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Samurai helmet by Sidan Toys

by on February 6, 2011
in LEGO Customizers

I have ordered some custom LEGO samurai helmets made by Sidan Toys via A Minifig.Cat’s Store. I’m extremely happy with the look and quality of each piece! They fit LEGO minifigs just perfect! I was trying to find a minifig head that would work well with these helmets, and give the minifig a real samurai look.

First I have tried some regular minifig heads. I choose heads that I thought would work well for a samurai. (You can click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.):

 

 

 

 

I thought they look okay, but I was not entirely happy with the eye area. It just seems that the eyes are too small for the cut-out of the helmet.

Then I tried some solid color heads:

Using solid color heads gives an interesting look; highlighting the shape of the helmet, while leaving the samurai’s face in mysterious darkness. I think this would be a great choice for some kind of a fantasy samurai minifig. This combo works well for same color head/helmet combination (for example black helmet/black head), as well as a different shade combination (for example gray helmet/black head).

Then I tried the old Exco Force heads:

I was amazed how well the eyes and the mouth align with the shape of the helmet! They are a perfect fit! And not just one of the Exo Force heads work, but all of them!

I personally prefer the open-mouth versions as the mouth fully aligns with the cut-out of the helmet, but the closed mouth versions are pretty nice too. The eyes are so expressive, and fill the space of the helmet’s cut-out, giving the head/helmet combo a balanced look. And I really like the one with the red headband! 🙂

In case you are not familiar with Exo Force: it was a theme released by the LEGO Group between 2006 and 2008. The sets are very interesting and the minifigs are very nice!  You can still find Exo Force sets and minifigs on Bricklink.

Here I will just show you the heads. (Click on any of the pictures to take you to the exact Bricklink page). The Exo Force heads are great! They are all dual sided (face on both front and back), so you get twice your money’s worth and twice the possibilities! 😉

I’m very happy with this head/helmet combo for my samurai, so just thought to share! (You might also want to check out my review of the custom LEGO Sidan Toys Samurai Vest and Quiver.) Enjoy! 😀

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Sidan Toys – Overview

by on February 5, 2011
in LEGO Customizers

WEBSITE: Sidan Toys
LOCATION: Taiwan
ACCESSORIES AVAILABLE VIA:
A Minifig.Cat’s Store on Bricklink,
A Minifig.Cat’s Store Direct
GALLERY: flickr
PRICE: reasonable
SHIPPING: $5 flat rate (tracked & registered). Shipping over $100 is FREE.
SHIPPING TIME TO USA: 8-10 days

Sidan Toys is a Taiwan based company, manufacturing little plastic toy-figures with lots of different accessories. Sidan Toys figures are quite different from LEGO’s minifigs; they have 13 moveable joints, and can be posed in many different ways.

Although the figures differ from LEGO minifigures, their accessories are compatible with LEGO minifigs. Some of the accessories may need a little modification to fit, but most of them are a perfect match as they are and need no additional adjustment.

Sidan Toys accessories belong to two main categories; samurai & ninja, and modern combat. If you want to get accessories only for your LEGO minifigs, they are available through A Minifig.Cat’s Store, also located in Taiwan (see link to their store above).

I have been ordering only from the traditional line of accessories; helmets, weapons and armor pieces for my ninja and samurai, and accessories for my little monk. However I know other satisfied LEGO-fans who use Sidan Toys modern accessories and weaponry as well.

QUALITY: The overall quality of the custom LEGO pieces is excellent and they are perfectly compatible with LEGO. (I write more in detail about specific pieces as I work with them, so please see my other post in this category.) The plastic has a slightly different feel to it than that of LEGO pieces. I’m not sure exactly what the difference in the chemical composition is, but the plastic feels a bit harder, lighter, and more rigid – at least that’s how I would put it. This is a very minor difference though.

MOLD DETAIL: Sidan Toys elements have the same simple, yet elegant style as LEGO; clean lines, with just enough detail to give each piece a realistic look. Therefore they blend into your LEGO creations perfectly.

COLORS: (Please note that there are a lot more colors Sidan Toys carry, these are just the ones I have received and had a chance to personally review.)

  • Black, white and red are a perfect match to LEGO’s colors.
  • Yellow is slightly lighter and a tad more orangish than LEGO’s yellow.
  • Brown is an almost exact match to LEGO’s old brown.
  • Dark gray is an almost exact match to LEGO’s old dark gray.
  • Dark brown is slightly darker than LEGO’s dark brown.
  • Dark red is quite different from LEGO’s dark red. It is more like a candy-apple/crimson color.
  • Pink is different than any of LEGO’s pinks, it is closest to and lighter than LEGO’s bright pink.
  • Pearl gold is the same as LEGO’s pearl gold.
  • Metallig speckle silver is a pretty close match to LEGO’s pearl dark gray (but with speckles).

(You may click on any of the thumbnails below for a larger view.)

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SUMMARY: If you would like to equip your LEGO minifigs with some unique custom LEGO accessories, I highly recommend Sidan Toys. Some of the accessories (especially body-wear) may need slight adjustment but most of them are a perfect match to LEGO minifigs, and fit like a glove. (You can check out my detailed reviews on the Sidan Toys Samurai Helmet, Vest and Quiver by clicking on the blue links.)

A Minifig.Cat’s Store is an excellent store with fast processing and shipping. So far I have placed 3 orders with them and had a very pleasant experience. The store has detailed pictures and description of each custom LEGO product. And if you have any question or doubt about any of the Sidan Toys products they carry just email them. They usually respond very fast.

As you may notice at the top of this post, A Minifig.Cat’s Store has both a direct store and a store on Bricklink. It seems they have most of the products at both stores, but some are listed in only one of the two locations. In my experience the Bricklink store has the larger selection, but you may want to check both to make sure you see everything available. 😉

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