With the release of Wrath of the Lich King looming on the “soon” horizon, many players find themselves looking for ways to keep themselves busy. Here are 12 steps to ensure you’re as prepared as possible for stepping foot on the shores of Northrend. (Hint: buy warm boots)
... is a 4.5-inch scale figurine of Phaelia decked out in full Season 2 armor
And thanks to FigurePrints, I will be able to purchase one for the price of $100 + $15 shipping. FigurePrints is a new company that's very cleverly applied a manufacturing technology formerly used to quickly prototype machine parts to the MMO vanity industry. They offer the creation of a customized resin figure of your character wearing whatever gear you have in your possession (they tie into the Armory to pull down your gear) in a pose of your choosing. There's a brief discussion of the technology available on YouTube.
The idea of this service is excellent. I have no doubt they will do very well, especially if they begin taking orders prior to Christmas (although there's little chance of these orders being processed prior to December 25th). There are a few limitations to it, however:
- Price: $115 is pretty prohibitive for most, even if the end result is amazing. I know I'd have to pool birthday and Christmas to get one for myself, and that would mean no computer upgrades or shoes!
- Gear Selection: Because the company keys off of your Armory profile, you have to have the items you want displayed actually in your character inventory (and worn at the time they perform your character scrape). Since this is a vanity item, I see no reason that they shouldn't allow you to specify whatever gear you'd like. If you happen to be nostalgic about the Stormrage set that you've long since vendored for the sake of bank space, you should still be able to get a figure crafted wearing those items. What if you never managed to complete your Tier X set but like its aesthetics? I worry that not allowing this feature may turn off many potential customers.
- Time: Once you've completed your order, you are guaranteed receipt within 90 days. A character can change appearance drasticially in 90 days, making the option to select whatever gear you want even more important.
- Character Appearance: Face, hair color, hairstyle, piercings, etc. are character customizations that cannot be datamined from the armory XML output but are absolutely essential to allowing you to individualize your character, and consequentially your figurine. I haven't been able to determine whether these customizations are included in your order. As a licensed Blizzard product, however, I suppose its possible that Blizzard is willing to provide them this data, even if you aren't asked to provide it when ordering.
- Size: Because the figures are created to scale, the gnomes turn out really tiny, even though you pay the same price. I'm glad that I play one of the largest race so that it would be easier to see the detail of my character.
Overall, I think this service is an amazingly cool application of a technology that was previously put to more mundane uses. I would LOVE to be able to get one of these created of Phaelia, but I'd have an incredibly hard time deciding which pair of shoes to wear ... and talking Mr. Phae into it.
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| Female Human Druid (Resto) | Male Night Elf Hunter |
P.S. In case you were wondering, this was not a paid advertisement. I just thought that some of you might find this service as interesting and appealing as I do!
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Very cool! And if you want to explore the site a bit before the 11th, just turn off Javascript or block javascript for that site if using Firefox with NoScript…
Does that say Female Human Druid (Resto) under the picture. Wow these guys are good, they can even make up non playable characters…..lol. I’m just giving you a hard time. I assume that meant to say Priest not Druid.
Druids are always trying to pose as Priests….lol
Calandris – Priest
I can see both sides of the gear argument. On the one hand, this is supposed to be a representation of your actual character, not an epic version of what you wish your character was. On the other hand, my actual character has a very mismatched set of gear. I wouldn’t want that molded into a figurine for all eternity. It is a very cool concept regardless, but I’m not dropping $115 for it anytime soon.
(Oh, and… female human druid?)
@Someone: Ooooo good catch. I had assumed they achieved that effect using Flash, not JavaScript. I had found that if I clicked around REALLY fast, I could look at different things, though. =)
@Calandris: Yes, the Human Druid was a joke. As though only DRUIDS wear PMC. If I could have, Phaelia would have been Human when I created her (but I’m glad I couldn’t – I love Night Elves).
@Nasirah: I can see the accurate representation of your character … if being molded in a certain set of armor actually afforded you any in game benefit. Unfortunately, it’s just an item that sits on your shelf and looks pretty (ostensibly). Why not let it look as awesome as possible? =D
These look fantastic!
Ironically, I excitedly linked my sister at work via MSN to this site – and she started cussin’ because it was going to be a surprise for me, apparently.
I can’t wait to see how my Druid comes out, the level of details seems wonderful.
Regardless of the surprise being let outta the bag, thanks for the link, Phae!
Realy beautiful and detailed.
I would love to have my tauren in full Thunderheart (Looks awsome imo).
The 100$ is actually a normal price (at least here) for action feagures, so I guess buying something custom at the same price is actually more than expected. Still somehow expensive though.
Anyhow, me being in Europe and all, I doubt they are willing to send them to Greece anyway, and even then they would charge a hideously high shipping rate.
I quite fancy an Arianrhod “Mrs Potato Head” style figurine that I can dress up each day depending on my mood. Solves the shoe problem!
So, is there a santa babydoll outfit like youre showing on the site? THAT would be cool- I suppose the choice between epic gear and hotness would be the tossup to think about…
And besides, are’nt a couple dozen pairs of shoes enough, Phae?
I found that site through my guild forums earlier today, I’m deciding whether or not to fork over $500+ to immortalize my 5 main toons. Gear? Of course I’d pick PVP gear.
@Kate: Oops! Tell your sister I’m sorry for spilling the beans. =) But I’m envious that you’ll be getting one! If you can, take a picture and show the rest of us when you get yours!
@Dimitris: Thunderheart would be a good choice. And I agree that something so nice and custom is worth $115, I just don’t think I can justify it for myself. If you really wanted one, you could have a friend in the States order it for you then ship it over to you.
@Arianhod: Hahaha … with separate attachments for Feral (whiskers and a tail), Balance (feathers and a beak), and Resto (leaves everywhere!). That would rock.
@Autumnsong: The outfit that my “Phae figure” is wearing is actually an assortment of pieces. If you load up the model viewer, you’ll find lots of articles with the word “Winter” in their names. The pants that come with the set are actually an obscenely short little red skirt with white fringe so I took the liberty of substituting some more decent red pants. And I used the Bandit belt and boots. I’m happy with how it came out. Maybe I should use that outfit for my sidebar picture this month!
@Megan: … $500. Crazy lady. And I would expect no less than full PvP gear from you.
I wonder if I could just get one in tree form?
I re-he-he-heally want one of these; it has to be in full stormrage, I just don’t know what weapon(s) to put with it? Oh-ho, maybe a rolling pin and fish? That’s got to be the ultimate!
It’s only going to work if it DOES know your face/hair etc though. And I wonder how they deal with the glowy eyes?
I want to see how my Crown of Endless Knowledge comes out…
Just in case you don’t know what it looks like, http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31272