LEGO’s Fan Operated Market Explained

[@thecosmonaut4221]

I may or may have not been pronouncing Jonak’s name wrong… Allegedly

[@DarkLord10387]

And all breaking the law

[@DarkLord10387]

Copy right infringement is one hell of a drug when the law catches up to you

[@thecosmonaut4221]

@@DarkLord10387nah

[@Commander23c]

The Clone Wars didn't "fix" the prequels to anybody except casuals with a surface-level understanding of Star Wars. As for the Lego Customs market being so absurdly priced- you're too new and haven't found WM Blocks, Xinh, or any non-Western company lmao. I really hate casuals and somehow the casual Star Wars fans have found their way to Lego now too. Great. BTW: You forget something that has been said in this community for twenty years- if you can't buy it...then make it yourself. No vendor owes you anything. Welcome to the free market.

[@thecosmonaut4221]

@@Commander23c um I made a point to say you can make it yourself… there’s a whole segment talking about it and is said once again at the end

[@acatstudios8853]

Republic bricks putting his own logo on the back of minifig legs is so stupid, bro is so full of himself

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Trademark stamp

[@ryanlloyd1329]

Republic is a scam artist fr fr, hate that mf

[@Manzodude]

Which sucks because some of his figs are pretty good too

[@ShinyToyRobots]

@@thecosmonaut4221nah it’s his trampstamp which is worse.

[@LOLiXLOLIX]

Republic bricks even exist now?

[@Bulbz124]

It's crazy how people will complain about lego's prices but will spend $20-$30 on one minifigure

[@cutestcreeper569]

Especially customs. Custom figures should only be 20 dollars at most. If a seller wants one of their customs to be rare, they should make less of it and let the community decide its resell price.

[@SMOKED.BRICK.PRODUCTIONS]

Most iv spent is $300 on 1 fig 😂 customs are horrible

[@0netrick198]

@@cutestcreeper569 the price it takes to make a fig is >$20, so the prices make sense

[@DogeickBateman]

People who spend 30 on pieces of miniature plastic need a check up

[@0netrick198]

@@DogeickBateman bro we all buy pieces of plastic that’s a crazy argument

[@TheGW923]

GCC is such an interesting group in that people will still buy from them despite almost every design having errors resulting in V2, V3, V4, their use of sanded parts, stealing designs, and using fake parts. Maybe CAC doing more 180 figs in LEGO’s style will finally kill them off. If they ever update the website..

[@vintagecustoms8127]

If CAC made LEGO-style figures at his prices and moulds? Easily. GCC would be dethroned fast. CAC has always been good about restocking, communication and quality control. I’ve only ever had one issue with them where my order wasn’t shipped and this was due to an error with their worldwide shipper, and they instantly refunded me and sent out replacement parts despite me only requesting a refund. GCC is seemingly impossible to get into contact with

[@original.handle]

CAC will still be my go to. Although expensive, they provide a quality product. The creator is actually apart of the community who regularly attends conventions and reposts mocs/posts/etc whenever he is tagged. Also their customer support is amazing. Y̶e̶s̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶l̶l̶

[@Revan638]

Not to mention there figure stayed the same price unlike gcc

[@bigsharon7263]

i have to thank you for blessing us with a nearly hour long video

[@Vor1ki]

My only complaint if this video is I wish you talked about CAC more, how they have never changed prices, how great of a person Tyler is, how CAC for IMO better quality, is cheaper then modern GCC and easier to get. Otherwise this was a fantastic video covering everything else. Definitely picking up a Clone engineer helmet now.

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Damn you write guess was just caught up with the modern day but would love to do like a dedicated CAC stuff cause it’s fucking cool to know he’s been in the scene for over 10 years

[@maydayfigs]

Tyler rocks

[@mcnastythegreat2305]

@@maydayfigsdidn’t you say you hated his helmets in a video like 2 weeks ago 😂

[@maydayfigs]

@@mcnastythegreat2305 what does that have to do with tyler?

[@IsaacBoyle-z7z]

170,000 is literal pocket change to a company like Lego. for reference, Lego made 64.65 BILLION revenue in 2022. If you made 170,000 everyday, you would only make 62 million

[@jillianpoggertage6539]

Only?

[@deeznutz5248]

Only?

[@subzeroalphaq]

@@jillianpoggertage6539 that is less that a thousandth, 0.001% of their revenue

[@hattmanhendrix7999]

That is the salary of a single machinist for mold making…

[@anderson2706]

@@subzeroalphaqa thousandth is equal to 0,1%

[@thrillhouse4151]

Of course it’s the LEGO Star Wars crowd fussing enough to pay top dollar for the same minifigure that just has a little colorful stripe on it or some guy that showed up for a couple episodes in a cartoon.

[@pancakes8670]

Ikr? I remember watching videos of Lego Star Wars KZbinrs being like "This clone commander SUCKS because there's this one line here that doesn't exist in his official design! Lego HATES US!"

[@copeman1183]

@@pancakes8670it’s the biggest strawman being peddled by a majority of the KZbinrs. It’s so annoying.

[@Hucklefart_Dinklejartin]

An advantage ive found with decals is you get a much wider variety of fig options. Rather than a single design that takes potentially months to be pad printed, you can have 5 variants of the same design with recolors for each variant done in like a day.

[@jaycee2205]

45:35 I had no idea that GCC had stolen designs until now

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Like I said 3 weeks ago, that’s funny

[@Robot_Eva]

This video definitely needs a part 2. In particular I would love to hear you go into more detail about the custom molded parts and figures as I felt the focus was very clone centric. Learning more about custom alien head molds, custom animal molds, and custom molds that replicate the lego star wars complete saga video game would be very cool and enlightening on some of the manufacturers of those more niche products I feel like my main problem with these new producers like GCC isnt even so much that it's very expensive more so than it is that you can never find their stuff in stock. The official resellers are all always nearly empty with what items they offer saved for the holiday themed junk no one wants. I get that the process isn't cheap so I don't mind forking over the money but I cant even do that when the figures are never available. This, like many flaws, is hardly ever seen with CAC as any time I go on their admittedly archaic site, nothing I'm looking for is out of stock. Hell, I can even buy older versions of designs if I really wanted to. I would love to see a custom community where we have a bunch of different manufacturers who can not only out out quality product but also be reliable with their stock and manufacturing. It's ridiculous and counterintuitive to create the same hype cycles that lock out official versions of these characters from new collectors but that is exactly what preorders and 2 minute sell out times do. I mean seriously, who wants to stay up until midnight waiting for a new figure to drop? You should be producing enough to fill the demand that reviewer showcases are obviously going to bring but sadly, as you said, most manufacturers either cant or dont want to risk making more figures in stock than can be sold out on initial release I was there for the new zam wessel release by mayday and gcc and even though I did the whole song and dance, the damn things sold out before I could even hit order And thank you once again for calling out community clowns like republic bricks and mandr. More people need to do that tbh and I'm glad you're using your platform to take a stand against their underhanded behavior

[@error_ale9826]

This video brought me back, I remember painting custom dc and marvel mini figures and even uploaded the majority of them to my old KZbin channel. The community was always so friendly and welcoming

[@UrbanSpidey]

THERE I AM, GARY, THERE I AM! LOOK GARY, THERE I AM AGAIN!!! For real tho this is a great video, and I've wanted to make a similar one on my experience with and rediscovery of the custom minifigure world and how it changed since i was into it back in the 2009-2012 era. this video really covers it all, great job!

[@Brickster200]

This is literally the best custom video I've ever seen,love the editing .

[@kanjiklubskywalker4951]

I always wanted to get into customs for mocs and all that, not just to display the figs but to actually use them, but with these prices even buying one named character is not wasy to justify

[@thecosmonaut4221]

There’s always alternatives but if you want the quality you’re gonna sadly have to fork over the money

[@Voxovan]

Never expected Chito to do a 1-hour-long video essay on Lego Customs

[@thecosmonaut4221]

You love to see it

[@henrymccalla]

JONAK's engineer helmet is actually from a knockoff company called World Minifigs; he just adds colored stripes.

[@GR97471]

Yeah I noticed that too, I also saw that the ATRT driver helmet comes from the same branch of knockoff Nova Corp troopers on Aliexpress. At least the torso piece seems to be their own 2020 design.

[@joyoustye2326]

He does that with a lot of items. I don't hate the knockoff parts he sells but I wish he'd be more upfront about it

[@thecosmonaut4221]

@@joyoustye2326yeah I didn’t even know about this wish he was upfront but god damn this Plastic feels great quality wise

[@kbwarriors]

Yeah he sells some knock off parts that I've seen and gotten on ALIEXPRESS. His backpacks for example I've gotten on fake figs for less than a dollar. Same with the guns.

[@Blys-Bricks]

48:50 that’s a crazy clone army 👀 Great video btw 😂

[@thecosmonaut4221]

You have any idea how many hairs I pulled figuring out the channel I yoinked the footage from.

[@PurpleBrickfilms]

This is such a great video! I really appreciate that you went all in with this and made it as long as you did. As someone who doesn’t know too much about the custom figure landscape, this really broadened my view.

[@thecosmonaut4221]

This video is for people like you

[@kaiwood6471]

tbh CAC is still my go-to for customs. Never had any issues with quality and their prices feel pretty fair

[@greyisland217]

That clone engineer is beautiful

[@LonelyGamer4]

THANK YOU for mentioning Base 327. For the past couple of years I’ve been trying to find those videos but couldn’t remember the name!

[@vintagecustoms8127]

As a custom figure painter, I have the ability to make literally whatever I want, and the cost is all up to me. However, I’m a big Clone Wars fanboy, and I have no need for painting my own Clones, as I want them to be like official LEGO. This is where people like GCC come in. Genuinely, I love the figures. I own a few. I will say that today, it’s a filthy business. I missed out on Commander Wolffe THREE TIMES. From the V1 to the V3. Ever since he blew up, getting one of his new releases is almost impossible. I, like you, woke up early to snag him on release but literally as I hit “place order” it refreshed and said it was sold out. Same thing happened with that Season 4 Pre Viszla I wanted. The custom figure market is blowing up in a horrible way because now all the scalpers are getting into it. Us working class schmucks have to fight like it’s a Black Friday opening to get a character we love. The prices I also strongly agree with you on. Why the fuck is one Clone $40 (CAD) without shipping and taxes when I want to amass a few of them? We’re all willing to pay tooth and nail for these characters because LEGO is unwilling to make them but now these companies are just falling into the same problems as LEGO because the prices are too high and there is not enough stock made for the demand. Every single reseller is sold out within five seconds of the drop being live makes me sick to my stomach. I’ve since kind of stopped buying these custom figures because I’m waiting for the hype to die down so it’s actually possible to acquire the figures you want. Great video man would love to chat more about this shit with you on instagram

[@Fresher-qx9rk]

I love the futurama clips you put in your videos

[@FmC20068]

Better than buying 2nd hand figs from resellers

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Almost about the same price if not more

[@FmC20068]

@@thecosmonaut4221 yeah but you’re definitely getting a better deal with the custom figs/ parts which are basically brand new

[@thecosmonaut4221]

@@FmC20068true

[@FloofMother]

@@FmC20068not if you’re buying from republicbricks

[@SMOKED.BRICK.PRODUCTIONS]

After is way marked up

[@zathistory]

I'm a simple man. I see a new cosmonaut video in my feed, I click on said video.

[@ComicBoy750]

47:04 Wait, I’ve been looking for that Iridescent Clone from GCC ever since I barely missed the point it was still in stock back in January. Thanks for giving me the exact info to look up! Also, great video! I definitely agreed with quite a bit of it!

[@stemes2860]

it is getting a restock also

[@BrickfilmPictures]

lego community: lego prices are too much also lego community:(charges 100 bucks for 1 minifigure)

[@takumi-san116]

The Lego Jurassic Park clip you showed hit like a flashbang. I watched that video so much when I was younger.

[@shaggy1628]

27:27 You, sir, are 100% correct. I don't know what people that like those pauldrons are on

[@LIMITLESS2774]

0:23 transformers prime did the same too (even came out the same time or something) and i own 3 autobots from the cartoon and one voyager starscreak (hes broken im getting tfp voyager megatron or dotm ratchet or rotf smokescreen)

[@luxio6765]

This video has insane value. Bless you man, hope you make it big

[@username.mp4387]

War crimes being what the clone wars is known for its truly an amazing legacy

[@rayray-zd1du]

I'm still waiting for a company to make cutsom figures based on Lego's non-licensed themes.

[@ionobru]

Fr bro, I need gcc quality ninjago customs

[@MRTHUNDER.]

@@ionobruthere are some

[@ionobru]

@@MRTHUNDER. where, I NEED IT

[@MRTHUNDER.]

@@ionobru brink by mind on yt has links

[@d4vdsw]

the efforts you put in your videos is crazy dude

[@Last-Surprise]

This was a great video pointing out everything that needs to be known and that’s kept under the rug

[@YesDaniel2004]

Pad printing is the best method. Yes its a little bit expensive but its worth it. 🎉 I'm currently saving my money to buy one of those pad printing machine. 😊

[@captainswagger2838]

The prices of custom stuff is one of the most interesting things with customs to me. I was talking to a friend about some fallout stuff popping up in different places. From one place you can get uv printed version of the t-60 power armor for 25$. In another place for 23$ you can get full resin printed armor sets for minifigs. And at another place you can the same power armor resin printed in a more Lego style for 40$. Prices are just kinda silly in general

[@TheScottishArtist]

34:32 If you'd done your job, known your place we'd all be fine right no- memory of the great times it used to be...

[@OnePlusOneEqualsZero]

36:00 Aqua blended in too damn well man

[@prod.yvmu1]

34:47 no audio. Have no idea if KZbin is just shit or not

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Copyright

[@ganchyy]

you're tellin me i get off work to an hour long cosmo vid? huge

[@ganchyy]

AND THERES P3 MUSIC

[@thecosmonaut4221]

@@ganchyyyes

[@TheBrixHub]

That throwback to Pizzamovies hit different 🥲

[@Montz99]

Not sure if you have or not, but a video on baggles and LCM’s business history would be interesting. Loved this video

[@viperson9818]

Decal has always been my way to go for customs but that’s because I haven’t man handled them and only use them as display. So far no peeling even with the ones I’ve decaled two+ years ago. But it’s definitely a route that needs a ton of practice and patience to get right. But once you do getting a full decal figure could cost only like $4-8 bucks per figure. AV have definitely my go to place to get decals and they release misprinted bodies(not that badly misprinted foe cheap)

[@nathonso_edits]

Damn, yeah you've explained exactly how I've been feeling about lego content recently, I miss the old days of stop motions and customs. I will give a shout out to Jonathan on the MiniSuperheroesToday channel tho, he makes some great custom figures from official parts

[@LBoomsky]

nice thumbnail, this will blow up :3

[@thecosmonaut4221]

I hope

[@bricksterquickster5502]

The Lego's own uv printing seems super intresting I want to do atleast once like bringing back some old, cracked and worn out torsos or make something Lego never made, a white button up shirt. Nothing else really fun to see Lego evolving to the point we can print our own minifigs officially I'd say it as a win-win stradegy

[@hautti5]

1:38 MOM! MOM, I made it into a The Cosmonaut video! I’m famous! Oh and the video itself was… fine, I guess… Nah, I’m just playin, another absolute banger as to be expected, keep up the fantastic work my man!

[@thecosmonaut4221]

🫡

[@RustbeltCollector]

This is my whole childhood and Lego collecting timeline rolled into one video!! I guess we all had the “clone commando” idea back in the day 😂

[@ChaosCrusader-r8n]

Love your videos, they’re hilarious and comprehensive. I love custom minifigures, specially war related ones because Lego refuses to do that. I love representing war crimes from WWI with minifigures!

[@linkf78]

As a Lego purist, it is interesting to hear all of these. Still, I am not entering the rabbit hole.

[@ricardomartinez8430]

So we had the same childhood in regards with Friday nights

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Pretty much

[@Fredsbricks]

HOLY SHIT JUST REALIZED IM IN A COSMO VIDEO! 43:43

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Go to bed

[@NoOne-rg7tt]

You are my favourite Lego Star Wars creator by far.

[@justsomerandom934]

Another banger video, funny how I just got into decaling right before this dropped too lmao

[@Verymusician193]

11:34 I can't imagine anyone who hadn't added hair and a ski mask with a sharpie. The worse part is a few years later, when you realise that you have ruined almost all of your LEGO.

[@adancastro9027]

Lego customs are great and niche so as someone who also does mega bloks/Construx customs making these toys is a great hobby to get into.

[@deez1883]

35:35 THE VINTAGE COLLECTION STAYS ON TOP 🔝

[@thecosmonaut4221]

When will TVC share the wealth of that design team

[@Fredsbricks]

your best vid yet Nano Jurassic!

[@thecosmonaut4221]

i hate you

[@Fredsbricks]

@@thecosmonaut4221 edging rn

[@Alphafloodpng]

If only the bionicle community made the same amount of customs that the Lego star wars community has made

[@thecosmonaut4221]

I may or may have not heard of *something*

[@krisstasko]

Shameless plug, Check out Red Star Games, specifically the Red Star Forge for fantastic masks ;)

[@no.ca5270]

Please what is the music at 51:06

[@micahnike18]

I love the decal representation! In my experience, a decalled minifig is a step down from pad printing but better quality than UV printing, and MUCH cheaper as well! Yes, I am biased because I sell decalled minifigs but someone like me can sell a minifig that is 10 whole dollars cheaper than GCC! They are even cheaper if you buy all the materials and make them yourself

[@KaygeeFromNanotrasen]

Me buying AliExpress clones en masse:

[@carryme5283]

After that I change their helmets

[@KaygeeFromNanotrasen]

@@carryme5283 idk some of the more recent ones have been pretty damn good

[@LIMITLESS2774]

Not the fucking dead prime pic

[@KaygeeFromNanotrasen]

@@LIMITLESS2774 mfw

[@travisF15.0]

I ordered the "printed arm replacements" for the new battle packs from LegoEmpire and it took 4 months to get and didnt even come with the shock trooper arms. Zero communication either

[@The123tactics]

I probably had a couple dozen 2008 P1 clones, the crimes that have happened to those. I have 3 left.

[@thecosmonaut4221]

I have none lol so many clones are just gone now

[@mustysprinkler]

1:02 don't feel bad, I ruined my ARC trooper and phase one Cody, and Gree and I regret it every day LOL

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Damn, I gave my Cody and arc away to some kid who just sold it

[@nikosefstratiades6038]

45:30 * Minecraft cave noise * playes

[@Hehe.3.]

I didn’t know GCC was based in China. Considering the business practices that Chinese companies often partake in I’m cautiously watching their future. I really like their near Lego style and hope more people do stuff like them. I personally want to get into pad printing myself but idk how much goes into this and what materials I’ll need.

[@namiest8639]

I like this video because its quite informative and adore the anime characters shown in the small snippets.

[@hedgehog3528]

Holy shit base 327 that’s some nostalgia right there

[@hornedgoddess8191]

I just recently became interested in lego star wars stuff and it was such a shock to see the crazy prices even for mini figures

[@lbricks7631]

Excellent video.

[@zanderfus2723]

a cosmonaut video! we have been blessed by the lord!

[@Superdude4001]

2008-2014 were some of the best years to be alive in

[@endernitesbros4822]

I just bought fives, appo, waxer and boil helmets and a Rex and Fox kama from GCC, could be happier with the quality! Thank you for bringing me into this crazy new world!

[@OnePlusOneEqualsZero]

40:58 I feel called out on so many levels. I literally JUST BOUGHT THAT FIGURE CUZ I WAS LIKE DANG THATS COOL. tbh it makes me wanna make my x-wing into Hera's.

[@blockomaniac]

Maaan I sharpied so many clones after little-kid-me discovered MGF's channel back in 2008

[@Ash21]

Really nice video! I'm interested in getting into customs for stuff like TCS figures/designs and niche things like the clone engineer, but there's just so many different companies out there, that I don't really know where to start, not to mention confusing websites like GCC. Would be nice if someone created a list of well known/liked custom creators and the types of stuff they make, along with links to stuff they have made or are selling.

[@razormachete1256]

Nobleartist my goat✊🏽😔

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Gone but never forgotten

[@roku144]

Super cool video! My first watch of yours and not my last! I’ve been into customizing my clones with sharpies as a kid, but now as an AFOL, I can actually afford to try out a “fancy clone”. I’m specifically looking for Appo, but the info on a huge part of the scene is awesome to learn about. I definitely remember CloneArmyCustoms from back in 08 being the top dawg. Cool to see about GCC’s change to the game !

[@astralflick]

Really well done video. You really articulate how I feel about lego being more creative and imaginative. I never really enjoyed the prequels, I thought they were boring, but that was okay because there were plenty of OT and clone wars sets. Now I feel like all the “cheap” sets are clone troopers because the fans demand it. They demand it because they can resell it. Really sad, make lego creative again.

[@anonymanonym9335]

About the custom figures, even my classmate in a mid sized city in eastern europe is making some decals and custom helmets at home, so yeah, the thing is everywhere, when it gets to these places...

[@joyoustye2326]

Cac is not irrelevant. I'm not sure why thats brought up at all

[@thecosmonaut4221]

More of me focusing on the growing wants I’m seeing of the community in recent time in no way did I try to like bring them down but the way how I worded it yeah it does sound like that so my bad

[@joyoustye2326]

@@thecosmonaut4221 it just seemed a tad out of touch to me I guess

[@mattsmocs3281]

Pizza movies reference. 🥺 i miss the greatest series of animations ever made.

[@thequestion8697]

My first custom figure was making a pretty okay looking headless horseman. I took an extra vader i had, painted over his torso with black and purple, cut off the neck piece entirely, then I glued a red cap to him, gave him a black horse and he terrorised every single lego set i had. Kinda wish I still had him.

[@goldyrl5172]

Your my new favourite Lego Star wars KZbinr

[@OpticBlast-yk5hf]

Is it just me, or is the 25th anniversary Fives’ pauldron cloth better than the 2012 ARC Trooper’s pauldron?

[@RedTeam_Medic]

Clones used to feel special because we only got a few different ones over the years, now everyone is pumping out every clone under the sun

[@goldyrl5172]

As someone who also got the republic frigate when it first came out it hurts to see what you did to commander Wolffe

[@NBL_USMC]

Is it just me or does the audio cut out at 34:36 ?

[@tom.the.builder]

44:40 that pauldron is CAC, not GCC. You’re supposed to remove the plastic underside before placing the cloth on the figure (I owned the same pauldron for years before someone told me what I was doing wrong 😂)

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Yeah after looking at one of my bulk orders I saw it was CAC so that’s on me butttt I did not know that the plastic underside needed to be remove lmao why isn’t that officially mentioned in sites

[@tom.the.builder]

That’s what I’m saying bro… confusing customer experience

[@kraZylegos]

I never noticed that RB figs had the signature inside the legs.

[@thecosmonaut4221]

Tramp stamp

[@kraZylegos]

@@thecosmonaut4221 agreed that is what the vibe is

[@thecosmonaut4221]

34:36 - COPYRIGHT

[@jeremycross8598]

Please tell me there is a full song with the I'm never paying my taxes lines.

[@joyoustye2326]

The segment on the jonak engineer helmets is funny since they're actually knockoff parts, but if they're seen through the lens of being customs then it makes them seem better than they otherwise would be. Also it was really strange to not see much discussion on CAC. Perhaps that could make for a separate video

[@thecosmonaut4221]

It will since it’s literally 10+ years of operation alone

[@Delta21OnYT]

using Iwatodai Dorm for the itinerary transition is based

[@krisstasko]

You're right that CAC doesn't do much in regards of style, but the prices are still decent for what they come with, and I haven't had any QC issues with anything I've got. If they ever decide to catch up to others with designs, Even just doing more imperial designs, they'd shoot back up imo

[@kadenogden7567]

CAC is probably my favorite. Their quality is the best, and I think their prices are pretty fair.