LEGO’s Fan Operated Market Explained
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
- A guide to help new people who are just trying to get into the space and are confused by it all with flashy words like “PAD Printing” and “GCC”
this video is meant to be the clearest understanding of the scene done in like an hour
Chapters
0:00 - Introduction
1:10 - Lego Customs
3:39 - Money Laundering
8:03 - Itinerary
9:40 - Pure Lego
11:01 - Everyone's First Custom
13:49 - Decaling
15:40 - UV Printing
22:00 - PAD Printing
26:03 - New Elements
26:23 - Fabric
28:14 - Molding
34:08 - Problematic
48:20 - Gambling Man
51:00 - Conclusion 
Развлечения
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I may or may have not been pronouncing Jonak’s name wrong… Allegedly
And all breaking the law
Copy right infringement is one hell of a drug when the law catches up to you
@@DarkLord10387nah
The Clone Wars didn't "fix" the prequels to anybody except casuals with a surface-level understanding of Star Wars. As for the Lego Customs market being so absurdly priced- you're too new and haven't found WM Blocks, Xinh, or any non-Western company lmao. I really hate casuals and somehow the casual Star Wars fans have found their way to Lego now too. Great.
BTW: You forget something that has been said in this community for twenty years- if you can't buy it...then make it yourself. No vendor owes you anything. Welcome to the free market.
@@Commander23c um I made a point to say you can make it yourself… there’s a whole segment talking about it and is said once again at the end
Republic bricks putting his own logo on the back of minifig legs is so stupid, bro is so full of himself
Trademark stamp
Republic is a scam artist fr fr, hate that mf
Which sucks because some of his figs are pretty good too
@@thecosmonaut4221nah it’s his trampstamp which is worse.
Republic bricks even exist now?
“To watch my favorite show about war crimes” 💀
Tell me I’m wrong
@@thecosmonaut4221 I can’t lol
@@thecosmonaut4221 Jedi didnt sign the geneva convention, \/(:/)\/
It's crazy how people will complain about lego's prices but will spend $20-$30 on one minifigure
Especially customs. Custom figures should only be 20 dollars at most. If a seller wants one of their customs to be rare, they should make less of it and let the community decide its resell price.
Most iv spent is $300 on 1 fig 😂 customs are horrible
170,000 is literal pocket change to a company like Lego. for reference, Lego made 64.65 BILLION revenue in 2022. If you made 170,000 everyday, you would only make 62 million
GCC is such an interesting group in that people will still buy from them despite almost every design having errors resulting in V2, V3, V4, their use of sanded parts, stealing designs, and using fake parts.
Maybe CAC doing more 180 figs in LEGO’s style will finally kill them off. If they ever update the website..
If CAC made LEGO-style figures at his prices and moulds? Easily. GCC would be dethroned fast. CAC has always been good about restocking, communication and quality control. I’ve only ever had one issue with them where my order wasn’t shipped and this was due to an error with their worldwide shipper, and they instantly refunded me and sent out replacement parts despite me only requesting a refund. GCC is seemingly impossible to get into contact with
My only complaint if this video is I wish you talked about CAC more, how they have never changed prices, how great of a person Tyler is, how CAC for IMO better quality, is cheaper then modern GCC and easier to get. Otherwise this was a fantastic video covering everything else. Definitely picking up a Clone engineer helmet now.
Damn you write guess was just caught up with the modern day but would love to do like a dedicated CAC stuff cause it’s fucking cool to know he’s been in the scene for over 10 years
Tyler rocks
@@maydayfigsdidn’t you say you hated his helmets in a video like 2 weeks ago 😂
@@mcnastythegreat2305 what does that have to do with tyler?
CAC will still be my go to. Although expensive, they provide a quality product. The creator is actually apart of the community who regularly attends conventions and reposts mocs/posts/etc whenever he is tagged. Also their customer support is amazing.
Y̶e̶s̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶l̶l̶
i have to thank you for blessing us with a nearly hour long video
An advantage ive found with decals is you get a much wider variety of fig options. Rather than a single design that takes potentially months to be pad printed, you can have 5 variants of the same design with recolors for each variant done in like a day.
Better than buying 2nd hand figs from resellers
Almost about the same price if not more
@@thecosmonaut4221 yeah but you’re definitely getting a better deal with the custom figs/ parts which are basically brand new
@@FmC20068true
@@FmC20068not if you’re buying from republicbricks
This video definitely needs a part 2. In particular I would love to hear you go into more detail about the custom molded parts and figures as I felt the focus was very clone centric. Learning more about custom alien head molds, custom animal molds, and custom molds that replicate the lego star wars complete saga video game would be very cool and enlightening on some of the manufacturers of those more niche products
I feel like my main problem with these new producers like GCC isnt even so much that it's very expensive more so than it is that you can never find their stuff in stock. The official resellers are all always nearly empty with what items they offer saved for the holiday themed junk no one wants. I get that the process isn't cheap so I don't mind forking over the money but I cant even do that when the figures are never available. This, like many flaws, is hardly ever seen with CAC as any time I go on their admittedly archaic site, nothing I'm looking for is out of stock. Hell, I can even buy older versions of designs if I really wanted to.
I would love to see a custom community where we have a bunch of different manufacturers who can not only out out quality product but also be reliable with their stock and manufacturing. It's ridiculous and counterintuitive to create the same hype cycles that lock out official versions of these characters from new collectors but that is exactly what preorders and 2 minute sell out times do. I mean seriously, who wants to stay up until midnight waiting for a new figure to drop? You should be producing enough to fill the demand that reviewer showcases are obviously going to bring but sadly, as you said, most manufacturers either cant or dont want to risk making more figures in stock than can be sold out on initial release
I was there for the new zam wessel release by mayday and gcc and even though I did the whole song and dance, the damn things sold out before I could even hit order
And thank you once again for calling out community clowns like republic bricks and mandr. More people need to do that tbh and I'm glad you're using your platform to take a stand against their underhanded behavior
I always wanted to get into customs for mocs and all that, not just to display the figs but to actually use them, but with these prices even buying one named character is not wasy to justify
There’s always alternatives but if you want the quality you’re gonna sadly have to fork over the money
THERE I AM, GARY, THERE I AM! LOOK GARY, THERE I AM AGAIN!!!
For real tho this is a great video, and I've wanted to make a similar one on my experience with and rediscovery of the custom minifigure world and how it changed since i was into it back in the 2009-2012 era. this video really covers it all, great job!
45:35 I had no idea that GCC had stolen designs until now
Like I said 3 weeks ago, that’s funny
Never expected Chito to do a 1-hour-long video essay on Lego Customs
You love to see it
JONAK's engineer helmet is actually from a knockoff company called World Minifigs; he just adds colored stripes.
Yeah I noticed that too, I also saw that the ATRT driver helmet comes from the same branch of knockoff Nova Corp troopers on Aliexpress. At least the torso piece seems to be their own 2020 design.
He does that with a lot of items. I don't hate the knockoff parts he sells but I wish he'd be more upfront about it
@@joyoustye2326yeah I didn’t even know about this wish he was upfront but god damn this Plastic feels great quality wise
That clone engineer is beautiful
tbh CAC is still my go-to for customs. Never had any issues with quality and their prices feel pretty fair
As a custom figure painter, I have the ability to make literally whatever I want, and the cost is all up to me. However, I’m a big Clone Wars fanboy, and I have no need for painting my own Clones, as I want them to be like official LEGO. This is where people like GCC come in. Genuinely, I love the figures. I own a few. I will say that today, it’s a filthy business. I missed out on Commander Wolffe THREE TIMES. From the V1 to the V3. Ever since he blew up, getting one of his new releases is almost impossible. I, like you, woke up early to snag him on release but literally as I hit “place order” it refreshed and said it was sold out. Same thing happened with that Season 4 Pre Viszla I wanted. The custom figure market is blowing up in a horrible way because now all the scalpers are getting into it. Us working class schmucks have to fight like it’s a Black Friday opening to get a character we love. The prices I also strongly agree with you on. Why the fuck is one Clone $40 (CAD) without shipping and taxes when I want to amass a few of them? We’re all willing to pay tooth and nail for these characters because LEGO is unwilling to make them but now these companies are just falling into the same problems as LEGO because the prices are too high and there is not enough stock made for the demand. Every single reseller is sold out within five seconds of the drop being live makes me sick to my stomach. I’ve since kind of stopped buying these custom figures because I’m waiting for the hype to die down so it’s actually possible to acquire the figures you want. Great video man would love to chat more about this shit with you on instagram
Of course it’s the LEGO Star Wars crowd fussing enough to pay top dollar for the same minifigure that just has a little colorful stripe on it or some guy that showed up for a couple episodes in a cartoon.
I didn’t know GCC was based in China. Considering the business practices that Chinese companies often partake in I’m cautiously watching their future. I really like their near Lego style and hope more people do stuff like them. I personally want to get into pad printing myself but idk how much goes into this and what materials I’ll need.
The Lego Jurassic Park clip you showed hit like a flashbang. I watched that video so much when I was younger.
I'm a simple man. I see a new cosmonaut video in my feed, I click on said video.
This is such a great video! I really appreciate that you went all in with this and made it as long as you did. As someone who doesn’t know too much about the custom figure landscape, this really broadened my view.
This video is for people like you
27:27 You, sir, are 100% correct. I don't know what people that like those pauldrons are on
48:50 that’s a crazy clone army 👀 Great video btw 😂
You have any idea how many hairs I pulled figuring out the channel I yoinked the footage from.
I'm still waiting for a company to make cutsom figures based on Lego's non-licensed themes.
Fr bro, I need gcc quality ninjago customs
@@ionobruthere are some
@@MRTHUNDER. where, I NEED IT
@@ionobru brink by mind on yt has links
This was a great video pointing out everything that needs to be known and that’s kept under the rug
the efforts you put in your videos is crazy dude
Pad printing is the best method. Yes its a little bit expensive but its worth it. 🎉 I'm currently saving my money to buy one of those pad printing machine. 😊
hmm i think i will buy bionicles instead :)
Hero factory
@@thecosmonaut4221 Finally someone who appreciates it❤
You are my favourite Lego Star Wars creator by far.
I love your videos man, keep going!
THANK YOU for mentioning Base 327. For the past couple of years I’ve been trying to find those videos but couldn’t remember the name!
Super cool video! My first watch of yours and not my last! I’ve been into customizing my clones with sharpies as a kid, but now as an AFOL, I can actually afford to try out a “fancy clone”. I’m specifically looking for Appo, but the info on a huge part of the scene is awesome to learn about.
I definitely remember CloneArmyCustoms from back in 08 being the top dawg. Cool to see about GCC’s change to the game !
As a Lego purist, it is interesting to hear all of these. Still, I am not entering the rabbit hole.
47:04 Wait, I’ve been looking for that Iridescent Clone from GCC ever since I barely missed the point it was still in stock back in January. Thanks for giving me the exact info to look up! Also, great video! I definitely agreed with quite a bit of it!
it is getting a restock also
I like this video because its quite informative and adore the anime characters shown in the small snippets.
If only the bionicle community made the same amount of customs that the Lego star wars community has made
I may or may have not heard of *something*
Shameless plug, Check out Red Star Games, specifically the Red Star Forge for fantastic masks ;)
Another banger video, funny how I just got into decaling right before this dropped too lmao
you're tellin me i get off work to an hour long cosmo vid? huge
AND THERES P3 MUSIC
@@ganchyyyes
oh man this is great, im subbing before this giy pops off, keep making great videos man
Love your channel bro
Great vid as always
34:32 If you'd done your job, known your place we'd all be fine right no-
memory of the great times it used to be...
Damn, yeah you've explained exactly how I've been feeling about lego content recently, I miss the old days of stop motions and customs. I will give a shout out to Jonathan on the MiniSuperheroesToday channel tho, he makes some great custom figures from official parts
Maaan I sharpied so many clones after little-kid-me discovered MGF's channel back in 2008
Decal has always been my way to go for customs but that’s because I haven’t man handled them and only use them as display. So far no peeling even with the ones I’ve decaled two+ years ago. But it’s definitely a route that needs a ton of practice and patience to get right. But once you do getting a full decal figure could cost only like $4-8 bucks per figure. AV have definitely my go to place to get decals and they release misprinted bodies(not that badly misprinted foe cheap)
Not sure if you have or not, but a video on baggles and LCM’s business history would be interesting. Loved this video
So we had the same childhood in regards with Friday nights
Pretty much
That throwback to Pizzamovies hit different 🥲
The Lego's own uv printing seems super intresting I want to do atleast once
like bringing back some old, cracked and worn out torsos
or make something Lego never made, a white button up shirt. Nothing else really
fun to see Lego evolving to the point we can print our own minifigs officially
I'd say it as a win-win stradegy
Thank you for this video❤
Nothing related to lego, but im glad to meet another girls last tour enjoyer
Love your videos, they’re hilarious and comprehensive. I love custom minifigures, specially war related ones because Lego refuses to do that. I love representing war crimes from WWI with minifigures!
Great Video man!
1:38 MOM! MOM, I made it into a The Cosmonaut video! I’m famous!
Oh and the video itself was… fine, I guess… Nah, I’m just playin, another absolute banger as to be expected, keep up the fantastic work my man!
🫡
My first custom figure was making a pretty okay looking headless horseman. I took an extra vader i had, painted over his torso with black and purple, cut off the neck piece entirely, then I glued a red cap to him, gave him a black horse and he terrorised every single lego set i had.
Kinda wish I still had him.
War crimes being what the clone wars is known for its truly an amazing legacy
Holy shit base 327 that’s some nostalgia right there
Really nice video! I'm interested in getting into customs for stuff like TCS figures/designs and niche things like the clone engineer, but there's just so many different companies out there, that I don't really know where to start, not to mention confusing websites like GCC.
Would be nice if someone created a list of well known/liked custom creators and the types of stuff they make, along with links to stuff they have made or are selling.
Fascinating video! I wouldn't personally buy a custom fig but interesting to learn about them.
Lego customs are great and niche so as someone who also does mega bloks/Construx customs making these toys is a great hobby to get into.
35:35 THE VINTAGE COLLECTION STAYS ON TOP 🔝
When will TVC share the wealth of that design team
nice thumbnail, this will blow up :3
I hope
Very cool video i really liked it!!1!
36:00 Aqua blended in too damn well man
your vids have periodically appeared in my feed and I love the way you structure and edit them. They usually make my day better. Thank you my guy
your best vid yet Nano Jurassic!
i hate you
@@thecosmonaut4221 edging rn
Base 327 will always be close to my heart
using Iwatodai Dorm for the itinerary transition is based
a cosmonaut video! we have been blessed by the lord!
another awesome essay, feels so nice when you find a sick ass creator with a sound mind, perspective and outlook. if you doo see this and are bored, where's your profile image from?
omg i have had base 327 in the back of my head for over a decade but could not for the life of me remember what it was called or find it online anywhere. thank you
I miss old Lego RUclips
glad someone else remembers and appreciates base 327
About the custom figures, even my classmate in a mid sized city in eastern europe is making some decals and custom helmets at home, so yeah, the thing is everywhere, when it gets to these places...
Ngl this video is gold
Ive exclusively stuck with CAC. Their style is the best and I dont mind the price when I get the best (imo) version of a character. Ive invested prolly easy 500 to 700 euro into them and now my interest is on Dragon Ball S.H Figuarts lol still really happy to own everything. Great video, keep it up!
You're right that CAC doesn't do much in regards of style, but the prices are still decent for what they come with, and I haven't had any QC issues with anything I've got. If they ever decide to catch up to others with designs, Even just doing more imperial designs, they'd shoot back up imo
45:30 * Minecraft cave noise * playes
very nice and in-depth video! i do have a question for you, do you have any experiences with "Orbital Minifigures" (formerly Classic Minifigures i believe) as i was thinking of buying they're classic style jango as ive always wanted a jango and you cant get an official one for under $50 nowadays, but with all this drama and quality issues im not sure who to buy from, i also live in the UK so some sellers are no go for me as international shipping usually costs more than the figure itself, but yeah if you have any experience or know any good sellers that are UK-based please let me know
I was really into his products when he was called classic minfigures but never bit the bullet to buy any of them because of money. But I’ve had several great interactions with the guy to know he’s a kind hearted guy who’s doing this for the love so that alone I would recommend it him but then again I’ve never actually purchased anything from him so I don’t know anything about that side but I also never heard anything bad even when researching for this vid
@@thecosmonaut4221 thank you very much! I'll definitely try to pick a jango up when I can!
Im surprised that you did not mention AV Figures even once during this video considering the sheer influence on the community and how long they've been around for lol
But also yeah I really do agree with the redundant releases of remodels or new versions of figures. The market in general really is getting overwhelming
Wasn’t aware of him until I was gathering footage
I ordered the "printed arm replacements" for the new battle packs from LegoEmpire and it took 4 months to get and didnt even come with the shock trooper arms. Zero communication either
Nobleartist my goat✊🏽😔
Gone but never forgotten
I think you're missing the point a bit when you're talking about the price of customs.
Many of these figures were never meant to be "armybuilders", and in the world of Lego customs armybuilding is actually something seen very negatively. As you said well, a certain base price will just always have to be met, since there's a design process, parts sourcing, printing and hopefully some profit for the customizers making up the pricetag. That's just not comparable to Lego themselves. They can't just mass produce in the same way to reduce prices, as they have no security that they will sell, and would also straight up lack the funds to produce in those quantities in the first place.
A lot of customs are meant for people to collect and admire as standout pieces, which fits their price. Apart from clones, there's a whole nother rabbit hole to go down, ending up with extreme premium brands like Christo.
In the end you just can't have it both ways. Either you can get only what Lego offers you for relatively cheap and in large quantities, or you can get exactly the Clone Legion or Trooper you want as a more expensive one off.
CAC is probably my favorite. Their quality is the best, and I think their prices are pretty fair.
My first ever custom was a decal and it went very well
I’m mainly a purist. If the custom has painting all over it, I usually don’t get them. However, I’ve made the exception with Big Kid Brix given they make custom head molds as well. I’m more into the Jedi than the clones so I don’t get clones unless it’s real Lego brand stuff. For the most part, even my customs I try to keep purist. Lego has so many pieces in the catalog now that a lot of these Star Wars characters they haven’t made yet can be somewhat captured with pieces from other licenses and franchises. I also use custom heads on the few clone wars tv show Jedi I have, as I think the balloon eyes style they went with back then looks terrible. My Shaak ti for example has a custom head that’s more in tune with what minifigures eyes look like, but the rest is her actual figure. My Jango Fett figure has all the right pieces except I’ve put a custom head on him that has the same flesh tone of the clones and way more accurate to what he looked like down to the scars. I also added his pistols from brickarms. If the figs are iconic characters like that, I’ll get their special weapons through brickarms. Boba has his blaster. Hans got his pistol. I even had custom darksabers at one point until Lego released the new ones that I then deemed acceptable for my collection. I’d spend way too much money trying to get all the real blasters the clones used, the specific lightsaber hilts etc. They make customs of all that stuff now but that’s where I kinda draw the line. I’ve really been making sure to stay on top of all the new anniversary minifigs. I’ve gotta make room for sets now as I have so many so I gotta pick the right ones when I get a set. I’m still all about getting the minifigs tho. I was so hyped when Malak was revealed. About 4 years before that I was able to get all the old republic sets and figs including Revan. To see more figs for that era is very nice. Next up is Saw Gerrera cuz I’d have to make room for the sith infiltrator, and that ship ( and legos design of it) doesn’t tickle my fancy enough to do that. I’ve pretty much settled on not getting any more sets unless it’s a MBS battle of Endor or Vader’s TIE fighter (non ucs, one scaled to the new tie interceptor and tie bomber). Anything else I’m just getting the figs. The battle packs I often just build the figs and toss the rest of the pieces in a bin. I only wanted the figs, it’s cheaper to get them in the full set instead of buying them separately online, and I’m not displaying a small bunker or turret when there’s one in every battle pack. They usually just become extra pieces I toss into that large bin, and the piles quite built up now for a MOC or something, way more worth the pieces instead of turret/cannon #27. I know all about how coveted these figs can be. Got UCS boba with arm printing for $50 on bricklink right when he came out. I bet he’s right around $200 now if you want a good quality. Only time I spent $200 on a fig was for Rebels Ahsoka mint condition with the sabers. Almost came close to that again with MBS cloud city Lando. I waited too long. My advice is never wait. Get them when you can. Get a feel for which figs are gonna be expensive. The ones that come in expensive sets and don’t have a high likelihood of being made again any time soon. If that fig is already $50 to get by themselves and the set just came out, you can only imagine what they’ll be when the set they come in is retired. Like the new Moff Gideon. If that’s the only set he comes in(gotta cross the fingers a bit), buy 5 of him when it comes out. In 2 years you’ll have the one for your collection and the other 4 just tripled in profit while they were collecting dust. The mando supercommandos for comparison, will rise in value if they only appear in that set but because there’s 2 of them and the sets cheaper(more of that set will be made), it will take more time for the value to rise. The money is in the main villains and heroes that are only in big sets, which are now retired. Figs like Count Dooku and Ewok village Leia. That or more obscure characters that are one of one. Sam Wesell and Jedi Bob fall into that category. Not iconic characters but haven’t been made since 2002-2003. The more you buy them the more you get an affinity for which will likely be expensive sooner vs later. If they release a Zam Wesell in an updated bounty hunter pursuit set, by 10 of her. It’ll be decades until that set gets made a 3rd time, and in that time her figure(which only appears in that scene therefore only that set) will rise in price.
Oh my god that 501st serie by pizzamovie, man that was sooo good
Awesome, that quiet time was in there, lmao
Cac is not irrelevant. I'm not sure why thats brought up at all
More of me focusing on the growing wants I’m seeing of the community in recent time in no way did I try to like bring them down but the way how I worded it yeah it does sound like that so my bad
@@thecosmonaut4221 it just seemed a tad out of touch to me I guess
Honestly pretty valid stance, I just got into custom tiles recently for a Fallout build and honestly you just got find a niche in it you can afford cause Lego is always gonna be pricey whether its purist or the custom scenes. But we all love saturday morning war crimes
Is it just me, or is the 25th anniversary Fives’ pauldron cloth better than the 2012 ARC Trooper’s pauldron?
Us custom LEGO painters are still here!
40:58 I feel called out on so many levels. I literally JUST BOUGHT THAT FIGURE CUZ I WAS LIKE DANG THATS COOL. tbh it makes me wanna make my x-wing into Hera's.
1:02 don't feel bad, I ruined my ARC trooper and phase one Cody, and Gree and I regret it every day LOL
Damn, I gave my Cody and arc away to some kid who just sold it
Hearing GCC get name dropped gave me whiplash, I went to GCC
I actually want to get into pad printing but I don’t know who should I be asking? where should I be buying? What brand I should be looking? I wanna give the Lego Marvel community what they want, leg printings. Also, Pekora cameo 17:57
I feel the pain of sharpieing over a expensive clone trooper(rip my p1 rex)
I remember thinking about creating some custom decaled clones and selling them for around £7 on eBay because i saw how high the prices were. I then tried designing some and gave up. it makes sense why the prices are high. I also realised using an inkjet printer for waterslide decals as a bad idea lol.