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Welcome, you've stumbled on to that obligatory About Me page that every artist has on their site. My name is John Mallamas, otherwise know as 'That Jin Saotome guy who customizes figure'. I'm 31 at the time of this writing and live in the middle of California's Mojave Desert. It's a good hour away from anything resembling a town and makes finding the figures I need to customize with kinda hard sometimes. I got my start in customizing by taking apart those 3 3/4" GI Joes back when I was 5 or so, painting them with my mom's fingernail polish when I lived back in Orlando Florida. I also had my dad's machine shop to tinker around in. From there I snagged a job at my friend's comic store at age 16 and ended up having the keys handed to me less than a month later, charged with running the shop. Trust me, not as easy as it sounds. That's where I learned just about everything there was to know about superheroes, gaming, and the like. After taking other jobs at sci-fi shops and hobby stores I picked up all the modeling and painting techniques I use today. Warhammer terrain/minis, Star Trek and Gundam model kits, vinyl kits, I did it all. I'll admit I was an arrogant way back when, thinking I could change the industry with my customs. Since then I did my research into marketing, talked with the heads of the companies I once argued with, and realized it's a whole other world trying to get you that action figure into your hands. Now I'm all about helping everyone and promoting the hobby of customizing rather than sensationalizing it. Through my CASE Files I help others sell their works and gain exposure on the EBay auction market. In return the proceeds from my advertisers help keep this site active so everyone can benefit from the guides and tutorials on it. It's a cool symbiotic relationship, thank you all for that. Right now I'm making custom figures and holding weekly Ebay auctions for them. Commissions for magazine work comes in the form of making customs for Wizard's ToyFare and Playstation magazine. I own and operate website you're currently on now and have a large gallery of my past works and guides/tutorials so you can learn the hobby of customizing figures too. When the San Diego Comic Con rolls around each year you can find me hanging around the Hasbro booth or pestering my good friend David Willis of Shortpacked! at his booth. So that's a little about me. If you're looking to get into customizing, check out my guides. If you have questions about the hobby, drop me an email and I'll answer every one that comes in. You can also find me on the various toy forums I have listed in my Customizing Links section too. So take care and enjoy your stay! ---John Mallamas
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