Before They Were Heroes Custom Contest
Nobody starts out life as a hero - an individual generally has to work their way up from mundane origins to become the stuff of legends. The object of this challenge is to create a custom figure of any existing character depicting what they looked like before they took up the fight against crime or gained superpowers.
- How you approach this challenge will be dependent on the history of whatever character you choose to focus on, but here are some examples to get you thinking: Family man Frank Castle (Punisher). Normal police officer Alex Murphy (Robocop). Pet shop turtles (TMNT). Government operative Al Simmons (Spawn). Teenager Peter Parker before he was bitten by a radioactive spider (Spider-man). Test pilot Hal Jordan (Green Lantern). Various young Marvel Comics mutants before their powers expressed themselves (Colossus, etc.)
- While the title of this contest says heroes, you can also choose to explore the dark side and do "Before They Were Villains" instead. So, stuff like: College student Victor Von Doom (Dr. Doom). Pre-transformation street punks (Bebop and Rocksteady). Smeagol prior to his corruption by the one ring (Gollum).
- There aren't any limitations on size/scale and you may use whatever base bodies, parts, materials, tools, and techniques you like to bring your custom visions to life.
Please remember to follow the
Contest Rules and to
Vote Fairly.
Contest Winners:
1st
2nd
3rd
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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.
- Don't wait until the last day to submit your entries. If your internet is down, or something happens beyond your control, you will miss the contest! Also keep in mind how many customs you can submit in one day. You may not be able to submit all your entries in one day.
- 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 dog 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.
What is the contest schedule?
| Begins: | Contest Closed |
| Ends: | September 15th, 2012 - Last day for submissions. No exceptions! Cut off is at midnight Central Standard Time. |
| Voting: | September 16th - 22nd. |
| Managed By: | Patraw |
Example Pictures for Ideas
View Contest Entries 
User Comments
Seems to be random, now that I am trying to make it do it. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.
please reply
Go into "Account" and pick "Update" Collector Profile to change your avatar. I just changed mine to match my forum avatar.
However, if there is an alternate origin for Steve that I'm not aware of, where he did serve as a normal soldier prior to becoming Captain America, then it would be okay (just make sure that you state in your entry description what your source material is so that the voters know where you're coming from).