Grievous Custom-Bodily Harm

[MsBig]

I know that customs sometimes loose a limb in transit in the post. That's kind of old hat, so let's hear some more interesting custom-bashing stories!

BTW, the worst postal service I've heard of is to Italy. I think the postmen there literally play football with the parcels. I double box all my packages to Daniela. I also now put metal pins to hold parts together securely.

OK! Let's have some stories about non-postal horrors that have befallen your customs. And let's have a photo so that we can mourn properly.

Uppity-Smurf Illyria

This is the biggest tragedy that I know about. I was very proud of my first Illyria. I sold her on e-bay in 2004. The buyer put her in a place of honour on her own plant stand. The very next day, the buyer's little cat jumped on the stand and mauled her. Jealous much!



Cordy-Tempting Anya

The original e-bay buyer won Anya in 2004. I think in 2005, he put a box of Buffy/Angel figures on e-bay. BennyWilde won the box. When he opened it, to his delight and horror, he found poor little Anya knocking around against all the other figures with her paint all scuffed off.

Luckily he restored her paint job and eventually sold her on to Illyrobin.



Shameful Admission... I destroyed one of JediDoug's figures! [Latin]O me miserum![/Latin (oh woe is me!)]

Way back in Summer 2003, I discovered Flobbster's and JediDoug's customs for sale on e-bay and started buying like a loon.

I bought JediDoug's Buffy from 'Reptile Boy'. He put her back into custom-made plastic packaging. She looked great in the package, when she arrived and I quickly popped her out of it to display. Unfortunately, when her body popped out, the hard plastic kept hold of her sculpted hair and it just disintegrated into powder. She was bald!

I didn't have the heart to tell Doug what had happened at the time. However it did inspire me to make my own version of the figure, closely following his recipe. So... Doug's Buffy was both my guilty secret and my inspiration.

Here are Doug's custom and my lesser copy. It's such a shame because the hair he did was gorgeous. I'm sorry Doug!

[Raven]

Wee Hellmouth Buffy

Was maimed in a horrible cat attack. I came home to find her bald little head seperated from her body and her tiny stake way across the room of no use to her.



I'm also in the process of making Becky a Puppet Angel. I had sculpted his head (not baked yet) and placed it on my work table and took a break to watch some tv. Atticus (my cat) trotted over to me and dropped Angel's head on my lap so we could play fetch.

[Jedi Doug]

Sorry to hear about the mangled Reptile Boy Buffy.

As I recall, I was commissioned to make the 2 Reptile Boy figures for faithj115. She had asked that custom packaging be created for them, because she was going to a convention. The actor who played Machida was there and he signed them. At some time after that, she sold them on Ebay, but I didn't know the condition they were in after that.

No worries here though! Glad it inspired you to make your own.

Here's my story to share:
A couple weeks ago my Jack Twist (Brokeback Mountain) figure took a fall off of the bookcase and onto the floor. I was rearranging some books, and I guess the force of the movement was enough to shake the whole bookcase. Well, my reflexes weren't quick enough, and Jack fell down but not before hitting a few things on the way. Needless to say, his sculpey hat broke apart. I managed to superglue the pieces back in place and repaint it, but it's not the same and definitely not as smooth as it was sculpted. Right now both pieces are laying down until I can get a shadow box to display them in properly.

[MsBig]

Thanks Doug!

Aaah! Jack was too beautiful to die... twice. A curse on your book-rearranging strength!

I'm really bummed that Wee Hellmouth Buffy got mauled. She's so rosy-cheeked and cute!

I think we've established that cats are naughty! Naughty!

[buffyville]

Jedi Doug,

I bought Reptile boy Cordy from Sarah (faithj115) , She is PERFECT, and you will see her soon when I post updated custom collection pics! And yes I have the autographed box with her :-)

I have recieved a couple of figs with parts broken off,

Even though she was very well packed, I recieved Ms Bigs Swedish Aud with the head off and one foot (boot) off. I was able to fix her good as new!

I also recieved Puppy Angel headless too! But again it was a clean break and not a hard fix.

I think its not very uncommon to have clean break on section that were superglued on like heads and arms.

:-)

-Val

[Jess]

Val's Cat Cordy (no pic as of right now):

Arrived with her tail off and some paint chipped despite good packaging. It was an easy fix though. About a week later I was rearranging my custom collection and she shelf dived and her tail broke off once again. Luckily enough it was another easy fix.

Alyrenee's Doyle:



He shelf dived twice when I was rearranging my custom collection (the same time Cat Cordy did). He was lucky though, only a tiny piece of his hair broke off.

Since then I have moved both of them to a new shelf so it wouldn't happen again.

-Jess

[willowswarlok]

Tragedy Number 1:
Well my first tragedy was actually with my first 12" Custom. OMWF Buffy. I sold her to Hansi (BA1) and since she was my first large custom, I didn't really know how to package her. So i put her in her originla box and I tied her down and everything, like the original figure was. When Hansi recieved her, he said the box was in tattered, her face was chipped and her hair was broken off in places. Luckily, he was able to fix her and she turnt out even better than my paint job, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

Tragedy Number 2:
I sold my 6" Wish Buffy to Annette (Can I Be Anne?) and after I sent it out, heavily wrapped, she recieved it no problems. However, she had builders in her house, they knocked over her custom shelves, knocking the customs all over the floor. If that isn't bad enough, Annette wasnt able to find her, it turn't out that her Pug Bruce ATE her. We joke about it now but it was quite shocking! Her little Dog has some expensive taste lol

Tragedy Number 3:
Remember my "Lovers Till The End" Willow and Tara set in bed. Well i sold her for £120.00 which I instantly spent on a new camera for my school trip to Italy ( my mum lent me the money so i could buy the camera). Anyways, whilst waiting for the cheque to arrive, i placed the custom on the Fireplace in the living room. All was well. Until a few mornings after. I woke up for school at 7.00 am, went downstairs and dont ask me how but my camera strap was looped round the figure, so as I picked it up to move for safety, the figure feel to the floor and shattered to pieces. I was totally freaking out. Luckily, the pieces were fairly large, so I was able to glue them back together and resculpt and paint. They actually turn't out better than before

Now I take extra precautions to make sure the figures are in a safe place until I send them off!

Wayne

[firerancher]

Okay, so I don't really buy customs...and only really work with Palz. But here's something a little funny...

Daisy the beast likes to watch me paint on the floor. She sits on my bed, and overlooks my shoulder as I paint. It's quite cute, actually. I'll hold up a figure for her to look at (and sniff, I swear the dog's an addict), and she approves or disapproves.

I'm just waiting for the day she starts to flip the figures or lick the paint.

[Kenobi]

I've only made 3 customs, but I still had a bad experience. On my first custom, Tara, I got all the sculpting done, but I had to leave her on my shelves overnight before I could cook her. Now, before I finish the story, let me introduce Sammy. He is my 6 month old cat who is VERY active. He is addicted to straws, spoons, toes, and twist ties and goes CRAZY when he sees anything of the sort. I keep a lot of things MOC, and I learned the hard way that when I leave my door open, he can sniff out twist ties. On two occasions he has snuck into my room, leapt onto my shelves, and gnawed on my Star Wars figures. Back to Tara, I came home and to my dismay, my door was open a crack. Somehow, I didn't shut my door tight and when I walked in Tara was on the floor with an arm missing and the arm was half way down my cat's throat. Everyhting worked out in the end, but Sammy is 100% banned from my room.

[firerancher]

LOL. Poor Sammy...banned from your room all the way...harshness. LOL.

Daisy gets confused when I go to cook the sculpey stuff. She thinks I'm making food, so she comes up and sniffs me, then sniffs the oven (don't ask...she's a sniffer). Then, she sits at my feet, and stares at me until I give her part of what I'm 'cooking.' She gets mad at me when I don't give her anything, and right now we're not on speaking terms. She's ignoring me right now b/c I just put in the umbrella to my Prom Buffy. LOL.

[Girl Power]

Luckily I haven't had many problems with customs I've bought. My Jinxieman Fyarl Demon Giles had an arm off when he arrived, despite being very well-packed.

Last week I awoke to a loud crashing sound. Apparently, my cat had jumped up on my action figure desk (those darned cats! They have no boundaries.) I think as soon as the avalanche started, the cat had bolted out of the room.

Many of my figures and accessories were in a shambles. Nothing was broken, but Fyarl Giles' arm was off again.

I have to rearrange my Wolfram and Hart display. Right now Fred's lab is on the top. Any tiny shake in the room and my Hole in the World Fred falls off and loses her glued-on legs. Poor legless Fred! She also broke Harmony's unicorn's horn off in one her falls. I can't find the horn.

[Jinxieman]

Oh no! Poor Fyarl Demon Giles! That makes three broken arms, his arm broke off after a cat incedent at my house too...but it glued back on without any problems.

[Kenobi]

I'm off to bed, but here's a picture of the little devil.

[MsBig]

Ha! Nice to see a mug-shot of the criminal as well as the victims.

Wayne, I don't think I ever saw a finished photo of your Willow/Tara double, just in progress shots. I love their position and how their bodies pop against the vivid colour of the sheets. Stunning!

[willowswarlok]

msbigpileofdust said:

Ha! Nice to see a mug-shot of the criminal as well as the victims.

Wayne, I don't think I ever saw a finished photo of your Willow/Tara double, just in progress shots. I love their position and how their bodies pop against the vivid colour of the sheets. Stunning!

yeah thats true, i must email the buyer and ask for some photos!
wayne

[Illyrobin]

Bennywildes Becoming Angel use to fall off my shelf all the time, and the swords would break off - when I got him his swords were broken. However a dab of super glue on the swords and huge amounts of blue tac at his feet seems to keep him safe....

[Emcee]

My Wizard Giles fell from my shelf... Twice. The first time he fell, part of his robes broke. I was able to fix it with superglue (it was in the back, so I didn't mind much). Second time, He hit my desk, bounced and hit the floor. His hat broke off, his robes shattered and his arm came off. Completely and utterly demolished.



Selfless Anya fell victim to the bendy Anya ankle. She constantly leaned to the right. I tried and tried to fix her. One time, I was trying to get her to stand upright and I pushed her right off her stand, breaking the back of her dress. I've still got all of the piece and I hope to fix her someday... And finally get the damn ankle under control.

[shivi1978]

one morning I woke up and went into the living room
all my figures were fallen from the shelf during the night (I have no idea why)
who are you Buffy and Southland Tales Sarah broke
but all the others are fine

[Digital Leonardo]

shivi1978 said:

one morning I woke up and went into the living room
all my figures were fallen from the shelf during the night (I have no idea why)
who are you Buffy and Southland Tales Sarah broke
but all the others are fine

Oh my god.

I think I'm gunna be sick. That is horrable. "Who Are You" Buffy-Faith is my favorite custom of yours. And its such a shame she is dead...
And the SMG one was so lovely. Its just horrable.

[Thorn Of Deucalion]

shivi they are my fav. customs ! can you glue them back together ? sad !