The Energon Pub

[Mkall]

One look into any of the Transformers fansites and you will see a fairly bustling community devoted to customs ranging from simple repaints to full-on scratch build figures. It's something I recently got into investigating: not as a customiser as I lack any sort of artistic talent but instead as a consumer. I've recently added the phrase Transformers Custom to my eBay saved searches.

It started, oddly enough, back in 2010 with the BotCon release of G2 Cindersaur. He stayed on my shelf for a while until I decided that he needed his friends - G2 Flamefeather and Sparkstalker - so I had them commissioned and now Cindersaur doesn't look that much alone.

This gave me a new way at looking at my collection - if there wasn't a figure, and it didn't seem like there was going to be a figure, why not have one made? This allowed me to have a Classics Sunstorm long before KOToys came about.

So now I'm fully into adding custom figures on my shelves. I've just got a Classics Browning off of eBay, and a G2 Tank Megatron (the big one) which has been articulated and repainted. I've commissioned a few new Shattered Glass figures to bulk up my SG Autobots including Blaster, Hound and Thunderclash. These will stand nicely with SG Warpath - all in blue.

Now I'm trying to figure out the economics of Custom Transformers - what exactly is a good price? Am I getting ripped off paying 100+ for a repainted deluxe figure? What should I look for when determining if a custom is worth what the seller is asking?

Your own insights, stories, or answers are greatly appreciated

[DISCHARGE]

I think if you don't feel comfortable customizing a piece yourself, but feel it is a hardcore want in your collection $100+ isn't unreasonable if you are willing to pay it. I've not purchased a custom off ebay because the nice ones go for huge bux and the easier ones people mostly try to get an inflated price off the bat.
Ebay started out as an auction site where people could get a bargain, now, Transformers in particular, is simply a BIN sales platform.

I've not customized much, but get get better every time I do.

I really wanted a Classics Overdrive and BIS Rodimus is the perfect mold and color:

I had a blower attached to the engine but glue alone isn't strong enough, I plan on doing some minor drilling into the engine bloc and blower and fitting a grabber piece between them for strength.
He's far from a perfect paint job, but I figure I will improve and maybe do him again sometime.
Also the Tamiya Metallic Grey is a real nice paint and can really make the movieverse toys pop like should have out of the factory.

Remember, they are toys, start small, familiarize yourself with the material, and have fun. You can teach yourself some fun stuff when customizing your Transformers.

[Blurrz]

I think it's really a matter of how big your pocketbook it is. While the auctions going in the multihundreds might seem ridiculous, the amount of time and effort it takes into making those figures look their best is considerable. Some of the guys out there can do a tremendous job with the demands that are given to them.

As a budding customiser, I've done three customs per my signature below, and even yet I feel like I'm still at the bottom of the pyramid. There's tons of techniques, tools and tips that I still need to learn about. Yet, at the same time, it feels so easy to go through the process of customizing. I'm pretty proud of what I've done and I feel like I can tackle almost anything. Customising is a ton of fun and I'm really glad I picked it up. Now I just gotta stop with this harem and move on from the Animated Arcee mold XD

In regards to customs in the collections themselves, I just scratch my head at how easy it is. I feel that alot of collectors on the site are itching for something to be done, and yet all they need to do is pick up the paintbrush and do the work themselves. There's clamoring for third party this and that to be made or complaints towards Hasbro's QC or paint apps.. and I'm thinking to myself, heck, you pick up paint and a paintbrush and you're saving yourself money and agony.

For those who'd rather leave their hands clean, then I respect that as well. But yeah, as DISCHARGE said, it's not exactly inexpensive, and you already know that first hand Mkall

How's your Sky-Lynx coming along?

[craggy]

I wouldn't mind customs, I've no aversion to them in principle. It's just that I know I don't have enough expertise to make them as good as I'd like them, and I don't feel comfortable spending the amount of money that someone who is good enough deserves.

[SJ21]

I love seeing customized Transformers. I get a kick out of seeing other people's creativity. Of course it makes me want those customs for myself.

I have not done any customs. I am not particularly handy. I am really afraid of losing parts or not being able to get the figure back together.

I won't buy any custom Transformers from someone else. Too expensive. I realize that customizers put in a lot of work. Regardless of who paints it, its still a toy and I don't feel any toy warrants the kind of money people charge.

I did buy the stuff to turn Classics Thundercracker into Skywarp. I just haven't had the time to do it. This is going to be my first custom so I hope I don't mess it up too much.

[DISCHARGE]

I love seeing customized Transformers. I get a kick out of seeing other people's creativity. Of course it makes me want those customs for myself.

I have not done any customs. I am not particularly handy. I am really afraid of losing parts or not being able to get the figure back together.

I won't buy any custom Transformers from someone else. Too expensive. I realize that customizers put in a lot of work. Regardless of who paints it, its still a toy and I don't feel any toy warrants the kind of money people charge.

I did buy the stuff to turn Classics Thundercracker into Skywarp. I just haven't had the time to do it. This is going to be my first custom so I hope I don't mess it up too much.

Some advice before you jump into painting Thundercraker into Skywarp. Practice on another toy, go to Goodwill and get something cheap, it doesn't have to be a transformer. That way you can hone some skills and your Skywarp should yield some nice results.
The paint can be clumpy or hard to work with, you may find that thinning it out will provide a smoother paint job. also Testors has a very inexpensive airbrush system for model cars, it is quite nice to test and practice airbrushing if you want to see how airbrushing works.
Also don't tell yourself you can't do something, odds are you didn't hop on your bike the first time and start popping wheelies, it took some practice.

[paul053]

I had years of experience in painting and customizing model kits (Gundam, to be the most). But after I put my hands off from this hobby for several years and then started getting in to TFs, I found myself afraid of doing my old trick on them initially. Guess one of the main reason is this is an already made action figure, not a model kit that I can build, paint, custom all together at the same time. So I started off from small, just added some details. Once I felt more comfortable, I started doing more and more. I'm still not good and still have a lot to learn. There are tools that I bought and just used once but this is a hobby and it is fun, especially I can make the character I want and don't have to wait for Hasbro or pay big bucks.

So far I haven't tried selling any of my customs because I want to keep them for my own. The high price tag on eBay do allure me sometimes but I'm not that confident to myself plus when I think about doing the same thing on the same figure again, I just kind of feel lazy. I can understand the high price tags because for some figures, I did spend a lot of time and efforts (and bloods........... * see below) to make them. So if you really like and need that character and you can afford it, surely give it a shot to make your collection more complete.

* Side story. There was once I worked on a figure and cut my finger, it wasn't bad and nothing came out. So I kept working on that figure until wondering why there were so many extra red paints all over his body.................

[xyl360]

I do a bit of customizing, mostly painting, but I do mod/scratchbuild some figures (Deluxe Terrorsaur comes to mind). I'm not very good at it, but as one poster already stated, I too get better with each figure I modify/repaint etc.

That being said, there are some things that are simply beyond my capabilities, so I rely on Has/Tak or third parties to (hopefully) someday create the figures I'd like to see.

I did commission a classics Shockwave from FrenzyRumble, and you don't want to know how much it cost (well over $100), but to me it's worth it based on what I've seen of his work, the man is a stellar talent.

[Savage]

While I don't do any customizing of my own, I have picked up a few third party items for my collection. I basically resort to them as spiffy upgrades for existing official products (City Commander), or stand-ins for characters that Hasbro/Takara may never release. Quality on custom and third party figures can vary wildly, so I tend to only resort to 3rd party stuff when official product has left an unacceptable hole in my shelf. I'm not sure I could ever justify the price of a purely custom figure, though I suppose it would depend on who/what it was. Some of the more notable customizers like Jin and FrenzyRumble, I'd love to have a piece from them, but the pricetag stops me every time.

[Mykltron]

The price doesn't just reflect how much you want the figure but the skill of the customiser. Not only does it take many hours for a complex custom but it takes a lot of experience, experimentation and learning built up over years to develop some of the skills used. A hardcore kitbash or scratchbuild often requires expensive figures to be destroyed to get the parts eg i've seen voyager movie Starscreams made with arms from leader movie Brawl.

[Delicon]

I've often seen a figure and said "Boy, with just a little here and there that figure would be an awesome _____" Unfortunately though, the few times I have tried to even do some minor painting I have had horrible results. I actually did have a former employee of mine do a custom for one of my friends as a surprise gift and it came out awesome. This guy was really good at painting and did it cheaply. Other than that, customs aren't real high on my priority list.

[Dead Metal]

I have a few paint markers that I use to do little touch ups ever now and then, but those touch ups are limited to the colours of my markers.
I went a little nuts on my ROTF Lockdown, I've been meaning to post pics of that maybe I will.

The stupid thing is, I have loads of tools and parts set aside for kitbashing (dremmel, putty, gundam kits, random parts and joints, etc). But I suck at painting with a brush and I just can't find the time to do anything.

[Mkall]

How's your Sky-Lynx coming along?

Slowly, I've been sent a couple WIP shots and it's coming along nicely, but the guy's a new dad so apparently I'm not as high on the priority list as a newborn.

[Delicon]

How's your Sky-Lynx coming along?

Slowly, I've been sent a couple WIP shots and it's coming along nicely, but the guy's a new dad so apparently I'm not as high on the priority list as a newborn.

Just as long as the electronic sound effects don't include custom baby noises, it's all good.

[Cougartracks]

It started, oddly enough, back in 2010 with the BotCon release of G2 Cindersaur. He stayed on my shelf for a while until I decided that he needed his friends - G2 Flamefeather and Sparkstalker - so I had them commissioned and now Cindersaur doesn't look that much alone.

Do you have pics you could share? They sound pretty cool.

[Mkall]

Do you have pics you could share? They sound pretty cool.

yeah I do!

[Cougartracks]

Very cool, thanks for sharing. I love super bright colors like that (as a result, G2 had some of my favorite toys!).