I wanted to show you some new custom LEGO accessories from one of my favorite LEGO customizers, Arealight Customs. Bluce Shu (a.k.a. Arealight) is a very talented LEGO customizer from Taiwan I have been following from the time he casted each items from resin by hand years ago. Due to high demand for his products, Arealight eventually upgraded to more modern methods using ABS plastic mouldings and pad-printing.
Arealight mostly focuses on Star Wars related custom LEGO accessories, however in the past he also produced historic items like Asian-style helmets, and just recently (and finally!) he reproduced his original resin-cast minifig cape from soft ABS plastic – along with several other soft plastic items. When Arealight originally made these capes from resin they were one of his most popular items. The beautiful flowing design was perfect for warriors, Jedi masters, and wondering outcasts. I have 16 of these original capes in red and dark-red for my Greek warriors (see below), and they are some of my most treasured custom LEGO items. (They were very expensive those days because of the hand-casting process.)
Arealight – being the perfectionist he is – wasn’t entirely happy with the capes though. Because they were made of resin – which is like rigid ABS plastic – they limited the movement of minifigs. Arealight was especially unhappy that minifigs using his capes could not ride on horses. So he experimented with various materials to try to make the capes more flexible, as myself and other fans of the original capes were patiently waiting. And we had to wait for years! Eventually Arealight found a type of plastic that had both durability and flexibility that made it work!
Earlier this year Arealight sent out the following announcement: “Hey, everyone! We are very excited to announce that we will be releasing our new soft mould items. We’ve spent a long time working on this mould and hope you like it! It includes lots of new pieces and an old fan favorite. This new mould consists of seven different pieces: a one sided pauldron, a two sided pauldron, a shawl, a hood, a loin-cloth (with different designs on each side), a waist-cape, and a cape. These pieces are produced from a soft plastic – not rubber – for a nice shiny sheen. Happy customizing!”
I placed an order instantly. I would have been very happy with even regular ABS plastic capes as the limit in movement didn’t bother me, but these more flexible ones are even better! And yes, now caped minifigs can now ride horses too! Also, now so many more colors are available than in the past: white, dark-red, dark-blue, dark-green, dark-gray, dark-tan, brown, black! And they are only $2 each! All my minifigs wanted them! 🙄
Besides the original capes, Arealight released some other, new designs in soft plastic: a nicely flowing shawl, a hood that works really well with either the shawl or the cape – or even both! There are also a couple of pauldrons and a waist-cape. Then there is the loin-cloth which is my new favorite piece; it has a different designs at the front and the back, and you can choose how you want your minifigs to wear it.
You really have to see Arealight’s custom LEGO elements personally to fully appreciate their beauty. One of the things I like most about them is that they are quite thin, while remaining sturdy. They really don’t take up any more space between minifig body parts than a cloth cape or waist-cape would, so they look quite natural with no extra bulk or thickness added. The soft plastic feels really nice. It is basically like ABS plastic, but with some flexibility. It also has the nice shine of ABS plastic. Much better than rubber that tends to get rigid and crack with age, and also pick up dirt easily. (By the way, in case you were curious, I never had any problems with the original hand-casted resin capes; they look and feel like durable ABS plastic, and they are now 7 years old. So resin is definitely a good option for LEGO customizers who are just producing small batches of items for themselves.)
Anyhow, I’m super happy with these new custom LEGO elements, and just wanted to share them with you. If you are interested to get some, you can order them directly from Arealight’s Online Shop. Please note that Arealight ships directly from Taiwan, so it takes about 10 days for your package to arrive. You can also order from official resellers in the USA, UK, Canada, etc. at this link. And you can also find more pictures at Arealight’s flickr gallery.
If you already have some of Arealight’s custom LEGO accessories and would like to share your own review, feel free to include it in the comment section below. I’m sure other readers would appreciate it. And if you would like to learn more about Arealight’s products, you can check out the following links to earlier articles I wrote about them:
Pretty cool! Those “fabric” parts that Lego uses for capes and skirts is awkward at best.
Yeah, I really dislike LEGO cloth parts. I never use them. But I do like capes, so these were a really sweet solution.
These are very nice, just I HATE knock-off brands of LEGO.
I’m not saying this is a knock-off at all, just if you want all LEGO there is no difference between this and megabloks.
P.S. I meant to not capitalize that name 🙄 👿
There is a difference between knock-offs and custom LEGO accessories. Knock-offs are directly competing brands that make similar full line of products as LEGO. Custom LEGO accessories are done by LEGO fans to enhance the LEGO hobby. They are not making a competing line of products. They are making accessories for LEGO’s own products. In other words without LEGO, customizers won’t exist either.
Think of them as the difference between competing car manufacturers versus companies that make accessories for a particular brand of cars. A company that makes car-seat covers for a car is not competing with the car manufacturer but simply makes accessories. They are not making cars themselves.
Personally I don’t care for knock-off brands, on the other hand I’m a big supporter of LEGO customizers, and if they make nice products I will get them, use them and review them. These people are artists, talented craftsmen and women and LEGO fans all at once, and they deserve to be supported for their work. I know many of them put tremendous amount of effort and time into their products to make sure they match or even exceed LEGO’s quality.
I think this would be a good alternative for things like Lego’s Santa sacks too. Both the back-mounted and hand-held type. It would just feel more appropriate.
The flexible ABS is not rubbery or soft to the touch. It is actually quite rigid, but is able to flex some. So with thicker designs like what you are mentioning I don’t think it would make much of a difference. It would just feel like regular plastic.
So you are able to fold and ply these capes to make them look more varied and natural? That’s actually rather cool, in that case.
Hakan, no, they don’t fold. They are like regular ABS plastic, but with some flex. Here is a short video where you can see how they look and feel: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23342881@N02/16270275208/
I don’t see what’s so bad about the LEGO capes. Well, at least the special ones that are made of an extremely soft fabric, not the older ones (those do crease a lot). However, these (what to call them) soft-plastic parts look nice, and there’s more options than LEGO’s selection of fabric parts. 🙂
Also: https://brickset.com/article/15231/more-dimensions-packs-revealed-in-instructions Odd circumstances… maybe this is a new technique of revealing sets? 😐 Anyways, they look ok, I’ve no idea what Portal 2 is, but the set looks cool, same with the other team & level packs.
I abhor the cloth capes and things that Lego does, this seems like a nice alternative to me.
I personally am a fan of the regular LEGO capes, but these look really fantastic. I can just imagine a knight or cloaked stranger decked out in one of these. Thanks for the article!