Ever been threatened?

[JohnL]

I was wondering the same thing as Ash; Did you sell your custom figures as if they were originals? If so, I pretty much agree with him that that was a lousy thing to do.

[Velvet Brotha]

No, there was no deceit involved on my part. Everybody knew exactly what they were buying. However, now they are claiming that I never said that they were customs in the first place. Hmmmm go figure... no pun intended. ; ) I also think that the guy may be a kid. Either that or a complete loser.

The whole thing was basically a marketing ploy that appears to be going quite well. I mean, it's yeilding some good results by stiring a controversy but it is also attracting weirdos. Oh well, I guess thats what I get.

[Ash]

Hmmm...

I don't know Brotha.
So you DID tell them that they we not receiving original rare items?

I see two possibilities here.
Either there were major miscommunications between all parties involved...
Or.....you lied to them.  

I do not know you personally and I am not making any accusations whatsoever.
The fact that you stated that you did this while suffering extreme financial hardships only serves to reinforce the thought that you deceitfully sold them these items out of desperation to make some money.

I do admit that the entire thing seems very shady.
I kind of see it as a "I've got to do what I've got to do to survive" type of attitude.
I may be mistaken though and I do apologize if I'm wrong.

[Eirik]

Guys: reality check here - the name of the site is "bootlegactionfigures.com".  Anyone who thinks they're getting actual Kenner-made originals there is too stupid to deserve our sympathy.  But again, I reiterate that anyone who's into collecting home made Star Wars figures probably isn't a real dangerous person.  Again, just my impression.

Reminds me of something I saw once where some guy made a Porkins action figure (that was the fat guy who died in the First Battle of the Death Star).  It was a pretty hilarious web site, and the fat little action figure in the bright orange rebel flight suit was just too much.

[Conrad]

I believe that Andrew Borntreger was threated via e-mail some time ago.  He took the issue to the police, and the culprit turned out to be a teenager, whose parents were - to put it mildly - surprised and unhappy at what their little darling had been up to.  A search might throw up more details of Andrew's case for information, but I would be inclined to go ahead and inform the police anyway.

One of the puling little snots (who occasionally make my job a chore!)  rang up a fellow worker, using an unsupervised phone within our offices, and threatened to kill the colleague.  We have now sicced (the US term, I believe?) the Job Centre onto him, stopped his benefit and refused to reinstate it.

Several years ago one of our clients threatened, via telephone, to come down to the office and kick my head in.  Knowing exactly who it was, and that he was rather short in stature, my reply was "Okay, would you like me to lie down so you can reach?"  He never appeared, then or ever.

All part of life's rich pageant!

[Velvet Brotha]

I can see how Ash may think that I was decietful and it kind of does seem that way. However,  they knew what they were buying. It wasn't a careless attitude by the way. I was meerely trying to survive. If it were possible to keep a roof over my head without money, then I wouldn't have done it.

Besides, I'm not the only customizer in the world. They really need to quit leeching of their parents and get a life. ; )

[JohnL]

Ok, now that that's cleared up, there's something I'm curious about; your previous posts made it sound as if these figures were created from scratch rather than by modifying an existing figure, is this correct? If so, were your figures articulated like the originals? I ask because I'm wondering how you managed to get the originals apart without breaking them in order to cast your molds. I admit that I haven't tried taking many action figures apart, but my experience is that most will break off at the joint rather than pop apart.

[Velvet Brotha]

No, they were just copies... customs rather. Getting the limbs off can be a little tricky but it can easily be pulled off with a little patience.

First you hold the figure over some hot steam from a boiling kettle of water. (Use gloves and plenty of protection. ) Then, once the limbs become soft, slowly use a pair of pliers to pop them off. This technique varies from figure to figure but thats usually how it's done.