Customizer Carl

What does the word customizer mean to you?
Just means for somebody to take an idea and apply it to something else so eventually it better suits what you want it for.

How did you begin customizing?
I started doing lazy bastard custom GI Joe’s when I was very young. No paint involved just taking and switching parts. I don’t think it became a full fledged hobby until the mid 90’s when I got my hands on a Wizard and started copying the things I saw people doing in there every month.

As a customizer what do you create?
Primarily I do Marvel Legends style figures. 6” scale super-articulated. I’ve done a lot of Lord of the Rings and GI Joe’s, but mostly it’s been Marvel Legends. I’d like to branch out into other things, but for now this style is the most fun for me.

What is your process when you are customizing, from start to finish?
It’s different for every figure, but mostly I start working on fabrication of the figure first. I enjoy putting pieces together more so than sculpting or painting, so that is where I try to spend the most time. I as a rule hate painting. Not sure if its because I’m bad at it but its definitely the least fun for me. So that always gets saved for last. In between there is a lot of back and forth with fitting parts and gluing with a bit of sculpting and sanding here and there.

How long does it usually take to make one of your customs?
Sometimes when everything goes just right, plenty of motivation and no hang ups or mistakes a custom can take just a few hours. But I have a bad habit of starting multiple projects at once. It’s when I get backed up that the motivation starts to drop and the figures take longer just because I’m not as eager to work. Some take hours Some take months; mostly it comes down to motivation and planning. I feel good about it when I can spend 2 weeks worth of time on something.

Have you ever sold any of your customs, if so where?
No, I haven’t sold any of them yet. I’ve given some away to friends or even made things for people as gifts but I haven’t bothered trying to sell them. Just can’t part with them for some reason, even the crappie ones.

What has been the highest price that you have received for a custom?
$0, I think I traded a custom once, just because it was a duplicate made by mistake. I was offered something in the high hundreds for my Conan custom. It’s really flattering to get offers from people willing to buy your work, but at the same time it’s a bummer to tell them that they aren’t for sale. But yeah there have been a few pretty big offers for my stuff but I haven’t sold anything yet and I don’t think I will.

Do you get requests?
I’ve had a few requests for copies of things that I made. But generally people ask to buy and that’s all. Requests and offers have become more frequent in the last few weeks. Don’t really know why.

What has been the oddest request?
Friend of mine keeps trying to talk me into making really ridiculous things just to see if they would sell or generate any interest. Most requests have been pretty tame though.

What has been the easiest item to customize?
I made an Elsie Dee figure about a year ago that took all of 15 minutes from start to finish. Since then it’s kind of become a joke to showcase her as my best work. She really sucks, but on that level I guess its charming.

What has been the hardest item to customize?  
Once you get used to it the customs don’t really become hard more or less they just get more time consuming. The finished version of my She-Hulk took a very long time to finally get done. With the parts and the planning all laid out it wouldn’t have been difficult at all. But just because I kept going back and changing my mind about the recipe over and over again she took forever. There is a custom I’m working on now that was difficult to finish just because half way through paint testing it disappeared from my back yard. The custom itself wasn’t hard to do, but tracking down all the parts to replace the missing figure has been frustrating.

When you are customizing what are the essential tools one needs?
Paint and brushes, Dremel tool and sculpting material. It gets more complicated than that, but these are the things you are going to need the most to get started. Oh yeah and money, lots of money.

Who in the customizing world or other has been an inspiration?
Early on, once I got access to the Internet guys like Arkenyon and Lowe were really inspiring. Since becoming part of a community and getting feedback from the likes of Pablolobo, Doubledealer as well as many others I’ve started to focus a lot more on what a select group of people think and it has just been great so far. The community as a whole keeps growing so too does the amount of feedback you can get on certain projects. There are of course people who stand out but just being part of a community has really been the most encouraging aspect of this hobby.

What project would you like to take on as a customizer?
Can’t think of specifics, but I love the idea of working with a new style and scale in the future. I of course have more things planned for the style I work with now, but I do look forward to getting to work with some of the smaller figures coming from Toy Biz and Palisades.

When you want to see other customs is there a place where you go?
For Marvel custom’s it doesn’t get any better than Fwooshnet.com. That is where I spend most of my time seeing what other people are making. In the case of Lord of the Rings stuff, I read thegd.com and lordoftheringsguide.com. They both have a huge amount of work to show. For GI Joe’s where else but Joecustoms.com, they did a fantastic job resurrecting what was left of the Bivouac to turn it into the best place to showcase GI Joe customs. And a lot of people miss out on really amazing work by not looking through Ebay; there are a lot of Ebay only customizers out there that deserve more attention.

What has been the best creation that you or someone else has made?
My best work has been my ML style Conan. I have done other things in recent weeks that I’m very proud of, but judging by the response to that figure he is the best by far. For other customs Airmax’s X-men Evolution Apocalypse is one of the best looking customs I’ve ever seen. Liquidisk’s Archangel and X2 Deathstrike are incredible. And just about everything Doubledealer has made in the last year or so has been perfect, his 6” Joker and Batman customs stand out. And there is a special place in my heart for his Lady Deathstike WIP as well. If that thing ever gets finished I think it will be hands down one of the best ever.

On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate yourself as a customizer?
I guess couldn’t say. I’ve made some real stinkers and I’ve made some good stuff. But I don’t think I’m consistently good or bad, I prefer to look at the customs individually rather than sum up what I think my level talent or ability is.

What would you say makes your customs different from others?
I don’t know if I have a specific trait or technique that makes me stand out. I think a good custom will get attention on it’s own. I guess the only real distinction to be given is that they were made by me. Oh…and I paint the bottoms of there feet.

Why do you think people started customizing?
I started just for the fun of it. Early on a lot of customs came about because I had broken parts from other toys laying around that I decided to make use of. I think most people do it because they want to own a given character and they just aren’t satisfied with what’s been put out there. Sometimes they just can’t wait for a given figure to come out so they decide to make there own. I know I’ve made a custom just because it seemed like an easy one when the right base figure comes along. I’d imagine that some people even make customs because its offers a challenge sort of like the way people get the thrill of the hunt from driving everywhere looking for figures.

Where do you think Customizing will lead to in the future?
Just like it did for collecting the Internet has been an amazing asset to customizers. It allows us more contact with each other and even gives people in the Toy making industry a wider forum to see what people are making. I don’t know that it will happen this way but I would like to see how customizing influences what figures toy companies make in the future. I think it would be hugely gratifying to see something influenced by a fan’s imagination end up on store shelves. Something along the lines of R Hunter’s Rex Gannon figure, I think it would be nice to be able to walk into a store someday and see something for sale that was based on a customizer’s work or concept.

Do hope to create your own toy line like McFarlane?
Doing something like that for a living would be a dream come true for me. But I don’t have any delusions I know the kind of work and dedication it takes to get these things on shelves. And in the face of that I think I’ll stick to the small stuff.

Do you also collect toys or artwork perhaps for inspiration?
I’m a toy collector first and customizer second. There have been plenty of times where I’ve taken a break from customizing figures but I’ve never stopped buying toys. I love comic books and movies. So having little three-dimensional characters based on the artwork in those is probably the biggest form of artistic inspiration. It’s nice to know that with a hobby like this you can make just about anything you want. The only real reference needed is your own perception and preference.

Any advice for anyone looking to get into customizing?
Be patient. Not everybody can do this stuff over night. I’ve been at it for years and I sill screw up on a regular basis. So take your time, ask questions and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Most of all try to have some fun.