Yakfinities #40 - Dark / Rogue Jedi

[YAK_Chewie]

UPDATED 4/11/11

Voting has concluded for Yakfinities # 40 - the winning selection is Dark / Rogue Jedi

Voting tallies wrapped up as follows:

Mini Rigs - 2 votes (9%)
Double Agents - 1 vote (5%)
Beasts of Burden - 0 votes (0%)
Dark or Rogue Jedi - 8 votes (36%)
Concept Art Figures - 7 votes (32%)
Cold Weather Soldiers - 2 votes (9%)
Separatist Droid Variants - 2 votes (9%)

So, with that, entries can now be accepted and we'll keep taking them until Thursday, June 30 at 11:59 PM CST.

The rules are simple - create a new custom of a Dark or Rogue Jedi, and post a picture of it in the forums. Older customs, if you decided to share them in this thread, do not count as official entries - if you do post an older custom, please indicate so. Recipes are encouraged too, so your fellow readers and customizers can duplicate it if they want for their own customs.

And as always, after the deadline, we'll select a few random winners who will each receive some cool new Star Wars figures!


For reference, here are two customs that I created for this challenge:

Kala Mly Shundi - This guy was a primary character from The Enloe Chronicles. Kala struggled with turning to the Dark Side in the series... should it return, this is a likely outfit for him.

head - SAGA Jedi Youngling
hood - TVC Darth Sidious
torso - TVC Mace Windu
arms - TVS Darth Siduous
hands - TVC Darth Sidious
thighs - TVC Mace Windu
shins - Evolutions Darth Maul
cloak - Evolutions Darth Nihilus


Teltuu Stabo - This Jedi survived Order 66, and if I pick up the series again, he'll look something like this and might not be quite so nice.

head - POTJ Ellors Madak
torso - Target Geonosis Rodian Jedi
arms - Target Geonosis Rodian Jedi
hands - ROTS Polis Masan
tunic - Target Geonosis Rodian Jedi
legs - Evolutions Darth Maul
cloak - Evolutions Darth Nihilus


:wink:

 

[Darth Kikinou]

* Beasts of burden
* Cold weather soldiers
* Movie cross-overs

I also propose a ban on GIJoe and other non-SW line parts, ESPECIALLY for hip and waist joints and also monster heads and stuff. Indiana Jones stuff is fair game though since it's made with identical styling and materials as the SW stuff is made from.

 

[DanOfTheDead]

* Beasts of burden
* Cold weather soldiers
* Movie cross-overs

I also propose a ban on GIJoe and other non-SW line parts, ESPECIALLY for hip and waist joints and also monster heads and stuff. Indiana Jones stuff is fair game though since it's made with identical styling and materials as the SW stuff is made from.

Can I ask why? People are doing some wonderful work with these pieces. Just because something isn't your cup of tea doesn't mean NO ONE should be allowed to use it. Look at Incom's work, those are undeniably quality figures with a ton of work and skill put into them.

I customize both GI Joe and Star Wars, and while I don't like to use the Joe articulation on my SW characters, it's a matter of personal choice... why in the world should that be dictated?

 

[Darth Kikinou]

Because I'm a fascist. And these are STAR WARS customs, not random unrecognizable customs. While I appreciate and admire the works done with those other parts, I cannot identify what / who they are supposed to be. That's just my opinion I guess but like I said, this is a STAR WARS place, not a general toy place. I want to recognize the species made and say "oh look, that's a neat take on the abyssin species" and such, not some random horse head guy from a line or movie I've never seen. Yea I'm a jerk.

 

[YAK_Chewie]

Well, my view on it is we try and keep this broad to encourage participation... I personally rarely mix in non-Star Wars parts because I don't feel they mesh as well with the established Star Wars "look" that we're used to (there's some exceptions of course and some customizers have really crossed the lines beautifully).

That's why I really don't like how Hasbro is starting to use ball jointed hips now either, as it looks weird to me (at least in cases like the Vintage clone). But that's my own preference... maybe moving forward is that more people will post recipes to their figures; I don't know. But I also think I remember you making a version of Star Wars Alien using other figure parts DK in a past Yakfinities, and it looked great. I know I've used arms from a GI JOE figure before on this custom too, which really helped me on this custom:

But, I get where you're coming from DK. It's the styling of figures that I think you don't like to see such a departure from the established norm.

As for some other ideas, here's a few churning in my head:

- Peasants
- Scientists
- Mini-Rigs

:wink:

 

[DanOfTheDead]

Because I'm a fascist. And these are STAR WARS customs, not random unrecognizable customs. While I appreciate and admire the works done with those other parts, I cannot identify what / who they are supposed to be. That's just my opinion I guess but like I said, this is a STAR WARS place, not a general toy place. I want to recognize the species made and say "oh look, that's a neat take on the abyssin species" and such, not some random horse head guy from a line or movie I've never seen. Yea I'm a jerk.

That doesn't even cover the hip articulation though. And you just have to look at Chewie's use of some of the Hell Boy parts to see that head sculpt doesn't have to be specifically from Star Wars to fit in the universe. Couple that with the walking teddy bears of ROTJ and the lemur based species of Clone Wars, and I think there's plenty of room for the imaginative use of non-traditional parts and animal heads.

I totally understand why you don't like to use these parts on your own work, but come on... how is being so exclusionary supposed to be helpful to an otherwise very open and supportive creative community.

Imagine if a "no printed backgrounds" photo-novel "rule" were passed because someone thought it wasn't as convincing as more dimensional backgrounds or digital work... Just suggesting it singles out those who have used it as doing something that is somehow "wrong" or "inferior" to other projects.

I'm not trying to be contradictory just for fun... I just think you're being harsh toward the efforts of some very promising customizers, and I'd hate for them to be discouraged. Different customizers have different skill levels and strengths... let people work with the tools they're comfortable with. We could argue about what does and doesn't fit into Star Wars style all day long, but it's really up to the individual customizer. If you see something on a specific custom that could be tweaked, or have suggestions for alternative heads, by all means be constructive and offer some help! But don't rule out appreciating hard work just because it's not how you would approach the topic.

<shrug>

- "Homefront" theme to follow up on Alien Militaries... loved ones left behind during the Clone Wars (Wives, kids, etc).

- "Master and Apprentice" Clone Wars is showing some fun Jedi/Padawan pairs, and also that despite the whole "rule of two" thing there's ALWAYS more Sith being trained somewhere. Could even be open to non-Force users... Veteran Clones and Rookies, etc

- "Legacies" Taking inspiration from the future based Star Wars comic series, envision how a character's descendant might appear. Could be blood related, or just related in theme.

 

[tokiravensky]

hold it DK, I'll start by saying you have some awesome customs. but aside from that I think you check out some of these other people who use parts from other toy lines and you will see that their figures are very recognizable. I've even used a few parts from figures such as gijoe and avatar.

 

[darth_sidious]

The great thing about customizing is that its based on our individual creativity - it isnt bound by others at all, its like any other form of art...love it or hate it, but you cant impose your own rules to other peoples work. :wink:

 

[Darth Kikinou]

Alright, alright, I withdraw the suggestion, geesh :-(

 

[Darth Kikinou]

Maybe you should delete this thread and start it over because it seems I have derailed it and caused some discord, I'm sorry. Y'all be right it might discourage some folks but like I said, since _*I*_ (selfishly, I guess) don't follow any other lines, so I don't really "see" the creativity with the non-SW stuff. My rationale for my proposal, as I said, is that I feel this is a SW contest but if you want to define it more broadly then fine. I also have a strong, passionate dislike of the ball jointed hips on GIJoe figures and now the creep into the SW line too so it'll get worse.

Maybe it would help if non-SW based customs submissions were accompanied by stock photos of the figures used so that one could determine what went into making it. Some of you folks are so good at painting stuff I can't tell what has been custom painted Whereas my painting is so obvious heh.

 

[Rune Haako]

Evolutions (Have to make at least two figures.)
Darth Plagueis (Doesn't have to be a Muun, can be before we knew he was one.)
Separatist Droid variants.

 

[YAK_Chewie]

Maybe you should delete this thread and start it over because it seems I have derailed it and caused some discord, I'm sorry.

I actually like the honesty with your opinion, though I don't want to limit the creativity of course. But I don't really care for the Joe style hips either, which is actually why I don't customize Joe stuff.

:wink:

 

[tokiravensky]

I feel you on the ball jointed hips. the bespin luke looks like he is wearing a diaper but the endor capture luke looks great. I think its all a matter of how well the figure is put together by hasbro. I specially like them on figures with soft goods that cover them up.

 

[Trooper31]

I like a couple of ideas already mentioned:

Cold-weather soldiers

Mini-Rigs

 

[LadyIrithyl]

Concept art figures. take any concept art image and turn it into a figure. like how they did the anakin concept art figure a while back.

 

[DanOfTheDead]

Concept art figures. take any concept art image and turn it into a figure. like how they did the anakin concept art figure a while back.

Love this idea... we'd have to share our favorite concept art resources to make sure there was plenty of inspiration for everyone.

 

[Mandalore]

Concept art figures. take any concept art image and turn it into a figure. like how they did the anakin concept art figure a while back.

I remember thinking how plain concept Ani was and that Yakface customizers could do such a better job.

Looking at your avatar I'm thinking comic book/comic art figures might be pretty cool too 8)

 

[darth_sidious]

concept art sounds like fun...

 

[lugo_matapollos]

beast riders.....

 

[Incom]

Concept art sounds good to me, but pairs of figures as well. If that wins, there's a good chance of me making my <cough> tiumphant <cough> return to the Yakfinities! :lol:

I can understand your plans to make the YF quarterly, Chewie. You've been maintaining the YF since the very beginning, and a lot has happened in all of our lives that makes us shift priorities and available time.