with Maiden Flesh to give her that pale Nightsister look.  I painted her tattoos with Reaper's Ashen brown, and mixed in some black to make the shaded areas pop.



"AHSOKA"
MORGAN ELSBETH 
(GIFT OF SHADOWS)
by Elias

























Sunday, March 31, 2024

"STAR WARS: VISIONS" LOP created by Elias of "Customs for the Kid"

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! The timing of this commission couldn't have been more serendipitous. Due to her bunny like features Lop made a fitting post for the holiday.

This was a 100% sculpted custom. The body was hand sculpted with Aves Fixit and ProCreate onto a completely sanded down TBS 3.75" Jyn Erso action figure to borrow her articulating joints. The head was designed in Blender and completed in Zbrush before we printed the finished headsculpt on our Longer Orange 30 and painted the finished product.

Lop was introduced in Star Wars: Visions is an animated anthology television series created for the American streaming service Disney+. Produced by Lucasfilm, the series consists of original animated short films set in, or inspired by, the Star Wars universe, with each episode being a self-contained narrative produced by various studios. The first volume of nine anime short films were produced by seven Japanese animation studios: Kamikaze Douga, Studio ColoridoGeno StudioTriggerKinema CitrusProduction I.G, and Science Saru, with Trigger and Science Saru producing two shorts each. The second volume expanded the series to animation studios around the world, featuring shorts from El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Aardman (United Kingdom), Studio Mir (South Korea), Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D'art Shtajio (Japan) along with Lucasfilm (United States), and Triggerfish (South Africa/Ireland). The creators at each studio are given free rein to re-envision the ideas of Star Wars as they see fit, while receiving guidance from Lucasfilm's executive team. The first volume was released on September 22, 2021, while the second was released on May 4, 2023. Both volumes have received critical acclaim. Lop appeared in Season 1, Episode 8. "Lop and Ochō".

During the reign of the Empire, a rabbit-like alien slave named Lop escaped her captors on the planet Tau. She is discovered by the planet's clan leader Yasaburo and his daughter Ochō, who convinces her father to adopt Lop as his daughter. Seven years later, the Empire has occupied their planet and is exploiting its natural resources. Yasaburo wants to drive the Empire off their planet, while Ochō wants to cooperate with the Empire. Ochō enlists in the Imperial navy despite her father and Lop's protests. With Ochō gone, Yasaburo gives her the family treasure, an ancient lightsaber passed down through the generations. Ochō blinds her father Yasaburo in a duel, then the Force-sensitive Lop confronts Ochō and injures her. forcing her to flee. Lop then vows to bring Ochō back home.



"STAR WARS: VISIONS"
LOP
created by Elias




























We love the look of her clan's lightsaber. Our client only wanted the figure so we didn't get to make her lightsaber, but it sure is a beauty!