Customizers Corner - Updated list of Accessory Vendors

[GoN2Broadway]

Although we recently had the "Aftermarket Lego" thread revitalized, I thought a completely new thread which focused on the companies that are currently offering accessories for the Lego minifigure!

Vendors:

1)



"All BrickArms products are sized to perfectly fit your figs and designed and produced to meet the highest standards of quality. Each BrickArms toy will mesh seamlessly with your other building toys, and thousands of builders worldwide have used BrickArms to explore new ways of building and play. "

I find that I utilize BrickArms the most of all the various Independent Lego Accessory Vendors, and find them to have the right amount of detail for use with the LEGO minifigure. I also have never had any problems with the weapons not working with minifigure anatomy! My favorite items include the newly released ARC Rifle, the newly released Minigun, the MGL, and the M1919.

Website: http://www.BrickArms.com*
*You can no longer order BrickArms directly from their website - you have to order through resellers:


US Reseller -


GIBricks: http://www.GIBricks.com
-They have great customer service, and offer the full range of production BrickArms items.
-They OFTEN have sales on BrickArms items, as well as MANY giveaways.
-Visit their Flickr site or the BrickArms forums for exclusive deals and giveaways.

US Reseller -


Toywiz: http://www.ToyWiz.com
-They have great customer service, and offer the full range of BrickArms items, including BrickArms
protos.
-They OFTEN have sales on BrickArms items, as well as MANY giveaways.
-Visit their Flickr site or the BrickArms forums for exclusive deals and giveaways.

US Reseller -


- BrickMania: http://www.brickmania.com
-I have no experience with BrickMania.

Canada Reseller -


-BrickRepublic: http://www.brickrepublic.com
-They offer a wide selection of BrickArms products.
-I have no experience with BrickRepublic.


2)



BrickForge began with the collaboration between armothe and redbean combining to create a unique brand of BrickForge accessories to the LEGO community since 2006.

http://www.BrickForge.com

“We consider ourselves intermediaries between the community and the lumbering Danish company. For a long time the building experience has been the focus of creativity; but an increasing number of people are realizing their inner child through the role-play of the minifigs included in those sets. The mission of BrickForge is to fill in the gaps left open by LEGO and other brick-building companies.” – Armothe

“A lot of thought (and work!) goes into the creation of these tiny accessories. We do our best to consider ‘how would these look if LEGO made them’ and then we attempt to raise the bar even further.” – Redbean

BrickForge used to primarily offer items for LEGO fantasy realms, and they have some wonderful elements including headgear, body wear, and weapons to fill in gaps that LEGO has left unfilled. Today they also offer a number of items for a wide genre - some of my favorite items include their Halo...I mean Space Marine armor/Helmet, the newly released ODS...I mean Shock Trooper Armor/Helmet, as well as the ammo packs.

BrickForge offers great customer service and quick shipping!

3)


http://www.arealightcustoms.com/shop/home.php

Arealight customs offers some great items for the Star Wars enthusiast - if you're looking for a particular type of Clone armor or jetpack, Arealight probably has it! Not only do they provide some great Star Wars headgear/bodywear, but they also offer printed items that are very high quality!

4)


http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=TinyTactical

For those of you into modern military, tiny tactical offers some wonderful additions for BrickArms weapons as well as several in-house weapons as well. They are based in Canada, and ship to a wide variety of locations - they are close enough to the border of the US that they usually ship through USPS, although I find that shipping does take a little longer; however, the products are well worth it. The only downside - the prices do add up pretty quickly. I do highly recommend using Tiny Tactical, although it may not be as suitable for the young Lego enthusiast.

5) A Minifig.Cat

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Minifig.Cat

This store is based in Taiwan, and offer Lego-suitable accessories. When I first found A Minifig.cat's store, they were largely oriented towards accessories for asian cultures including samarai headgear/bodywear, in addition to many other items. They also offer items in the "Modern Military" vein which includes bodywear, headgear, and weapons. I would suggest ordering items in single quantities to start with, as some items do not fully fit within the LEGO minifigure anatomy (which includes many of the newly released rifles); however, some of my favorite items from A Minifig.cat include their Nightvision goggles, their black Marine Headgear (baseball hat), their Combat Knife (Bayonette L13), and their "belts".

6)


http://www.brickwarriors.com/

Ships to US AND Canada.

BrickWarriors is new in the Lego Accessory Vendors realm, although they seem to have some great items (I haven't had a chance to order from them yet) - they offer headgear, bodywear, and weapons, and fill several niche's that haven't been available previously.

"BrickWarriors accessories are all designed to fit seamlessly with your Lego® Minifigures.
They are produced in high quality ABS plastic – the same plastic used by Lego®. "

7) Amazing Armory

Amazing Armory does NOT seem to be around anymore although their products are still available at FireStar Toys (discussed below) - the price is higher when compared to other Lego Accessory Vendors. They offer headgear, bodywear, and weapons - I find the headgear often has problems of sticking on the minifigure head or is to loose, and I find the weapons aren't always designed with minifigure anatomy in mind; with that, I did like the wide array of items available from them as well as the level of detail that they presented.

8) United Armory



http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=UNITED_ARMORY

This was began as a store that was linked with Amazing Armory, however, with the problems that came up from Amazing Armory's choices, United Armory no longer offers their products. With that said, Pedro currently offers custom Printed Joker Heads (from the Dark Knight movie), and will soon be offering their own products which will be comparable to the Amazing Armory items (a joint venture between Pedro and Pecovam on Flickr). This will include some great Halo armor, modern military elements, and other unreleased information. These should be available around November 1st!

9) Fine Clonier Customs



http://www.fineclonier.com/

This site primarily offers decals for customizing minifigures, but it also offers several hand-molded items. I have used them for their decals, which are high-quality designs, but have not had the opportunity to order any of their molded materials.

10) Unknown Artist



http://www.unknown-artist.com/

Unknown Artist creates some really wonderful cloth accessories for use with your LEGO figures - they fit perfectly, and are VERY high quality. I personally love the hooded cloaks (which can be a little fragile at the hood, so be careful), and I also really love their trenchcoats and the BrickArms knife/machete holsters. The hand-molded Vibrosword is also unique, and good for your Mandalorians or other Star Wars figures. I will say - one of the biggest selling points for Unknown Artist, at least for me, is that they offer actual sleeves on their trenchcoats and robes, although that does also raise the price.

11)


http://www.mmcbcapes.servaus.net/

MMCB offers cloth accessories, which are VERY high quality, and are competitive with Unknown Artist in terms of quality.

12)


http://www.firestartoys.com

This company is based in the UK, although they do ship internationally. They offer a wide-array of Lego-compatable Accessories (including many listed above), as well as a wide variety of custom figures (which Customizers Corner will offer with reviews on another day). I have not used this company, so I can't speak for any of their services.

13) BrickTW

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=bricktw

I haven't utilized this company in the past, but it appears that they offer items that are similar to A Minifig.cat's store.


14) Shapeways

http://www.shapeways.com

Although this is not fully a Lego Accessory Vendor, this site allows user to upload CAD designs and "print" their items. This has been a great resource for many, and has certainly been utilized by LEGO fans who have created items including LEGO compatible lighters to Halo armor/weaponry. The prices are high, and the quality is not very high, but it does offer some unique options, as well as the ability to design a piece that you need for a figure and print it yourself. I have not bought anything from shapeways, but have seen several items that have intrigued me - you do have to be careful with what you buy - depending on the designer, the items may or may not be sized correctly for Lego minifigures.



This list is by no means complete, but it offers a great starting point for the Independent Lego Accessory vendors available to those of us who want to expand our LEGO universe, or fully jump into LEGO customization. I hope that this has helped, and please feel free to add any other companies that you like, or your thoughts with the retailers mentioned above.

Family Bricks

[Mantisking]

5) A Minifig.Cat

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Minifig.Cat

This store is based in Taiwan, and offer Lego-suitable accessories. When I first found A Minifig.cat's store, they were largely oriented towards accessories for asian cultures including samarai headgear/bodywear, in addition to many other items. They also offer items in the "Modern Military" vein which includes bodywear, headgear, and weapons. I would suggest ordering items in single quantities to start with, as some items do not fully fit within the LEGO minifigure anatomy (which includes many of the newly released rifles); however, some of my favorite items from A Minifig.cat include their Nightvision goggles, their black Marine Headgear (baseball hat), their Combat Knife (Bayonette L13), and their "belts".

I thought we established in the other discussion that these products were actually Saidan products?

7) Amazing Armory

Amazing Armory does NOT seem to be around anymore although their products are still available at FireStar Toys (discussed below) - the price is higher when compared to other Lego Accessory Vendors. They offer headgear, bodywear, and weapons - I find the headgear often has problems of sticking on the minifigure head or is to loose, and I find the weapons aren't always designed with minifigure anatomy in mind; with that, I did like the wide array of items available from them as well as the level of detail that they presented.

I know that Hazel, the guy behind Amazing Armory, was in a motorcycle back when he was first getting started. Perhaps he is still having problems? Or has he just given up entirely?

13) BrickTW

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=bricktw

I haven't utilized this company in the past, but it appears that they offer items that are similar to A Minifig.cat's store.

I wouldn't compare them to A.Minifig.Cat. BrickTW's items are based on Chinese martial arts weapons rather than the Japanese stuff you see from A.M.C.

I also have Citizen Brick, Custom Crazy, Brickarmy, and Brick Command in my third party Lego sellers links.

[GoN2Broadway]

7)
I thought we established in the other discussion that these products were actually Saidan products?

Several of their products were designed for Saidan figures, however, many of their products are perfect for the LEGO minifigure. The weapons tend to be hit or miss due to the differences between the two figures, but headgear, bodywear, and accessories all fully fit the LEGO minifigure anatomy.

7)
I know that Hazel, the guy behind Amazing Armory, was in a motorcycle back when he was first getting started. Perhaps he is still having problems? Or has he just given up entirely?

Well, this is actually a long story - a while back Hazel was in a motorcycle accident that halted his work on custom accessories. When he returned, he eventually had problems with his partners, and split off from them. Around this point he started releasing the "Halo" armor series, as well as a number of other weapons/armor combinations which were supposedly ABS plastic. Long story short, Hazel ended up scamming a VAST amount of people out of quite a bit of money (including his US Reseller Pedro of United Armory). At this point I don't think Hazel will be returning, although as I mentioned a little later - Pedro and Pecovam of Flickr are starting a venture which will offer similar products with the high level of detail for which AMA was well known.

7)
I wouldn't compare them to A.Minifig.Cat. BrickTW's items are based on Chinese martial arts weapons rather than the Japanese stuff you see from A.M.C.

Although I haven't used them, from looking through the products they offer, it appears that the quality and plastic are very similar to those from A.M.C. with differences in the products they offer. Both companies are located in Taiwan. Have you used BrickTW before?

7)
I also have Citizen Brick, Custom Crazy, Brickarmy, and Brick Command in my third party Lego sellers links.

Can't believe I left out BrickCommand - I haven't seen Custom Crazy or BrickArmy before, but I'll get those up. Do you have any experience in ordering from them, or the quality of their products? We'll have another post soon for sites like Citizen Brick with actual custom figures :) I'll get the other two added to the initial post very soon - thanks!

[Mantisking]

I thought we established in the other discussion that these products were actually Saidan products?

Several of their products were designed for Saidan figures, however, many of their products are perfect for the LEGO minifigure. The weapons tend to be hit or miss due to the differences between the two figures, but headgear, bodywear, and accessories all fully fit the LEGO minifigure anatomy.

Okay.

I know that Hazel, the guy behind Amazing Armory, was in a motorcycle back when he was first getting started. Perhaps he is still having problems? Or has he just given up entirely?

Well, this is actually a long story - a while back Hazel was in a motorcycle accident that halted his work on custom accessories. When he returned, he eventually had problems with his partners, and split off from them. Around this point he started releasing the "Halo" armor series, as well as a number of other weapons/armor combinations which were supposedly ABS plastic. Long story short, Hazel ended up scamming a VAST amount of people out of quite a bit of money (including his US Reseller Pedro of United Armory). At this point I don't think Hazel will be returning, although as I mentioned a little later - Pedro and Pecovam of Flickr are starting a venture which will offer similar products with the high level of detail for which AMA was well known.

Wow. I didn't know about the whole scam thing.

I wouldn't compare them to A.Minifig.Cat. BrickTW's items are based on Chinese martial arts weapons rather than the Japanese stuff you see from A.M.C.

Although I haven't used them, from looking through the products they offer, it appears that the quality and plastic are very similar to those from A.M.C. with differences in the products they offer. Both companies are located in Taiwan. Have you used BrickTW before?

No, although I've been drooling over them since the first time I saw them as I study a chinese martial art and I'm a fan of HK film.

I also have Citizen Brick, Custom Crazy, Brickarmy, and Brick Command in my third party Lego sellers links.

Can't believe I left out BrickCommand - I haven't seen Custom Crazy or BrickArmy before, but I'll get those up. Do you have any experience in ordering from them, or the quality of their products? We'll have another post soon for sites like Citizen Brick with actual custom figures :) I'll get the other two added to the initial post very soon - thanks!

The only people I've ordered from are BrickArms and BrickForge. But seeing as some of the others have Bricklink stores I should give them a try.

[markerpk]

Thought you all would be interested in thishttp://stores.ebay.com/Customize-Access ... 34.c0.m322 ebay seller. Sells some very high quality custom made printed torsos at a pretty good price and will do custom print requests.

[royalbrickcustoms]

I own a BrickLink store called Royal Brick Customs Shop. We specialize in providing custom castle-themed fabric accessories for use with LEGO minifigures.

Link to the store:

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=RBCustoms

Vendor's Logo:

[Brick_r]

Hi folks, think I found one:
Atomic Bricks:
http://atomicbricks.com/
They seem to have some really cool stuff on their site, but they have even cooler stuff on their Shapeways site: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/republiccustoms

Myself, I’m eyeing a few items on the latter site post-taxes.