Custom printed minifigs

[captTree]

There are a lot of nicely designed stickers and decals, however their quality leaves much to be desired.

My question would be, are there any stores/people that are actually making custom LEGO prints, genuine in appearance?

Thank you.

[The Penguin]

Painting is the answer! Leaves no "sticky" feeling! )

Nothing personal to our awesom decal-makers though. )

Good day, ladies and gentlemen! )

[captTree]

Hmm yes..that's not exactly what I had in mind. Perhaps a brief clarification would be in order. I was referring to the same print quality that the actual LEGO uses on their minifigs. Though not to be misunderstood, for the custom designs in our LEGO community are quite creative per se.

[Cygnet]

Hmm yes..that's not exactly what I had in mind. Perhaps a brief clarification would be in order. I was referring to the same print quality that the actual LEGO uses on their minifigs. Though not to be misunderstood, for the custom designs in our LEGO community are quite creative per se.

Although I've not had a chance to see these in person, Will Chapman of BrickArms has been generating printed minifigs of quality recently. There are five (I believe) designs he's released all around a WWII theme.

Brickforge and Arealight also have printing technology they've used successfully on a wide variety of accessories, but no minifigs to my knowledge.

These are the folks I can think of off hand, but I'm certain there are more out there.

I hope this helps.

[Omicron]

Brick Engraver is who you want. He engraves and prints on all sorts of pieces. With the printing though, depends on the decals, and most of them time can restrict to just white.

There was another guy I had stuff made from called CJBGraphics, but his website seems to be gone.....

-Omi

[captTree]

Brick Engraver is who you want. He engraves and prints on all sorts of pieces. With the printing though, depends on the decals, and most of them time can restrict to just white.

There was another guy I had stuff made from called CJBGraphics, but his website seems to be gone.....

-Omi

Thank you.

I was thinking of something like this:

P.S. Board tools for some reason are not functional so the image had to be inserted manually.

Edited December 17, 2010 by captTree

[captTree]

This is not a bad concept either, but you see my point.

[Omicron]

The blue decal may be feasible to be printed on blue. Only reason why I say that is that white is difficult to print on dark colors (consider that's what I been told by both Brick Engraver and CJB). However I'm sure it can be worked around.

As for the second, that can definately be printed on light gray.

-Omi

[Henchmen4Hire]

That's an awesome lookin' soldier!

I'm still a little confused as to why people don't just go to Kinkos and have them print out entire sheets of high quality decals. Is it horribly expensive to print a page or what?

Edited December 22, 2010 by DrNightmare

[captTree]

That's an awesome lookin' soldier!

I'm still a little confused as to why people don't just go to Kinkos and have them print out entire sheets of high quality decals. Is it horribly expensive to print a page or what?

What do you mean?

[Henchmen4Hire]

I mean design your own torso, take the file to Kinkos (or whatever your local print shop is) and have them print out high quality decals for you. You could fit like, what, a million torso patterns on one page?

Edited December 25, 2010 by DrNightmare

[Omicron]

I mean design your own torso, take the file to Kinkos (or whatever your local print shop is) and have them print out high quality decals for you. You could fit like, what, a million torso patterns on one page?

He isn't asking about decal stickers. He is asking about printing on Lego.

-Omi

[captTree]

He isn't asking about decal stickers. He is asking about printing on Lego.

-Omi

Hmm..yes, I believe that the title of the topic is pretty much self-explanatory. Unfortunately it seems that printing on plastic is a lot more difficult than I assumed..

[Omicron]

Unfortunately it seems that printing on plastic is a lot more difficult than I assumed..

That and not many people doing it. :(

But that will sure change in the future.

-Omi

[Henchmen4Hire]

Meh.

I'd rather walk two blocks to get a really good sticker than have to hunt down someone with a special printer to paint on toys.

That's a shame about BrickEngraver being mostly limited to white stickers, the prices seemed reasonable x_X

[Omicron]

That's a shame about BrickEngraver being mostly limited to white stickers, the prices seemed reasonable x_X

Well it is easier to print on lighter colors. I asked for something with white on black one time, and he said it wouldn't come out right.

-Omi

[eclipsegrafx]

Actually its not more difficult to do. It (in my opinion) is easier BUT its more expensive.

I will have a line of printed heads coming out soon but in order to make an order I had to buy a minimum of 50 heads.

Other printers do 100 pieces.

I plan on offering alot more but I need to build up the capital for it. The reason people don't offer it as much as you might like is that for decals you can make one figure to display and then make the rest of the figures as you go. With printed pieces you have to start holding inventory and it may get pricey especially if some of your items don't sell fast enough.

I know of some clones that will be printed in the future by someone else as well.

There is only one other customizer who does fully custom printed minifigs and his shop on ebay is closed so I can't even link you to him yet. Christo offers some really high quality stuff. But it is also very expensive.

[captTree]

Actually its not more difficult to do. It (in my opinion) is easier BUT its more expensive.

I will have a line of printed heads coming out soon but in order to make an order I had to buy a minimum of 50 heads.

Other printers do 100 pieces.

I plan on offering alot more but I need to build up the capital for it. The reason people don't offer it as much as you might like is that for decals you can make one figure to display and then make the rest of the figures as you go. With printed pieces you have to start holding inventory and it may get pricey especially if some of your items don't sell fast enough.

I know of some clones that will be printed in the future by someone else as well.

There is only one other customizer who does fully custom printed minifigs and his shop on ebay is closed so I can't even link you to him yet. Christo offers some really high quality stuff. But it is also very expensive.

Could you be so kind and connect me with that person Christo?

I really want some good quality compared to what is offered on the market these days..

[eclipsegrafx]

Could you be so kind and connect me with that person Christo?

I really want some good quality compared to what is offered on the market these days..

Since he is on vacation I can't find any of his work to link you to, sorry. Hopefully in a week he should have some stuff up but I know he was also behind on order.

What exactly (if anything) are you looking for?

[Omicron]

Since he is on vacation I can't find any of his work to link you to,

Here is an example of two figs he made.

I also have a few torsos and heads printed by him, as well as his Black Spiderman and Hush (based on his Lego Batman appearence). His quality is superb.

-Omi

[tin7_creations]

I've ordered from Christo many times. He's based in South Africa, and he's an awesome printer.

Have a look at the Iron Man and Whiplash in my post here. That's the type of stuff he has to offer.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47511

Not only does he custom print on the figs; he also casts his own headpieces as well!

Edited December 30, 2010 by tin7_creations

[captTree]

Since he is on vacation I can't find any of his work to link you to, sorry. Hopefully in a week he should have some stuff up but I know he was also behind on order.

What exactly (if anything) are you looking for?

It's simple. Check out the pics I've posted in this thread. Something like that.

[Baylego]

Huh, so you can print minifigs on your own. I have been looking around for something that can print Lego pieces, but I have never found something that could. I am going to have to look harder now...

[eclipsegrafx]

Huh, so you can print minifigs on your own. I have been looking around for something that can print Lego pieces, but I have never found something that could. I am going to have to look harder now...

Not that I know of unless you have a printer like Will from BA.

[captTree]

Not that I know of unless you have a printer like Will from BA.

Obviously they do not make LEGO customized printers, but rather printers that can be used to print on any sort of plastic. If you can print a picture on a cup, then why not a small image on the minifig's torso? Question is, how much do they cost, where to get them and that's about it. Since LEGO prints their minifigs for a good amount of time now, I am certain that it is possible in the 21'st century to do the same for domestic purposes.