Leon Bain's custom DC action figures

Tired of patiently waiting for your favorite iteration of a specific DC character to be mass-produced as an action figure? You can send a stern e-mail to DC comics, or you can just do exactly what Leon Bain did - and create your own:



Seven Soldiers of Victory (left to right: Vigilante, Green Arrow, Star-Spangled Kid, Shining Knight, Stripesy, Crimson Avenger and Wing) 

Leon's been modding/designing action figures for about 2 years now. He began by ordering custom figures overseas, but then decided to try customizing his own figures himself. It took many trials to get the 'right' paints. His wife bought him a Dremel to use on base figures and there was no stopping him after that.

Fatal Five (left to right: Mano, Emerald Empress, Validus, Tharok, Persuader)

Leon's action figure modding skills developed in response to a need to see action figures of his favorite DC characters.

"I wanted certain figures that probably will NEVER be mass-produced, so I got in contact with some overseas customizers and ordered through them", Leon explained to us. "However, doing it that way was becoming incredibly expensive, so I found online tutorials about customizing and started doing my own."

"I look for a base model figure that will suit the character I'm hoping to recreate. Quite often a Marvel character will turn into a DC one and vice versa. I have a number of Australian-based collectors/sellers that help me out wonderfully so - mainly with loose figures, sometimes even damaged ones I can fix."

"It's still only a hobby. I continue to learn something new with every new character."

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (too many to list) 

"The Seven Soldiers of Victory and Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters are wonderful memories to me. Like anyone really, childhood memories create who you are. These titles and many other less favored were the ones that grabbed my interest and attention."


"I have a moderately sized comic book collection - 3 boxes full. I'm still searching for several missing issues of many titles just to say I have every one."


"All-Star Squadron from the late 70s/early 80s was a *must* for me because of the great characters and the interesting era the stories were taking place. More recently - although a few years old now - I thought The Lightning Saga was amazing."


"I think I was more attracted to the 'different' types of characters moreso than the actual stories. Wesley Dodds Sandman, Hourman, Dr Mid-Nite... these guys were just so different from your usual Superman, Batman, and Spider-man."

Minutemen (left to right: The Silhouette, Mothman, Dollar Bill, Captain Metropolis, and the Hooded Justice)

"The Minutemen, well, I really knew nothing about the Watchmen until the movie. I watched it and BANG, I was hooked. The flash-back scenes with the Minutemen were awesome - I'm a big fan of WWII-era heroes: the Invaders, Justice Society of America, Minutemen, and etc. These heroes would be dressed mainly in clothes that needed to be made from material from that time, compared to the skin-tight, body-hugging creations of the more modern era."

The Legion of Super-Heroes (too many to list)

I only have vague memories of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but they were fond ones. I hadn't really thought about collecting them, but every so often one would come my way, so I thought I might give the 'other' members a try.

Bouncing Boy is a plastic screw together chocolate holder with spare parts attached. The idea came to me out of thin air.

Leon Bain's custom DC figs [Click to enlarge]

Which of mods is Leon most proud of? "I guess I'm proud of the ones that people like and bring back wonderful childhood memories. Like I said earlier, some turn out great and others don't."

If you want to reach Leon Bain for a custom, you can find him on Facebook.