LOCATION: South Africa
STORE: eBay, BrickLink (UPDATE: closed)
PRICE: pricey, but amazing!
SHIPPING: $5.50 worldwide (includes tracking)
SHIPPING TIME TO USA: 10-15 days
Today I will introduce you to a lesser known, but amazing LEGO-customizer, Christo, located in South Africa. (You may have also heard of him under the name of CAB Custom Design Technologies, or Custom Bricks & Minifigs.)
Christo’s unique custom products have been sought after and collected by the most serious LEGO-fans from around the world. Christo’s minifigs are usually from the Star Wars universe, although he also released minifigures from other movies and superhero lines.
Christo was one of the first customizers to machine-print directly on LEGO parts, with brilliant colors including gold and silver. Also, Christo was first to have printing on minifig arms, legs, and backs, even before LEGO got into it more widely.
But printing is not all that Christo can do! He also makes unique molded parts to fit LEGO minifigures, thus expanding the LEGO universe greatly!
In fact several of the currently available Star Wars LEGO minifigures were first made by Christo! Some of his minifigs like Cad Bane and Ironman are legendary! Oh, and I almost forgot to mention his great selection of excellent quality custom-capes as well as glow-in-the-dark light-saber blades!
QUALITY: Christo’s print quality is the same as LEGO’s. I mean; you really have to see it yourself! Especially if there is gold and silver in the print! Very beautiful! The minifigs are fully playable, although they are so gorgeous, most LEGO-fans just display them in a prominent place as their prized possessions! The quality of molded parts is also excellent. Machine-designed and molded from ABS-plastic, just like LEGO parts.
COLORS: Christo matches LEGO colors, so your custom minifigs will perfectly blend into your LEGO collection.
PRODUCTS: Christo’s signature products are his custom minifigures. Some of Christo’s minifigs have custom printing all over their bodies, some are regular LEGO minifigs with custom accessories and/or body parts. With each minifig Christo specifies which parts are custom and which are official LEGO. In addition Christo also provides custom parts in bulk, like the glow-in-the-dark light-saber blades and capes.
Christo is also open for all kinds of custom work. For example I have gotten several headgear pieces and long rope-pieces (like you see on the Neimoidian Pilot figure) in various colors, as well as printed heads.
When placing a custom order just keep in mind that it may take longer for your order to arrive (in my experience just about a month). However Christo is a super-nice person and will keep you updated on the progress of your order. Christo also offers custom printing; you give him the artwork and the LEGO parts you want printed, he does the printing and sends the parts back to you.
AVALABILITY: Although Christo does have a Bricklink store, he mainly sells his custom items through eBay. His store changed names a few times; going from CAB Custom Design Technologies to Custom Brick & Minifig, and currently to Custom Bricks & Minifigs. (UPDATE: stores closed)
PRICES: Such unique custom items are not cheap. Fully equipped custom minifigs can run anywhere between $15-$50 or more, depending on the complexity of the design. Custom parts can be $3-$10. Keep in mind that most of Christo’s eBay listings are auctions, so if you are interested in any of his items, you may luck out and get an excellent deal! (Click on the eBay-banner items to check out Christo’s listings):
SUMMARY: If you are a Star Wars or superhero minifig collector, Christo’s customs are a must. Seriously! Don’t miss out on them! You will thank me!
And now, for your enjoyment, here is a gallery of some of Christo’s minifigs past and present (you can click on any of the images for a larger view):
I’m stunned! Seriously stunned! I have never heard of Christo before, but my Lego universe just expanded beyond the stars! Thanks for opening my eyes to these increadible customs! I know what I will be spending my money on! 😀
me too! i wish i knew how to make minifigs like Christo does. i want a lot of those, no matter how much they cost! 😛
Cool!
These are amazing! I think I have seen some pictures before but i didn’t know who made them! he can print gold and silver, hmmm, good to know! 😀
These are increadible!!! I hope lego will do at least as this good ironman because the protos I have seen so far look horrible!
LOL! Yeah, I have seen those too! I think LEGO needs to see Christo’s design! 😀
UPDATE: Awesome news! Now Christo offers 3 versions of the Ironman minifig with 3 different Ironman suits; Classic, Mark II and War Machine! Check it out here: New LEGO Ironman Minifigs by Christo
I bought them, all three Iron man minifigs, they are perfect.
Oh, nice! Aren’t they amazing? Any pictures? 😉
can i buy that cool ki adi mundi minifig? it looks way better than the one LEGO just released!
Just check Christo’s store. His listings are in the eBay section you see in the post above. Currently he has 23 items listed including Ki Adi Mundi. There are no bids yet, so you may get him on the cheap! 😉
As I have said; just visit Christo’s eBay store. 😉
When I looked on Ebay, it was sold! NOOOOOO!!!! 🙁
Just contact Christo, he can list another one for ya. 😉
here are some pics, I am not so good at taking pics, shame on me.
I took them along with Hulk and the 2 SDCC minifigs batman & green lantern (also got them from ebay)
https://www.brickheroes.com/mes-nouveaux-super-heros-la-photo-de-famille/
Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing! I see you also have a nice collection from JasBrick! 😉
Got recently some more Iron Man, War Machine and Whiplash from Christo
Waiting for Darth Nihilus ans the Joker…
https://www.brickheroes.com/customs-iron-man-et-war-machine-en-photo/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hothbricks/6404525535/in/set-72157627837103702
Your Iron Man collection is awesome! And Whiplash is my absolute favorite from Christo! The details are amazing! Great photos too! 😉
Your pictures were fine, Brick Will. I really like them!
Love the holographic figures!
this.is.epik.
WOW!! These minifigs are INCREDIBLE!! I am mad about Star Wars so my favorite would have to be George Lucas! I’m making my own custom one at the moment because I live in New Zealand so I don’t think Christo would send it here!! I really wish I could print stuff on rather than painting my LEGO body!!
KitFistoGuy, yes Christo’s stuff is amazing! You can ask him if he ships to New Zealand. He is in South Africa and hsips all over the world, so I don’t think it would be any mroe difficult to ship to you. 🙂
As far as minifig customizing you may consider stickers or water-slide decals. Clear stickers work really well and they are not difficult to make. And especially water-slides give an almost print-like result. Lots of LEGO fans are dabbling in this and even sell decals. They are a lot cheaper then buying a whole custom minifig. Anyway, just some options… wishing you the best with your customs! If you would like to share your results send in your pictures! 😀
Finished my George Lucas Today!! Not anywhere near as good as Christo’s!! Will send photos soon 🙂
Also went to contact Christo about wanting to get Kit Fisto but it said it required an item number but i don’t know how to find out what it is, does anyone else know?
KitFistoGuy, giving an item number is just an eBay security feature in contacting the seller. Just pull up any of Christo’s items, and there is an item number on the right-hand side, just where the item description starts. The numbers are quite small, that is why you probably couldnt’ find it. 😉
Hi, by the way, I uploaded pics of Captain America and Red Skull from Christo here :
Red Skull :
https://www.brickheroes.com/red-skull-sera-dans-the-avengers-et-dans-un-set-lego/
Captain America :
They are amazing… And I leave in France, Christo ships to me without any issue, he should be able to ship where you live
Red Skull is amazing! Love Christo’s work! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hi there, just got a reply from Christo, he said he’s coming back next week and he’ll list a Kit Fisto for me, thanks for your help! 🙂
You are very welcome! 🙂
Hey i am waiting to hear back from Christo i emailed him on ebay. i have some figs i want made.
ToteMan, let me know how it goes! Would love to see your custom figures made by Christo! 😉
Hello, I made you want to buy because you love custom Lego
To do so, without an auction to buy and want to do?
Hello, I want to buy your custom lego
but, I want to buy without auction
so, What should I do?
You need to contact Christo through his eBay page. Just click on any of his eBay auctions (listed above), and there will be a link to contact the seller. You can write him from there. Hope this helps! 😉
Well I really like hush…
My max bid is 130 euros
You should make more Ki Adi Mundi s and sell them on ebay! Lots of people would love to buy that kind, so would I! You can really make some money just off the Ki Adi Mundi.
Ki Adi Mundi, these are custom minifigures by Christo, not by us, and he already sells them on eBay. You can contact him directly to give him suggestions. 😉
wait? so this guy makes custom lego minifigures in south africa?
Nicolas, the short answer is “yes”. The longer answer is that Christo’s stuff is truly amazing. I own several of his customs and they are incredible! If you have the money to buy them, they are worth checking out. 😉
Oh finally a lego minifigure customization store in south africa,where in south africa again,and what is the price? (In Rands)
Nicolas, I’m not sure which city Christo is at, I never saved the packages he sent me with the address on it. But you can certainly ask him. As far as product prices, most of his customs are listed as an auction, so price will go wherever it goes. (About $20 per minifig is pretty common – often more.) However Christo also does a lot of private auctions. Meaning; you write him and ask him what you would like, he makes them for you, and gives you a fixed price. This is how I got most of my customs from him. He can also do custom printing and custom colors. Like I asked him to make me some of the headgear he does in another color. The point is he is flexible, friendly and easy to work with. Contact him if you are interested in any of his customs. 😉
I wish this was true but I have been trying to contact him for almost 8 months now and never receive a reply. When was the last time you contacted him?
Hm… I know that certain times of the year Christo travels, but as long as he has auctions up he is around. I just checked and he has many listings up at right now. Also, looking at his finished auctions he had a bunch of private auctions all thru May – these are listings from direct contacts and purchases. So although I haven’t been in touch with him for a while, it seems like people have no problem contacting him for private purchases.
Is it possible you are using the wrong contact info? You need to contact him thru eBay, not BrickLink where he is not very active. Also please note that in the article above I mention two of his eBay stores. I did list both as sometimes he switches between them. The currently active one is the one linked from the very top of the article, as well as the second one under the AVALABILITY section. Or just click on any of his listings in the article to get to his active store (if you can see them – if you have adblocker on, or something similar, you can’t see his listings in the post above).
Hope this helps some. Let me know if you have any other issues. 😉
Well I just sent a message through ebay to both account. Fingers crossed he gets back to me. I would like several figures made lol
ToteMan, let us know how it goes, and hope you can get your minifigs! 🙂
How do I contact Christo?
Nicolas, you can contact Christo through his eBay account. 😉
Does anyone know what type of machine is required to print on Lego parts? I have emailed Christo and multiple other eBay sellers who make customs using machine print and none of them will reply with any information. I have been doing customs for awhile now with decals and paint but would really like to get into machine printing. Any information anyone has would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Etankaom, I will send you some resources in a little bit. Right now I will stop for lunch, but will be back soon. 😉
Okay, I’m back… what is used for printing LEGO elements is called pad-printing. I would suggest you get in touch with Arealight who is one of the friendliest customizers out there. I clearly remember him sharing pictures when he started learning pad-printing and got his first printer, but for the life of me I can’t find them right now. Anyhow, you can reach Arealight thru his flickr profile and go from there: https://www.flickr.com/photos/arealight/
Also, Arealight and Kaminoan run an excellent Forum where LEGO customizers share all their tricks: http://fineclonier.com/
You can also just do a Google search for pad-printing and pad-printers and take it from there. Hope this helps some! 😉
When Christo re-open is BrickLink store?
Carlo, I have answered this question for you already in another post. Cristo haven’t been using his Bricklink store for quite a while. He mainly sell on eBay.
Hey dude, I’d like to know where did you get the printing machine for legos?
Octavian, you need to get a pad-printing machine. They are available, although very expensive. A used one is usually cheaper. Just do a Google search for them. 😉
Do you do captain america decals?
Christo prints LEGO elements. He doesn’t do decals. 😉
Hi, I am actually working on a project about lego stop motion movies and I really need to make many custom minifigures some that non of the lego customizers has and I would be glad if you could help me with telling me what printing machine do you use?
Thanks
Octavian, please note that Christo is located in South Africa. If you would like to get directly in touch with him use his ebay store link in the article. 😉
My own advise would be to use water-slide decals for your brick-films, intead of trying to buy a pad-printing machine that costs thousands of dollars. Especially on a brick-film you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between water-slides and real printing and they would cost very little compared to setting up a whole pad-printing shop. 🙂