Customizers an Insult?

[Customikey]

Hi everyone.

There seem to be a lot of repaint threads, and while I'm excited to see everyones work, I do wonder how the Veeps feel about seeing their work altered from the originals. It may be my imagination, but the more "repainted so-and-so" threads that pop up, the less we seem to be hearing from our buddies in The Company.

Don't get me wrong; I'm one of the biggest offenders (if it IS an offense).

We're all friends here, and I'd like to know if anyone's feelings are being hurt.

 

[Gruff Old Bear]

Happy Birthday, Mikey. Are you an honest-to-God Yankee Doodle Dandy? If so, please remember me to...aw, you know the rest.

I usually figure if the SSC peeps are silent, they're working. Probably no time to visit with SDCC nearly upon them. Andy B is no doubt sculpting a masterpiece and fighting the urge to post hints.

Happy 4th!

 

[Customikey]

Thanks! Yeah, I'm a Yankee-Doodle Boy.

I forgot about San Diego (since I'm not going... ) That's a good point. Still, I do wonder what they think of all this reworking.

 

[Gruff Old Bear]

Me too. I figure no one will blame us for wanting the figs to look like they would if Tom Gilliland painted them personally, but I wonder about Andy and the "plastic surgery" I asked Les for after seeing his Hasbro-Dooku conversion with an entire beard removed.

Then again, Andy has reminded us in the past that licensors have approval rights, and they do ask for changes in the sculpt. He might have wanted (for instance) to have made Hayden's jaw a bit smaller but been told to beef it up. I'm guessing it would be extremely unprofessional for him to disclose such if it were true. I'm just supposing...because I think Andy has the eyes of a freakin' hawk when it comes to detail.

Hey, go have a swell birthday. Mine was Saturday, and I've been celebrating since Thursday night. *hic* Gonna hafta change my name to Gruff Older Bear...

 

[LordAzrael]

I wouldn't think so. Basically Sideshow produce an amazing product at the price point they do. What the customisers do is tweak the Sideshow product to look like what some companies sell for two or three times! Just compare the price of Hot Toys vs Sideshow - and I don't believe their product is any better in most cases.

If the Sideshow product wasn't so outstanding - we'd be using something else as our base to customise.

Also - sometimes beauty is in the eye of the beholders. What is a perfect paintjob to one collector might be in dire need of amendment to another - so I wouldn't take it personally.

I'd rather sideshow spent their efforts on getting sculpts perfect than paint jobs - as we can redo the paint job without too much effort but (at least my) ability to change a sculpt is very limited!

The other thing is sometimes Sideshow will produce a particular version of a figure - whereas an individual collector might want a different variant. Again - having an excellent sideshow figure as a starting point makes the whole job alot easier.

 

[creecher]

I would expect the sculptors to be flattered with their art being shown up for what it truley is. I would be if I saw my work revealed in all its glory. I would be secretly saying " Yeah, now that's what I'm talkin bout."

I think the Chinese do an excellent job, as a mass production excercise. It may not be ideal for the discerning collector, but it has kept the price much lower, at least these days they are painting inside the lines more often than not. You then have the option of doing your figure justice, and having a repaint, or you finding the paint application acceptable as is, which is what I find, as I couldn't do any better myself.

 

[figuremaster_les]

Great point Customikey.
(Happy Birthday , late, by the way....I thought about you during fireworks last night...)

As a customizer also, I often feel a tad uncomfortable reworking the figures that Sideshow has spent so much time and money developing. One of the reasons I have cut back on my repaints is due to my own developing respect for what they try to achieve, and to not hurt feelings as such. What I did for Gruff Old Bear, Sorry, Gruff OLDER Bear... ...I was glad to be able to do, but I don't want to send signals to the powers that be that says I don't respect their work.

Quite the contrary. I post on my own site that I first and foremost promote the sales of the primary companies that I may or may not rework. I WANT them to succeed! I want more cool figures. But, I also reserve the right to rework a given figure to a point that I am more happy with. As an artist, I can do this.

What Lord Azrael and creecher say is deadon. How can the mass produced paints, no matter how well intentioned (and in Sideshow's case is WAY better than most anyway...) be as "nice" as a one on repaint that is done by someone spending a day or more on just it? No way!
Does everyone want this? Maybe not. The basic figure collector mentality wouldn't I would not think. The person buying it desiring the THE character as realistic as possible in figure form probably would.
So, it is absolutely up to the buyer.

Bottom line is, that buyer BOUGHT IT! It was purchased. Sideshow sold another one! What is done with it after that by the buyer, and new owner of the single piece, is not the pervue of the seller.
But, I can respect your feelings Customikey. I think a huge debt of gratitude is owed the sculptors and producers, and even the repainted work of the original craftsmen and women that make that raw figure. because without them...well...we wouldn't be here.

They all deserve our utmost respect.


Now, cool! Great! Said! Done!
Out of my way...I got some of MY figures to repaint! :chew

 

[hairlesswookiee]

i dont think of them as viewing it as an insult. im sure most of the peeps at SS are busy at work prepping for the SDCC as well as getting everything ready for all the upcoming items that are getting ready to ship soon. and i dont think they really mind if we refine the figures a bit, im sure they all did it to their toys at some point in time.

 

[figuremaster_les]

That's a good point.
Sideshow seems like they exist to fill the voids of many toy desires, on many levels.
Cool toys, by folks that know and love toys.
Very good point.

 

[galactiboy]

I don't think it would be offensive... maybe the only time is when someone (which I haven't seen here) would say "this sucks", here's my repaint. I for one am without repaint skills and I like to keep figures original (good and bad alike) but I have to respect 1) the courage and 2) the talent to re-imagine and rework art. And like others have said the paint-jobs are great to start with, but there could never be the individualized detail and care put into it that a customizer like Mikey or Les could do. If there was it would cost an arm-and-a-leg and people would still probably want to repaint them

And the point about LFL and other companies having final say on what a character looks like is probably a big factor in the final product.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

As long as you're buying the figures, I can't imagine they really care what you do with them afterwards. Especially when it comes to repainting since the painting isn't even done by them but nameless Chinese factory workers.

 

[DarkArtist81]

I'm glad you brought this up Mikey... I know I feel wierd when I start to repaint a SSC figure, knowing damn well how much went into making it. I tend to think in the terms of how I would feel if something I made was altered when the person recieved it. Would I be hurt or amazed at the detail they brought out? I think it would be the latter.

The staff at SSC are artists, and their original work, if we were to have them straight from the source without factory paint apps.... would be untouchable. The Prototypes are always spectacular and beautiful, and I think that when one of my fellow customizers brings that beauty back out in the figure... we are doing a good thing. After all, we are artists too.

I also think that it's a sign of love for the product and for the work that they do, the fact that we work so hard to bring out the best of said product. I would hope they are not hurt, because I know that I am not alone in saying that I love what they do and the peices of art that are on my shelves....

It's not attacking flaws or trying to right a wrong, it's just modifying a figure to the state that SSC wanted it to be when it arrived in our arms. It also adds the consumer to the artistic circle of creating the figure. And having such a wonderful base to work off of, you can't help but feel like a superstar when it's completed and looking better than ever... But even then you are reminded that it was all thanks to Sideshow.

 

[Dusty]

I can assure you that there is no offense taken - keep in mind, most of the Sideshow production staff started out as customizers as well, and most still are!

 

[lcummins]

I can assure you that there is no offense taken - keep in mind, most of the Sideshow production staff started out as customizers as well, and most still are!

Hey Dusty! That would make a great web article or podcast piece... have the staff tell us what they collect or what their hobbies are!!

 

[Customikey]

I'm really glad so many of you, and particularly those of you who have become good friends of mine, chimed in on this thread. It has always been my hope that when we presented our repaints, that it was done with a feeling of deep respect for the work accomplished before the figures even got to our door.

And I particularly liked DA's comment about putting us into the "artistic circle." Made me feel warm and fuzzy.

And thank you also to Dusty for representing. It's good to now their spirit of creativity extends to us.

 

[DarkArtist81]

I can assure you that there is no offense taken - keep in mind, most of the Sideshow production staff started out as customizers as well, and most still are!

That is wonderful to hear Dusty... I would love to hear more about the hobbies of our favorite creators, as lcummins said... Nice to know we all have so much in common.

 

[DarkArtist81]

I'm really glad so many of you, and particularly those of you who have become good friends of mine, chimed in on this thread. It has always been my hope that when we presented our repaints, that it was done with a feeling of deep respect for the work accomplished before the figures even got to our door.

And I particularly liked DA's comment about putting us into the "artistic circle." Made me feel warm and fuzzy.

And thank you also to Dusty for representing. It's good to now their spirit of creativity extends to us.

Thanks Mikey... I'm glad you posed this question, as it was always floating around in my head. You, Les, Lin and my other fellow customizers on this board are my comrades and it's nice to know everyone'e input on this subject as well as knowing their love for the product.

Because as anyone who does this can tell you, it's a labor of love, one that we enjoy more and more each day. But it would be a lot less fun without the support and friendly comraderie of our fellow creator. You guys have all helped me out in various ways, some direct, some indirect, but I appreciate all of it. I'm just happy to be able to do a decent job and keep showing you all my work.

Thanks for the continuing inspiration!

 

[Darth Kustomizer]

You bought it, do what you want to to it. Enough said.