Archive for the ‘Customs’ Category
1991
Posted by kingphilbert | Filed under Customs
I don’t think I could say that 1991 was a good year for GI Joe. Many beloved characters went into third and fourth revisions, no longer resembling any previous or iconic incarnations from the 80s. In 1989 the cartoon went back into production, now under the direction of DiC and not Sunbow, with a complete lack of detail in it’s styling nor focus on past happenings only to come to a close in this same year. For me personally I was pretty much done with GI Joe outside of the comic books and on to better things, my teenage years.
All that didn’t mean there wasn’t promise in what was laid out or done with certain characters so this past spring I went back and took a good look. Primarily at the v4 Snake-Eyes which was a complete 180 from the ninja commando we loved as kids. Now pale blue and black with a bright orange [paintball mask style] visor and matching weapons, it’s no wonder it was easy to loose interest. This was practically an all new GI Joe for a whole new decade of kids. It is also easy see how this and the years previous were left out of the 25th Anniversary line. Simply put, they weren’t the icons we knew 25 years ago. (more…)
Why Recondo?
Posted by kingphilbert | Filed under Customs
I was asked this question recently when I was offered some old RAH Joes and immediately yelled out “I call Recondo!” The answer, I really don’t know why. I barely remember him from the comics and he only had a few supporting character roles in the cartoon (rem the episode “Red Rockets Glare” about Roadblock’s uncle’s burger joint?) yet he always ended up a member of my team when I was a kid. Maybe it’s the hat. Maybe it was the mustache. Either way before we had him added to the 25th Anniversary line at the very bitter end I was intent on crafting my own. I had a Tiger Force version planned as one of my first major customs (still the influence for the final). I even started and had him near complete before abandoning him altogether when the actual figure hit in classic jungle gear.
Like any custom I make it seems to be all about the inspiration. Obviously for Recondo it was just a matter of the right parts to make him the way I wanted him and though one may not think to use the beefy lower legs from a Resolute Roadblock for a shorter character, when paired with the front pocket uppers and knee pads from City Strike Snake eyes I immediately saw what I need. For those familiar with the 25th version it was obvious to stick with the torso he already had. A quick arm swap later to short sleeves and a few custom accessories and I had all that I needed to get this one together. (more…)
I Make Custom GI Joes.
Posted by kingphilbert | Filed under Customs
About two years ago I started customizing GI Joes with parts and pieces from the 25th Anniversary line. When I tell people this they don’t always understand what I mean. I guess they wonder how, but maybe why. Here’s a quick look at the how part. For the why part, well if you know me, you know why.
You essentially start with a base figure. In this case I was inspired by the similarity between RoC Agent Helix and Abbey Chase. Here’s what is referred to as a Frankenjoe. Essentially busted up and pieced back together. Pretty simple as all the parts except for the arms are from Helix. The limbs came from Lady Jaye.
From there you can move onto paint. I def recommend painting part by part and piece by piece. It’s much cleaner and much easier. As for the paints I like Testors Model Master Acrylics. I don’t have any shot of the small parts propped up with toothpicks, but I started with the legs. Each leg breaks down into 5 parts: Outer thigh, inner thigh, knee, lower leg, and foot. Classic Abbey has green on the outside of her pants and blue on the inner thighs. The leg separation made this extra easy. The green below the knee, above the boot was much harder, but I used a real small pointy brush. I also like the contrast between using flat and gloss blacks that you can see on the knee pads and boots.
A Custom Year Review
Posted by kingphilbert | Filed under Customs
A semi belated happy new year to any visitors I may have or have had. I started this blog in August and knew my attention wouldn’t be ultimately focused within, but with the onset of 2010 I am hoping that will change. To kick off this new year I present to you a look back at customs completed and presented in 2009 prior to the post below featuring my What if…Snake-Eyes, one of my last, and most well received of the year. As always, check out the Customs section to see more pics, or if you don’t want to read the article.
Skull Buster
The Range Viper was in the tail end of my time as a child playing with GI Joe figures, but the leader of the this group of Cobra wilderness troopers didn’t come about until sometime later as Joe and Co. had gone to the sideline of childhood memories. When I was finally introduced to this character in the DD World War 3 storyline that closed out the mythos that began in 1983 with the original A Real American Hero comic from Marvel he was a lone wolf living off the land overtaken by his own insanity. Looking back at the action figure released in 2002 he was a garish metallic purple repaint of the original Range Viper. Not overly attractive. As for my modern interpretation of Skull Buster my goal was to keep him in line with the modern Range Viper hinting ever so slightly to the original figure while giving him an edge and distinction that allows him to standout from the rest.
Roadblock
The difference between adding a few minor tweaks to an existing figure as opposed to a full blown custom can still make a huge difference. One item that is highly anticipated in the new year are Resolute figures. A few that have already seen some level of production have leaked into market places such as ebay. One in particular was the Resolute Roadblock. When will we see these figures at retail still remains to be seen, but this holiday season we were treated to a RoC exclusive Roadblock using the very mold of the Resolute figure minus his accessories. We also saw the new Cobra security agent Night Adder made with the same mold (more…)
