Action Figure Customs Blog

This blog is dedicated to discussing the world of custom action figures. There are many talented people creating customs from toy lines such as Transformers, GI Joe, Marvel Legends, and Star Wars. I also interview various customizers and they shed light on their philosophy and showcase their talent. The blog is updated daily so check back often for updates.

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Custom Optimus Prime Transformers Movie Custom Voyager Class Figure by Jin Saotome

Posted by Mig on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 @ 9:55 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe

Jin Saotome is on a roll with his latest Transformers Movie
Custom Battle Damaged Optimus Prime in Voyager Class scale. One aspect of this Optimus Prime that sets it apart from the rest is the removable truck back! With the Voyager Class Optimus Prime, the original figure suffered from hunchback syndrome but Jin has found the key to making this figure tolerable: the removable truck back! Removing the hood from Prime's back really makes this figure sleek and agile. The paint job reflects one heck of a battle that happened at the end of the movie and what always puzzled me was that Prime's Truck mode (and all of the Autobots) looked immaculate even after a opening a big can of whoop a$$ on the Decepticons. Jin's truck mode actually reflects what Prime would look like before he had a chance to hit the car wash. The cracked windshield is a nice touch too (I wonder what auto insurance Prime has...).

As Jin states, "This auction is for an 8" tall custom 'Final Battle' Optimus Prime figure with removable truck back (ah hah, finally!) removable gun-hand, and twin missile firing smokestacks. He has multiple points of articulation, far too many for me to count so I'm not even going to try. This means you can pose Prime in all sorts of awesome Autobot-leading poses and he'll look great in every one. He transforms just like the store-bought Voyager Optimus Prime and changing his form around won't affect the paint job at all. Instructions are included because let's face it these suckers are like skill-puzzles sometimes.

This custom has been painted with an exceptional level of detail, and with paint that's not going to rub or flake off. Handle it, pose it, but don't give it to your little brother to play outside with. You'll find that my custom figure designs are durable and look great as well. Now you can have the best of both worlds. Oh man, Prime looked like he was almost down for the count at the end of the Transformers movie, all dinged up and beat to hell! Now you can own a true battle-damaged Prime with a super-detailed paint job that will rival anything you'll see on the shelves. Prime here has been painted with multiple layers of shadows, metallic detailing, highlights, battle wear, scuffs, mud splatters, oil splatters, burn marks… you name it and he's been through it. But it's not just the paint, Optimus Prime's sculpt has been changed to reflect all the damage he took fighting Megatron, looking like he stepped right off the screen with gouges, dents, and blast damage! His vehicle mode has been given damage, not just his robot form for true movie-accuracy. You can remove Prime's right hand for an oversized fusion cannon and actually remove his funky truck-cab-backpack that was hindering the original figure. Prime's head has been refitted with a balljoint so he can look around in all directions now.

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Galvatron Transformers Movie Custom by Jin Saotome

Posted by Mig on Monday, October 29, 2007 @ 9:52 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe
From the ashes of the Transformers Movie Voyager Class Megatron comes Jin Saotomes's Custom Movie Galvatron. Michael Bay should be looking to the talent of the Transformers customizers for Transformers Movie 2 (sequel) ideas. In the movie, Megatron's remains were disposed of into the Laurentian Abyss by the U.S. Armed Forces, along with the other dead Decepticons. Jin Saotome gives rise to Galvatron, Megatron's soul embodied into to a new being.

As Jin states, "This auction is for an 8 inch tall custom
Movie Galvatron figure with removable back wings and firing arm cannon/cockpit. He has multiple points of articulation, far too many for me to count so I'm not even going to try. This means you can pose Galvatron in all sorts of awesome Autobot battling poses and he'll look great in every one. He transforms just like the store bought Voyager Megatron and changing his form around won't affect the paint job at all. Instructions are included because let's face it these suckers are like skill puzzles sometimes.

This custom has been painted with an exceptional level of detail, and with paint that's not going to rub or flake off. Handle it, pose it, but don't give it to your little brother to play outside with. You'll find that my custom figure designs are durable and look great as well. Now you can have the best of both worlds. By now you've probably seen the Transformers movie, right? Then you're right, there is no Galvatron in there. He may show up in the sequel but this is my own take on Megatron's second incarnation, mixing movie style and G1 style together with one figure. I created this custom from my own vision, which means you won't find a figure like this anywhere in the world. He's unique, purple, and spikey! He features poseable fingers where the wrists extend to give you an upwards/downwards reach, new detailing with spikes and such, a moving containment shield that contains the AllSpark energy that was released when Sam fried a hole in his chest in the first movie (mystical life-creating AllSpark energies not included) and a removable cannon and wing sections. The wings flip out into different positions and he really looks quite menacing despite being a large purple robot. Hey, if the Sentinels can get away with it so can Galvatron!"

If you are unfamiliar with Galvatron please read on below:

In the year 2005, the Decepticons launched a failed attempt to capture Autobot City on Earth. In the process, Decepticons leader Megatron was gravely wounded, though not necessarily mortally. During their retreat from Earth, the Decepticons had to abandon many of their beaten warriors to cold space, whether or not they were beyond repair. Craving the leadership, Starscream also threw Megatron's body overboard. Eventually, Megatron was approached by a being of god-like power: Unicron. They talked and a bargain was arrived at. Unicron would save Megatron's life and provide him with a new body and new troops, and Megatron would destroy the Matrix of Leadership for Unicron. Deciding that a new and more powerful body would be needed, Unicron turned Megatron into Galvatron.

Check out more Custom Transformers on eBay!

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Jetfire Masterpiece Custom Transformers Made from Yamato VF-1S 1/48 by deafinoneear

Posted by Mig on @ 7:29 AM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe
(Someone does not belong in this Masterpiece lineup! Can you guess who?)

The Masterpiece line has been a huge hit for Takara and the figure line keeps growing (Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Ultra Magnus, Skywarp). What if Takara made a Masterpiece Jetfire? deafinoneear shows you what it might look like with his custom Masterpiece Jetfire from a Yamato VF-1S 1/48.

I think I can speak for most when I say that Jetfire is one of the most popular Transformers from the Generation One line back in the 1980's. As with any Masterpiece Transformers, collector's love the scale and G1 molds that are used to portray their favorite characters. This custom is no exception! The scale for this Jetfire is very close to Optimus Prime's scale (with Jetfire's armor just reaching Optimus' head) but without the armor Jetfire comes up to his shoulder. No detail was spared when creating this G1 Classic. For this one, I am letting the pictures do the talking so enjoy the show and make sure you bid on this one of a kind
Custom Masterpiece Jetfire!








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Wheeljack Transformers Movie Custom Made from 2009 Camaro Bumblebee by darthleon_customs

Posted by Mig on Sunday, October 28, 2007 @ 7:47 AM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe

Using the 2009 Bumblebee concept Camaro as an inspiration, darthleon_customs brings us a Generation 1 treat with his Custom Wheeljack Generation 1 Transformer. This version of Wheeljack is amazing! One thing that struck me about this custom was the excellent repurposing of the 2009 Camaro Bumblebee mold to make a G1 classic.

Wheeljack's head is very accurate to his G1 counterpart and the faceshield that makes this figure unique fits nicely over the existing Bumblebee head. By leaving the mouth exposed and the top of the head, darthleon_customs takes Wheeljack to the next level by giving him a more robotic look with a human touch. In car mode, the detail on the paint pays a nice homage to the Generation 1 classic. Without overtly putting Autobot stickers on the car, Wheeljack can continue to hide in plain site, a welcome change from the original.
darthleon_customs urges you to bid early as I am sure this one will be hot and very sought after. Check out his Custom Wheeljack on eBay as he has more customs coming!

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2009 Camaro Custom Lego Technic by crowkillers-incorporated

Posted by Mig on Friday, October 26, 2007 @ 9:55 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe
crowkillers-incorporated is at it again and brings us this black custom Lego 2009 Camaro. If you have not seem his work before, check it from my blog post on his red Camaro. I am simply in awe of his work and his latest custom black Camaro comes with some nice details that sets this apart from his red version. For example, this black Camaro has racing stripes, a very nice addition to the car. The interior is tan, which sets off the black and red. As for how this was built, I will let crowkillers-incorporated fill you in on this one:

"As a Camaro owner myself I was in awe when I feasted my eyes on Chevy's New Concept Camaro Last Year. After a Few months I decided to build one. This model contains Well over 2300 New parts and has been constructed in 1/8 Scale studless form. Some of you may be confused as to what the term "Studless" actually means, well here it is:Rather than having bricks that actually "Click or Snap" together with studs, my models are pinned and joined together courtesy of different length friction pins and axles. This method makes for lighter and stronger models and is the only style that I build in. Studless building is like playing Chess where you must always be 5 or 6 steps ahead. Now that you know what studless means, on to the Car's specs:


V8 Engine with removable LS2 Style Engine Cover. This engine features a moving crankshaft with 8 pumping pistons. 6 Speed Transmission with Reverse. As you can see in the pictures, This is a Fully Funtional 6 Speed transmission with a working Reverse gear. Not to be confused with Lego's 8448 5 Speed+Reverse Transmission, My Model has 6 Forward Gears Plus a Reverse. I needed to clarify this because many people refer the Lego 8448 tranny as a "6 Speed"(5+R). My Tranny is much more complex and works very smoothly through all 6 gears. Or 7(6 Speed + Reverse) Depending on if you consider Reverse a Gear or not. Oh Yeah, The shift pattern also follows the Real Camaro's! Working independent 4 wheel suspension. Opening Hood, Doors, and Trunk. Operational Front Wheel Steering system with a "Hand of God" Steering system that also operates the steering wheelinside of the cockpit.


"Hand of What?" Ok, I always get the e-mail asking, so I will explain what "Hand of God" means. "Hand of God" refers to your own hand (Making You "God from above using your Hand") Turning a somewhat hidden wheel (In this case on top of my model's dashboard) that in turn steers the front wheels. And with my model, also turns the Actual steering wheel accordingly.Note: If you are the winning bidder, please don't consider yourself a God and start a silly cult. That would just be well... Wrong. Detailed interior done in Tan. Check out the cool arm-rests on the doors. And the awesome Black exterior With Red-Stripes. This is a complete custom model, not a set that you can buy at Walmart or Lego Shop At Home. And the only instructions that exist are embedded within my head."

There is still one day left to bid on this masterpiece of Americana! Head over to eBay and put yourself in the running to own this Custom Black 2009 Lego Camaro.

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Beastbox Custom Transformers Generation 1 Movie Style by Fugayzie

Posted by Mig on Thursday, October 25, 2007 @ 11:04 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe

Generation 1 customs are always a nice to see, especially when they are repurposed from the Transformers Movie. Since there were only a handful of Transformers in the Movie (Bumblebee, Megatron, Optimus Prime, Starscream, etc.), Hasbro produced figures that were not in the Movie. One of the figures that did not appear in the movie was a video game controller named High Score 100 from the Real Gear subline.

It takes a keen eye to see how a custom will play out before it is made but Fugayzie has hit this one on the mark! He brings us this Custom Beastbox Generation One style with customized cannons and paint. The color matches the G1 cassette very well and the removable cannons that were added to the shoulders brings this custom closer to its G1 counterpart. Although not as well known as the other cassette transformers (Rumble, Laser Beak, Frenzy, Ravage, etc.) from Generation 1, Beastbox was a great addition to Soundwaves arsinol as he was also a combiner who was packaged with Squaktalk. Together, they made Squakbox (I know, I bet it took them a long time to come up with that name), a very cool idea for cassettes.

If you are not familiar with Beastbox, read more about him below:

Beastbox basic function is an interrogator

His violent temper overcomes his natural curiosity

More willing to whittle down his captives with his fists than with his words

Few survive his interrogations long enough to reveal anything useful

Can record up to 6000 hours of testimony

Equipped with two compression cannons, which crush a target with tons of compressed air

"Speak now if you intend to ever speak at all" Fugayzie had a great idea to make a relatively unattractive Transformer in the subline into a icon of the 1980's. I would like to see more customizers try and stretch their imagination and take the Movie Transformers back to the future and make more generation one icons come back to life. For more Custom Transformers, check out the latest and greatest on eBay!

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Custom Marvel Legends Wolverine Luke Cage Thing Silver Surfer Cyclops - All as Zombies by rayscustoms

Posted by Mig on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 @ 9:42 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe

Just in time for Halloween! rayscustoms brings us a truly one of a kind set of Custom Marvel Legends Zombie Figures. Rare forms of Wolverine, Luke Cage, Thing, Silver Surfer, and Cyclops are up for grabs on eBay so go check them out! It is night of the living dead in the Marvel Legends Universe and rayscustoms is the harbinger of death.

Zombie Wolverine

Zombie Thing

Zombie Luke Cage

Zombie Cyclops

Zombie Silver Surfer

Be sure to view all the Custom Marvel Legends figure on eBay!

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Custom Marvel Legends Snake Eyes by Kyle Robinson

Posted by Mig on @ 4:18 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe
Interest in GI Joe has certainly had a resurgence with the 25th Anniversary line of figures. Snake Eyes is by far the most well known Joe and Kyle Robinson created this Custom Marvel Legends Snake Eyes. Wanting more of Ninja style for Snake Eyes, he played down the commando look. He explains in more detail, "I always wanted a Snake Eyes made from a Deadpool base but never had the yarbles to scrap a Deadpool for it. BUT when I got my 3rd DeadPool figure striped/incomplete, I said what the heck. I was going for a more sleek and not too cluttered ninja type snake eyes (not commando style). RECIPE:~ ML Deadpool base figure ~ snake eyes head casted by Black Arachnis and originally sculpted by ME~ Sword and gun also from deadpool ~ Belt from ML cable ~ gun holster from retooled face off punisher and taskmaster strap ~ scabbord is retooled april oneil form TMNT"

What is cool about this figure is the prominent Arashikage on his right arm. The Arashikage is the Clan of Ninjas that were part of The G.I. Joe comic book story line. The clan was founded many centuries ago by the Emperor of Japan in order to protect the Jewel of Amaterasu. The jewel allows its owner to control the chi surrounding him. The "map" to the jewel is a kata that only members of the Arashikage ninja clan have access to. Members of the Arashikage clan wore a tattoo on their right forearm, representing the 63rd hexagram of the I Ching. Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow were first shown to have this tattoo in their first battle at the Silent Castle. The weathering on the weapons and armor adds much depth to the figure. The face is also spot on and pays a nice homage to the 1985 version and the comic (as shown above). The darkened grooves on the mask also creates a nice shadowing effect. Deadpool was an excellent choice for the base mold of this Snake Eyes. Often I will see Snake Eyes done in a more skinier base using other Marvel Legends figures but Deadpool compliments the figure nicely as Snake Eyes and the muscles and head look very proportional to each other. the ninja weapons add a nice touch to figure as often he is couched as a Commando with uzi's and grenades.

Snake Eyes has always been a favorite of the GI Joe line. In every version of the story, Snake Eyes is quiet in his movements and is a swift and deadly master of multiple martial arts. He is an expert in the use of the ninjato, which he usually carries in a pair of sheaths strapped to his back (but often uses only one). He is equally qualified with and willing to use standard weapons like firearms and explosives. Making him even more dangerous is that he has never relied on one set of weapons to the exclusion of others. In keeping with his personality, Snake Eyes usually wears what could perhaps best be described as a black "military ninja" bodysuit, along with a balaclava and visor to cover his face, which was disfigured in a combat-related accident.

Kyle also does commission work so hit him up on his
website! To see more picture of Snake Eyes, check out his dedicated page on Kyle's site!

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Custom Battle Damaged Bumblebee and Longarm Transformers Movie Diorama by passiondesignsinc

Posted by Mig on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 @ 10:07 AM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe

One of the most gut wrenching parts of the Transformers Movie is when Starscream rips through the city and sends a hail of missiles raining down on the Autobots and leaves Bumblebee in disarray in the aftermath. passiondesignsinc has captured the feeling, mood, and what it would be like to witnesses this first hand with his Custom Battle Damaged Bumblebee and Longarm Transformers Movie Diorama. As he describes in his auction page below, he is really excited to bring something different to the collectors of custom Transformers:

"Now this is a custom that I'm very excited about. It's a slight recreation of a battle scene with in this summer's blockbuster movie "Transformers". """"" Spoilers""" Now Bumblebee gets blasted during the big fight and loses his legs. Next thing you know, his new human friends are straping him to a towtruck and helping him to keep fighting. The minute I saw the Longarm Towtruck Figure I had to do this diorama. But with a slight added bonus Longarm comes with flashing lights, a trick I learned from Jin using Barricade roof lights . Bumblebee has been customized for battle damaged, re-paint from different metallic washes, drybrushing etc .... Longarm also has slight been repaint, the same, but with running lights. This auction is for 2 custom Transformers and the diorama based! . It's a 3 for 1 deal, get while its hot!!!!!!!"

I personally love the city scape that he designed as his creation looks like all hell broke loose on the streets (you can even see water effects from the busted fire hydrant). As for the Transformers themselves, passiondesignsinc has taken some liberty in his interpretation of what happened to Bumblebee in the movie (getting ripped at the legs not at the waist) but he explains his decision in his own words, "it's my creation" and he wanted to keep the ability to transform Bumblebee and breaking the legs simply would not have worked. I actually think this was a brilliant idea as you can do so much more with the dio this way.

If you notice carefully, he has tried to bring a human element to Bumblebee with the creation of an exposed robotic spine from a Doc Oc tentacle. This really adds a higher level of detail and goes well beyond the interpretation of the movie and delves deeper into the mechanics and underlying construction of Bumblebee. I like the way he used scrap wire to give that freshly shredded look to the wire as it really looks like Bumblebee has a spine that connects and gives him the ability to move his arms and legs.

Go check out passiondesignsinc's Custom Battle Damaged Bumblebee and Longarm Transformers Movie Diorama as it is a real treat to see something different in the Transformers Customs arena. I am super impressed by his work, making the decision to deviate from the movie, and the overall quality of the custom work as this dio is on steroids and there are so many possibilities for display!

Also, check out his website for more information on how he created this awesome dio! For other Custom Transformers figures, head over to eBay!

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Custom Helghast Soldier from Killzone by Jin Saotome

Posted by Mig on Monday, October 22, 2007 @ 11:01 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe

Killzone is a first-person shooter exclusively for the PlayStation 2 game console, developed by Netherlands-based Guerrilla Games and released on November 2, 2004 in North America. A sequel, Killzone: Liberation was released on the PlayStation Portable and another followup, Killzone 2 is currently being developed for the PlayStation 3.

Jin Saotome outdoes himself again as he brings us his Custom Helghast Soldier from the Killzone game. In Jin's own words, he describes how he created this work or art: "Let me first say that I've never played Killzone but was extremely impressed with the super-reaslistic trailer I saw at the E3. Killzone 2 is coming out next year and yes I'm picking it up! That being said I hope I did the game justice in bringing this figure to live. Don't scream at me if I missed something, I don't even know if this matches Killzone 1 or 2's Helghast, lol! After taking these photos I sat back and did a few double-takes. Not because of anything wrong, but how even tho I had no idea what the character was about I loved the final look! This may look like a 1/6th scale figure but it's only 8" tall! The base figure was a Sigma 6 'Shockwave black ops' body with a Sigma 6 Iron Grenadier head and hands. I resculpted the face portion of the Iron Grenadier to match the Helghast face but afterwards decided that he needed more than just painted on eyes.

That's where I got a little creative. I drilled the old eyes out and replaced them with clear plastic rod sections I got from a Xevoz Hyperfury staff accessory. The staff was already a clear orange and it works for the eyes when they're not lit up. Yes, they really do light up! Dilling out up under the faceplate I put an orange LED in there and glued the wires back under his helmet rim so they came out the back leading to the battery pack on his back. You can depress the button and his eyes light up bright orange or slip a small piece of metal lever in the battery pack to keep them on all the time.

Everything else was paint work.. lots and lots of it. For his jumpsuit a basic dark gray was laid down with a dirty black wash, some brown, highlights of gray, then gunmetal for the armor. I did a muddy brown splatter on the boots/underside then decided to go all out, giving him a blood-splatter to his left side as if he had just gunned someone down. His Helghast Rifle was made from a Frontmission 3 shotgun and various random parts cut and glued on to make it resemble the gun in the game as close as I could get it. The two sides of the flag were printed out on Photoshop and given a texture-filter so it looked a little like material. I tattered the edges then glued it to aluminum piping. It's huge, a foot tall by eight inches long! So there you have it, one Helghast Soldier from the game Killzone! Light up eyes rule... hehehe..."

I have never played the game either but judging from the looks of this figure, this makes me want to go out and buy it! My favorite parts of the figure are the light up eyes (of course), the weathering to give him a fresh from combat look, mud splatters on the boots, and the splatters of bloof on his left side. You can still bid on Jin's Custom Helghast Soldier on eBay so don't delay and get to bidding!!!

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Custom Marvel Legends X-Men Moonstar by K&L Customs

Posted by Mig on Sunday, October 21, 2007 @ 11:17 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe
Straight from the pages of Marvel Comics comes this Moonstar Custom in the Marvel Legends style. Moostar has had many a costume and shortly before the demise of the Mutant Liberation Front, Moonstar was drawn with another outfit, a pair of hotpants and a vest. Moonstar stuck with this look when she re-joined her former teammates in X-Force (X-Force: 1st series #67).

K&L Customs capture her intense psionic powers with their comic accurate tribute to Moonstar. The energy arrow, which can stun an opponent by disrupting their central nervous system, is a very nice accessory and really brings out the uniqueness of this custom. Capturing a burning arrow is difficult but K&L did a very nice job sculpting the flames, as if this arrow was really on fire. The bow, string, and stance really pay homage to the comic depiction (as shown below) and the hair and headband compliment the head, which are nicely proportioned to each other. The eyes and lips on the figure bring out Moonstar's personality. Hands are really tough to do but they pulled it off as the clutch of the bow string and bow seem very natural and proportional to the rest of her body. One thing I may have added to this figure would be some detailing on the headband to put the finishing touch on it but this is a very minor detail. The coloring pulls this figure together and and is another awesome custom from the talented people over at the
Toy Soup Forums. This Custom Marvel Legends Moonstar is available on eBay where you have a chance to own this awesome work of art. If you would like to learn more about Moonstar, please read on below.

Danielle Moonstar grew up on a small ranch outside of Boulder, Colorado. She led a normal life until the age of ten, when her mutant powers began to manifest in the form of harrowing nightmares. Shortly after the disappearance of her parents, Dani's dreams were marked by the vision of a "Demon Bear", which she believe played a role in the her parents' deaths. Dani's grandfather, Black Eagle, took her in, and she enjoyed several years of relative peace with him. However, as her powers continued to grow, Black Eagle realized there was little he could do to help his granddaughter. Black Eagle contacted Charles Xavier and requested that he help Dani to control her powers. Upset with her grandfather, Dani manifested an image of his greatest fear — his own death — which proved true as the operatives of Donald Pierce attacked in search of young mutants. Dani joined with several of Pierce's other victims who, under Charles Xavier's guidance, were able to defeat him. Despite reservations, the group ultimately enrolled at the Xavier Institute. She, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Karma, and Cannonball formed the New Mutants.

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Leader Class Nemesis Optimus Prime Custom Transformers Movie by zildjian

Posted by Mig on Friday, October 19, 2007 @ 11:30 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe
zildjian brings us a one of a kind Leader Class Custom Nemesis Prime with a slick black paint job and some extras I wish the Hasbro version came with! The first thing that would strike anyone looking at this figure are the long, chrome smoke stacks that tower over this evil one. Although I do feel the smoke stakes are a bit too long, this would be a very nice addition to the Leader Class Optimus Prime that Hasbro produces. The figure is complimented by chrome and silver accents and the finishing touches are put in by piercing red eyes. This is one of the best Nemesis Prime customs I have seen in a very long time. The paint quality seems flawless and smooth and you can also see some light reflecting off of the hood in some of pictures. Let's hear how zildjian describes his process for creating his custom Nemesis Prime:

"This auction is for a Transformers the Movie custom figure of NEMESIS PRIME!! This figure started out as a Leader Class Optimus Prime produced by Hasbro! I disassembled the entire figure, primed each part, then painted each part with flat black, metallic black, blood red, and a very special MIRROR CHROME on the robotic parts. You will NOT see another figure with this type of chrome look!! This figure had well over 40 pieces when taken apart, and took quite a long time to complete. He was also given new extended, more dynamic and accurate smoke stacks, as well as more firepower that connect to his arms with rare earth magnets." If you would like to read more about Nemesis Prime, read more about his character as he appears in the comics below.

In Transformers Universe, Nemesis Prime was a Cybertronian leader (Most likely an alternate form of Optimus Prime) from another dimension conquered by Unicron. In that reality Prime was defeated by the Herald of Unicron known as Megazarak. Captured, it had its spark tortured and experimented on by the Chaos Bringer. Unicron kept the Prime locked in a state of unbeing, it's spark separated from body, yet prevented from joining the All-Spark. Tortured for an eternity until pain became indistinguishable from pleasure and the former Autobot longed for only this sensation. Broken, he was reformatted into Nemesis Prime and granted Unicron's Dead Matrix, the former Primes' Matrix which during the centuries of torture had rotted and been perverted into a weapon capable of annihilating Primus, just as the Autobot Matrix possesses the power to destroy Unicron.
Check out zildjian's Custom Nemesis Prime on eBay for your chance to own this awesome custom Transformer!

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Speedball Custom Marvel Legends Figure by punstarr

Posted by Mig on Thursday, October 18, 2007 @ 8:30 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe
Punstarr from the Toy Soup forums brings us this highly detailed custom Speedball in the Marvel Legends style. By taking a Marvel Quicksilver, cutting off all his hair, he sculpted new hair, a belt, and mask with Apoxie. After he did all of that, then he hand painted the whole thing, even painstakingly drawing the circles on his costume with a Bic Ultra Fine "Mark It" pen.

One aspect of sculpting that is really hard to nail, in my opinion, is hair and eyes (and noses if you are making your own). It is these aspects of a figure that can make or break the likeness. Punstarr nailed the hair on Speedball with his apoxie sculpt. The hair looks very natural and it gives the appearance that he is standing on the edge of a building waiting while the wind is blowing up through the buildings of the city. Drawing the circles on the boots, hands, neck, glasses, and belt must have taken a long time but it is this kind of attention to detail that can also make or break the likeness. The shadowing really brings out the comic artistic effects as shown in the reference picture below. The mask around the eyes coupled with the gaze of the figure gives Speedball a very intense look on his face, rounding out an all around excellent custom! You can check out the action his custom Marvel Legends Speedball landed on eBay and if you are not familiar with Speedball, take some time to read about his abilities below.

As Speedball, Baldwin's body generated an energy field that absorbed, amplified and redirected kinetic energy; it also weirdly distorted his voice and often surrounded him with multicolored kinetic energy "bubbles." The field activated anytime any portion of Baldwin's body experienced a significant impact, though Baldwin gradually developed enough control over the field to suppress it if the activating impact was slight enough. Speedball's most frequent use of his kinetic field was to engage in high-speed, high-impact bouncing, building up greater speed and force with every additional impact while he remained in motion. After a series of sufficiently numerous or forceful bounces to build up power, he could hurl himself into a given target with tremendous impact. Later, he could consciously thrust his kinetic energy field outward, delivering extremely forceful kinetic-powered punches, generating a wider kinetic force field that could more gently push targets away from him, or releasing streams of pure kinetic energy which struck their targets with great impact. He also learned to drain kinetic energy from outside sources, slowing or halting the motion of other people and objects. With his kinetic field activated, Speedball was almost completely immune to physical harm; it also slightly enhanced his physical mass and strength and converted whatever clothing he was wearing into his Speedball costume, presumably created by Robbie's subconscious from otherdimensional kinetic energy (he later discovered that he could alter the costuming's appearance to some extent at will). Robbie developed some proficiency in unarmed combat during his time with the Warriors.

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Marvel Legends X-Men Custom Set by Kyle Robinson Customs

Posted by Mig on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 @ 10:27 PM | PERMALINK | More Custom Figures: Custom Transformers | Custom Marvel Legends | Custom Star Wars | Custom GI Joe


Kyle Robinson runs a website called
Kyle Robinson Customs and he also admins the Toy Soup Forum! Kyle has been customizing for a long time now and have over 200 figures in his gallery. He graciously added a section for my blog on his forum and for that I owe him a huge thank you! He also does commission work so check out his website if you are in dire need of custom action figures.


I was perusing through his custom gallery and came across a unique set of custom X-Men figures he created for CustomCon, a convention that showcases new custom toy creations by customizers around the globe. To give a little background on his, Kyle explains why he created this special set of Jim Lee style custom X-Men:



"I have always wanted to have a PERFECT Jim Lee X-Men Set, and in my eyes this it. I created to 10 figures that I still needed for my set, and now it is perfect and complete. I put of making this for a log time but thanks to the discovery of a customizer named Double Dealer I was finally motivated to make it. As you can see I use alot of ideas from 2D with my own spin, so I want to than you 2D for the Great inspiration. I hope you all enjoy my set as much as me, I personally think its my best work yet."

Out of this set, Iceman caught my attention as his iceblast was made from from plastic beads, apoxie sculpt and a broken crystal Christmas ornament, which demonstrates an keen ability to sculpt a physical representation of ice using out of the ordinary items. Who would of thought a busted Christmas ball could be used to portray Iceman's signature iceblast? That just gives you a window into the creative mind of a customizer and how talented these people are.

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