Think-tank: Brainstorm Ideas for Future Challenges

[MsBig]

I'm planning a calendar for monthly challenges in the customs thread. It will become too chaotic, if customisers just raise challenges willy-nilly, so I'll moderate.

There is very little time to prepare for April 2006, so I'm setting a dead-easy challenge for that.

Brainstorm

This thread is a think-tank. Please brainstorm some ideas for challenges by posting them below. Any ideas go at the moment.

I'm not promising that all your ideas will happen. I'll decide whether they are feasible for customisers. I think I have enough experience to do this. I'll try to be impartial about my own tastes.

On April 1st 2006, I'll put together a plan for monthly challenges over the next year, starting May 2006.

The themes will be noted in advance, so that people have time to pick a few and plan ahead.

There will be no prizes for these challenges. This is just for fun.

Themes

This is a Buffy/Angel forum, so all themes must be related in some way to Buffy/Angel. One of the themes will certainly be for Joss Whedon's other work. There won't be any themes complete outside the Whedonverse. There are other boards for other toy lines.

Format

These are just-for-fun challenges, rather than competitions, so there is no need to be format specific.

The challenges will be thematic, not base specific. For all challenges, you can enter any size or style of custom figure:

Palz figure, Mini figure, 6" figure, 12" figure, small bust or large bust.

Participants

I want brainstorm ideas from everyone but I will give special notice to people that will actually have to do the work.

I'm not going to assume you're in just because you're a customiser, so please mention in this thread that you intend to make customs for some of these challenges. Then I'll add you to this list.

List

Alyrenee
Bennywilde
Buffyfanone
buffyville
Chosen01
CraigO
Dom
emaire
Jinxieman
jsebold87
MsBigPileofDust
NewtonDKC
OuijaRick
RavenSkaH
shivi
ShondraSu
stakey
Willfan

Challenges

April 2006 - Beautiful Buffy

btvsfigs.proboards48.com/index.cgi?board=Customize&action=display&thread=1143051159

[Wrecked]

Make a Kristy Swanson Buffy
Make a Season 7 Willow
Make a Joyce
Make a Season 6 Demon/Monster

[Chosen01]

i think 'reinact a scene' would be a good one. instead of making a custom based on an episode make the custom based on a specific scene. so its posed like misbigs Gift Buffy is running.

[Ouija]

How about a Palz challenge? I know this may not appeal to every customizer, but it would be an interesting challenge with so many possible characters to make, in so many different outfits.

And how about a Season Opener challenge also? We get quite a lot of season finales, but not many openers.

And my final idea (at the moment) is about challenges for specific characters. Like a Willow challenge for example. Plus we don't see a lot of customs of a few certain characters (eg, Oz) so they'll be great to finally see.

[sergeiesenin]

Customs of Buffyverse actors/actresses outside of the show seem to be popular right now. How about a Recreate the Pose challenge using magazine or candid images...

[MsBig]

1) Any format goes for any challenge. The challenges will be thematic, not base-specific.

2) Please post in this thread to say that you intend to make a custom for some of the challenges. I'll then add you to the list in my first post.

I've edited my first post with full details of these points.

[Alyrenee]

I plan to make customs...

My Challenge Ideas:
Winnifred Burkle
Restless
Buffy beginnings (season one)
Angel beginnings (season one)
Buffy Movie
Flashbacks (any custom from a flashback)
Cordelia Chase

-basically pick any character and focus on them in a particular month...
-Big Bads
-Recreate a Scene is good (action pose and all)

[Chosen01]

I'd like to participate in as many custom challenges as i have the parts for

[buffyville]

I really like Holiday themes...Though those would be best for the months in which the holidays are on.

I would also like to see challenges including characters there are not figs of yet.

I think this is going to be awesome for the customs section. I am very excited.

I also agree that other things could be customized besides figs..sideshows, palz, statues, busts..etc..

I will DEFINATELY be a part of any custom challenge involving 6 inch figures.

Thanks Ms Big for handeling this.

-Val

[Bennywilde]

This is great sasha , thanks for taking this on , i would definatly like my name on the list , it would give us something to look forward to each month . ideas wise hhmmm .......
i would like to see seasonal customs wether it be guys or gals or both.
also i would love to see some Angel themes on here as we dont see nearly enough angel customs. why dont we have polls where each person could choose which episode they would like figures from and the winning episode each month is the one we make a charater for , basicaly what im thinking is say you pick 10 episodes per month and put them into a poll then everyone can say which they would really like the best.
im gonna think of some more
great job though sash.
thanks
-lee

[Jinxieman]

I'll make customs for the Challenges. This sounds like fun.

[Ouija]

I'll enter as many challenges as I can.

[emarie]

How about a family theme? Making family members of certain characters that DST haven't made? Like instead of Joyce maybe Buffys' dad or her cousin. Gunns' sister, Liams' family, etc.

I think one of my other suggestions was already mentioned. I was going to say pre-Buffy era, like flashbacks of Angelus and such.

Maybe a comic one? Having the characters that appear in the comics like Fray.

I would like to enter one but it depends on whether or not I can post it. I never posted a image online with my digital carama before.

[Willfan]

Thanks Ms. Big for starting this up!

I would be entering depending on when the contests are. Because I cannot make figures in college, I can only customize during breaks, which is the entire summer as well as December/ January. So in short, I'm definately in.

Some ideas:

- Buffyverse Fanfic Figure: A writer creates a character that would exist in the buffyverse, and teams with a customizer to help design/ give ideas about the look, and the customizer creates the figure.

- Character-specific challenges

- Deluxe (maybe exclude Buffy/ Faith, maybe not)

- Whedonesque (name taken from the wonderful website)- create a figure from any whedon creation/ maybe limit it to something out of Buffy and Angel.

- Just Serenity/ Firefly

- Design Movie Wonderwoman

- Favorite Battle (include both characters)

- Famous Couples (maybe limit this to try and not do something that's always been done, like OMWF willow and Tara)

- Create-A-Big Bad (could work in the vein of the fanfic thing, or customizers on their own)- a la "Create-a-Slayer"

- Mars/ Venus Swap: Take a character, design them as if it were the opposite sex.

- Going Dark: Any character evil-ized .

- Yearbook: Any students we've seen in the past. (both High school and College)

- Demons, Demons, Demons: Anything that doesn't look human.

- Create-an-outfit: Make a character with an outfit from your imagination.

- Flash-backs: Include Victorian era, FFL, etc.

- Non-DST/MAC made: Someone who hasn't been manufactured

Alright, so not the greatest ideas, but I saw a lot that I liked earlier so I tried to stay away from double-posting. Very excited about this!

[Wrecked]

Add ME!

[stakey]

So glad we are bringing this idea back.

I remember willfan trying to start one of these and flobbo and I remember it was only me and aly who entered in the end so it would be nice if people did enter other figures as well.

There have been so many ideas said so far so its hard to think of original ideas.
but they don't all ways have to be buffy/angle themed to they?

We could do a completely open challenge and do a theme of what ever show you would like.
I know some ravenskar(soz cant remember the customizer) has made roswell customs and willfan is doing veronica mars and ms big has done firefly and I am currently planing a range of smallville customs.
Oh and not forgetting charmed customs.

So maybe we could each make a custom from another of our favourite shows.

Another idea could be crossover episode figures.
e.g. making an orpheus willow or IWRY buffy.

Or a theme based on not so well know characters, Im pretty sure we did this ages ago like out of the spotlight or something where it was the theme of making a custom of a not so well known character, e.g billy fordman, or sunday, or kathy, like characters who only starred in one episode.

A theme of making a custom of a character when they killed their first demon or vamp. Buffy 'becoming', fred 'fredless' etc.

To sum up,

-one-off customs from other scifi fantasy shows(charmed,roswell)

-Cross-over specials customs.(willow 'orpheus')

-Out of the spotlight, unfamiliar characters(billy fordman etc)

-First kill custom. (buffy 'becoming', fred 'fredless')

Oh and Id love to take part.

p.s
I like the idea of posing customs like chosen01 said. I have a really good idea for that one!

[DanMan]

Past challenges have had a weak turnout (some at least) so I think voting on challenges might help. I'm just trying to think of a way to ensure that there are more than one or two people interested in actually participating in each challenge, and following through with it...

[Jess]

I definitely want to be a part of this! There have been some great ideas so far. The idea I like the most right now are the flashbacks.

Thanks MsBig!

-Jess

[ShondraSu]

I would definitely like to be apart of the custom challenges. I love the idea of doing some customs of other shows: like Roswell, Charmed, etc. I also like the future buffy/angel customs based on some possible future events. I think that would make for some really original customs. I would love to do some custom "big baddies" as a challenge. We have had so many great villian/creatures go through buffy/angel. They would make great customs.

[CraigO]

I'm up for some challenges, depending on time and parts and etc. etc. etc.

I like the "design Wonder Woman" one - it appeals to my sense of irony.

I'm all about the DIY characters, since that's I got into customising through wanting to try and make figures for my roleplaying game group. (Which I'm still working on... need the new Buffy arms... dang it...)

I always like to see well-done "nobody actually makes these characters" customs, whether for Buffyverse characters that don't have plastic representation or characters from other series and films.

How about an "Other Media" challenge? Take new characters, and new looks for existing characters, from the comics, books, video games and other (perhaps only visual, perhaps not) sources that ain't the TV show.

And we could combine the "fanfic" and "design a costume" ideas to create an unmade episode, "cast" the week's guest stars, and design the characters' looks for that story. (Hmm. What to do...)