Custom McFarlane

[CrazyCanuck]

Originally Posted by mcarey032

Have you seen these websites for customs?

SportsCustomsOnline.com

Stupidsuck.com

RLcustoms

Customsbyjomo.com

Great job!

Actually I just dropped over $400 last week on a bunch of mcfarlanes (30+). But I'm looking for more Skins figures. There's some great ones on that SportsCustomsOnline site. Does he sell to the end user? What do they cost?

[coggs]

Those are all custom made. Cost for those varies depending on what you want done. A straight-repaint of a figure that requires minimal adjustments (sculpting, swap parts, cutting, etc) say taking a Peyton Manning and turning it into Jason Campbell can be anywhere from $40-$75 depending on the customizer. General rule, is you get what you pay for. I saw a guy post a Super Bowl XXV Otis Anderson. His number font was a little off, his name plate font was completely wrong, and I thought his sleeve stripes were a little too thick. When I mentioned it, the kid got all defensive and said, "Well, I only charged him $45 so for that money I think it is good." Me, I charge $65 for a repaint unless the person requests a specific figure as a base. Some are hard to find and more expensive, for example the Warren Sapp figure. It was from the original series about 8 years ago. They made a second of him in his Raiders uniform, but that was a short print. On Ebay, I have seen them run as high as $35 or more when you add shipping. I had a guy email me asking for Jacobs running over Landry last season. Took some figures, positioned them and figured out how it could be done. Since it had parts from different figures, and a decent amount of sculpting involved, I told him $200. He then said he did some research and thought that was too high, so I passed on the project. Another guy once emailed me for a straight re-paint of Joe Morris. Told him $65, he replied saying some other guy offered it to him for $50 and he thought his stuff was just as good as mine. I then responded saying he should go with the other guy.

What can also influence the customizer's price is his financial situation. Some of the people on spawn, jomo, and selling on ebay are hs or college kids. For them, it might be worth it to pay 10-15 for a figure and make the custom for $30 or even $40. That $15-25 profit might be worth all the time they put into it because that can buy them beer for a weekend. Me? I am a teacher, work after school center everyday, ref football, umpire baseball, teach saturday school, usually do summer school or a camp. So, for me to give up my free time to make a figure for someone, I am going to want a little more.

[CrazyCanuck]

Ok thanks, apprerciate the info.

Im loving that Sean Taylor sitting on the bench... will inquire.

[mcarey032]

I can tell you that I have used Patrick SportsCustomsOnline.com for a lot of my customs and you can't go wrong. I will say that Coggs figures seem really great as well. 65 is probably the going rate for a quality custom. Patrick charges about 80 plus. It depends on what you want. 65 is a pretty good price for what kind of quality you are getting from Coggs. I will note though that patrick is a cowboys fan. If you can deal with that then you have no problems.

I can tell you that I did buy a substandard custom one time. I think that I ended up paying about 45 dollars, but the work was really poor in comparison to Patrick's and Coggs. You can go on Ebay and you will see the difference between ebay sellers and the customizers who take time and attention to detail.

[coggs]

Originally Posted by mcarey032

I can tell you that I have used Patrick SportsCustomsOnline.com for a lot of my customs and you can't go wrong. I will say that Coggs figures seem really great as well. 65 is probably the going rate for a quality custom. Patrick charges about 80 plus. It depends on what you want. 65 is a pretty good price for what kind of quality you are getting from Coggs. I will note though that patrick is a cowboys fan. If you can deal with that then you have no problems.

I can tell you that I did buy a substandard custom one time. I think that I ended up paying about 45 dollars, but the work was really poor in comparison to Patrick's and Coggs. You can go on Ebay and you will see the difference between ebay sellers and the customizers who take time and attention to detail.

Thanks, although mine are not nearly as good as patrick's. As for EBay, you are right. It is a lot of people looking to turn a quick buck. When Sean Taylor passed away, you saw people churning out Sean Taylor figures. The day after the Penguins won the cup, you saw a few penguin stanley cup figures. When Vick signed with the Eagles, it took about 18 hours for a Vick Eagles custom to show up. Same for Favre and the Vikings. There are a few people I know who as they put it, "I make the figures I want to make, and just sell them on EBay." They built a customer base that way, but rather than taking orders they do what they want. Although they are not as prevelant on EBay, they are there and their work is also top notch.

As for details, it really is the little things that make a great custom. For example, on my David Tyree head catch, when I brought it to him to sign, he was amazed as were the employees at how I put the reebok logos on the pants and jerseys and painted the gloves and shoes (although not as good as I hoped). When I brought Marshall his, he was commenting on how I even made LT's gloves. That is why it is so much harder, more time consuming and more expensive to make hockey customs, especially goalies. They have a ton of equipment logos all over the uniform and gear, and the stripes are a lot harder. Although, I will admit, I have one idea I am likely to put on EBay. The Rollie Fingers. Bought one because I want to make it into an 82 Brewers uniform. Not a Brewers fan or even a Fingers fan, just think it would be cool to do. I'll likely put it on Ebay and sell it for whatever.