Dearly Departed Custom Contest

Dearly Departed - Custom Action Figure Contest!

Contest Winners:

1st

2nd

3rd

View Contest Entries

Like it or not, we all have to die someday, but not just anyone gets a custom-made action figure to commemorate their existence! The object of August's contest here at Figure Realm is to create a figure of a deceased character, either from fiction or the real world. They may be gone, but your hand-made masterpieces will prove that they haven't been forgotten! You could make any fictional entity that has ever perished in a comic book, movie, television show, literary work, or other media. Maybe you'd like to cobble together a custom toy of a famous celebrity or historical figure that is no longer with us. Perhaps you'd rather craft a keepsake figure to honor someone you've lost in your personal life. You could even do an extinct organism like a dinosaur. It doesn't matter if they've been dead a day or thousands of years.

- This isn't a corpse or ghost contest: your goal is to make the character as they were when they were alive. However, you don't have to match the appearance of the person at the age that they expired; you may choose a look/outfit from any time during their life (i.e., a Michael Jackson figure could represent whatever period of his musical career that interests you the most.)

- It's okay if the deceased character that you want to customize is dead in one universe/adaptation but still amongst the living in another. For example, a Jack Nicholson Joker would be a legal entry (he fell to his death in the first Tim Burton Batman movie), despite the fact that the "real" comic book Joker is alive and well, because said film is its own little separate reality.

- There are no size/scale limitations and you can use whatever parts/materials/tools that you desire to immortalize the fallen.

What is the contest schedule?

Begins:	Contest Closed
Ends:	August 31st, 2011 - Last day for submissions. No exceptions! Cut off is at midnight Central Standard Time.
Voting:	September 1st - 7th.

What are the rules of the contest?

Please use the form here to submit your custom figure.
At least a paragraph description is required with your entry. This paragraph, at a minimum, should answer the following questions:

How was this custom customized?
How does the custom fit into the contest theme?

You may submit up to three different entries for the contest.
Please only submit figures that were created for this contest. Do not submit old figures from the Showcase or previous contest entries.
Your entry should not be posted on this website, any other website, or anywhere on the internet until the contest is completely over.
The pictures for your entry will remain hidden until the contest ends and the voting begins.
Your identity will remain hidden until after the voting completes.
Do not include names, logos, signatures or anything on the pictures that will give you away as the creator of the custom. We want to keep the customizer's identity a secret until the contest is over.
The contest is purely for fun... well... and bragging rights!

How does the contest voting work?

Anyone can vote for their favorite customs in the contest, you don't even have to submit anything to the contest! You do have to be logged-in to your Figure Realm account though so we can keep track of the votes. Only appointed Figure Realm staff can see the votes, so anonymity is guaranteed. Voting begins once the entry deadline is met and lasts for a week.

It's hard to choose just one custom to vote on when there are tons of great entries, so Figure Realm has a unique voting system where you can vote on ALL the customs! When you click on an entry to view, there's a bar with buttons on it that lets you give the custom anywhere from 1 to 5 Stars. 1 Star means you think they could have done a better job on the custom while 5 Stars means you think they did a perfect job. The votes for each entry are added up when voting is closed and averaged-out to determine the winners. Also, don't abuse the system. Don't give your own custom 5 Stars and then give everyone else 1 Star to boost your rating. Remember, the votes are monitored.

Some points you might consider when casting your vote: Is the figure well-made? Is the paint smooth or crusty? Are there noticeable fingerprints on the sculpted parts? Is it an original custom? Is it accurate to the source-material (comics, photos, description in a book)? Are the pictures clear enough to see the details? Did the creator take the time to include a back-story or recipe? Is the custom so unbelievably awesome that you'd trade your girlfriend for it?

Craftsmanship and creativity are major factors to consider, but ultimately your vote should depend on how much you like the custom, and how well you feel it fits the contest theme.