Christmas: a Custom Figurine Under the Tree
Every year, the same scene: the wrapping comes off, the person smiles politely, says thank you, and the gift ends up in a cupboard by January. The problem is not the effort you put in. It is that the jumper, the speaker or the gift set already exists in thousands of identical copies.
A figurine of the person does not. There is exactly one, and it has their face.
Why it works so well at Christmas
Christmas is the time of year when you buy for people you know inside out. That is exactly where a personalised gift belongs: you start from a photo you already have, pick a style that says something about them, and the result is an object they keep.
The effect carries into the moment it is opened, too. A figurine comes out of its box, gets passed around the table, and starts a conversation. Not many gifts under the tree can claim that.
One figurine per person
This is the rule to keep in mind while planning your orders: each figurine represents a single person, or a single animal. One photo makes one figurine.
So for a couple, siblings or a whole family, you order one figurine per person. That is rarely a problem, and often the better format: everyone gets their own, everyone picks their own style, and the set ends up lined up on a shelf like a small family squad.
Dogs and cats get their own version too, with six dedicated styles: Hero, Knight, Cyber-Pet, Royal, Mystic and Champion.
Picking a style that lands
The library holds more than fifteen human styles, with new ones added regularly. A few that work well for a Christmas gift:
- Football, Tennis, Basketball, Rugby for the sporty one in the family, or for the one who comments on matches more than he plays them
- Knight, Mage, Elf, Barbarian for gamers and fantasy readers
- Cyberpunk, Super Hero, Manga Hero for teenagers and grown-up teenagers
- Custom Mode when the style you want is not in the library: you describe a job, an outfit or a setting in your own words, and the face from the photo is kept
For human figurines and animal figurines you also choose the render: Complex for fine detail, Simplified for clean blocks of colour, Chibi for the big round head that works on children and adults alike.
If there is no photo you are happy with, Imagination Mode lets you create a character from a written description alone.
Which size for a gift
| Size | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 54mm | 18€ | Playing format, consistent with the scales used in Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder style settings |
| 110mm | 31€ | Display format, the most popular pick for a gift |
| 150mm | 38€ | Large display piece |
| 180mm | 45€ | Centrepiece |
110mm is the natural compromise under the tree: big enough for the details to come through, small enough to find a spot on a desk or a shelf.
Every figurine ships in raw unpainted resin, ready for the brush. On the 150mm and 180mm sizes only, you can add the hand painted option, 129€ in 150mm and 169€ in 180mm, classic finish, with a preview sent before painting. Shipping is calculated at checkout.
One thought worth keeping: giving a raw figurine to someone who paints is a complete gift in itself, since you are handing over the piece and the hobby evening that comes with it.
The Christmas timeline
This is the one real trap of the season. Here are the lead times to plan around:
- 2D preview in under 3 minutes
- 3D model prepared within 24 business hours after your validation
- shipping within 10 business days for an unpainted figurine
- 20 to 25 days for a hand painted figurine
In practice, order two to three weeks ahead for an unpainted figurine. For a painted one, leave a much wider margin and aim for the very start of December at the latest. And if you are preparing several figurines for the same family, start them together: you can validate all the previews in one evening.
Everything is printed to order in SLA resin in our French workshop, with reinforced packaging and custom padding. The photo you send is deleted after generation.
Get ahead of it
The best time to sort out Christmas gifts is before everyone else thinks about it. Create your figurine in a few minutes, compare formats and prices on our pricing page, and if you are still unsure about the size, our size guide gives you the reference points.