Sunday, January 17, 2021
Friday, January 15, 2021
STANLEY OPIEL II - IN MEMORIUM
Stanley Opiel II was an incredibly gifted, prolific Star Wars custom action figure artist who breathed so much life into the Star Wars customizing community. His steadfast determination to bring the definitive versions of all the unreleased characters to fruition was admirable. He will be forever missed by his friends and Stan will always stand as an inspiration to us all. He was the heart of our customizing community.
Star Wars Modern Vintage Customs Facebook Group
If you know, you know....
Friday, January 1, 2021
"CUSTOMS FOR THE KID" 2020 - YEAR IN REVIEW
Another year behind us, but not just any year...it was our blog's ten year anniversary in 2020 and we were sure to celebrate it with some of our friends. We kept busy as usual and we even announced some big changes like Darth Daddy reducing his role a bit going forward.
Dad started the year off by breaking in our new 3-D printer utilizing some cool free droid files with characters from Solo: A Star Wars Story that we found on the Rebelscum forums. Dad even painted up some cool 3-D prints from Star Wars Rebels like Morai, HURID-327 from Force Awakens, and CB-23 from Resistance. Based on the results so far, the 3-D printing trend will continue to play a big role here on the blog for years to come.
While Darth Daddy was tackling droids Elias made a bunch of Clone Wars custom action figures for the "Kessel Run Transmissions" videocast who also had Customs for the Kid participate in some of their roundtables for the last season of The Clone Wars and the second season of The Mandalorian.
Customs for the Kid also did our part to promote the "Back TVC" movement this year and continues to offer our support to expand and grow the 3.75" line.
The purpose of this petition is to provide Hasbro with actionable market data to justify the investment in more new 3.75" Star Wars Vintage Collection figures every year.
By signing this petition, I affirm the following:
1. Collecting Hasbro's 3.75" Star Wars Vintage Collection is / will be a hobby of mine.
2. In order to retain / attract me as a customer, Hasbro must produce more newly tooled figures each year than is currently being produced, and those figures need to be in close alignment with the desires of the collector community.
3. I am more likely to visit retail locations that properly stock and manage Hasbro's 3.75" Star Wars Vintage Collection, and will also do so more frequently.
As Star Wars action figure customizers these action figures are necessary to continue our art form. If you could please sign to support the blog, it would be greatly appreciated!
#BackTVC #FightForTVC #Save375
One of the most exciting endeavors we got to be a part of was the big return of Wookielover1138's "Kessel Run Review" show after her long 7-year hiatus. She was a big part of this blog when we started and we loved seeing her return. We've always been huge fans of the way she promotes the Star Wars custom action figure community and we will be sure to post more of her videos as they get released.
Venturing into new territory, Elias made his first stop motion film, thanks to a school assignment he had late in the year. He incorporated some of our old Rogue One customs, an old Rebels diorama, his Hasbro toys and a green screen to bring the 15-second video to life.
Elias also did his first action figure tutorial for our YouTube channel showing our audience how he brought a Star Wars Rebels Gregor to life. The tutorial video covers materials needed, safety tips, Dremel use, sculpting techniques, articulating 5poa figures, molding and casting, as well as paint application. We plan on doing a lot more of these in 2021.
Parent Supervision Required!
We did a lot of fun, new 100% sculpted figures in 2020 like Azmorigan, Lux Bonteri, and a Lothwolf. We even revisited some old ones like Elias' second set of Jedi Younglings from The Clone Wars that were done on commission. Updated some older figures like Pre Vizsla and Bo Katan courtesy of a new head and some accessories from audes_workshop. Elias had the pleasure of painting up the cast of a friend's Ziro the Hutt, and we added a Star Wars Rebels Hondo Ohnaka to the collection along with a better headcast for Governor Pryce thanks to Watto's Scrapyard. We even committed some blasphemy by leaving the traditional scale we work in by showcasing a 6" Ahsoka Tano that Elias made for a commission. My favorite part of this year though was adding an animated 3.75" Clone Wars "Siege of Mandalore" Ahsoka Tano of my own to my collection!
All the Star Wars custom action figures we made in 2020 can be seen in the video at the very beginning of the post or just click on any of the various hyperlinks for more information on what is listed here.
Thursday, December 31, 2020
"THE CLONE WARS - SIEGE OF MANDALORE" AHSOKA TANO created by Elias
So this is the final custom of the year. It is also the second time this year I made an animated Ahsoka Tano from the Siege of Mandalore arc in the 3.75" scale. The first time was a dry run that we had made for Corey Van Dyke of Kessel Run Transmissions before the episodes even aired on Disney+. On this figure, I had the episodes to refer to, and much more time to study the details of the design, which lent to a more screen accurate representation of the character.
Knowing that Ahsoka was different than I had anticipated when referring to only a trailer, I realized I had to change my recipe, and her face sculpt. The head is a Scuba Ahsoka which I lengthened in the Montrals and Lekku. I also re-sculpted her jaw to make her appear more mature than she did in the Season 4 version. Her torso is from the Star Wars Rebels Ahsoka Tano action figure, which I modified heavily with a Dremel and some serious sculpting. The thighs and feet are from the early 2008 Clone Wars Ahsoka Tano action figure. The shoulder joints are from a Clone Wars Adventure Padmé Amidala action figure. The elbows and the lower legs are from a 3.75" Black Series Ahsoka Tano.
"THE CLONE WARS - SIEGE OF MANDALORE"
AHSOKA TANO
created by Elias
SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED
Saturday, December 19, 2020
CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT "UPDATE": THE CLONE WARS "Peppi Bow, Rafa & Trace Martez" custom action figures created by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations
For my birthday this year, Dad added a few more Clone Wars custom action figures made by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations to my collection. The first action figure is of a character fans were introduced to as early in the show as Season 1 while the other two custom action figures were of characters featured in the final season of the show.
The first action figure, a custom Peppi Bow, features brilliant paintwork and a stunning sculpt, including a removable hat! The figure is so heavily modified, I can't even identify the parts used to construct the figure. Nevertheless, the craftsmanship is absolutely fantastic, and I am honored to say that she now graces my Clone Wars shelf with her presence.
The other action figures are a set, the Martez sisters! Rafa Martez features her signature fur coat, and an especially beautiful paint job on her head, which appears to be a modified Clone Wars Shaak Ti head. Her necklace is a loose accessory, which is quite a feat, given the small size of the piece. Trace Martez comes with a pair of removable pilot goggles, and a wonderful sculpt. The hair, jacket, pants, and boots are all beautifully hand sculpted and painted to bring this work of art to life. The Martez sisters will make a fine addition to my collection!
Every time I add a new Peak-OB1 Custom Creations figure to my collection, it's always such a thrill. His talents as an artist are always apparent in his work, and I find myself wanting to learn how to apply variations to his paint technique in my own work whenever I can. To see more of his work, watch our show, Customizing the Clone Wars, where we do in an depth analysis of each Clone Wars episode, as well as provide tutorials for making the custom figures that we produced of characters from each episode.
THE CLONE WARS
"Peppi Bow" custom action figure
created by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations
THE CLONE WARS
"Rafa & Trace Martez" custom action figures
created by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations
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