Henchmen4Hire

*stab stab stab!* I appreciate those kind of comments, my eyes aren't as good as they used to be (and I'm only 24 ). Most of the pics aren't saved at maximum quality, they're all JPEGS saved at "10" instead of "12" in photoshop to keep their file size small. Maybe the lower quality shows up funny on some screens or browsers? Either way, I need to change the backdrop anyway. Going to go buy some smooth grey or white fabric because the construction paper I'm using now only has bright colors that mess with the colors overall. Edit: Oh yeah, and clicking on the images takes you to the fullsize versions, the smaller versions do have artifacts on my screen too.

Well, I collect action figures, so in order to pay for that addiction I got into customizing action figures. A solid custom can sell for $30 and up, so splash a little paint on a toy and suddenly you have enough money to buy 5 more. With LEGOs it's not so easy, I still haven't found a way to have it be a self-sustaining hobby like the action figures (I find that people generally don't want to buy a custom set built by you, or they'd rather buy the pieces themselves). Currently I do trade my customs for LEGO though, so it helps ease the costs.

Yar, I made another one, I hope it's alright to post the link to it instead of reformatting everything to post here

Yeah, it's pretty easy to open boxes without any signs of tampering. Buy the box, take what you want, glue it back together, and return it. At the Walmart in Van Nuys, OMG, either they have jerk-off little kids coming every day or one big jerk-off ripping us all off because all the LEGO boxes were opened and even some of the action figures had been switched out of their packages replaced with other crappy toys.

For the record, "legos" sounds really stupid in English too. I'm not going to stop using "LEGOs" though, people know what's meant when it's said, and it's not like the word is being butchered (is "LEGO" even a word?). If it becomes illegal to use "legos", I'll still be saying it. If saying it comes with a hefty fine, then I'll gladly use "lego" again. xD Also, that's funny that we can use anal but not a-s-s

"Excuse me madam, do you have any- OOPS! I seem to have spilled my 5 PAB cups on the floor! As a showing of my sincere apology, I will pick them all up and dispose of these now filthy bricks for you!"

Yeah, the Laws of Physics are a real pain in the hindquarters.

Good find, Tazo! I like the employees at the Van Nuys TRU, here's a quick article about my latest trip:

Speaking as a thief, I'd love those window boxes to come back, so easy to swipe parts Yeah, they were pretty boxes though!

It's very easy to tamper with boxes, to open them without showing any indication. It's also equally easy to shrinkwrap anything. Can we buy new cases directly from LEGO? Like Murdock pointed out, there's very little time for someone in a warehouse to do anything shady, so I wouldn't mind buying them that way. From a reseller though, hell no.

All of Oky Wan's points are valid, I didn't read any maliciousness behind the post. And FYI, it helps to add a ton of smileys all over a post to help people understand that you're only asking questions and not trying to start something

You're right it's cynical to say everywhere, it's more like 99.9%

If you've ever worked retail then you'd know by now that you are always 100% correct when you say the employees pocket stuff to keep for themselves. It's always the case, no matter what job it is, no matter what's being sold, it's a guaranteed fact that the employees are hoarding stuff. Every retail job I ever had had employees hiding stuff and keeping it off the sales floor to take home later. Also, never buy from sellers that sell entire cases, they take the good stuff out and replace it with stuff no one wants. It's especially problematic with trading cards and sellers who scale their packs.

I have two that I can remember that have cracks along the side, and they're from the Fright Knights and Western themes. None of my new LEGOs have had any problems. Although, now I see what people mean by "Chinese plastic", sometimes it even looks a little transparent, like they use clear plastic and dye it whatever color they need it to be.

We know it's not glue, but we can't very well say "solvented" so I say "glued". (we could say "bonded" I guess)

Yar! And I almost because super nerdy myself recently, there's just no way to get Aayla Secura cheaply!

Well that's...disappointing

You know you guys can just trade with each other, right? I'd rather trade them away for stuff I want instead of sending them back to get 5 more random ones.

I bought some magnets and keychains today at the lego store because they had a sale on some of them, the Atlantis magnets were half price (7.50 US) so I picked it up because I like all the figures. Surprisingly, after reading how much everyone hates the glue on them, the figs in this magnet set weren't glued together at all. The figs attach normally to a 1x2 plate (which is also removable). Everything pops apart normally too, no glue anywhere... now if only that Bariss Offee magnet set would go on sale :(

LEGO is nerdy, LEGO star wars is nerdier, paying $20 for a minifigure is nerdier still, but building your own stuff with LEGOs doesn't seem nerdy for some reason

I bet Brick Daddy would love to own that thing... in fact, I bet he does! Everything looks better with a giant squid on it, excellent

I added the little disclaimer to my post, I'm not anti-Sculpey, I just don't like using it anymore By the way Capt., many professional sculptors use Sculpey and Sculpey Firm to create statues for toy companies like Hot Toys, Marvel, DC, etc., so don't throw your sculpey away just because I'm nagging about it, figure out how it will work best for you. Edit: Read the tutorial, pretty cool. Capt., if the foil is what's sliding around, try using aluminum foil tape (and disregard my sanding advice). If the Sculpey is what's sliding around, then I don't know, maybe you got some water between the sculpey and the foil so it won't stick?

Yeah, that's a tank, lame! lol

I don't know if there's a note about it somewhere in this topic, but make sure your computer can even handle advanced shading before turning it on! My computer is fast but it doesn't have a graphics card, so turning on the fancy shading causes it to lag to hell (making turning it off a hassle).

Try sanding the surface you're sculpting on beforehand. The biggest mistake you made was buying Sculpey in the first place, it sucks! It's great if you're gonna make a mold to cast more parts, but it's not very durable. That, and it shrinks a little when you bake it, causing cracks and crumbling. Get some Apoxie Sculpt, it has zero shrinkage, hardens by itself (you have like an hour or two to work with it), and is rock hard when cured. I customize action figures and it's all I use because I was so sick of Sculpey breaking all the time. (all the grey bits are sculpted) Oh yeah, and boiling the sculpey to harden it will never give you as good a result as baking it, it has to reach that high temperature to cure properly. Putting it in hot water for a long time won't be any more effective either. That said, you CAN use Sculpey effectively, it's all about practice.