File name: Provost, Philip M.
PMOS: Criminal Investigations Division
SMOS: Intelligence
Birthplace: Little Rock, Ark.

Grade: GS-5 (CIA)

Despite the decomissioning of the GI Joe team, high-level spooks in the government felt that they needed to keep an eye on the leaderless Cobra fragments. Thus for the past few years, Chuckles has been working at Extensive Enterprises under the name "Charles Joseph." Still, he managed to keep in contact with Conrad Hauser, in fact building a stronger friendship because of Duke's work with the Agency during this time. Chuckles continues to feed intelligence out to Duke now that the Joe team has been reinstated, however he feels that his current identity within Cobra is too valuable to the team for him to give up.

For Chuckles, I chose to recreate the sweatsuit he wore at the beginning of the issue, instead of his Hawaiian shirt of the cover, or his 'Mister Joseph' persona later in the comic. I think it was the plot of this section (using the jogging as a cover to pass intel), and Chuckles' undyed hair but dyed goatee that drew me to this choice. This presented the challenge of choosing parts without military details, a direct opposite of most customs. The sneakers I think are the crowning paint detail of the figure. :)

File Name: Gambello, Anthony S.
PMOS: Infantry
SMOS: Electronics
Birthplace: Lodi, Cal.

Grade: E-5 (reflects the promotion received in Marvel's run that Hasbro forgot about. :) )

When electronic equipment breaks down in the middle of a tense mission, the team needs it up and running fast. That's where Flash comes in. He's highly skilled in many aspects of electronic technology and is capable of equipment repair in the field. That's no longer as simple as splicing together a couple of wires. Now you need working knowledge of computer technology, advanced circuitry, and both analog and digital electronics. Flash always had a natural aptitude for understanding the guts of a machine. He brought his expertise to the military, and now he's happy to be where his skills are crucial to the outcome of a mission, instead of simply being the guy you call when your television won't go on or your house alarm won't go off.

Flash's appearance was easy: his is just a DD update of his traditional uniform. While I spent a good deal of time smoothing out the remainder of Roadblock's torso to make the padded sections, Flash's major issues were his accessories. The helmet continues to give me fits, as the plastic wants to split while the super glue dries into a crystalline web that makes it look like the visor's shattered. I since found out that I could scrape most of the glue web away without ruining the connection, so we have a servicable visor.

The laser rifle consists of a flat CORPS backpack that will fit on the Roadblock torso. On it I placed this black box thing that came with some big Chap Mei set. I have no idea to its intended purpose, but here it serves as the laser's battery pack. :) On one side I've sliced up a JOE COM to be the holster clip, and a bit of toothpick pokes through a hole cut in the bottom of the backpack so I could have a hose that swivels. I actually had to slice the hose midway and insert a bit of wire for another swivel joint too. The other end of the hose, originally the bazooka-to-helmet connector for the HEAT Viper, I glued to the grip of the Gundam Rifle I chose to become the laser rifle itself. This is the rifle which had a flat round disc on top -- I think maybe Zaku, but I can't be sure.

PMOS: Logistics
SMOS: Airborne Infantry
Birthplace: Butte, Montana

Son of Vance Wingfield, Tyler was sent to military school some time before the GI Joe team infiltrated the "Strike First" compound. The events that unfolded there left Tyler with a desire to succeed for his father, as well as plot against the Joe team that was his downfall. In Colorado, he captured an airplane which hold a defecting Iranian scientist and his samples of an Ebola-like virus, and maneuvered the Joes into defeating the locks for the virus containers. His plan later unraveled when his paramour turned out to be a CIA plant. Wingfield survived, however, to torment Chuckles in particular, in a separate hijacking designed for him to confront his mother Shary Wingfield, who had been under CIA protection in France since the original Wingfield operation. The mother apparently shot the son and was last seen over the French countryside, using her son for his parachute and holding the ransom money. Their whereabouts and status are unknown at this time.

Tyler Wingfield was the hardest to choose parts for, but the easiest to customize. It wasn't until late in our creation process that I had multiple Coils figures to work from -- but once I had that extra torso, Wingfield fell together in a day. A generous JoeCustoms member provided me with the parka fringe, which I found I could just lay atop the completed torso, glue, and paint without any further trimming. :)