Budget Action Figures

There has been some discussion about how expensive this hobby is. This is to show that it doesn't have to be. Since it is almost Halloween, we'll use that as a theme. This dress is based on a costume in the Nier Automata video game. I thought that it would make a good witch's dress so started collecting pieces to complement it. The dress has wire in the hem for posing. Cost $21 including shipping.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002655476117.html



Next is the head. If you are patient, you can get good head sculpts on eBay for decent prices. I simply put a max bid of $15 on every head that I like and wait for one to win. I got this one for $9.50 including shipping. The black hair and purple eye-shadow work for this theme.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Women-Head-Sculpt-Long-Hair-Purple-Eyeshadow-Fit-12-039-039-Female-Action-Figure-Body-/265225156961



Next is the body. We all like seamless figures but they are pretty expensive and IMO a waste of money if the figure is going to be covered with clothing. There are jointed figures that have the same neck and ball-joint as the TBLs and the Jiaous so you can use the good headsculpts. They are fairly posable (see pic) and there are a lot of different ones for less than $20. I think the best ones are KUMIK and Verycool

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001391856222.html


Here is a review of six different budget figures
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t3346-low-budget-jointed-males-review-head-update

Display stand. Twelve of these for $15 or $1.25 ea.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002006381742.html



Hat. I could have made my own from a scrap piece of felt but this was less than $2 without the elastic.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003121129407.html



Stockings. These were less than $3 including shipping.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002397946758.html



Shoes. Shoes are tricky because many won't fit. These were on sale for less than $4 (normally $5) and fit well.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32807935588.html

Can't have a witch without a broom. I was going to make one but they are cheap to buy. The largest one (17.5cm) is good for 1:6 scale and costs less than $5 for a dozen of them (approx. $0.40 ea.) I stained the wood and tie with a black sharpie.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003182299282.html



Jewelry.
The pendant cost $2 including shipping. I shortened the chain around the neck and looped some around the waist for a belt. Then I wrapped a piece of wire from a paperclip around the wrist for a bracelet.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002089422503.html

Whack it all together and this is what you get. Note that everything was purchased. I could have saved some money by making stuff myself but this is to show what you can do even if you have no crafting skills. Forgive my lousy photography. Normally I go outside and use natural light but it has been raining all week.





Cost:
Body: $20
Head: $9.50
Dress: $21
Stockings: $3
Hat: $2
Shoes: $4
Jewelry and belt: $2
Broom: $0.40
Stand: $1.25
Total: $63.15

I could have reduced the total cost to under $50 by using a plain black dress. There are plenty for less than $5.

Happy Halloween!

I wish it were raining here. But anyway, beautifully done, at relatively low cost, and very much fitting in with the season.

Thanks for the tips! Nicely done for $63.00!

Well done and very encouraging, thank you!

That’s a very entertaining and effective way to make your point! She looks great.

Pretty good kitbash for $63.

What a good idea for a thread!  She did turn out great for a budget figure. And you're right, some of these parts one could easily make, but it was thoughtful of you to consider those who may not have crafting skills or inclination.

You can still buy cheap action figures. Here are six different ones for less than $19 each.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32978841416.html




I bought these for the clothing and accessories - I reckon that they are worth $19 by themselves so, as far as I'm concerned, the figure costs nothing.




Some things are pretty lame, such as the body armour and the gun holster, but others are pretty useful. Each figure has different clothing but the accessories are all the same.


They also come with some paper props that are ok. There is a WW2 era map and newspaper, a 1990s laptop computer, some US currency, 3 cigarette packets, a magazine, and a zeroing target for a shooting range.

I remember these guys, they were being sold at the Big Lots discount chain. They are very similar (possibly a different branding) to the Click N' Play products.

They come with a basic suit that can serve as a foundation for plenty of kitbashes.




The body is pretty basic but can manage some simple poses.




The headsculpts are pretty cartoony so they aren't much use.




But some figures come with a balaclava so the face can be covered.

Some costumes completely cover the body so these cheap figures are perfectly fine for those applications. For example, you could use it for a medieval fighter with a face-covering helmet but the pieces needed to bash one of these can cost quite a bit.

How about a budget bikie.
A faux-leather jacket for $8, jeans and belt for $4, helmet for $14, TOTAL: $26
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001248541622.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32869546308.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000493652469.html





Add to this the boots and gloved hands from the above pack.


There are a lot of different ninja costumes for $20-$30
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001454362066.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002754682290.html
https://www.ebay.com/itm/352971361736
https://www.ebay.com/itm/352969456220

Ninjas need swords. Here is a keychain for $3. The sword is cast from metal and the scabbard is plastic.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002669362449.html



Snip off the eyelet for the chain and it is ready to go (I painted the pommel as well). Whack it together and you have a ninja for less than $30. This is a costume I bought a couple of years ago for $20.

The accessories are pretty basic but it doesn't take much to make them useful. It took ten minutes and a little paint to change this canteen from a toy to a diorama prop.

Yet more good ideas. It used to be that one could make similar 'budget' Star Wars figures using old Hasbro parts, though I'm not sure how readily available the Hasbro figures are at this point (some of them seem to be quite expensive on ebay nowadays, unfortunately, which would of course defeat the purpose).

skywalkersaga wrote:Yet more good ideas. It used to be that one could make similar 'budget' Star Wars figures using old Hasbro parts, though I'm not sure how readily available the Hasbro figures are at this point (some of them seem to be quite expensive on ebay nowadays, unfortunately, which would of course defeat the purpose).

Very true. Much of what came with them is usable for kitbashing, although the headgear tends to be a little oversized and the gloved hands are pretty bad. But yes, they have shot up in price and become rarer on eBay.

Really good show of what can be achieved with not a lot of money, granted it does help to go in with a clear idea of what you want, otherwise you walk away with 100+ dollars in lose that you end up using one or two items, has never happened to me at all.  

GubernatorFan wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:Yet more good ideas. It used to be that one could make similar 'budget' Star Wars figures using old Hasbro parts, though I'm not sure how readily available the Hasbro figures are at this point (some of them seem to be quite expensive on ebay nowadays, unfortunately, which would of course defeat the purpose).

Very true. Much of what came with them is usable for kitbashing, although the headgear tends to be a little oversized and the gloved hands are pretty bad. But yes, they have shot up in price and become rarer on eBay.

Hasbro did produce a stormtrooper helmet and armor set that is almost perfect, I've used three of them in the past due to them having a smaller helmet/head, they are however expensive (around 40 to 60+ MIB) but can be found cheap sometimes. Now I'm not 100% certain about their release date but I think they where sold under the line Hasbro Star Wars Original Trilogy Collection, you will know they are the figure because the chest piece has a rounded lip around the abdominal area.

If you want a stormtrooper squad, you don't need a helmet/armour set for each one. Just buy the cheap figures.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002797226422.html

Buy one or two expensive figures for posing in the foreground and use these cheap ones in the background.

Just to reiterate that this hobby doesn't have to be expensive. I recently scored of one of the above stormtroopers. When he arrived he looked exactly as pictured above. I added a little black paint to the helmet, joints, and control panels to make him look more like the characters in the movies. He only cost $11 so the articulation isn't good (e.g. no knees or elbows). However, he is fine for army building so long as he isn't the primary character being posed in front of the camera. You could buy 18 of these for less than $200.

That is the tragedy of these figures -- the molds can be excellent, the paint job decent and easily improved, but sometime the articulation just isn't there. But you can easily deploy him as a more static background character.

It's basically a Hasbro/Mattel/Kenner 3" figure in 12" -- which, as pointed out, is doable as background army building.

That's a good solution for padding out the background, shazzdan. Thanks for sharing.

One thing I wish I could 'army build' (solely for photoshoot purposes) are battle droids, but they are tough to come by (even the Hasbro ones can be expensive because they are sought after). Would be nice even to just have a handful of them. Perhaps 3D printing might be the way to go with those...

This is a post that I can easily get behind… All too often I’m searching for things individually, and that can get pretty pricey, pretty quick. Thank you for such a wonderful insight of ways to hack lower cost items.

I am leery of using AliExpress, but your post has put some of my concerns to rest. Thanks, again!

My pursuit of "budget 1:6 figures" is relegated primarily to eBay and occasional "finds" when I'm out & about visiting a couple of local toy shops in the area or when I have an opportunity to attend a local or nearby out of town collectibles show.

EXAMPLE

What I procured for $5.00 recently.



Good 1:6 items reasonably and bargain priced can be found and had on eBay, but it depends on timing and what one specifically "wants".