New page added + updates to the Jabba Palace Display Page!

After a very long hiatus I have finally got off my rump and completed some more details in my Jabba Palace display. It's one of the most popular page sections on my Blog. I have not updated in a very long time, so I do apologize for the neglect. I focused more on custom figures, but given the traffic for that page I promise to give it a lot more attention in the coming months. I am very motivated to finish this display now and I want to move onto the next diorama. (Stay tuned for that!)

Here is a preview of some recent updates that you will find on the page:

New Customs - Nightsisters of Dathomir

The Nightsisters are a group of Dathomiri Witches who can wield the dark side of the Force. While that may not seem like a big deal, they are quite different from your run of the mill Sith Lord.

This causes a great deal of confusion among the Jedi scholars and even some fans. (There is also confusion among the more casual fan as they think that they are just the stereotypical Hot Topic patron transported into the Star Wars universe.)

The Nightsisters are also more in tune with nature and animals, much like the Druid class of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. (How is that for some nerd street cred? Long live the Thac0 system!!!) The Nightsisters can also tame beasts like the Rancor and Wampa using them as mounted guardians to wreck havoc on the innocent of the Galaxy.  Any way you cut it, these Nightsisters are very interesting characters, they also seem to be growing in popularity among SW fans because of their proficiency in the Force and their unique looks. It's worth noting that there is an upcoming episode of the Clone Wars that will feature the Nightsisters bringing forth (Jump the shark alert!) Darth Maul's baby brother to kill the Jedi...

After doing a little "Wookiepedia" research on them I thought it would be fun to make some Nightsister customs. I was getting a bit bored of making Mumm-Ra looking Sith Lords. I had some leftover EU Shaak Ti bodies and thought they would make a great base to turn into Nightsisters. Here are the two recent Nightsisters customs:

As always your feedback comments and hate mail are welcome!

New Custom - Resurrected Darth Krayt

I am a regular reader of the Star Wars Legacy comic series, I think the storyline is quite interesting and it has been worth following. I only buy the graphic novel volumes and not the individual comic issues. It's much easy to follow and much more cost effective to collect. With that said, I am not always up to date on the latest issues as the wait between the collected volumes takes some time. After the apparent Death of Darth Krayt the series lost it's "epic edge" and the story has drifted along in a ho-hum fashion. (Much like season 3 of the Clone Wars cartoon) I was quite convinced that Darth Krayt would return in some stereotypical sci-fi fashion. This is Star Wars after all, predictable cliche's and recycled story lines are part of it's DNA. To no ones surprise he has been revived!!! Who would have thought? At least they did not handle his death/resurrection in a Dallas dream sequence fashion. I found out about his return when I stumbled across an image of the Reborn Krayt in an ad for the upcoming Dark Horse releases on Rebelscum. I looked on Wookiepedia for more information about it and saw pictures of a crusty version of the regenerated Krayt but there were no other images of him in the promo picture costume. Despite not having any other reference on his new costume, I thought it would be a cool custom figure to create. I based the look of my new custom on this lone promo image:

I will have to wait for the release of the new volume to catch up on the story arc but I am hoping that some more images appear of him in his new Sith duds soon. I am very happy that the writers brought back the main antagonists of this timelines story. While the other Sith Mime Warriors are cool, the A'sharad Hett/Clone Wars connection really helped bridge the story lines together. It also gave me a reason to care as some other fan favorite characters appear as well. Hopefully the story's "epicness" will pick up again now that there is a real reason for Cade of embrace his Jedi destiny. I was getting really bored with the very redundant reluctant Jedi drug addict shtick. It was beginning to remind me of the Spider-Man movie plots where Peter and Mary Jane break up, then get back together, then they break up again and then they cry while finally getting back together...again! Seriously, man up, wipe the tears and cut some bad guys up with a Lightsaber already! Who are they kidding? We all know that Cade will eventually embrace his destiny, become a full fledged Jedi, defeat Darth Krayt and his Sith Empire to finally bring peace to the Galaxy while rebuilding the Jedi Order! (Peace will last until the next Star Wars storyline when the next generation of Jedi screws up by being too passively "emo" and gets wiped out yet again. That's where Lukes great, great, great, great Granddaughter must embrace her destiny to save the Universe while restoring the Jedi Order...yet again! You know we would read it. Just admit it to yourself.)

As always your feedback comments and hate mail are welcome!

New Custom (Sort of) - "Snooty Giddy Up" the Kubaz Interplanetary Pimp

I started customizing Star Wars figures back in May of 2006 and I have not stopped since! As a personal preference, I do not keep the custom figures that I make, only the dioramas.  There was one exception I made to my figure rule - My Kubaz Pimp, "Snooty Giddy Up". I made him in October of 2006 from leftover parts as a joke custom. The Kubaz are my favorite Star Wars alien race! My love of the Kubindi started when Garindan ratted out our heroes in Mos Eisley to Sandtroopers and slapped his muppety schnoz by accident (A film blooper they never caught). When I completed this Pimp Kubaz my wife saw him and really loved how he turned out. She loved him so much that she asked me not to sell him, she really, really wanted me to keep him. (Keep in mind she does not care a lick about Star Wars so I found it quite endearing.) I really liked him too, so it was an easy request to fulfill. He has remained in my collection ever since becoming a sentimental staple patron in my Cantina diorama. He even "pimped" for me as my customs mascot until I started this Blog where I went back to my original Duro Jedi alter ego. Maybe I will go back now...

Here is the original look of the figure in 2006:

Recently, when I was adding some new details on my Cantina diorama this custom Kubaz caught my eye again. I noticed that his paint scheme was damaged from handling over the years and it looked a bit dated from my current skill level. I immediately stopped what I was doing on the Cantina and I decided to give my old custom friend some much needed attention. I have come a long way with my customs so I felt he needed to get back up to par with a complete new paint job. Since I was going back to refresh Snooty I also wanted to correct a few parts on him that I was never happy with. I replaced his feet and arms/hands that better suited the figures outfit. He also was always missing a key piece of standard Pimp attire - a plume hat! Take a look at the refreshed and revised "Snooty Giddy Up":

To me, "Snooty Giddy Up" now feels complete and looks better than ever! I found a renewed love for my "vintage" custom. As I mentioned, I made him in October of 2006 and while it was not my intent, I wound up refreshing him 4 years to the date of his creation. Intuition or coincidence? Either way, to me he ROCKS! If you disagree drop me a line and send me some hate mail!