My action figure customs

Revell-Fan

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Howdee fans,

15 years ago our local Woolworth received a huge box of POTJ and SAGA action figures and sold them for 1.99 € a piece. I grabbed the ones I didn't have and even got a tray variant of Kit Fisto which up to now has not been documented in the web. I bought the standard issue twice, one to put into storage and one to play with ;) . He comes with a real metal hilt and a detachable green blade which is very cool. However, the rest of the figure did not look as good as it could and should have. It is more a statue than action figure, the leg joints are rather useless:

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Last year I had the idea to update my collection and to get a "good" Kit Fisto with joints that actually fulfill a purpose and which would look more like a real Jedi and less like a cartoon Ninja.

Two versions would be suitable for the task: The ROTS or the Vintage Collection Kit Fisto. The latter can't be obtained for under 45 € and was eliminated from the list. So the ROTS figure was the one to go. It is almost super-articulated, only ankle joints are missing. The colour is all wrong but that can be changed later.

I found a nice-looking figure bundle on ebay (Kit Fisto / ROTS, Yoda / ROTS, Mace Windu / ROTS & Obi-Wan Kenobi / TAC) and gave it a try. Luckily the same seller offered a SAGA Obi-Wan Jedi Duel figure which came with a blue saber, stand and Jedi robe. You must know that I am a huge fan of soft goods and I want all my Jedi wear robes. That makes them look much more valuable on the shelf. The Yoda from the bundle could become handy for another mod, the rest was "cannon fodder". ;)

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A few weeks later the items were delivered. To my surprise I discovered that the figures were genuine Hasbro figures and no fakes (I suppose they were factory rejects). Some joints were loose (nothing a drop of white glue couldn't fix) and the Jedi Duel Obi-Wan did not come with articulated wrists (it looks like it was kitbashed from two figures of the same line). The quality of the robe was top-notch though.

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The robe fit like a glove on Kit's body. Equipped with the lightsaber of his SAGA counterpart he really came out great.

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Onto ROTS Obi-Wan. At first I wanted to tranfer his articulated ankles onto Kit but then I put him in the robe, too...

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What a difference! I decided to leave him this way and added him to the collection.

Next was Mace Windu. An action feature rendered most of his appearance - really ugly. But with the robe on...

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... you get a bad-azz Jedi! He even looks like Samuel L. Jackson! Alright, he too went into the collection. I ordered two more Jedi Duel Obis, stripped them off of their robes et voilà:

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The whole Jedi gang was completed.

Not bad for just a few bucks. :cool:

The rest of the Obi-Wans went into the parts bin.

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Next I'll tackle that Yoda. :)
 
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Revell-Fan

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Thank you! :)

It's nothing too fancy but it makes a hell of a difference. The upcoming Yoda will require some more "surgery" though. ;)
 

Revell-Fan

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:)

I almost forgot that I did a little custom 15 years ago, POTF2 Slave Leia with real metal chain:

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I simply cut off the horrific plastic rendition of a chain at the base but I left the base intact because it was supposed to hold the new chain.

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I went to my local jeweler and bought the cheapest chain with the smallest chain links available. 20 - 30 cm will do. It is best to take your action figure with you. And no, my jeweler did not mock me because I showed up with a half-naked slave action figure. :D ;)

Then I had the collar base hole-punched by my local shoe maker (for free). This is a very delicate task because you need a hole that is large enough to hold the chain but not too large so that the base breaks. That's not easy, so work carefully and apply pressure gently.

Once you have a hole you take some metal foil and "adhesive milk" and put it on (silver on the collar base, gold on the collar itself). This worked surprisingly well and still holds up today.

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Then you fiddle in the chain. Use the closing ring to put through the punched hole first. This will enable you to fasten the chain (it would be too small to get through) and avoid the chain from protruding horizontally from the body.

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The chain fits well and even goes through the holes in the cyclops heads of vintage Jabba's throne. :)
 
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Revell-Fan

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I see that the pictures are missing here. I'll take care of it shortly. :)
 

Revell-Fan

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These were only the beginnings. ;)

I have a small list of various characters which I will make to populate Jabba's palace. Since the modern figures get more expensive every year and the line is dominated by humans and armoured characters the only way to achieve that is updating older sculpts. The Power of the Force 2 and Power of the Jedi lines are pretty great and gave us the oddest backgrounders like Woolfiv Mon, Pote Snitkin and Ishi Tib. They still hold up today (unlike the early human characters; I'm not quite certain but I fear I have horse-headed Leia in my collection :skull). Nabrun Leids will get a repaint and Labria desperately needs a new body (he was sculpted in a wide-stanced pose and is not able to stand upright without his cape). Everything should be done within a reasonable budget and those figures are available for pretty cheap, not more than a tenner including shipping, so they are good fodder. ;)
 
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Chuffy70

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Far too many Mandalorian's being released and do we really need another Mando & Grogu?

I'm still hunting for a few more retro-released Stormtroopers to re-create the box picture of my favourite childhood toy...


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Revell-Fan

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That is a gem! I have the TVC version. Do you have the version with the record inside? Does it still work?
 
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Chuffy70

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That is a gem! I have the TVC version. Do you have the version with the record inside? Does it still work?
Indeed it is the 'talking' version and I have had it since I was 8 years old...

I bought some new stickers for it and I'll clean her up in the summer, but I haven't tried the electronics for years!!!

It sits above the TVC version in some reconditioned IKEA cases, the new version is nice, but not a patch on the old girl!

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Revell-Fan

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Hey, you have the palace, too! This was THE highlight for me last year. When I opened the box I felt like Xmas, Easter and birthday happened simultaneously. I can't remember when something blew me away like this one did. It almost brought me to tears and made me feel like a 6-year-old again, yaknow, then, when I saw the truckloads of Jabbas and X-Wings at our local Woolworth. They got so much stuff that they had to put it on the floor. I was there almost every day to look at them. The figures were expensive here, 19.90 DM (10€) each for the regular ones and 9.90 DM (5€) for the half-sized ones like Wicket, Yoda and Jawa. You have to know that you got a full bucket of sweets for 1€ back then. ;)

BTW, I love the Dalek droid! I'd love to know how you made it. :)
 
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Revell-Fan

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I have two Imperial Ground Crew figures which I intend to turn into Troop Transport pilots. The idea came to me before they made the Juggernaut pilots. I thought they might fit in there nicely because of their size and helmet. I may change the leg position and their colours to do the job. :)
 
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