2012 will be over in a few short hours, and after being inspired by the TOYSREVIL post of Andy's top 10 purchases of 2012 I decided to write my own list. This is the first year that I actually purcased a custom toy, in fact I bought 5 of them, all of which are in my top 10 list. While there is still something I prefer about 'production' toys on the whole, these customs blew me away and I had to have them. I wanted to talk about pieces I personally own, because I feel that I can talk more about the quality of the piece and I can tell you specifically what motivated me to buy it. Finally these are in no particular order, just going from left to right with the photograph I took.
This was one of the few pieces I saw before going to DCon : 2012 that I knew I had to pick up. Sket absolutely killed this in the design, production, and packaging, which was a clear paint can. The Dripple seems to be the main character for his new brand Bad Juju, which is set to release a variety of things (not just toys) in the new year.
I've always wanted a Companion figure by Kaws (especially a 4' one), and this was the first time I was able to snag one at retail since the previous Companion pieces were released before I started collecting. Most collectors either love/hate Kaws for being over-priced, or are somewhat uninspired by his Joe Kaws, Woodstock, Tweety releases. Regardless of how you feel about Kaws, he has definitely done a lot for designer toys and getting people collecting and I'm glad I own one of his pieces.
I've been a big fan of Rsin for a while, not just because of his skill as an artist, but for his pure determination. Completely self-taught, Rsin started all of this just 5 short years ago, and had his first production piece released at the last NYCC. This piece was part of the Ghost Girl custom show a while back, but seeing it up close at his booth made my wife want so bad we had to grab it. Rsin's transition into more sculpting and figure design has been great to watch over the last few years, and I can't wait to see what he brings in 2013.
I've loved Alan's style for a while, and I loved the Keiko figure but it wasn't until he put out this Star Wars Stormtrooper version that I finally had to pull the trigger. These figures were all hand-cast & painted, and while the months of waiting were pretty painful it was all worth it when the figure finally arrived. While I feel awkward for having nude female toys in my collection I really can't complain about this figure.
This is the custom that broke my resistance to non-production toys, and it seemed to open a floodgate as I made several more custom purchases throughout the year. The Skullendario Azteca is perfect blend of The Beast Brothers & Huck styles, the wood-burned crate that it was packaged in was a great touch, not to mention the white gloves and unpacking video. My only issue with this figure is that I think I would have prefered grabbing the 'Lord Magma' colorway that was released a month or so later.
This little guy was commissioned by my wife for my birthday. I first saw this figure by JPK for a show in Boston that we caught as college students right when we started collecting. At the time the price was way out of our range, but looking back it was a freaking steal. I just wish I could have also picked up some of Jon's amazing customs from his Star Wars: A New Hope show at Yoyamart.
We happened to be walking by the Tenacious Toys booth at NYCC, when Benny had taken this piece out to show someone else. He talked a bit about it and told them the price, the other people weren't interested but as soon as they walked away I told him that it was sold. We weren't even sure who the artist was but for how amazing it was and how low the price, we knew we had to snag it. Later we found out it was Avatar666, who I was already familiar with after adding many of his pieces to Trampt, and I'm really glad we jumped on this figure.
This piece dropped at SDCC : 2012, which unfortunately we missed because I can never seem to score tickets, but thankfully I was fortunate enough to get in contact with Luke who hooked me up for the release. The base of the Target is a MASSIVE hunk of resin so it's crazy heavy, though the actual figure is extremly light. For the show Luke also drew a custom sketch on the wall behind the figures, Normally I don't like signatures on the figures, but this seemed very fitting for the piece.
We met Shadoe at SpankyStokes booth during DCon, and he's a great young artist who has just started getting into the toy customizing game. After talking to many of the artists at DCon, Shadoe upped his prices to be more in line with other customizers of his skill, but thankfully we were able to pick up this piece before he did that otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford it. He's always producing new work so be sure to follow his progress as I suspect he'll be turning out more amazing work in 2013.
Blake and I started Trampt back in 2010.. We love pouring all our free energy into more features, and soon we'll have... [more]
More from the author:
abusethesystem.com and @trampt
You are not currently signed in. Sign in now.
Once signed in, Trampt users can vote, comment and post replies if they have unlocked the required badges by earning reputation points. As a member of Trampt, you can also manage your collection, help us maintain the library, earn reputation & badges, and more.
Joining is free and you can do it now in minutes!
Promote your new release, event & more to 29,000+ people each month.
Unlimited impressions starting at a rate of .38¢ per 1,000.
keegan a cash for moving across country and starting some new top secret Trampt projects .... ssssh. :) almost 11 years ago