I was thrilled when Lucasfilm agreed to place a panel for action figure customizing on the Collector Track at C6. I wanted to help the hobby reach a larger audience. My goal for the panel was to have it be equally interesting for newcomers and veterans alike. I decided the panel would feature an intro to the hobby, some tips and tools, and a showcase of other customizers. I made of list of people I liked that ranged from old friends who basically created the hobby like Alex Newborn (Ploovo241) to guys who I was just in awe of like Bruce Ross (Glorbes). I wanted to showcase various types of customizers. I feel that originality and creativity is the strength of my work. I went to various message boards and got suggestions as well.
The one person that topped my list and the ones of the fans was Dayton Allen (Sithfire30) His sculpting is ability is hands down the most amazing in the hobby…bar none (sorry to offend anyone). His work is, along with Glorbes, the kind of work that when I see it I am jealous, not “Oh, I wish I had that” more like “Wow, I am truly in awe of those skills”. Here a sampling of his work but by all means you should check out his site.
The other person I decided to include was LE Spry (Sprywalker) I included him on the panel as a very well known and respected veteran who had a body of work that was just staggeringly vast. He also brought a unique skill set in that he customized vehicles as well. This is just a small taste of his work you should check out his site, as well.
We had a packed house filling up every seat in the room.
We also made some luck fans day by randomly giving away some of our custom figures as prizes. The figures were donated by Dayton Allen, Justin Cook (Yakchewie), and myself. The figure I gave away was from the Roman Wars line, which I debuted at Celebration VI.
The panel was a huge success. I was blown away by the response we got. I shot a video to show my wife that showed the length of the line 45 before we started. I was told that by the time they opened the door it was twice this length. Please excuse my shaky camera work, this was a spur of the moment thing and not intended for public viewing.
I still plan on posting a video we shot when I get the spare time. Until then here a video that our friend Tamer of the Imperial Shipyards has posted
