I think that custom pieces are needed especially with the limited catalogue of certain things like peasant pieces, and the limited stock of prints for certain factions.
I'm mostly a LEGO purest when it comes to minifigure helmets/weapons/accessories, but have used pad printed parts from Ktownbricks and think they look amazing. And at least they print on official LEGO parts.
I consider my self mostly a purist aswell. I love their printed tiles and have been meaning to buy some for a while now. I love the idea of making a quest board with a bunch of their tiles.
I was a LEGO purist for most of my life. I bought my first customs from EclipseGRAFX at a LEGO fan convention back in 2011 (they were too awesome to ignore), but I bought nothing else until four or five years ago, when I got fed up that LEGO was not "taking care of my needs", so to speak. I had stumbled across companies like Citizen Brick, Brick Forge, and a few others, years before, so I went back to check them out and was amazed at what they were putting out there. Brickmania, TMC, etc., took care of my love of military stuff, even though they are UV printed (would be sooooo much more expensive if they were pad printed, due to the level of detail); Citizen Brick, Minibigs and EclipseGRAFX scratch my "pop culture" itch, while Ktown, Brick Warriors, Brick Forge and a few others solve my "castle" needs. Because of this, I have found that my purchases of actual LEGO SETS has diminished and transitioned more to just purchasing PARTS. I love it, and I don't ever see myself "going back".
Personally I don't mind customs with even molded pieces, but I like them looking like something Lego would do themselves, if they are too standoutish *cough* Brickwarriors *cough* they look odd to me. And I've been eyeing Ktown a lot, but never got around to making an order with them... *one day* Lovely video as per usual, man!
I really love it when everything is in tone with LEGO and the theme. Like, I don't want my medieval-themed Castle figs to look like Warhammer characters with insanely huge shoulderpads and anime-like weapons. Most of the assets shown in the video are pretty based and cool, also simple and fit into the theme. Some details here and there, swords that don't look too crazy, simple armor pieces. The halberds for example or the kettle helmet look kinda sweet and simple. I really like how some of the printed legs make it look like the characters are wearing tabards without going overboard with the designs
I love finding custom torsos and legs that are just armor or robes without any sigil on them. I hate how Lego almost always puts sigils on the bodies, making it so hard to make custom armies. And the ones who are neutral are of course fought out and very expensive. I don’t understand why clothes need big sigils, you can give armies their character with flags, shields, plumes and accessory anyways.
I’m quite a purist as well. I’m ok with custom capes, but nothing else. This is partly due to nostalgia, but also because I love the challenge of MOCing the best figs I can using only official Lego parts. Limiting myself to official parts is sometimes frustrating, but are also a key part of the fun (e.g. it keeps me constantly on the lookout for new parts, recolours, combinations etc). If I remove this constraint, I worry some of the fun/challenge aspect would be lost. Having said all that, I really love the quality of the KTown Bricks designs - some of them look more historically accurate than Lego, while maintaining the Lego aesthetic. I would certainly be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on KTown Bricks products in future videos. I have zero interest in custom moulded pieces (like the “Gross” example in the video thumbnail).
Personally, I am a stark-raving-mad fanboy of Ktown Bricks. When they started out, they were pretty much exclusively UV printed, from what I can recall, but their transition to pad printing has been monumental! As you mentioned, they are filling the gaps in products which LEGO has ignored and they are winning over fans like crazy. I much prefer pad printing for most of my minifigs and accessories (there are exceptions), seeing the rise of custom pad printed products fills me with absolute joy, especially when it comes to castle products. Go easy on Brick Warriors though...they are under recent new management and lots of cool changes are happening which I think will surprise/please lots of folks. 🙂 Another company to keep an eye on, especially if you are in Europe/GB/USA is Cult Bricks. High quality pad printing like Ktown, with a nice variety of parts thus far. Alas, sadly for me, they do not at this time ship to Canada.
I love to see the enthusiasm! I'll definitely have to check out cult bricks now. I can't wait to see how the community around castle customs grows in the coming years 😁
I don't really use custom legos but I LOVE the fact that we can get knockoff minifigures for stuff since it's so expensive to get old minifigures like dragon knights and lion knights that I ordered some fakes of
Fakes can be a great way to fill up a moc with figs. I'm personally not into it but I could totally see it making sense. It's also way more economical like you said.
I used to be dead-set against supporting anything "knock off"...then I saw a video that altered my perception a bit. Basically, they stated: since LEGO is no longer making these and thus, no longer selling these, they are not "losing out on sales" when copycat companies release these bootleg figures. Same argument I saw a while ago about old video games that are no longer supported by their creators. Tough to argue against it. If folks still want it, and LEGO won't make it, I no longer see a problem with someone else stepping up and filling that void...especially when you see prices of $50+ for a used Tournament Knight on Bricklink. Ouch. (If LEGO would release them as a proper faction, I would buy soooooo many of them. One of the best Castle figs ever made, IMO. That colour scheme ROCKS!)
@@Ogre6972Offbrand stuff really works wonders, especially if one wants stuff Lego just doesn’t do outside of a high price range like castle or custom armor for medieval fantasy esque stuff. Excellent for D&D inspired stuff as well as any other occasion and the lower price is just a dramatic selling point if one doesn’t go for the super expensive customs. Could never justify even a moderate dwarven army otherwise but now the wars with the knife ears can finally take off in style. Combined with official sets, it arguably creates a really good mix that works well for any occasion, MOCs, displays or of course, being used as toys.
@Arcaryon If one is not concerned about "IT MUST BE GENUINE LEGO", off brand items can be a good way to go... especially since the quality has really improved over the years. I used to be an "only LEGO" guy, but I now have pieces and sets from other makers in my collection with no regrets.
@@Ogre6972 Exactly, especially since Lego just refuses to make certain products anymore no matter how high the demand, even without price concerns, oftentimes stuff just isn’t available enough.
I think you definitely should make a more in depth video about custom castle Lego! It is a great idea to explore customs. While some can be rip offs others can be so good! Great work on the videos!❤
I am mostly a lego purist but when building my black falcon army, I got some custom capes from capes4minifigs and decided to bite the bullet and try a brick warriors armor set for a heavy knight concept, It surprisingly fits quite well, though I do see the point that most of brick warriors items look ridiculous in comparison to normal lego.
Part of the issue with most Brick Warriors products, IMO, is that they are every so slightly over-sized for the scale. It throws off the look just enough to be annoying. Hopefully the new management will take steps to correct this issue.
Just wanna say firstly I love your content and I hope for the best for your channel and your armies to grow. Secondly I think buying pad printing or UV printing is fine sometimes even the UV printing can look pretty good. I would recommend looking at Augustin Brothers. They have some pretty interesting medieval figs that could help populate your army. They have a nice variety of Black Falcon Knights that could provide you with a king torso and crossbowmen/archer torsos.
I am mostly a LEGO purest when it comes to minifigures. I own only a handful of custom figures, mostly as curiosities. That being said, over the last couple years I have really started to like 3rd party kit when it comes to accessories, gear, and weapons. I love KTown and would also recommend Firestar Toys, both of whom I've ordered from multiple times, including in the last week. Really good looking product from both of them and excellent service/delivery. I did once get an order of capes from Capes4minifigures. Very nice. Will likely order from again. Then there are a bunch miscellaneous brands like Brick Arms and Brick Tactical for custom weapons (particularly for Star Wars) that I like too. I once ordered from Brick Warriors a fig and some weapons/gear, but I wasn't too impressed. Good concepts and decent results, but just doesn't blend in. The real downside to many quality 3rd party items is just how expensive they are. Don't get me wrong, LEGO isn't a cheap hobby, I know that... But am I really expected to build an army of custom Templar Knights at $28 each? I imagine the investment to make lovely figures is high, so I understand the costs, but... Yikes!
Honestly, Ch*na just does it better in terms of sheer production efficiency and customer friendly pricing. They pump out high quality figures for a lot less and the quality is still fairly similar. I wouldn’t talk about this if Lego was still producing toy level sets aka actual big armies for stuff like LoTR or of course castle but I simply can’t justify gambling with the minifigure series or buying 10 400€ sets for minifigures so I buy flagship figure pieces aso. from Lego itself but fill the background with offbrand stuff. I am just not going to pay 15€ for a single popular used Lego castle figure. Lego honestly just needs to push out some more mini figure focused sets and they could easily increase their bottom line by 20% over night. The current hype surrounding the D&D lineup alone speaks volumes. And the best part is that they don’t even need the attached IP, after all orcs, gnomes or half giants etc. are simply not trade marked items. I really hope that they will see the success of customs and off brands and pay a bit more attention to a big part of their fans they are honestly neglecting more than a bit.
As long as the customs are high quality. I've used some custom weapons for my MOCs and I really like them, I've been looking into custom capes since some of the figures I've made need capes in colors that lego hasn't made
Funny thing, I think I'd actually prefer an older-feeling and less detailed style of printing. Possibly simpler than what I got on my actual childhood sets! Like just a simple cross centered on the torso, to the point that the same torso print of a red cross on a white shirt would be ambiguously either a Knight Templar or a Red Cross medical worker depending on context. Just plain shirt with a simple cross and maybe a single strip along the bottom for the belt. I also like the old scale armor pattern or when there's just a shield with a simple two-color logo inside it.
i’m more of a purest but when it comes to some custom molded helmets that lego hasn’t made i go ahead and buy them. they don’t have much for elven armor so being able to buy elven looking armor and weapons is huge for me because i love army building elves
I get the need and value of custom parts, but I won't go down that path. I believe in creating the best I can with official parts. For the mocs I build, I feel custom parts cheats the pleasure of hunting certain pieces and also cheats creativity.
I absolutely love making "purist" customs. Custom parts definitely can take out some of the fun of making purist ones. That being said i still am interested in dabbling with them.
I would love to see custom castle figures based off of the official Lego factions like maybe some foot soldier prints for the tournament knight or something alot those lines! Also I've bought some brick warrior gear it's decent quality that I use for Dungeon and dragons minis
Regarding Brick Warrior: what I also like about them is that because they are 'blank' and not "official LEGO parts", I find that I don't object to painting them in whatever fashion I choose, whereas I tend to shy away from painting official LEGO pieces.
Pad printing and custom capes that blend seamlessly into official Lego designs; I’m totally ok with. But the custom prints and molds are too close to the ‘mega blocks’ vibe that rattles my lego purist cage. But to each their own, no hate here
I always UV print my own torso designs, because I like to do historically based Mocs, and since I’m a history Nerd, everything has to always be as accurate as possible, I think printing is an amazing option for people like me who just look for specific designs that they can’t find anywhere else. Ktown is amazing, got some stuff from them, but I switched to printing my self, because the shipping cost to my country was always gigantic for me, so it sadly wasn’t really worth it for me.
may I ask what kind of uv printer prooved to be ok for you? I am looking for something for myself as well and I am thinking about manual pad printer with one ink coup at a time which is most affordable or uv but I have not figured out which would fit my need. Do you have ani Flickr or IG page? Thank you.
I think some of the custom figures are great, but their price and shipping scares me. But thats what comes with anything Lego and being in Chile! I like the lego minifigures to be Lego, but O bought from Brickwarriors some of the more historic helmets and conservative polearms, and I think they look great to give additional variety!
I do both categories like the armor and weapons community ( my little armory is sell the high quality call the forge bricks not brick forge of which comes with expensive price tag not for moc Battle ) in the medieval Sector but when it comes to minifigs unless the minifigs have a good review and a good reputation then it pure Lego.
There are plenty of Brickwarriors pieces that I use, but they're mostly helmet & shield pieces. I have an LotR elven army, and I use BW helmets and shields, because Lego has no equivalents. But yeah, Brickwarriors armor is more miss than hit.
Yeah i think some of their weapon molds are actually really nice but most of their stuff strays to far from the "LEGO" style imo. It's definitely a stylistic choice
I have made some custom shield stickers for my Black Falcons and Lion Knights since the official shields tend to be too expensive for such a small piece and I also like variety when it comes to shield type and pattern, though I tried my best to keep it in line with the simple Lego style.
@@Goldfyre I was considering making some bootleg Black Ravens torso stickers as well for myself since I like the colour combination but am not a fan of the price, with having one arm black, other bright flame orange or whatcha call that colour and then have the legs swapped, but ever since the Majisto rumours I held off on my PAB purchases so I did not get around to it
I am curious: when you refer to the price, are you talking about via PAB, or via Bricklink? I ask, because I find most PAB prices for these parts to be quite cheap, while being very over-priced on Bricklink...though PAB has some crazy pricing, too, for items such as the cow. How do they justify that costing twice as much as a horse?
@@Ogre6972 I meant PAB, the printed shields there still cost quite a bit if you compare it with the rest of a minifigure, so I went with unprinted shields off of BL
I think Lego is really missing out on not building up a variety of medieval accessories, having spread themselves too think trying to cover so many themes losing perspective of what the core values that got them here today. It is only natural customers will go this route and for minis I have left the purist mindset as it comes to mini accessories. I recently got some blind bags from brickwarriors, it was hit and miss, some accessories did not really fit or were off colored, but some were really nice and helped add some variety to what I had. I have considered just paying the premium to get the few things I want. I had not heard of this company and wow. are the prints beautiful! Sadly the price range is a bit out of reach but there are a couple that would make for some great tournament knight scenes. LEGO needs to take note and take care of its foundational themes, with some CMF knights like these.
I own several clonearmycustoms printed figures and have been eyeing up KTown Bricks’ knights for some time now, so would be cool if you were to use some of their parts in a video
While yes Ktown makes some great stuff it's very expensive. There's bootlegs with the same print and part quality of custom brands so for now that's my go to
I'm a LEGO purist with most parts, but capes, banners and all different kinds of fabric stuff I'm okay with. I just think that LEGO is lacking in capes and it's needed
@@borysadwent8121 I wouldn't mind, if they were in boxes (which would probably get torn open), but loose? No thanks. They be creased, ripped, and basically destroyed after only a couple of days on the tower.
I like some of them! It just seems like often times uv printers go over the top imo. Maydayfigs had a great video on some really nice uv printed figs that mimic legos style.
If you like "highly detailed", UV is often the way to go...though EclipseGRAFX had some pad printed figs that BLEW. MY. MIND. with how detailed they were (Reaper, Specter, and some digital camo military figs).
i think its really cool that custom pad printed minifigs even exist, but personally i'm a bit of a purist when it comes to lego Castle. i feel like a lot of custom companies try to go for more of a "realistic, pseudo-historically accurate" style that doesn't really mesh well with the more light-hearted fantasy style i go for with lego Castle builds
I find that is more of an issue with UV printed versus pad printed, simply because pad printing is so insanely expensive to produce compared to UV. With Ktown Bricks for example: their highly detailed, historically accurate figs are all UV printed, while their more LEGO-esque figures are pad printed. A little something for everyone.
I like to use some of the gear from other stuff but use main torsos and arms and heads but if I see something I want/like from one of the companies I tend to buy them for stuff that I want for a look like a type of helmet or a type of weapon [tbh brick warriors weapons suck but their armor is nice well the helmets mainly] but yea those are my opinions on it
Papa LEGO on RUclips has some great videos which showcase his purist custom creations. He does a great job combining parts from many different themes to flesh out his fantasy Castle world.
I don't like the majority of brickwarriors stuff as it often strays to far but I do liek some of their helmets and weapons that are more accurate to history
I like custom minifigures, but they are just too expensive for me to paid 7$ for single torso. If I wanted to make for egzample ten teutonic knights I would have to pay a lot. So, yeah, these are art but not for my pocket.
Yeah i get why they charge as much as they do but it's not for me. I could see trying a few of their cheaper options (tiles, torsos, etc) but the full figs are pretty crazy.
restrictions breed creativity. if i wanted perfect detail i would probably not be in a hobby surrounding caricature toys. there's a certain charm that lego minifigures have. 360 degree printing and super fine detail looks kinda tacky to me. custom capes are cool though.
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I think that custom pieces are needed especially with the limited catalogue of certain things like peasant pieces, and the limited stock of prints for certain factions.
I'm mostly a LEGO purest when it comes to minifigure helmets/weapons/accessories, but have used pad printed parts from Ktownbricks and think they look amazing. And at least they print on official LEGO parts.
I consider my self mostly a purist aswell. I love their printed tiles and have been meaning to buy some for a while now. I love the idea of making a quest board with a bunch of their tiles.
I was a LEGO purist for most of my life. I bought my first customs from EclipseGRAFX at a LEGO fan convention back in 2011 (they were too awesome to ignore), but I bought nothing else until four or five years ago, when I got fed up that LEGO was not "taking care of my needs", so to speak. I had stumbled across companies like Citizen Brick, Brick Forge, and a few others, years before, so I went back to check them out and was amazed at what they were putting out there. Brickmania, TMC, etc., took care of my love of military stuff, even though they are UV printed (would be sooooo much more expensive if they were pad printed, due to the level of detail); Citizen Brick, Minibigs and EclipseGRAFX scratch my "pop culture" itch, while Ktown, Brick Warriors, Brick Forge and a few others solve my "castle" needs. Because of this, I have found that my purchases of actual LEGO SETS has diminished and transitioned more to just purchasing PARTS. I love it, and I don't ever see myself "going back".
I bought a couple torsos and legs from ktown a while back and I was blown away bc the prints are literally indistinguishable from lego
Personally I don't mind customs with even molded pieces, but I like them looking like something Lego would do themselves, if they are too standoutish *cough* Brickwarriors *cough* they look odd to me.
And I've been eyeing Ktown a lot, but never got around to making an order with them... *one day*
Lovely video as per usual, man!
Yeah custom molded parts can look great if they match with LEGO's style. Brickwarriors looks more like playmobile parts imo.
brickwarriors either makes a great mold (spartan helmet, centurian helmet) or one that looks way to non lego there is no in between
@@runkelpokk9 Lol very true. I really like some of their weapon molds but others just look ridiculous
I really love it when everything is in tone with LEGO and the theme. Like, I don't want my medieval-themed Castle figs to look like Warhammer characters with insanely huge shoulderpads and anime-like weapons. Most of the assets shown in the video are pretty based and cool, also simple and fit into the theme. Some details here and there, swords that don't look too crazy, simple armor pieces. The halberds for example or the kettle helmet look kinda sweet and simple. I really like how some of the printed legs make it look like the characters are wearing tabards without going overboard with the designs
I love finding custom torsos and legs that are just armor or robes without any sigil on them. I hate how Lego almost always puts sigils on the bodies, making it so hard to make custom armies. And the ones who are neutral are of course fought out and very expensive. I don’t understand why clothes need big sigils, you can give armies their character with flags, shields, plumes and accessory anyways.
@@Aiden_2907false
@@Aiden_2907they displayed their own heraldry, so they can be identified in battle and be taken hostage for ransom
I’m quite a purist as well. I’m ok with custom capes, but nothing else. This is partly due to nostalgia, but also because I love the challenge of MOCing the best figs I can using only official Lego parts.
Limiting myself to official parts is sometimes frustrating, but are also a key part of the fun (e.g. it keeps me constantly on the lookout for new parts, recolours, combinations etc). If I remove this constraint, I worry some of the fun/challenge aspect would be lost.
Having said all that, I really love the quality of the KTown Bricks designs - some of them look more historically accurate than Lego, while
maintaining the Lego aesthetic.
I would certainly be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on KTown Bricks products in future videos.
I have zero interest in custom moulded pieces (like the “Gross” example in the video thumbnail).
I'm all for everything! I've seen plenty of awesome alt figs, accessories and sets on the web
Fair! Just not my style tbh
Personally, I am a stark-raving-mad fanboy of Ktown Bricks. When they started out, they were pretty much exclusively UV printed, from what I can recall, but their transition to pad printing has been monumental! As you mentioned, they are filling the gaps in products which LEGO has ignored and they are winning over fans like crazy. I much prefer pad printing for most of my minifigs and accessories (there are exceptions), seeing the rise of custom pad printed products fills me with absolute joy, especially when it comes to castle products. Go easy on Brick Warriors though...they are under recent new management and lots of cool changes are happening which I think will surprise/please lots of folks. 🙂 Another company to keep an eye on, especially if you are in Europe/GB/USA is Cult Bricks. High quality pad printing like Ktown, with a nice variety of parts thus far. Alas, sadly for me, they do not at this time ship to Canada.
I love to see the enthusiasm! I'll definitely have to check out cult bricks now. I can't wait to see how the community around castle customs grows in the coming years 😁
I just checked out Cult Bricks after seeing you comment, and per usual I want to buy the store 😂. Thanks for the recommendation.
@@MOCingBricks You're very welcome. 🙂
Thank you for the mention @Ogre_Bricks! Very happy you like what we do, hope to be able to ship to Canada some time soon!
@@cultbricks You're very welcome, and I am looking forward to that day! 🙂
Some of the brick warrior items are amazing. And the k town brick knights are high quality. I use it all so long as it looks good and similar to Lego.
I don't really use custom legos but I LOVE the fact that we can get knockoff minifigures for stuff since it's so expensive to get old minifigures like dragon knights and lion knights that I ordered some fakes of
Fakes can be a great way to fill up a moc with figs. I'm personally not into it but I could totally see it making sense. It's also way more economical like you said.
I used to be dead-set against supporting anything "knock off"...then I saw a video that altered my perception a bit. Basically, they stated: since LEGO is no longer making these and thus, no longer selling these, they are not "losing out on sales" when copycat companies release these bootleg figures. Same argument I saw a while ago about old video games that are no longer supported by their creators. Tough to argue against it. If folks still want it, and LEGO won't make it, I no longer see a problem with someone else stepping up and filling that void...especially when you see prices of $50+ for a used Tournament Knight on Bricklink. Ouch. (If LEGO would release them as a proper faction, I would buy soooooo many of them. One of the best Castle figs ever made, IMO. That colour scheme ROCKS!)
@@Ogre6972Offbrand stuff really works wonders, especially if one wants stuff Lego just doesn’t do outside of a high price range like castle or custom armor for medieval fantasy esque stuff. Excellent for D&D inspired stuff as well as any other occasion and the lower price is just a dramatic selling point if one doesn’t go for the super expensive customs. Could never justify even a moderate dwarven army otherwise but now the wars with the knife ears can finally take off in style.
Combined with official sets, it arguably creates a really good mix that works well for any occasion, MOCs, displays or of course, being used as toys.
@Arcaryon If one is not concerned about "IT MUST BE GENUINE LEGO", off brand items can be a good way to go... especially since the quality has really improved over the years. I used to be an "only LEGO" guy, but I now have pieces and sets from other makers in my collection with no regrets.
@@Ogre6972 Exactly, especially since Lego just refuses to make certain products anymore no matter how high the demand, even without price concerns, oftentimes stuff just isn’t available enough.
I experienced so much joy when I got the notification that you uploaded
Thanks 😄 I hope you enjoyed!
I’ve bought a few helmets from brick warriors, I’m cool with 3rd party accesories as long as they stay relatively LEGO simple
They have a few items that i think look nice but yeah they've got to be close to lego's style for me to like em.
i love brickwarriors they are some of my favorite parts
I think you definitely should make a more in depth video about custom castle Lego! It is a great idea to explore customs. While some can be rip offs others can be so good! Great work on the videos!❤
I actually really like Brickwarriors, it just depends on which pieces you use on the figures
I am mostly a lego purist but when building my black falcon army, I got some custom capes from capes4minifigs and decided to bite the bullet and try a brick warriors armor set for a heavy knight concept, It surprisingly fits quite well, though I do see the point that most of brick warriors items look ridiculous in comparison to normal lego.
Part of the issue with most Brick Warriors products, IMO, is that they are every so slightly over-sized for the scale. It throws off the look just enough to be annoying. Hopefully the new management will take steps to correct this issue.
@@Ogre6972 Yeah it would be great to see some change and correction.
Just got town's stuff and I am happy as a first time buyer
Just wanna say firstly I love your content and I hope for the best for your channel and your armies to grow. Secondly I think buying pad printing or UV printing is fine sometimes even the UV printing can look pretty good. I would recommend looking at Augustin Brothers. They have some pretty interesting medieval figs that could help populate your army. They have a nice variety of Black Falcon Knights that could provide you with a king torso and crossbowmen/archer torsos.
I don't think I've heard of them before. I'll go give them a look. Thanks for the tip 😁
I am mostly a LEGO purest when it comes to minifigures. I own only a handful of custom figures, mostly as curiosities. That being said, over the last couple years I have really started to like 3rd party kit when it comes to accessories, gear, and weapons.
I love KTown and would also recommend Firestar Toys, both of whom I've ordered from multiple times, including in the last week. Really good looking product from both of them and excellent service/delivery.
I did once get an order of capes from Capes4minifigures. Very nice. Will likely order from again. Then there are a bunch miscellaneous brands like Brick Arms and Brick Tactical for custom weapons (particularly for Star Wars) that I like too. I once ordered from Brick Warriors a fig and some weapons/gear, but I wasn't too impressed. Good concepts and decent results, but just doesn't blend in.
The real downside to many quality 3rd party items is just how expensive they are. Don't get me wrong, LEGO isn't a cheap hobby, I know that... But am I really expected to build an army of custom Templar Knights at $28 each? I imagine the investment to make lovely figures is high, so I understand the costs, but... Yikes!
Honestly, Ch*na just does it better in terms of sheer production efficiency and customer friendly pricing. They pump out high quality figures for a lot less and the quality is still fairly similar. I wouldn’t talk about this if Lego was still producing toy level sets aka actual big armies for stuff like LoTR or of course castle but I simply can’t justify gambling with the minifigure series or buying 10 400€ sets for minifigures so I buy flagship figure pieces aso. from Lego itself but fill the background with offbrand stuff.
I am just not going to pay 15€ for a single popular used Lego castle figure. Lego honestly just needs to push out some more mini figure focused sets and they could easily increase their bottom line by 20% over night.
The current hype surrounding the D&D lineup alone speaks volumes. And the best part is that they don’t even need the attached IP, after all orcs, gnomes or half giants etc. are simply not trade marked items.
I really hope that they will see the success of customs and off brands and pay a bit more attention to a big part of their fans they are honestly neglecting more than a bit.
As long as the customs are high quality. I've used some custom weapons for my MOCs and I really like them, I've been looking into custom capes since some of the figures I've made need capes in colors that lego hasn't made
Funny thing, I think I'd actually prefer an older-feeling and less detailed style of printing. Possibly simpler than what I got on my actual childhood sets! Like just a simple cross centered on the torso, to the point that the same torso print of a red cross on a white shirt would be ambiguously either a Knight Templar or a Red Cross medical worker depending on context. Just plain shirt with a simple cross and maybe a single strip along the bottom for the belt. I also like the old scale armor pattern or when there's just a shield with a simple two-color logo inside it.
i’m more of a purest but when it comes to some custom molded helmets that lego hasn’t made i go ahead and buy them. they don’t have much for elven armor so being able to buy elven looking armor and weapons is huge for me because i love army building elves
I approve of this video
I get the need and value of custom parts, but I won't go down that path. I believe in creating the best I can with official parts. For the mocs I build, I feel custom parts cheats the pleasure of hunting certain pieces and also cheats creativity.
I absolutely love making "purist" customs. Custom parts definitely can take out some of the fun of making purist ones. That being said i still am interested in dabbling with them.
I would love to see custom castle figures based off of the official Lego factions like maybe some foot soldier prints for the tournament knight or something alot those lines! Also I've bought some brick warrior gear it's decent quality that I use for Dungeon and dragons minis
Regarding Brick Warrior: what I also like about them is that because they are 'blank' and not "official LEGO parts", I find that I don't object to painting them in whatever fashion I choose, whereas I tend to shy away from painting official LEGO pieces.
Pad printing and custom capes that blend seamlessly into official Lego designs; I’m totally ok with. But the custom prints and molds are too close to the ‘mega blocks’ vibe that rattles my lego purist cage. But to each their own, no hate here
I couldn't agree more!
I always UV print my own torso designs, because I like to do historically based Mocs, and since I’m a history Nerd, everything has to always be as accurate as possible, I think printing is an amazing option for people like me who just look for specific designs that they can’t find anywhere else.
Ktown is amazing, got some stuff from them, but I switched to printing my self, because the shipping cost to my country was always gigantic for me, so it sadly wasn’t really worth it for me.
That's awesome man! Printing my own figs would be a dream.
may I ask what kind of uv printer prooved to be ok for you? I am looking for something for myself as well and I am thinking about manual pad printer with one ink coup at a time which is most affordable or uv but I have not figured out which would fit my need. Do you have ani Flickr or IG page? Thank you.
I think some of the custom figures are great, but their price and shipping scares me. But thats what comes with anything Lego and being in Chile!
I like the lego minifigures to be Lego, but O bought from Brickwarriors some of the more historic helmets and conservative polearms, and I think they look great to give additional variety!
Ngl the templars look sick
Don’t go to ktown in that case, you will either cry or your wallet will hate you.
I do both categories like the armor and weapons community ( my little armory is sell the high quality call the forge bricks not brick forge of which comes with expensive price tag not for moc Battle ) in the medieval Sector but when it comes to minifigs unless the minifigs have a good review and a good reputation then it pure Lego.
Waiting for custom pirates. I feel like lego has been cheating us with pirates
i will say out of all the pad printing groups CAC has be doing it for the longest even making new parts
I’m gonna need to hear a rant on Brickwarriors
I love Lego Minfigures!
There are plenty of Brickwarriors pieces that I use, but they're mostly helmet & shield pieces. I have an LotR elven army, and I use BW helmets and shields, because Lego has no equivalents.
But yeah, Brickwarriors armor is more miss than hit.
Yeah i think some of their weapon molds are actually really nice but most of their stuff strays to far from the "LEGO" style imo. It's definitely a stylistic choice
As long as it matches the style of Lego, or is just reprints on lego parts.
I have made some custom shield stickers for my Black Falcons and Lion Knights since the official shields tend to be too expensive for such a small piece and I also like variety when it comes to shield type and pattern, though I tried my best to keep it in line with the simple Lego style.
Thats a great idea. Brickstickershop has some really nice shield stickers for the black ravens that makes it a lot cheaper to collect.
@@Goldfyre I was considering making some bootleg Black Ravens torso stickers as well for myself since I like the colour combination but am not a fan of the price, with having one arm black, other bright flame orange or whatcha call that colour and then have the legs swapped, but ever since the Majisto rumours I held off on my PAB purchases so I did not get around to it
I am curious: when you refer to the price, are you talking about via PAB, or via Bricklink? I ask, because I find most PAB prices for these parts to be quite cheap, while being very over-priced on Bricklink...though PAB has some crazy pricing, too, for items such as the cow. How do they justify that costing twice as much as a horse?
@@Ogre6972 I meant PAB, the printed shields there still cost quite a bit if you compare it with the rest of a minifigure, so I went with unprinted shields off of BL
@@Rajayali Ah, yes...the blank ones are definitely a bit cheaper.
I think Lego is really missing out on not building up a variety of medieval accessories, having spread themselves too think trying to cover so many themes losing perspective of what the core values that got them here today. It is only natural customers will go this route and for minis I have left the purist mindset as it comes to mini accessories. I recently got some blind bags from brickwarriors, it was hit and miss, some accessories did not really fit or were off colored, but some were really nice and helped add some variety to what I had. I have considered just paying the premium to get the few things I want. I had not heard of this company and wow. are the prints beautiful! Sadly the price range is a bit out of reach but there are a couple that would make for some great tournament knight scenes. LEGO needs to take note and take care of its foundational themes, with some CMF knights like these.
Yeah ktownbricks have some beautiful pieces but the price is really steep compared to other sites.
I own several clonearmycustoms printed figures and have been eyeing up KTown Bricks’ knights for some time now, so would be cool if you were to use some of their parts in a video
I would like to make a video reviewing ktownbricks
While yes Ktown makes some great stuff it's very expensive. There's bootlegs with the same print and part quality of custom brands so for now that's my go to
I'm a LEGO purist with most parts, but capes, banners and all different kinds of fabric stuff I'm okay with. I just think that LEGO is lacking in capes and it's needed
Yup! I wish we had an easier way to get capes in the colors we want. A PAB section for capes would be cool
@@Goldfyre i feel like maybe BAM with optional capes instead of accessories would work alright
@@borysadwent8121 I wouldn't mind, if they were in boxes (which would probably get torn open), but loose? No thanks. They be creased, ripped, and basically destroyed after only a couple of days on the tower.
LEGO is DEFINITELY lacking in that area...and what they have available is not cheap, either! Almost $12CDN for a cape, banner, and flag combo.
honestly i dont know why but i am more of a fan off UV printed figures.
I like some of them! It just seems like often times uv printers go over the top imo. Maydayfigs had a great video on some really nice uv printed figs that mimic legos style.
If you like "highly detailed", UV is often the way to go...though EclipseGRAFX had some pad printed figs that BLEW. MY. MIND. with how detailed they were (Reaper, Specter, and some digital camo military figs).
I love your vids!
Thank you so much! ☺
i think its really cool that custom pad printed minifigs even exist, but personally i'm a bit of a purist when it comes to lego Castle. i feel like a lot of custom companies try to go for more of a "realistic, pseudo-historically accurate" style that doesn't really mesh well with the more light-hearted fantasy style i go for with lego Castle builds
I fully agree
I find that is more of an issue with UV printed versus pad printed, simply because pad printing is so insanely expensive to produce compared to UV. With Ktown Bricks for example: their highly detailed, historically accurate figs are all UV printed, while their more LEGO-esque figures are pad printed. A little something for everyone.
at 0:47 it shows a horse with a super, super cool cloth barding. Where is the barding from?
I'm not sure
I like to use some of the gear from other stuff but use main torsos and arms and heads but if I see something I want/like from one of the companies I tend to buy them for stuff that I want for a look like a type of helmet or a type of weapon [tbh brick warriors weapons suck but their armor is nice well the helmets mainly] but yea those are my opinions on it
I like using only regular official lego bricks, maybe capes, i don't like third party excecories or minifig parts
1:08 you can get into pad printing for less than 2k
I’ve ordered from ktown and Citizen brick. both are good quality it’s just the prices 😅😅
Yeah they are pretty steep.
I say bring it on.
I have hundreds of Ktowns figs, and they are the best on the market.
What’s your job?
I love ktown bricks but their figs are so expensive.
Can we get that lore video pls
Its one of the videos in the works! I want to do it right. 😁
@@Goldfyre ok keep up the great work and can we see your orc army.
We need it
@@PlasticNow Oh that might make for a fun quick little video. I don't have any builds with my orc army but ill definitely put that on my to do list.
The printed things are very exepasive wich can be hard to make bigs army of crusders and others. but the printings are super good
I like the process of searching for good looking real lego minifig parts and combining them in to new figures. Thats why I do not buy custom parts.
Making purist customs is a ton of fun! I love finding unique parts to use on bricklink.
Papa LEGO on RUclips has some great videos which showcase his purist custom creations. He does a great job combining parts from many different themes to flesh out his fantasy Castle world.
I don't like the majority of brickwarriors stuff as it often strays to far but I do liek some of their helmets and weapons that are more accurate to history
i have 0 lego thats why me stare at legos on a screen 24/7 while rethinking what should i but with my 5 pound/dolla/euro/money
Ktownbricks minifigs Are better then Lego. More detailed AND IT feels real. They are printed on real Lego minifigs AND its reall Lego
28$ for a custom is a pass for me. That's pricier than the official collectables.
its great put the price....
When u said custom figs i thought u were talking about custom made mini figures not fake minifihures lol
I like custom minifigures, but they are just too expensive for me to paid 7$ for single torso. If I wanted to make for egzample ten teutonic knights I would have to pay a lot. So, yeah, these are art but not for my pocket.
I like the idea behind custom minifigs but way overpriced, not paying wack ass price of $35-40 for 1 knight minifig I saw this weekend at Brickfair.
Yeah i get why they charge as much as they do but it's not for me. I could see trying a few of their cheaper options (tiles, torsos, etc) but the full figs are pretty crazy.
I am personally completely against third party prints and parts!
restrictions breed creativity. if i wanted perfect detail i would probably not be in a hobby surrounding caricature toys. there's a certain charm that lego minifigures have. 360 degree printing and super fine detail looks kinda tacky to me. custom capes are cool though.
ya this years lynx knight was a downgrade...
Lego has abandoned the medieval genre. I'm fine with all 3rd party parts of good quality.
im not much of a custom lover