Articulation Junkie Custom Contest
The toy community is often divided on the issue of articulation. Some people feel that an excessive number of moving parts spoils a figure's sculpt, while others contend that there's no such thing as too many joints. And then there's the third camp that believes that you can have your cake and eat it too: A figure that's both super-poseable and looks great. The goal of this challenge is to create the most articulated custom that you can, and to try to integrate those joints into the figure's physical appearance as seamlessly as possible.

- Because the focus of this contest is entirely on articulation, there are no limitations on subject matter (beyond Figure Realm's general rules), so, you're free to customize a super-poseable version of anyone, or anything, that you wish.

- While there isn't a set number of points of articulation that any entry is required to have, for humanoid figures, your joint count really should be in the double digits (10 +). If you want to make a character that has a more unusual anatomical structure, you'll have to use your best judgment as to what you think constitutes super-articulation for that particular form. And keep in mind that quantity isn't everything; good design and range of motion are also important.

- In your entry description, in addition to the usual comments about your work, please give us a total joint count and brief rundown of what they are. For example, you might write something like: "My entry has 19 points of articulation: Ball-jointed neck, shoulders and hips. Pin elbows, knees, and ankles. Cut waist, biceps, wrists, and thighs. And a bendy tail."

- When it comes time to take some photos of your finished submission(s), don't just settle for shooting a bunch of pictures of your figure standing straight with its arms at its sides. You've got a super-poseable toy in your hands, so put it through its paces and show us what all those joints can do! Let's see figures doing the splits, bending over backwards to touch their heels, performing flying kicks, etc.

- As far as the actual creation process goes, you can simply customize a base figure that's already super-articulated, Frankenstein a super-poseable body by combining parts from multiple figures, or even fabricate/model new joints the hard way by hand. Any type of articulation that you can think of is fair game (ball-and-socket, bendy wire, hinges, magnets, pegs/pins, sliding panels, etc.) There are no size or scale limitations and you should feel free to use whatever parts, materials, tools, and techniques you like.
 
Please remember to follow the Contest Rules and to Vote Fairly.
 
Contest Winners:
1st
2nd
3rd
 

What is the contest schedule?
Begins: Contest Closed
Ends: March 31st, 2012 - Last day for submissions. No exceptions! Cut off is at midnight Central Standard Time.
Voting: April 1st - 7th.

Example Pictures for Ideas

  View Contest Entries   

User Comments
avatar
Batman1016 -
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Hey, how exactly are we calculating the articulation here?

A) Only count joint locations
- shoulder joint with arm rotation = one joint
- double knee = one joint
- moving fingers = one joint
- ankle with rocker = one joint

B) Count every engineered movement
- shoulder joint with arm rotation = three joints (collar rotate, lateral pin, bicep rotate)
- double knee = two joints
- moving fingers = four joints, five if the thumb moves
- ankle with rocker = two joints

C) Count by joint title
- shoulder joint with arm rotation = ball joint + rotator joint = two joints
- double knee = two hinge joints = two joints
- moving fingers = pin joint = one joint (+ opposable thumb joint = two joints)
- ankle with rocker = hinge joint + rocker joint = two joints

Just that I have a figure which could have as few as 17 joints (definition 1) or as many as 25 joints (definition 2), or maybe just 21 (definition 3), so . . . just want to be clear on that one.
avatar
Patraw -
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Different people count joints differently, so how you go about it is completely up to your own discretion (any of the approaches you listed, or some other methodology, would be fine by me). Using your example, you could even say something like, "Depending on how you count/classify the joints, my entry has 17-25 points of articulation."
avatar
Memphis_777 -
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Dear Lord...
avatar
yugiohcardmaker1 -
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
so its basically making a custum with either no mowing parts or a lot of moving parts
avatar
Patraw -
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The idea is to make a highly flexible custom figure, not an immobile one.
avatar
The Real Question -
Monday, January 30, 2012
this seems like an extremely interesting contest I can't wait ti see where this goes.
Write a new Comment
New Comment...
biggrin  smile  sad  surprised  confused  cool  badgrin  mad  razz  redface  cry  evil  rolleyes  wink  eusa_angel  eusa_boohoo  eusa_clap  eusa_dance  eusa_doh  eusa_drool  eusa_eh  eusa_hand  eusa_liar  eusa_naughty  eusa_pray  eusa_shhh  eusa_shifty  eusa_sick  eusa_silenced  eusa_snooty  eusa_think  eusa_wall  eusa_whistle   Pictures & Links