Ok, I have been seeing a bunch of really cool custom minifigs that state they use official Lego parts (not painted, stickers... etc). My question is, where to these folks find these parts to make these detailed and creative custom minifigs. 

 

This seller on Ebay has some really good looking custom minifigs and sells them at a pretty good price (for him). 

 

How are they doing this and where are they getting these parts? I wouldn't mind creating a few  like this if I could find the parts.

 

Thanks!

Kris

Hi, I don't think that any seller who sells minifigures with custom designs has "official" paints. They may use official LEGO parts, but the paints are done by them. There are often places that will sell a sheet of stickers with designs for minifigures, but unless you would like to make your own stickers, I don't know how else you can make a custom. That custom looks really nice!

Comicblast, thanks.. I see on that linked ebay listing that the seller states they custom print their "Lego Parts". Wonder what kind of machine prints on Lego minifig parts...  Interesting....

 

The sticker idea can be seen on ebay too.. most of those sellers warn of the stickers coming off easily and their minifigs shouldn't be handled. The custom minifig seller I linked says theirs will hold up just as an official Lego minifig.. His look awesome.

Thanks!

Comicblast, thanks.. I see on that linked ebay listing that the seller states they custom print their "Lego Parts". Wonder what kind of machine prints on Lego minifig parts...  Interesting....

 

The sticker idea can be seen on ebay too.. most of those sellers warn of the stickers coming off easily and their minifigs shouldn't be handled. The custom minifig seller I linked says theirs will hold up just as an official Lego minifig.. His look awesome.

Thanks!

Only 15 more minutes on the http://www.ebay.com/itm/A230-LEGO-Mr-Freeze-Batman-Joker-Robin-DC-Marvel-CUSTOM-GREEN-LANTERN-MINIFIGURE-/360684437395?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item53fa77bf93 listing that you posted.

I will be able to type a more lengthy reply later since typing on my iPod Touch is worse than on a computer.

Some people use waterslide decals. (I got a sampler pack at WWB and got to go to a session on how to apply them. I will post a picture of the decals and explain them more in deph in a later post.) I also went to a minifigure customization workshop where they explained lots about it. Most amateurs use acrylic paint to customize their minifigures, but bigger companies use printing. An example of this printing is called pad-printing and a company called Citizen Brick does that on their minifigures. I have two Marines and 3 U.S. Rangers for completing five 10 by 10 baseplates for a Iwo Jima mosaic. I will upload some pictures of the pad-printed minifigures later so you can see the great detail/printing on them.

Here is a quick link if you want to look at them now. U.S. Ranger: http://www.brickmania.com/world-war-ii-u-s-army-ranger-minifig/

U.S. Marine: http://www.brickmania.com/world-war-ii-u-s-marine/

I will be able to type a more lengthy reply later since typing on my iPod is worse than on a computer.

Some people use waterslide decals. (I got a sampler pack at WWB and got to go to a session on how to apply them. I will post a picture of the decals and explain them more in deph in a later post.) I also went to a minifigure customization workshop where they explained lots about it. Most amateurs use acrylic paint to customize their minifigures, but bigger companies use printing. An example of this printing is called pad-printing and a company called Citizen Brick does that on their minifigures. I have two Marines and 3 U.S. Rangers for completing five 10 by 10 baseplates for a Iwo Jima mosaic. I will upload some pictures of the pad-printed minifigures later so you can see the great detail/printing on them.

Here is a quick link if you want to look at them now. U.S. Ranger: http://www.brickmania.com/world-war-ii-u-s-army-ranger-minifig/

U.S. Marine: http://www.brickmania.com/world-war-ii-u-s-marine/

I will be able to type a more lengthy reply later since typing on my iPod is worse than on a computer.

Some people use waterslide decals. (I got a sampler pack at WWB and got to go to a session on how to apply them. I will post a picture of the decals and explain them more in deph in a later post.) I also went to a minifigure customization workshop where they explained lots about it. Most amateurs use acrylic paint to customize their minifigures, but bigger companies use printing. An example of this printing is called pad-printing and a company called Citizen Brick does that on their minifigures. I have two Marines and 3 U.S. Rangers for completing five 10 by 10 baseplates for a Iwo Jima mosaic. I will upload some pictures of the pad-printed minifigures later so you can see the great detail/printing on them.

Here is a quick link if you want to look at them now. U.S. Ranger: http://www.brickmania.com/world-war-ii-u-s-army-ranger-minifig/

U.S. Marine: http://www.brickmania.com/world-war-ii-u-s-marine/

You really have to put together a customs article. You know so much about them!!

Darth Lego, 

 

Thanks for the explanation.. much appreciated!

Darth Lego, 

 

Thanks for the explanation.. much appreciated!

You're welcome, Msudawgs56!

 

I've attached pictures of the decals and a picture of the instructions on how to apply them

 

If you have any more questions or if you want me to further explain the waterslide decals please let me know and I will gladly help you out. 

 

 

 

Just one more thing to prove that where companies slack, fans find a way.

 

One other large example I am more familiar with is the modding community behind Bethesda games. Those are some serious content producers.

Thanks again'

Just one more thing to prove that where companies slack, fans find a way.

 

One other large example I am more familiar with is the modding community behind Bethesda games. Those are some serious content producers.

I'll say there is. Who else would put their time and effort into making a mod for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion which sole purpose is making Better Bouncing Breasts? I'm not even kidding about that. Look up "bbb mod" on youtube and you'll see. Ahh, men and their spare time....

 

I'm used to seeing (and still do) some serious mod work with the Unreal, Quake, and Doom games and engines. There is a completely free version of Doom called the Freedoom project. Then there is OpenArena, a free open sourced Quake III project among a bunch of others. Finally you can download the UDK (Unreal Developer Kit) for free. Course you need to pay a fee if you wish to sell anything made from it. As old as Doom is (20 years), the community for it is still very serious and active. I love it!

Not to deviate too much from the topic, but could someone please advise on where to get plain minifigs in bulk for less from? Seen customized and customizable plain white/skin toned minifigs on eBay for $12-15 for 5, but is this the best out there? I have never customized anything before but want to try, just don't want to spend a lot of time clearing out an existing minifig, not do I want to waste $$ because I know I'll be making plenty of mistakes...