I am pleased to announce our third interview in the Inside the Customizer's Studio series today. We will be talking with none other than Hazel Tam, founder and chief designer of the new Amazing Armory Ltd. I'm certain many of you have been aware of Hazel's work over the past few years with his former company. I have personally been in awe of his designs and was greatly honored by his willingness to participate in this session. I must also thank JasBrick who served as the initial conduit between Hazel, John, and I. A big thanks to Jas for helping to make this happen.
I hope to communicate what the past, present and future hold for Hazel and Amazing Armory Ltd. At the end of these sessions, I'm certain you will be excited about what Hazel and company plan on bringing not only to the LEGO minifigure customs community, but also the toy industry in general.
The interview itself happened via correspondence during the time that Hazel was ramping up for the AMA re-launch. We begin the conversation talking about Hazel's design philosophy and minifig customization.
In piecing together your bio I understand that you are originally from Hong Kong but worked in Japan. Were you working in the toy business prior to getting into minifig customization or was it just a hobby?
"I was born in Hong Kong, but I studied in Japan a many years ago. I used to work with a Japanese friend, and he taught me all the skills to customize parts for different uses. We used to use these skills to make plastic models. I was a fashion designer once, about 6 years ago. I started with customize parts around 2007, for hobby at first. Back then, it was just for show.
At the beginning, I didn’t really take it serious, as it was just a hobby. When I thought about turning this into business, I had a vision that I must create a new style so people will remember my products, not just as custom parts for LEGO, but as designer toys. And that was the start of Amazing Armory, and the main concepts of Amazing Armory Ltd.
We are not only doing custom parts for LEGO, but also have 3D design, Graphic Design and fashion Design. Amazing Armory Ltd. will become a production house with many different products and designs!"
Your designs are very different from other custom houses (i.e. BrickArms, BrickForge, etc.), you even take great care in designing the packaging for your products. How would you describe your design philosophy?
"It’s all about design concept. My job as the chief designer of Amazing Armory Ltd forces me to think about how to produce the best product for our customers. I believe we have to focus more on how a custom part can transform into other toys you buy from a local toystore. We wish to create an image for our standard packing, so our customers could instantly recognize our products. That’s one of the reasons we focus not just on the custom part, but also the packing of our products."
I've read in other interviews that video games have been one source of inspiration for your designs. What are other areas that inspire some of your work?
" I have to admit that video games are one of the major sources of my inspiration. After all, we live in a world surrounded by different kind of media and it seems impossible to escape from them. Movies are another major source of my inspiration.
Yet what I try to do is not only about making them 'LEGO' style, after all that’s not people expecting from us, but to re-create the image inside my mind."
You've mentioned in other interviews designs you've had in the works based on Final Fantasy and Lord of The Rings. Are you looking to do more in the 'fantasy' vs. 'sci-fi' area?
"Final Fantasy custom parts have been a dream of mine for over 6 years, it is a must for me to finish it someday in the future. This is something I have to do, and it is part of the reason I call myself HAZEL-Fantasy.
About Lord of the Rings, I already have some ideas in my mind. Yet, Fantasy area is not HAZEL-Fantasy focus for now; it belongs to Nightmare System. HAZEL-Fantasy is currently too busy working on sci-fi area."
Who do you see as your real competition? Other custom houses? Other toy companies?
"In terms of LEGO, I would say that the real competition is LEGO, LEGO is the ultimate winner in this, and no one can beat it. In terms of Amazing Armory, I would say that HOT TOYS is the focus of our company."
What is your dream project? What are the obstacles that stand in the way of going after it?
"My dream project? It’s hard to say. I believe it is 12” figs. I’ve been a fan of HOT TOYS for a long time and I am really interested to try out what they’ve done. Time has been my obstacle for a long time; I have lots of ideas, but each of them takes a lot of time to perfect."
There are a lot of up and coming customizers who would like to follow in your footsteps and make a career out of minifig customization. What do you believe the biggest challenge is in becoming a professional minifig customizer?
"I believe it is not about following in my footsteps. After all I am not the first one to come up with this idea of working in the customization field; however, I am glad that people see me as a pioneer in this, and I am really excited about all the new customizers. Their stuff is great! You see, the difficulty in customization is hard to understand until you pick up tools and try it by yourself.
Many new minifig customizers appear on the internet these days and it is interesting to look at how people choose their topics. You know, LEGO has been a famous brand for all these years, and it is hard to keep yourself up with that. I’ve been trying to maintain the fresh and modern image of our products, and hopefully to reach something different than the LEGO direction!
I usually think about the question like will the customers still choose to buy our products if LEGO already has something similar? As a customizer, design concept is very important. I believe if a customizer doesn’t have a clear artistic style, then he or she is no different than a designer for LEGO. There is nothing that original about them in that case."
Join us, tomorrow when we finish our interview session by taking about Hazel's previous company and what the future looks like for Amazing Armory Ltd.
"Amazing Armory is a name that reflects my dream. An armory that wins through amazing products!" - Hazel Tam
BrickForge is unstoppable with even more product with no end in sight. The newest? Mushrooms for those forest creations! Not only that, they've produced a lot in their 'glow-in-the-dark' style. A few LifeLites and you're ready to recreate a Pandora nightscape.
Speaking of BrickForge and LifeLites, Armothe has created a little demo using The Crystal King from Power Miners and an eLite kit. BrickForge and LifeLites have also joined forces to bring you custom lamp posts that work with LifeLights LEDs. The items are not yet for sale, but do appear on the BrickForge site. Soon, you'll be able to light up those modular displays.
Next up, Pedro has some new pics of custom minifigures that can be created using parts from his BrickLink store United Armory. There's also some discussion regarding where you can buy products from Hazel, as there's been some confusion as of late. It's safe to say that you need to look for the brand 'Amazing Armory LTD'. This is the official brand of Hazel and you can buy his product at places like United Armory and Firestar Toys. There is an Amazing Armory 2010 BrickLink store; however, I understand Hazel is no longer associated with that group...and that's all I'll say about that. Hoping to get an interview with Hazel once all the details become available.
But wait, there's more! Firestar will also have these Killzone tactical vests designed by ORRANGE. Pedro's United Armory is scheduled to have them in the US soon.
Having an official reseller for AMA means that US customers can get all of these great designs sooner and at less cost due to better shipping terms. In fact Pedro is running a store opening special where shipping for US customers is free for the first two months! Canadian customers can benefit from United Armory too, but shipping costs apply. There is a $30 (USD) minimum order, but with all this great stuff, you won't find any trouble in spending that amount.
The main source of inspiration initially was my war gaming past and interpreting the fluff and visual imagery of games like Warhammer 40k and Warmachine into the minifig universe. I am not a big gamer but the almost cinematic quality and rich concept designs of computer games are also a huge influence on what I do.
I personally believe that there will be no shortage of source material for custom houses to use as the basis of new pieces, with new films, computer games and trends popping up every day. I have no fear that the current custom houses have a lack of exposure to these sources, and it would seem that more and more people are trying their hand at the custom business.
"I regularly check out BrikWars, as a war gaming enthusiast and a LEGO freak this pushes all my buttons. I love the rules for this and it makes for a very entertaining (and lighthearted) few hours of Lego madness. On top of all that the visuals from Mike Rayhawk are absolutely mind blowing so it is a great source of inspiration as well.
"My kids play the biggest part in my hobby... everything has to pass the scrutiny of these avid Lego experts, and if it does not appeal to them then I have done something wrong. They love the fact that I share their hobby with them and that if they see something cool on television, in a movie or in a book that I can create a minifig version for them. My eldest boy was very pleased when I created a minifig version of Ben 10 to go with his Humungousaur. The good thing about kids is that they question everything, for example "Why doesn't LEGO do a Ben 10 fig dad?" For an AFOL it is important to have a link to some rich seams of inspiration that would normally pass an adult by."
PEDRO is the man. Don't believe me? I present to you 'Exhibit A'...
JasBrick is back with some great hand painted minifigures.
His second set features some great Killzone troops. Jas has a knack for taking great custom parts from Hazel and co. and plussing them with the paint. Might Jas be entering these into the Custom Killzone Minifigure Contest?
Have you ever had that feeling that you were the only one who didn't know what was going on? No?! Oh...me neither.
