Jesse James Custom Reviews

[CHEWIE]

Jesse - I think you would be an excellent man to do some sort of custom reviews... remember the Critique of the Week that used to go on?  Well I think you would be ideal for something like that here on the main page. 

You could do all sorts of things - custom figures, playsets, photonovels, vehicles, etc. - you name it.

It would be cool to start off with something like Muftak's Death Star playset he made, and then take it from there.

What do you think?

 

[Jesse James]

Not a bad idea really Justin, but my plate's incredibly full with the basic line.  I'm behind as it is after getting semi-caught up in January.  I think adding customs to the list could strain things that much more...  I've got a lot of catch-up to work on after C3 (and my semester) are over... 

I think general reviewing of customs is a great idea for everyone to do though, and offer criticism too...  All-too-often it's overlooked that customs aren't "perfect" and constructive criticism is great for not only novices but vets in the hobby too.

I think customs talk is better suited to customs section though, and I can't see myself adding customs to my "official" duties here right now...  At least not till I'm caught up with basic things I want to review, and considering we're into ROTS now I think that'd be a ways off.  The suggestion is a good idea though CHEWIE, just not really in the cards at the moment.  Thanks though for the faith in me on it, that's appreciated.

[CHEWIE]

I understand you are a busy man Jesse.  If you reconsider, maybe highlighting a custom on the front page and linking it to a thread for everyone else to discuss instead would be the way to go - and it could generate more traffic for the customs section (which is needed).

 

[TT8L]

Might be motivation for some of us to start posting here rather than RS, or at very least as well as posting elsewhere.

A spotlight figure, that can be critiqued by a body of its creators peers is something that would draw me in

The more talent present, the more constructive a "custom" section can be since there would be a lot more ideas floating around and a lot more inspiration for people who are genuinely interested... also, I'm not complaining about RS at all, but there are a lot of headswaps and LBC's simply because of the traffic. Also, on the rare occasion I post about mine I'd much rather have somebody reply like this -

"What you did with your choice of parts is fantastic.... the paint is nearly perfect but as you can see in this pic ::pic provided:: the insignia should be opposite of how you have painted it.... was that an intentional artistic license? If not, that's my only beef."

than like this (which is essentially people popping by to post pad, in my opinion)

"wow"

[Jesse James]

With customizing, it's one of the few areas I view as "the more the merrier" with posting...  I think cross-traffic with the niche isn't terrible, however I share your opinions of Rebelscum's customizing forums.  They're not my favorites and after my impromptu banning at Rebelscum (and my impromptu reinstatement, neither with really much of any reason given for WHY), I can't say that I MISS Rebelscum at all... 

It is a lot of "wow", with little more.

But, JediDefender's pretty established that we're not going to have a Customizing focus.  I only highlight customs that I think have a broad appeal to the collecting hobby as a whole, and JD's not looking to build a customizing focus (that's not to say we're not EXTREMELY proud of our customizing community.  To me it's a solid group filled with experienced customizers, novices, and experts, and all who share information...  I'm impressed with it).

I think Customizing focuses are best left to the experts though, and that is www.FFURG.com.  The idea's sound, but it's basically the Critique of the Week concept that FFURG has run in the past.  I think it's a good idea, and that FFURG is the vessel that can carry the idea.  That's not to say we'll never change our mind, but right now we're focused on bringing news about collecting to the broader audience.  I love customizing but I have to admit it's a niche within a bigger beast.

If minds are changed on this, we'll certainly let you know right here.

[CHEWIE]

Oh I agree that www.ffurg.com is the ultimate place for customizing, but I do think that a site like would be even better if it had a focus on customizing to a lesser degree.  A lot of people come here who are not customizers (and have maybe not even heard of ffurg), but by having some sort of focus on it here, it could expose more people to that part of the hobby (which is by and far my favorite part).

If minds are ever changed, I think it would be a good thing and a huge addition to this site.  A while back, my photonovels were supposed to be hosted here, and even a link to them on the front page.  That idea apparently fell through (and I'm disappointed, but ok with it).

The customizing section here really has picked up though, which is good to see.

 

[Chris]

We are currently looking into all of the aspects of such a project. I really appreciate everyones feedback.

[Angry Ewok]

A while back, my photonovels were supposed to be hosted here, and even a link to them on the front page.  That idea apparently fell through (and I'm disappointed, but ok with it).

I'd still like for that to happen - but things just didn't work out with my dialup, FTP problems, and finally my laptop exploding... Very disapointing... 

[Jesse James]

Seems like minds are changed...  I'll not be doing the work but I guess someone's going to be putting together a more customizing focused feature for you CHEWIE so congrats.  The photonovels may be remedied at some point as well, so I'm sure someone will be in touch with you.

[CHEWIE]

This is very cool... again, why this is the #1 site around as far as I am concerned.  I understand that it may not come to fruition, but the mere possibility is awesome.

If this does come about someday, and there is any way that I could contribute (on top of a lot of submissions), I would be more than happy to.

Chris, Brad and Jesse - thanks guys.   

In case you haven't seen my latest WIP photonovel, here's a couple preview pics.  I was hoping to have them all hosted here instead of www.thecustomalliance.com, but if that doesn't happen, it's not big deal.





 

[Jesse James]

Don't thank me, this is Chris and Brad, maybe some others...  They'll be handling anything that comes about.

[JediMAC]

This is very cool... again, why this is the #1 site around as far as I am concerned.  I understand that it may not come to fruition, but the mere possibility is awesome.

Yeah, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves here (like we've done before).  At this point, we're just discussing some different ideas on what, if anything, we could possibly do for the great customizing community here at JD.  We're definitely listening though, and our intentions are certainly to do whatever we can to make JD as enjoyable as possible for everybody involved.  That said, as far as the reviews go, Jesse already more than has his hands full with the regular figure reviews that he does for JediDefender, so I'd say it's highly unlikely he'd ever be able to partake in such a project.  Problem is, I don't think any of the rest of the staff is even remotely qualified to judge or review customs...

I think tossing up a Custom Spotlight on the main page from time to time is certainly within the realm of our (meager) capabilities, so that idea could certainly work.

And as Justin already knows, the Photonovel hosting issue is a tricky one for us, since we've only got a couple guys here with the ability to do something like that, but whom usually lack the time or computer equipment to make it come to fruition.  So no promises in that regard either, but it's also being discussed to see if there's any way that we're able to work it out.  So we'll keep you all posted on that as well...

All that said, from a personal standpoint, all you brilliant customizers make me jealous as hell!  Wish I had the talent to come up with anything even remotely as cool as all the stuff you guys do.  So please keep showcasing your amazing wares in there, and fueling my jealous rage... 

- Matt

[CHEWIE]

Thanks JediMAC. 

In light of the possiblity that the photonovel hosting (or front page mentions) could come to fruition, I am going to step up to the plate and try to make mine visually better than they were in the past.

For those that have kept up with them, I've made 10 so far.  For the first 5, I actually went back and altered some to make them look better visually.  The remainding ones stayed the same (with a few special effects enhanced).

Starting wtih #10 - Depths of Cholganna, I think I hit new ground as far as visual quality goes, like in this picture -



I think I am finally starting to understand more with my program, called "Picture It."  I don't think it's as good as photoshop, but it is starting to come along better.  I'm learning as I go, and am humble with my abilities.  I really have no clue what I am doing with these, but I put in a lot of work.

My main concern is still staying with the storyline though, I don't want to sacrifice the depth in the story while working harder on the visual aspect.  So, any feedback on the photonovels is greatly appreciated.

Coming soon - probably by Sunday - #11 - Siege on Rhen Var

 

[CHEWIE]

Just an update that the new Rykrof Enloe photonovel has just been posted in the photonovel section.

 

[Vator]

I think having a Photonovel put up on the front page every so often would be great. As it stands we only have the Enloe and Sith Revelations series going on a semi-regular basis.

...and thanks to various problems with my digital camera (and now its going to have to be totally replaced) The United only has 1 installment and 100 updates as to why the next part hasn't come out...which is regretable, since I really want to get past the next 2 chapters for the action to start up.