This topic came up in Mundo's Leonardo TMNT thread and I thought it was interesting enough to make its own topic. For some a custom isn't a custom unless there is paint involved. For some a custom needs more than part swapping otherwise it is just "kit bashing". For some modifications to the store bought parts is what elevates it. So I put it to you, what makes a custom a custom?

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Any of the above. Some of the most satisfying customs I've seen have just been simple LBCs. I mean, one can look at some of the genius part modding, and yes those are amazing customs. For me, anytime someone puts something out there, and it gives them a sense of fulfillment, it's a custom.

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Discussion too?

I was going to comment on this in the Leo thread, but I think I'd rather just comment on the excellent custom.

Is there a way to bring the what is a custom bits from that thread to this one?

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I think any time you make a modification to a figure, it's a custom. That can be from popping a new head on a figure to sanding down a base figure to a blank slate and sculpting every detail. Sometimes, Snake Eyes' head just makes the best head for Snake Eyes. Just because it doesn't take a supreme effort doesn't mean it's not a custom, or that no creativity is involved. I actually tend to be more impressed by people who are able to make figures work that are just factory parts reorganized and repainted instead of doing heavy sculpting.

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Per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to customize is to:
to build, fit, or alter according to individual specification

I think the word 'alter' is what's key for us here, so that *any* change to a fig defines it as customized.

I don't think a re-characterization counts as an objective observer that came along and held your Duke v23 and Duke v24 figs in his hands would be able to tell that you used the v24 as Duke's evil twin brother Puke in your diostories just by looking at unaltered figs.

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This is a difficult question to answer. I've seen my share of customs over the years and there have been many ones I've liked for many different reasons.

I suppose my definition of a custom depends on the amount of work done to the figure and also depends whether or not it is a Hasbro named character.

I feel that if it is a Hasbro produced/owned character that there really needs to be something uniquely done to sell it as a custom. Giving a figure a new accessory/gun and calling it a custom just doesn't cut it with me.

Sometimes I see just a simple head swap and I am rather let down by the effort. An example would be throwing a Snake-Eyes head on a RoC Duke Accelerator Suit and calling it "Snake-Eyes in Accelerator Suit". Yeah, it is a head swap and it could work as a legitimate custom-even an alternate uniform, I just would like to see some more *work* put into Hasbro named characters. It bugs me when I see a parts recipe and find myself saying, "All they did was swap a head, c'mon...."

Or taking Torch's vest from the comic pack and putting it on the single card version. It's a minimum effort with little thought. Not really impressive.


But on the other hand, I have also seen a simple head swap that has just blown me away. If someone was to take that same RoC Duke body and put different heads on them and create entirely new characters, my level of acceptance goes up.

If you instead were to swap Torch's legs with Ripper's and his lower arms Monkeywrench-now you're getting somewhere. Take Buzzer's head, give him brown hair, swap the head, and name him something different-now you're talking.

As a general rule (with exceptions)
Head Swap - low on the custom spectrum, a 1
Forearm/Lower Leg Swap/Full Leg Swap - uses some skill, I'd give it a 2
Full Arm - I'd give it a 3 due to cracking the chest to get the complete upper arm
Upper Torso Swap - 4 due to the added difficulty and skill
Sanding/Cutting/etc - 5-7 due to difficulty
Any of the above and including priming/painting - 7-9
All the above including new background (filecard) 10

Please note that having background (filecard, named character, etc) info at any level will raise the grade up a level as it shows more *work/thought* put into the effort.


I am more lenient on the army builder type customs or new character customs. We've all seen enough Clonetrooper armor variations to last a lifetime, but doing something like the Joker Squad with different heads and backgrounds makes it stand out and makes me take notice.

I also don't mind ones like taking a Buzzer head and putting it on an Armored Cobra Commander. Since that was an actual design, it works for me.

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To me, it's everything listed except "just a different characterization". That's not customizing, that's repurposing.
The only exception is when it's painted/modded to fix a factory flaw. For example, fixing a droopy pupil on a 25th Joe because the paint application wasn't angled properly in the factory, or cutting away some uncut plastic "flash" in an elbow joint. Those qualify more as repairs than customizing.
Re-accessorizing, I don't consider customizing either. Putting a Spy Troops Cobra Commander cape on a classic 1986 Dr. Mindbender body doesn't really make it a custom.

However, even the most minor of actual mod on a figure can make it a custom in my eyes, be it sculpting a belt buckle for Para-Viper, putting Duke's head on Hawk's body or painting full eyes on the 25th or ROC versions of Tunnel Rat.

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I decided to read through the 'Custom Snob' thread again before answering this thread. I believe the two are very close in content, and I guess this all comes down to a matter of perspective. I started painting 15mm and 25mm lead figures for RPGs way back in 1979. The first ones I did were pretty basic. I refined my technique over the next few years, buying molds and casting army builders, modifying figures with milliput, changing weapons over, etc. This led to minor paint adjustments on Star Wars figures, and then a full repaint on an Endor Han Solo to match his costume in A New Hope. Just after this, I did what I considered to be my first full custom. A Captain Scarlet figure, and then more from that show, using a Carbonite Han Solo and Milliput for the sculpting. This first custom turned out good enough that I was encoraged to keep the hobby going on and off for the next 25+ years. Back then, I only had family and friends to critique my work, but the feedback I got, and still get from the online community, gave me the encouragement to keep going and refine my technique.

This is where I believe constructive criticism really comes in. We all started somewhere. I didn't wake up one morning and suddenly create my Sixth Doctor figure, That got made because of feedback I have had from other customisers, and looking at what other customisers have done and the feedback they have been given. I have learned from all of this.

I love looking at customs created by newbies, even if they are an existing figure with a slap of paint on them. As I said, that is where I started out, and with encouragement and a bit of gentle prodding in the right direction, we have the next generation of customisers.

I am hardest on myself when it comes to customs. I have done repaints on some figures in the past couple of years, or head swaps, and I haven't taken pics of them. Not that I am not happy with what I have done, It is just that compared to the work I put into most of the customs I make, they are completely LBC. Having said that, I love seeing other peoples LBCs, because I often get ideas to tweak already existing customs, or for future customs.

So I voted 'All of the above'

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What about paint fixes? Because that's mostly what I do. I just repaint existing figures in accurate camo or accurate colors or sometimes just tone down certain colors like repainting yellow parts to tan.

- JM

I've always felt more elastic about customs. To me, I feel that a "custom" is an execution of a toy, vehicle, accessory, or playset that doesn't exist commerically, even if that custom is a repaint of an existing toy.

Any figure I have done, came purely because they either didn't exist in the scale I collect, or exist at all. Same for accessories or playsets.

Fixing the horrible paint applications, or updating a figure to a more current looks, still is a custom to me because technically, they still don't exist commerically. If the customs we all created actually did exist commerically, then wouldn't we be more likely to purchase them as opposed to making them?

Just my feelings on the matter.

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I'd say any of the above cause you make decide Flint wears bright red lipstick and you just paint his lips. It's a custom now. You may decide to pop one hand off and say the stump is a rocket launcher. It's also a custom now.

I don't think you have to really go into sculpting or casting to call your work a custom. Anything you do to alter the original is going to be customizing. I have my Chap Mei guy's head that I dremeled out the neck so it would fit on a desert Duke's body. There wasn't anything to it, but I really like the way he came out and get just as much out of thie figure as anything else I put a lot of work into.

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I don't see why that can't qualify as a custom.

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I voted " any of the above ", IMHO i think anything you do to a figure makes it a custom, after all, altering the base , adding paint, swapping out heads, limbs and accessories changes it, so there for it is a custom, no matter how little or how much.

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So what about when I repainted the PoC Slipstream in classic colors? Slipstream in classic colors is an existing toy available commercially.

- JM

You still painted it, altering the way it came out of the package. So, yes, it's a custom.

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