Morgan Has Been a Busy Bee

Customizer Morgan seems to be steadily rolling out new custom minifigures recently. The first debuted about a week ago with this great rendition of of a female dragon slayer, Jasna Zonritri (I really need to get some of those arched pauldrons from BrickForge).

Then we have the Japanese Warlord Akinori. A fantastic blend of action figure and LEGO parts combine into a savage warrior.

Finally we have Sgt. Anton Peternko, heavily armored and ready to defend the Goldenfox headquarters.

To give you sense of how crazy this week has been, I started writing this post on Tuesday and have only just now gotten back to completing it.

You can see these, a new Battle Beast design, and Morgan's treasure trove of part on his Flickr stream.

Fembots Four

Have you submitted your entry into the Eurobricks Number Four Raffle yet? Morgan has with these clever Fembots which use the perfume bottles from the Orient Bazaar game (see those games have minifig parts too). 

You have two more days, I believe, to submit your entry. The 'contest' is a raffle so you just have to submit a pic within the scope of the guidelines. You must have been a Eurobricks member before the contest was announced, however, to win.

Not a Eurobricks member?! Head on over today so you're ready for their next event.

Blast from the Past: Morgan's Rocketeer

I was wandering through Flickr like Kane in Kung-Fu, and I re-discovered this great custom minifigure of the Rocketeer by Morgan. Fantastic presentation and use of digital customization. Given the recent release of the Amazing Armory Rocketeer gear, I found this quite timely...despite debuting nearly three years ago.

You can view more of Morgan's custom creations on his Flickr stream.

Let's Not Go to Oz...It's a Scary Place

Morgan revisits the Emerald Kingdom of Oz and it would seem that the gang has seen better days. Titled 'The Blight of Oz', we have skewed versions of the original cast of characters.

One of the things I like about Morgan's creations is that each one is like a game of 'hidden customs'. There are so many different parts, it's fun to try and guess their origins - custom, official TLG, or 'other'.

You can see more detailed pics of each character on Morgan's Flickr stream and play along at home.

Guilty as Charged

I was perusing through my favorites on Flickr this weekend and re-discovered this latest creation from Morgan. I also wondered why I didn't post this before. I can only plead temporary insanity...or at least, holiday insanity.

Hopefully he'll let me off with time served.

(Via Morgan's Flickr stream)

Where Fabuland Meets Mad Max

If you've read our interview with Morgan, you'll know that he claimed to have "ridiculously fond memories" of the Battle Beasts series of toys from the 1980's. Well it would seem he's found a way to bring his customization skills to bear on these pint-size, anthropomorphic beasts of battle (Fun Fact: Battle Beasts were originally called 'BeastFormers' and created by Takara of Japan, the same company who developed TransFormers). 

The Series 3 Gorilla Guy makes me think that the Fabuland line may be making a return. Let's hope this time they come with gatling guns.

(Via Morgan's Flickr stream)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween has come to the Minifig Nation, and thanks to Morgan that celebration has been all month long. I can't begin to say how much fun it's been to tune in and see what figures he created for us each day. I can appreciate the time and effort that must have gone into conceptualizing and creating each figure for 31 days. Thank you Morgan, I can only hope we'll be able to share another countdown calendar with you next year.

You can checkout all 31 days on Morgan's Flickr stream.

Quick Hits: Amazing Sculpts, Cosplay Fun, and Custom House News

Another big Tuesday so far, and I haven't even had my second flagon of coffee yet! Lot's to cover so let's get started...

Tyler (AKA Amadgunslinger) has posted some wonderful sculpts like the one seen here. This is a nicely detailed recon helmet, and using Sculpy no less! Also not to be missed are his mermaid and custom hairpiece for slave Leia. Needless to say, anything I would attempt would look like a reject from the Play Doh Fun Factory. Nicely done! Tyler does have an eBay store where he sells some of his custom creations. Check it out when you have a chance.

Not only is Morgan plowing through the month of October with his inspired Halloween countdown calendar, he's also had time to produce an entry for the Eurobricks Cosplay contest. Channeling a taller Kenny Baker, Kevin Chen gets ready for his first Star Wars convention.

This week is shaping up to be big for new custom house releases. Arealight will be releasing a new series of Star Wars inspired helmets on October 27th. My Imperial head gear identification skills are a little rusty, so I won't embarrass myself. Instead you can check them out yourself on the Arealight website and their Flickr stream. It's been a while since I've visited the Arealight store but it looks like it's received an upgrade.

Woody's Minifig Customs has just put up some new designs for Spartan warrior gear on his Shapeways store. If you missed it we covered Woody in a spotlight article last week. Since then 3D printing has been in the news with a 3D printer made of LEGOs that builds, what else, more LEGOs, and Badger has been showing how Will uses the technique as part of the prototyping process for development of the BrickArms helmet line.

Roaglaan has been adding and updating decals to his BrickLink store recently. With designs ranging from military, superheroes, and medieval themes I'm sure you will find something you'll like. No sightings on the store yet of his Cobra troopers decals. Let's hope they go up soon. (UPDATE: They are now up on the BrickLink store. Search by 'newest' and today's date. Torso and face stickers are included in the price.)

That's all for now, citizens. More to come as it happens...

Cygnet
Minister of Information
Ugly Duck Command Center
Minifig Nation

I am the shadow on the moon at night....

...filling your dreams to the brim with fright.

If you haven't been keeping up with Morgan's Halloween Advent calendar, for shame. This, in my opinion, has been some of his best work ever. This figure of 'The Shining' is a definite top three favorite of mine.

You can catch up on all 18 days of Halloween goodness on Morgan's Flickr stream.

New News from BrickCon

I'll be circling back around to cover these items properly, but you can head on over to my favorites on Flickr to see the latest announcements from BrickArms at BrickCon 2010.

While you are there you can also see some fantastic customs by Tin_7, expanding his Airbender series. You absolutely have to see Morgan's latest from his Halloween Advent calendar project.

More to come later today, citizens...

Cygnet

Minister of Information

Ugly Duck Command Center

Minifig Nation

...Life's No Fun Without A Good Scare...

It's October 1st which means that Morgan has begun his Halloween advent calendar countdown! Day 1 reveals the Mograkai Lancer. Based off of a sketch Morgan did some time back, this is the perfect blend of customization and presentation. The legs alone deserve their own post. 

This is just the beginning. Each day Morgan will have a new custom Halloween minifigure counting us down to All Hallows' Eve. Given that I'll be out for most of October, I highly recommend checking in with Morgan on Flickr all month long.

(Via Morgan19's Flickr stream)

This is Halloween, This is Halloween....

I'm digging Morgan's next project for the month of October. Can you guess what it's going to be? MUWHA-HA-HA-HA...(cough,cough)...What's that? It's written in the title of his Flickr post?! Oh! Ummm...well, it's still gonna be awesome. So there...

Nothin' says lovin'...

...like a new custom fig from Morgan19.

Jamie has decided to take a break from all those nasties I'm certain will be descending upon us come October to give us this representation of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. The head of the Series 2 Mime really makes this possible. Add some blue eyes and a Pillsbury logo on the hat, and you are good to go.

Makes you want to poke the guy in the belly just lookin' at him.

(Via Morgan19's Flickr stream)

Tis The Season

...for Halloween minifigs from Morgan that is. The first of the month arrives and he's out of the gate, producing a whole cadre of custom Halloween minifigures for our enjoyment. A few of my favorites are highlighted here.

I suspect the next two months will be filled with grim grinning ghosts. It almost makes you wish TLG had a Halloween calendar, similar to the Advent offerings. I could go for 31 days of Morgan minifigures.

(Via Morgan's Flickr stream)

The Queen is in Her Castle and All is Right with the World

Morgan19 has been making up for lost time after his recent move. He has utilized several custom techniques to achieve this Queen's Guard custom figure.

The head has been sharpied yellow to achieve that classic color (originally a 'fleshie'). Wonderful decals on the torso and arms. The rifle is from BrickArms. The hat? A Cobi (gasp) medieval helmet turned backwards (Five LEGO purists just dropped dead with fright).

Polish it off with a fantastic photoshopped backdrop and you have another Morgan original in his signature style.

(Via Morgan19's Flickr stream)

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19 Collected

Now that our interview series with Morgan19 has concluded, I'm collecting each part into a single source for easy viewing.

These will reside on the interview page along with my interview series with JasBrick.

Again, big thanks to Morgan for taking the time. I hope everyone enjoyed the series!

Morgan19 Interviews

• Part 1: Historical and Halloween Series
  
• Part 2: Graphic Design Influence
• Part 3: Community Involvement
  
• Part 4: Creative Parts Usage

He's a Maniac, Maniac, on the Floor...

Morgan19 is back with these great custom minfigures based on charachters from the 80's computer game Maniac Mansion. I never played the game myself, but I'm familiar with it.

The figure of Razor has to be my favorite. It's too bad no one's produced a 'dog collar' part for minifig heads.

One can only hope custom figures of the Edison family are not too far behind.

(Via Morgan19's Flickr stream)

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19, Part 4

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of our interview series with minifig customizer Morgan19. Today we will be debating the merits of 'green stuff' over 'sculpey'...what's that? You'd rather hear us talk about creative re-purposing of found objects and their applications in the area of minfig design?! Ookaaay, but we had some really good material on 'green stuff'...

You are very inclusive of the parts you use to customize minifigures (action figure parts, Mega Bloks accessories, etc.), and you often receive negative feedback for doing so. When did you start utilizing parts outside of LEGO in your designs? Why do you think reactions are so strong against their use?

"I don’t recall specifically, but the first non-LEGO parts I used were probably for something in the Halloween set. Although I love LEGO to death and it will always be my main building toy brand, sometimes a third-party part or a random piece not intended for building just fits the bill when LEGO’s parts palette can’t do so. Keeping my overall options open and not limiting my parts selection really helps my general creativity in that I often find myself thinking of alternative uses ('NPU!'), piece combinations, or final figures that just aren’t possible with standard LEGO.

That being said, I can honestly say I’ve never bought a full-price MegaBloks set. But finding one on sale for 90% off and challenging myself to use its pieces on a LEGO figure can be a fun creative exercise. I won’t limit working with a part just because of its name.

Sometimes the resentment towards using non-LEGO parts baffles me, but overall I think the general stigma towards them is just that: they’re non-LEGO parts and people are displaying brand loyalty to LEGO in the best way they know how. I don’t mind that opinion so long as someone isn’t rude enough to tell me I shouldn’t be using non-LEGO parts because they don’t like it. It’s my creativity – let me do what I want and they can do the same."

What is a trip to the toy store like with you? Do you often find yourself seeing everyday objects as potential fodder for minifig design?

"Absolutely, I’m constantly on the lookout for anything minifig-scale that can be worked into a figure: action figures in general have been a gold mine, but I’ve also found uses for a bizarre range of other items...Little bells from a craft store to random vending machine toy parts have all been sacrificed for a figure, though sometimes the best satisfaction can be found just using a regular LEGO part in a non-regular way, like the reflective ball from a LEGO pen .

Right now I’m brewing ideas for some figures using a Chapstick cap and those little garbage bag twisty ties..." 

Based on my calculations, you likely spent a fair number of your formative years in the 80's and early 90's (in my opinion, the heyday of the action figure). If Doc Brown were to pull up in the Delorian right now and take you back, what action figure line would you most want to mine for parts from that period of time?

"Now that you mention it, I have ridiculously fond memories of the Battle Beasts toys. Their weapons in particular are sized perfectly for LEGO hands and could really add a nice bit of variety to a minifig’s arsenal. (Hmm, I know I’ve got a stash of them around here somewhere...) Beyond that, I’d probably go for the same type of stuff I look out for these days — GI Joe and Star Wars figures are usually good sources. Like the Battle Beasts’ weapons, those figures’ accessories are often proportioned perfectly for adaptation to LEGO."

Before we wrap this up, I want to extend a big thanks to Morgan for taking the time not only agree to participate in these shenanigans, but also to promote the site on Flickr all week. I'm really enjoying the opportunity to talk to great guys like Jas and Morgan, and hopefully you've enjoyed the series so far. I'd like to finish my session with Morgan by asking a question that is quickly becoming a favorite of mine...

What would be your dream LEGO project? What stands in your way from making this happen today?

"In all honesty, it’s the simple things... I’m looking forward to eventually having space for my entire brick collection, room to sort pieces, and a clear area to consistently work without having to pack it up each night."

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19, Part 3

Welcome back, citizens of Minifig Nation. Another day, another installment of our interview with customizer Morgan19. We pick up today discussing Morgan's involvement and thoughts on the minifig custom community...

You've mentioned being active on the KAM forums, entering several of the contests hosted by Jared. There are other 'hang outs' for the customization community. Aside from the KAM forums and Flickr, what are other places you haunt? Is there anywhere else you are an active community member?

"Outside of Flickr, these days I tend to limit myself to lurking and reading over posting, but in terms of community communication I try stop by Brickset, FBTB, and the BrickForge forums whenever I get a chance— but Flickr is usually a much quicker, more direct way to see what customizers are whipping up."

Describe your best experience within the customization community? What has been your worst experience?

"This is going to sound super-cheesy… There’ve been two instances that really stuck in my mind as heart-warming. Last year, a mother sent me a message through Flickr saying how she’d found some of my Star Wars figures while looking for birthday ideas for her five-year-old, who was a huge Star Wars and LEGO fan. It was a short message, just explaning how much her son liked them and if I minded her printing them out to use as party decorations. A second message was from an elementary school teacher who emailed me to say how she found’d my Historical figures and was using them (quite successfully) as teaching tools in her classroom.

I sent messages back to both women, replying enthusiastically about how great it was that they and their kids were appreciating the figures. Both quickly sent messages back along the lines of 'Wow, I didn’t even think you’d respond, thank you!' It was just really cool hearing from random people outside the LEGO community and how much something I created made their day a little bit better. That was the proverbial warm and fuzzy all over.

On the flipside, I actually had a hard time thinking of a 'worst' experience, which speaks volumes about the community itself. If anything, I’d say what stinks the most is to see kids swiping other peoples’ work and posting it as their own. The LEGO Universe website, where users can post 'their' creations, is notorious for that sort of property pilfering. Although to be fair, they do act quickly to remove stolen images once notified, thanks in large part to the Brick~Busters! Flickr group.

Deadly like a manticore?!

(I must admit, though, that the descriptions the swipers dream up can be wonderfully idiotic, at times— someone reposted my steampunk walker Dardenbahst as their own and somehow got it in their head that it was 'deadly like a leopard'. A leopard? Really?)" [EDITORIAL: Leopard? No. I think of it more like a lion. A lion with wings. Isn't that a manticore?!]

Where do you see the LEGO minifig customization community going from here? What needs to change? What needs to be nurtured for it to grow stronger?

"The number one goal I’d like to see accomplished is for custom minifigures to be granted the same respect as brick-built MOCs in the LEGO community. Too often I see comments like 'well anyone can do that, it’s only a few parts!', and I honestly feel it unfairly shortchanges the entire creative process that goes into creating a figure. I can speak from experience in that putting a really good figure together from conception to completion can sometimes take a couple weeks and go through just as many revisions as a MOC– having it brushed aside because it’s 'just' a figure is ridiculous."

Tune in tomorrow for our last installment with Morgan where we will discuss...What's that? We didn't talk about his creative use of non-LEGO parts today?! We do have one more installment you know; however, I'm not telling you the subject. Rest assured, citizen, we won't be talking about manticores...or will we?

Inside the Customizer's Studio: Morgan19, Part 2

Welcome back to day two of my interview with Morgan19. A graphic designer by trade, I was curious if and how his work influenced his designs...

How do you feel your graphic design training has influenced your minifigure work? How has LEGO influenced your work as a graphic designer?

"Ask my mom and she’d attest that I’ve always been an artist in one form or another, doodling and drawing whenever and wherever I could. I would say my design background has definitely influenced the LEGO creations I make but not so much the other way around, unfortunately. As a graphic designer professionally since 1999 or so, integrating digital elements into my LEGO creations has been a no-brainer and really helps me 'complete' the creative thought of each. Pairing LEGO with graphic work is also just a really fun, creative way to unwind and let my mind wander at the end of the day while having a nice end product to show for it, too."

If the opportunity to work with/for TLG were to present itself, would you be interested? If you were given the 'keys to the castle' what would you like to try your hand at?

"Ahh, what a delicious subject... TLG has actually posted a few graphic designer positions over the past couple years that I’ve drooled over, but unfortunately they all seem to be in Billund and thus are far outside my geographical comfort zone.

If that were ever an option, I’d love to work on those DK-style 'visual dictionary' books, with big, clear images of LEGO to play with. Box art for sets would be a treat to do, too, although I imagine the revision process could be as heartbreaking to a passionate LEGO designer as it is with corporate graphic design. Regardless, I’d be thrilled if that sort of opportunity ever came my way!"

DK and TLG must of thought his work was worthy of their books. Several of his custom minifigures can be found on pages 92 and 93 of Standing Small, the minifig companion to The LEGO Book.

If you've ever seen Morgan's brick work you can easily see how the DK guides would be appealing. Case in point. Morgan designed a steampunk mech called Dardenbahst. The Dardenbahst was a contest entry, but instead of slipping a piece of poster board behind the model, snapping a pic, and calling it a day, he photoshopped it as a schematic with context and back story. I personally refer to this as 'complete design', where several elements are brought to bear on a piece to enhance the total narrative.

Were are half-way through our series and we haven't even asked Morgan about those pesky action figure parts yet. I guess you'll just have to keep tuning in and wait a little longer...