To many, customizing is like Western medicine. Invasive. The job can't be done without a sharp knife and a piece of thread. This is the popular approach mostly because of conditioning. Let's face it; we've spent the last decade buying $20 Hasbro figures, so who cares what you do to it, right? No one can argue that permanently destroying $20 mass-produced action figures in an attempt to create movie accurate 1/6 scale representations of characters we all love is a feasible option considering what we had to work with. Let's not beat around the bush here. While not everyone is willing to say it aloud, the Hasbro 12" line left a heck of a lot to be desired. Sure they were great children's toys that had enough quality to interest adult collectors, but at the end of the day they were just great children's toys that had enough quality to interest adult collectors.

That all changed when Sideshow Collectibles introduced us to their interpretation of the 12" Star Wars figure. Astute readers will notice that the sentence said "figures" not "action figures". That's a very important thing to remember when looking at the Sideshow collection. They aren't creating $20 mass-produced action figures meant to be played with by kids between the ages of 3 and 8; they are making collectible figures for adults. What's more, they are making high quality 1/6 scaled replicas of the Star Wars characters we love. Granted, as such, these figures are a bit more money. In some cases they are three times as expensive as Hasbro's toys. That said, do you really want to do something invasive when tweaking them, or do you want to look toward the world of alternative customizing. Not unlike alternative medicine, we can replace the sharp knives and pieces of thread we've grown up with and find a way to alter our collectibles without damaging them.

These tutorials are meant to allow collectors the freedom to tweak their 1/6 scale figures without doing anything that will damage them. Basically speaking, you are altering them, not customizing them. And because of the quality already being offered by Sideshow Collectibles, you can truly turn an excellent figure into the quintessential 1/6 scale character replication you have always wanted!

There are a total of three tutorials below - one for folks who will be using "low" sinks, commonly found in bathrooms. The second tutorial is the same as the first, but tailored for people who will be using "high" sinks, or those typically found in kitchens. The final tutorial is a look at how you can make your 12" Anakin even more movie-accurate!