[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by RaylaSan

My boyfriend is a huge Heroscape fan

That's good!

owns pretty much all the sets and everything

That's even better!

but he had a particularly strong distaste for custom figures...while he did admit that he thought some of them were cool looking, he honestly felt that it wasn't made by a true Heroscape fan because they wanted to mess up with the sanctity of the game

I can understand that (though I would argue no custom creator intends to 'mess up the sanctity of the game'). No matter the game, there's undoubtedly something that feels different about expansions that are unofficial. There's no reason a custom addition to a game can't be at least as good as the real stuff, but it often just doesn't feel right, because it's not official. However,

he made it quite clear to me that he absolutely hated customs and would never learn to appreciate them.

He's wrong. No game is perfect (though Heroscape is pretty darn good). There's always some minor flaw, some little improvement, something missing, and that's where customs can step in.

Therefore, I did what any normal girlfriend would do, and bought him a custom Heroscape figure for his birthday, and a regular Heroscape figure he didn't already own, to see what would happen.

Fast forward a year later, and that custom figure is now part of his main army, he apparently liked the way it trolled his opponents.

That's not a terrible result! However, I'm curious about the unit and how it "trolls" opponents. I would hate to see all this effort turn into something that ends up being a negative play experience.

As others have already pointed out, there are some dos and don'ts of customs. Do stay away from eBay if you can help it. There are just some truly awful customs out there, not worth your time or money. Don't miss out on C3V! These are the closest thing to official figures since the game's cancellation, and even have the blessing of several members of the official design and playtest teams.

That being said, if there's a custom out there somewhere that you or he finds interesting, give it a try! Worst that can happen is you stop using it after one play, but not to worry, there are plenty more where that came from. Welcome to the site and happy 'scaping!