The 2014 Lamley Award "As is the Custom" Edition: Our faves for 2014, including our Custom of the Year...

It is time to announce the 2014 Lamley Awards.

Over the next few days we will announce the Reader and Lamley choices in several categories, but we will start with the year in customs.

2014 saw a little change in our approach to our popular "As is the Custom" feature. Time-wise it was near impossible to do a weekly post, so we stretched it out a bit. Also, because of the massive amount of entries we receive, we just can't show everything, so it will take a bit more to get featured.

That does not mean you shouldn't try. We look at everything submitted to us, and sometimes the most simple custom will catch our attention, as demonstrated by one of our finalists for Custom of the Year. But if we don't show yours, don't be frustrated. Submit another, and we may put it up.

We will say this though. If you are a customizer, and have not joined Instagram, we suggest you do. The custom community on IG is the place to be. So much talent, so much support, and so many contributors. We suggest you post your work there, and use the hashtag #lamleycustoms, #hotwheelscustoms, and #mrsenctvt (the mayor of the IG Custom community) to make sure your work is seen. You will be surprised at the response.

But let's move on.

Below you will see the customs that grabbed our attention more than any others in 2014. And they are here for many reasons. Some for pure artistic talent, some for imagination, some for precise skill, and some for impressive simplicity. While reviewing the customs we featured this year, it was hard not to be impressed, and we almost deleted this post entirely because it was hard to leave so many customs off. The fact is, we love everything we posted.

It then became even harder to pick our 2014 Lamley Custom of the Year. When the criteria is so generalized, we could go in several directions. But ultimately it came down to three:

Blistercards' Nissan Silvia
78toy4dr's Skyjacker Van
Ryansracecaremporium's two Porsche P-911's

@blistercards - Instagram

@78toy4dr - Instagram

@ryansracecaremporium - Instagram

These three stood out for several reasons. Blistercards' Silvia for the precise fabrication. His ability to turn a rather bland Johnny Lightning casting into what could easily be the best of any diecast company or designer is truly mind-boggling.

Chris Huntley's Skyjacker also gets points for the skill it took to transform the Hot Wheels Super Van into something entirely different. It also is a testament to the brand Chris is creating. You know a 78toy4dr custom when you see it. And it also benefits from the fact that we were able to see it in person. It is an amazing piece. Some customs look great in photos, but flaws emerge in person. Not this one. It is as clean as clean gets. Even folks at Mattel stood in awe when they saw it. We also picked this as an example of all the amazing output to come from Chris this year, who along with @lukeshotwheels would be our Customizer of the Year if we had that award. (Maybe we should.)

Lastly, you might be a little shocked that Ryan's Porsches are here. Yes, all he did was add Hot Wheels Real Riders to a couple of old beat up Hot Wheels Porsches. So why did we choose them? We will let our response to an Anonymous post from the original post last April explain why:

AnonymousApril 27, 2014 at 6:20 AM

meh sorry, but those P-911s are a joke, right?
original design in played with condition and nothing done except wheelswap?
or did I miss something?

ReplyDelete

Replies

John LambertApril 27, 2014 at 10:07 AM
We all have our likes and dislikes. I have said since the beginning that sometimes the best customs are the simplest. This Porsche is genius in its concept, even if the execution was simple. I look at it as a tribute to folks like Magnus Walker, whose appreciation for the classic Porsche is contagious. He takes an old Porsche and makes it loved again, and that is what this customizer did with a discarded Hot Wheels that easily links to one of the hottest car scenes right now. It was an easy choice to put in here, and one of Lamley's favorites this year.

Customizing is about transforming. Sometimes into something completely different, as the first two show as well as any. Other times into a timeless piece that can inadvertently speak to the love of cars and our love of diecast. We see barn finds transformed all the time, and Ryan's Porsches got new lives with just a new set of wheels. The genius is that he kept the playworn look, because that is what Hot Wheels are supposed to look like. It speaks to why we collect on many levels.

And for that reason, @ryansracecaremporium's two Porsche P-911's make up our choice for the 2014 Lamley Custom of the Year.

It is just too hard to single out talent when it comes to customizing, as the examples we are featuring on this post clearly show. It isn't fair to all the artists here, with all their selective styles to pick one, but we feel Chris and Blistercards needed to be singled out, as do the other amazing pieces below. We just can't pick a favorite. But we can single out the appreciation we have for maybe the simplest customs we featured all year. It is our choice, we know it will be a bit controversial, and we will stand by it 100%.

We know many, if not most of you, will disagree, but hopefully you see our reasoning. And more importantly, let us know your favorite.

Congrats Ryan. And Chris. And Blistercards.

And now, the other customs that stood out among the many in 2014, in no particular order. Please share, and enjoy...

@nic_bali - Instagram