Category: GI Joe

1/6th of a Barber Shop

The selection of new 1/6th figures on store shelves has been pretty lean, and I don’t foresee the dry spell getting better in the very near future. Also, my room has reached maximum capacity. (Truth be told, it has long surpassed maximum capacity.)  As a result, I’ve been focusing on working with what I already have. I’m getting back into personalizing a few guys; flocking and detailing some of my 1/6th scale heads. I tend to use the military figures plain, but the “Adventure” themed ones get flocked – just my little way of organizing my collection. I figure, if that’s how Hasbro differentiated active duty soldiers from paramilitary adventurers, why reinvent the wheel? Plus, it lets me mix and match duplicate headsculpts into a variety of unique looks. And why limit myself to 4 hair colors?  

I don’t use an electric flocking tool or box – I create the static charge by shaking the flock in a small dollar store plastic squirt bottle, and “puffing” it out in little bursts onto the glue-ready head. I prefer clear Gorilla Glue – it seems to hold better than any of the others I’ve tried. I usually have the head mounted on a dowel or screwdriver handle, but sometimes I leave it attached to the body (especially on the harder to remove ones,) or occasionally, I just hold the loose head in my hand, by the neck (though it makes it more likely to bump the wet glue, requiring a “do over”).

My “high tech” flocking kit.

I thought I’d share my most recent completed works. I particularly like the way flocking looks on sculpted hair figures. The variety really lends itself to some cool experiments with color combinations and fiber lengths, and adds an additional layer of variety. I also experiment with flocking over different colors of painted hair, since a little of it sometimes shows through the lighter colored flock, affecting the final result.

Another way I like to “make it my own” is to occasionally add or remove a scar or tattoo. There are several waterslide decals available on Ebay, made by different companies. Tattoos have themes, like Marine Corps, Russian mafia, tribal symbols, Viking runes, and old style nautical (just to name a few.)  Although the flash on the photo makes it a little more obvious, once it’s applied and coated with a clear matte varnish, they really are pretty convincing in person.

Have any recommendations for customizing your crew? Shoot me a message, or comment and share it with the group!

-Toph

A Christmas Exclusive

We’re officially into Christmas Season. Black Friday is past, I’ve attended my first Christmas choral concert, and later this week, I’ll be digging into the shed for the boxes of ornaments.

JCPenny, 1973

 

As a kid, I fondly remember laying on the floor, looking at the store catalogs pictures for Santa’s wish list. And the toy pages in the Sears, JC Penney, and Montgomery Ward were the mother load.

Although most stores had GI Joe figures or a selection of playsets, the big 3 had store exclusives. One year in particular, I got a huge box that contained both the Secret of the Mummy’s Tomb AND Search for the Stolen Idol (complete with both the all terrain vehicle and helicopter.) I later learned that it was a Sears exclusive set that year.

Those amazing offerings only lasted until the mid 1970s, when the Adventure Team began its decline. Eventually, Hasbro’s premier toy line was jumping the proverbial shark with “Bullet Man” and “The Intruders.” It would be another 25 years until we saw a new Golden Age of action figures.

The turn around began when Formative International started making individual 1/6 scale figures. The articulation was limited, the face sculpts were a bit off, and the clothing and accessories were lower quality, but it was the beginning of a new era. Soon, the GI Joe “Hall of Fame” appeared, with its chonky bodies and (figuratively and literally) ham-handed articulation. We all have to learn to crawl before we can teleport.

The Classic Collection upped Hasbro’s game, and ran into stiff competition from 21st Century Toys “Ultimate Soldier” (informally known as “GI Sam”). Before long, a dozen other companies were throwing their hats into the ring. Each line brought something unique to the table, be it Dragon’s attention to detail, BBI’s moving facial features (think Eagle Eyes, but with a grimacing mouth,) to several versions of metal weapons with moving parts. Add the growing world of The Internet, and the sky was the limit for choices.

But my absolute favorite part of this new ear was a return of the store exclusives. Many major retail stores offered a unique exclusive. Target, Kmart, Walmart, Toys R Us and KB Toys all had store exclusives.  FAO Schwarz always had an exclusive, too. It was always little more elite, even more exclusive, and usually triple the cost.

FAO’s EXCLUSIVE exclusive from 1995.

 

 

The era came to a close in the mid to late 2000s. There seems to be a pattern here – the initial boon was the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. Then the resurgence from the mid 1990s until the late 2000s. If my calculations are correct, we should be seeing a new series soon. Maybe the next couple of years will present a new opportunity for us middle aged kids.

We’re looking at the first layer here…
Kung Fu Grip
A few 1960s style guys

Until then, I still have a couple unopened toys laying around here somewhere. (Really? A COUPLE?) I can sit on the floor later this month and open some “new” toys.

 

-Toph