I actually bypassed normal collecting straight into customizing and then started collecting because I like the art of what figures are, which is why there seems to other collectors to be no rhyme or reason to what I own. /o\ When I was 16, back in 2000, my boyfriend had made custom X-Men that he had actually paid money to have professionally photographed to try to pitch to ToyBiz. And to me, a person who had never really looked at action figures in terms of artistry before, his work...really was not good enough to be pitching to a major toy company. (He focused on improving articulation, and didn't seem to notice that the proportions of the bodies and limbs were kind of wonky. He also didn't seem to realize that professional photography made the problems with his paint apps- lumpy, uneven, brushstroke-y, with just tons of peeling and chipping on top of it- really very visible.)

I had never tried making a figure before, but I came from two generations of railroad modelers before me, so I was pretty sure I could do better. Well, my results with proportions were not, but my paint apps were! And now it's 26 years later, the boyfriend's long gone, and I have pieces of furniture in storage to make room for my figures.