Culture
The world’s coolest custom-made action figures are made in the Philippines
For little kids, action figures are the closest they can get to their favorite superheroes.
But action figures aren’t just for kids; they are for the kids at heart, too. And believe it or not, one of the most popular action figure makers in the world is just based in Angeles City, Pampanga.
Loosecollector Customs (LC) has been customizing figures since 2006. At first, it was a solo venture for LC founder Dave, until Zaldy and Jeff joined him in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
“Loosecollector stems out from our collective love of comic books, superheroes, action figures, and our arts backgrounds,” Dave said. “Once we’ve started producing them, the toy community appreciated our work and it’s been going on to this day.”
Loosecollector action figures are popular in the worldwide toy community, because LC makes sure that every detail—no matter how big or small—is accurately portrayed. In fact, LC made one of the most expensive Wolverine action figures auctioned at eBay: it was sold for almost US $3,000.
Despite LC’s success, toymaking isn’t their full-time job. Aside from making toys (“Which I enjoy the most,” he said), Dave is actually involved in the food and livestock business. Zaldy and Jeff work outside LC in separate companies.
LC also recreates and improves existing action figures in the market, alongside custom-making figures based on buyers’ specifications. These usually cost around US $150 to US $3,000 (or around PHP 6,400 to PHP 132,900), depending on the materials.
As artists though, inspiration still plays a big role in their business. “But due to the volume of requests we receive, right now we only accept those projects that spark ‘inspiration,’” said Dave.
In the past nine years, LC has grown to be a major league player in the customizing game. According to them, LC now holds the largest online custom portfolio in the world.
Although LC is proudly Pinoy-made, they still have to see their own figures become popular among Filipino collectors.
“There are 99 percent more Loosecollector Customs outside of the Philippines,” Dave noted. “There are LC figures in the US, UK, Brazil, Australia, Japan, China, and a few other countries.”
LC has made an action figure out of every superhero imaginable, including Filipino superheroes and mythical creatures. But knowing the human brain’s capacity to think outside the box, Dave promises their customers that they will take on a project no matter how crazy or brilliant it is.
“There’s a lot of figures still left to make and we intend to make the most we can,” Dave said.
“But once you get in the queue, ‘whatever you can imagine, we can create.’”
All photos courtesy of Loosecollector Customs.
