[Steel Brigade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nancy2K

Oh man! This is a really fun batch. I love it when a customizer pulls obscure, deep-cut inspiration from Joe history, and this assortment of customs based on the cancelled JP sub-line delivers! Some great interpretations here and, as usual, I respect the hell out of your willingness to go bold, bright, and maybe even a bit goofy with your color palettes.
Great work!

Thanks Nan! You know me I love the deep-cuts! And I also love getting to use some more colorful palettes on the figures! Really adds variety & makes a shelf pop!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ponygt50

Another group of outrageous perfection buddy!! I really enjoy these glimpses of what might have been turned into reality with your awesome imagination and skills! Keep em coming I?ll keep on marveling at em.

Thanks bro! You know it! This has been a fun re-imagining of a little known piece of Joe history, & I am happy to give these characters some life! ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AxonRey

Excited to see this one expand. Didn't realize the JP line had so many figures prepped. Can't wait to see how you translate the rest.

Thanks Ax! Yes I have 10 more figures planned (some are already done) & can go even further if I want too with this one... As always, I appreciate your enthusiasm!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dreadnok4life

Great line of figures!!

Thanks Big Kahuna!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob

Oh, man! What a great batch!
That Ambush is a winner. I really like your bandana helmets. That head is pretty cool, too. I am not familiar with all the DNL heads, but that one was a nice choice.
Outback is superb! I have been wanting to build that version for a long time and when I do, it will probably look a LOT like yours. (Truth time! I have to admit that the new bearded heads just simply are not as good as the bearded Ranger heads. There, I said it!) Kidding aside, I do really like your Outback.
And Airborne? What a pleasure! I mean, that yellow is very striking and super appealing, but look at that head. That is a great head choice for the flight helmet. I have not had the opportunity to put those two pieces together, but I am very pleasantly surprised. That combo looks great. This Airborne is a great build!
Why do all pictures of that head remind me of Sam Witwer!?

Thanks good buddy! I agree the "Ranger" head is better than the "Dave" head, but we all know that "Ranger" head isn't coming back. Other than the "Trooper" head, which of course is tied to the original mold, I'm starting to think all the heads are 1 (maybe 2) run and done. We've seen so many heads just go out of stock for years. Even some of the WWII heads (like "Ira") have never come back, and "Hank" is all out now but the black haired version. Makes me wonder if they keep repurposing the head tooling at the factory to save costs & once new heads are made, the old heads are gone. Looking fwd to your version of BC Outback! I try to use yellow whenever I can, which is why I upped the ante in my Sky Commanders figure color choices (choosing yellow versions of certain characters), & saw an opportunity to use yellow again on Airborne here, based on the test shot... The MGR 'cheddar" yellow is such a great color & doesn't appear all that much in "Joe" builds, so it's fun when you get to use it. Thanks again for the kind words!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw515

As I mentioned on FB, I love how you pull in such obscure characters. Until your post, I had never heard of the unreleased Dino-Hunters line. I especially like that Airborne Six! Great job on the color scheme. The yellow & black really pops on that olive green buck uniform.
Jason

Thanks for the double-dip Jason! Glad I could show you a part of Joe history you did not know before! I'm a fan of Airborne Six's color scheme as well! ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clockwise

Damn, more greatness!
Seeing Airborne (Six) get some love is always good, as people unfairly resent the character because Hasbro was too stupid to track its own character roster.

Ha ha thanks Clockwise! Yeah I always wondered if the same-naming of Airborne was a legit mistake or they just wanted to keep that name in circulation/trademarked... same with "Skystriker."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jymree

I have a 93 Outback in the works following much the same recipe. There are a few new details in yours I really like and might just borrow

Excellent! Glad to help further inspire!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Hebime

I'm all about anything dino related and this batch fully delivers. You did an awesome job on all of them SB, now you just need a few dinosaurs for them to hunt.

Ha ha thanks Mr. H! I do have some Chap Mei/Animal Planet Dinosaurs... Maybe I'll throw something in one of the next 2 Dino Hunters photo galleries. ;-)

[Steel Brigade]

NEW RECRUITS!!!!!

WAVE 92:
456. BARONESS (based on G.I. Joe Cobra Baroness '84)
Cobra
Origin: East Germany
'NAM 19XX

450+ figures & I've never made a proper "Baroness"... Sure I did "Chameleon" in my very first drop, & "Rednok" earlier this year, but Baroness was forever in flux, mostly due to the fact there was never a great retail head for her, not even the official ones. Fast forward to today and the new lovely "Christina" head from MGR combined with some metal 1/18 glasses (from one of my China sellers) & I have a classic version of Baroness that I am happy with. This one is a female torso & waist with the male armored legs on as MGR is out of some of the popular colored bodies right now, but I like doing this combo as it not only uses some parts-bin fodder, but also surprisingly makes the females a hair shorter than the regular Valk build, & adds a little beef to the hoof. I also went with a black Cobra insignia on her chest instead of a bright red target... Finally, another essential Cobra elite added to the ranks!

BIO: The spoiled offspring of wealthy European aristocrats, the BARONESS graduated from student radicalism into international terrorism & finally into the ranks of COBRA. She was severely burned during a COBRA night attack operation and has had extensive plastic surgery. Rumor has it that she is the only one who knows DESTRO'S secret identity. Her principal weakness is in the division of her loyalty between COBRA COMMANDER & DESTRO. Her chief strength would seem to lie in her ability to play them against each other. And now she has a new grudge to wage war on, the one she calls a "vile imposter" within Crimson Moon's army... the woman code named: REDNOK!





*2024 Update: Alternate Thin/Armored Legs...

[Steel Brigade]

457. GENERAL ONSLAUGHT (EXO-SUIT VERSION) (based on Sgt. Savage & the Screaming Eagles General Blitz Jet Pack version '95)
Wrath
Origin: Germany
Season 8
Exo-Suit Version/Version 2
*2020~2023 Lost Waves Figure #14

The second to last of the original 15 (2020) "Lost Figures"... The homage to General Blitz here came about as a 90% parts-bin build, but needed a few things to complete him, mostly the newly released MGR "Dave" bearded head, as their prior "Ranger" bearded head has been long sold out in the popular colors. This was also built before my Exo-Suit craze within this thread, so if he was not already built this way in 2020, I'm not sure if I would have kitted him out with one (or even made him at all, as I made a version of him already...) but he lived in my warming drawer & I enjoy Gen. Blitz so now he can finally make his Ver. 2 debut 3 years later lol. I consider this the most classic version of General Blitz, as even though I purposely built the more obscure Version 3 (Cyborg) years ago, this is the one that always comes to mind for me. Looking at this figure makes me wonder, how many things I have bought from MGR that is more volume than anyone else has bought... say like the red exo-suits... or black small armor panels...etc. lol ;-)

BIO: The war criminal GENERAL ONSLAUGHT was long thought to be dead, how could he not be when he lead the I.R.O.N. Army back in WWII... but he has since reappeared in the year 20XX during & after the Armageddon War, as one of the "LORDS of WRATH." Mostly acting as their diabolical & cunning field leader, it is speculated that he is not a descendant of the original GENERAL ONSLAUGHT, or an imposter sharing a famous name, but is actually a cyborg built from over a century old secret technology & is still the original man... Now even more improved with an exo-suit, that increases his strength, stamina, & speed, has built-in advanced radar that alerts him to enemy attacks, & equipped with his super-charged jet pack that allows him to escape into the clouds before capture!

[Steel Brigade]

458. MOTORMOUTH
G.I. Joe Affiliate
Origin: USA
'NAM 19XX
AKA: Jack Burton
*MGR "Geared-Up" figure :"CHINA-TOWN TRUCKER"

*Copy Pasta: I don't design the "Geared-Up" figures, MGR does lol, but I do enjoy buying the ones I like, along with building them, plus having a photo op... & since they have always been a part of "My MTF Universe" collection & head-canon, I like to include them in my drops as extra figure(s), so you will see them peppered into these non-themed drops as usual, changed or unchanged with included bios.

*No changes were made to this figure, & getting that sticker on with heat was fun. I'd like to get more of just that front sticker design to use on some sukeban, or dekotora J-girl's jackets builds...

I watched "Big Trouble In Little China" recently as a fan of guys like Kurt Russell & Carter Wong ("Hapkido," "When Taekwondo Strikes") & was amazed how little action Kurt actually does in this movie & kind of how uneven it is. It's a cult classic by any means, but I think if you grew up with it you appreciate it more.

BIO: A truck driver that was importing weapons smuggled to China-Town out to the black markets run by CRIMSON MOON in Vietnam & South East Asia, MOTORMOUTH had a change of heart when he found out what the his "supplies" actually were & what they were being used for. He used his police connections in China-Town to become an informant to the elite team known as G.I.Joe. MOTORMOUTH is now helping the Joes with the trade routes on the U.S. coasts he's driven to stop the supply chains at the source!

[Steel Brigade]

459. MEDUSA (SCOUT VERSION) (based on G.I.Joe vs. Cobra Spy Troops Zarana '03)
Ex-Neo-Noks?
Origin: Great Britain
Season 10
Scout Version/Version 2

Parts Bin Build! This might have been the 1st version of Zarana I built a couple years ago, but version 3 came out of my builds instead, as it was mildly easier to replicate at the time. Move forward to now & we have parts I'm happy with (pink Kathy-Jo head, black female vest) so I jumped at the chance to take a crack at her with a MTF build... The Spy Troops Zarana (who is one of my faves of that line) reminds me a lot of the artwork I did in that decade style-wise, & I think still has a cool enough alternative vibe to her. Again, the black Valk legs are nowhere to be found, so I did the same move I did on "Ronin" years ago & did the Contract-Ops legs here on the female waist & they really help to replicate the look of the original. Used some Boss Fight parts on her (the collar & belt) & I think that expression on her face fits her perfectly. ;-)

BIO: Upset with the direction of the NEO-NOKS & sudden replacement of her "heir to the throne" status by ZEUS'S daughter ARTEMIS, MEDUSA is venturing out on her own as a mercenary, mimic & spy to see what her future holds. Looking for her long lost twin brother is just the beginning, as she is hoping to come back with him convinced to overthrow ZEUS with a new joint powerhouse dynamic duo!

[Steel Brigade]

460. CONTAMINATION TROOPER(S) (based on the G.I.Joe Eco-Warriors Cobra Sludge Viper '91)
Wrath
Origin: Various
Season 10

I was psyched when AVAC'S Lab revealed their "Hazardous Trooper" kit & planned on buying it the moment he was back in business. The kit works perfectly on a MGR body, & just required some glue for the wrist & leg add-ons, some personal color swaps (hands, feet) & some red coloring for that visor! Both my brother's loved this one when I revealed it to them, one saying he is among the best of my ranks!

BIO: In the water world, pollution is life or death for the remaining human race, & the CONTAMINATION TROOPERS lead terror by polluting with power, anything that they can. They never run out of ammo, since their sludge weapons have built-in decomposition accelerators which can create toxic sludge out of whatever is at hand, & propel it at lethal velocities from the noxious methane gases given off by the decomposition process. The MTF have nick-named them "Goop Troops" or "Sludge Slingers," as "contamination" takes to long to say lol. Difficult to contain & even harder to reverse their chaos, the CONTAMINATION TROOPERS are the bane of safety & survival for the MTF and what remains of the human race!

[zpartikuz]

Baroness looks so badass!!!

The others are cool as well!

[Ponygt50]

Some absolute sick builds my dude! I freaking love’em! My son and I have some new heads and various other pieces under the tree (yeah we know about them we picked them out ) we can’t wait to go crazy with some builds.

[AxonRey]

Great set, top to bottom, and characters I recognize to boot. Great vision, as always, and you brought in some of my faves- Eco force characters and that highly underrated Zarana design. At some point, I'd like to do some Screaming Eagles myself. Good stuff

[Mr Hebime]

Stellar wave SB, with both ladies taking top honors and Sludge Viper taking a very close 2nd. But who am I kidding, your take on General Blitz is pretty badass as well.