I should have just quoted your last line there instead of writing my whole post. That's my frustration exactly.

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Which is why I'm so glad that I never warmed to the 2007+ modern figures. I'm not going to lie, they do look sharp and are great display pieces, but since I'm of the opinion that they aren't enough of an improvement over the vintage figures (and are inferior in some aspects that are important to me) to warrant this expense and frustration, they have become an easy pass.

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I think figures like this can really inspire you too. They did a cool update to a figure. And they have some pretty good design ideas. Like the backpack launcher on last years Metal-Head.

The nice thing is most of these figures and even the Con figure is they are relatively cheap to build yourself if you want to go that route .

Very cool figure, and I love the logo on the card.

Is Salvo's helmet removable?

Try though I might, I can't seem to find any pictures of the figure with the helmet removed.

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Jay- No it's not. The head under the helmet is a modified Absorbing Man from MU.

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No, like Aly said. I used an Absorbing Man head because that smirky grimace looks so good peeking out from under the visor, but the deformed head (and the idea of painting 42 sets of eyes) made gluing the helmet on our best idea. I didn't want to just use the Rock head, either, since the rest of the figure is so easily identified as him, and that AM head
took us one step further from that.

Perhaps a Drax head might work instead? Just and idea.

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i wonder if any of the 42 lucky collectors actually managed to open the package to be able to give us a full review...

Main,

I can't promise that I will get the pictures up tonight. But, I will snap some photos during the week and post them so you can get a good look.

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Is that package re-sealable? If so, that's cool and anyone know where to get something like that?

The package is re-sealable but I don't know offhand where they purchased it from. Maybe from ProTech or another online dealer.

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We haven't picked up the cases for either figure directly yet, but I think the name of the place is something like eclamshells. We got the first batch for Metal Head from the Coil Con guys from their stash, and these came from another collector that had been working on a similar project of his own and asked if we needed them. Next time we plan to do some research of our own and try to settle on a bubble that works for us.

There are a few different suppliers...but it takes some dedicated time and searching to find ones that will work...and then the MOQ is usually 1 case...which is something like 300 individual clamshells...

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I don't disagree. To me, customizing is an essential part of the Joe experience, regardless of skill or talent level. However, in this case, even you would have to agree that a percentage of the price (and, likely, a good percentage of the price) is based on the perception that this is a "Con" release. If Kevin made this figure and sold it on Ebay, it would never fetch this price. But, the NJCC tag adds a substantial amount to the perceived value.

Now, I have no issue with people spending huge quanities of money on whatever they want. But, it's not like this a Chocolate Chip Outback where there are only 6-8 of them in existence and the only way to replicate would be to find 15 year old plastic and paint recipes and hope for the best. This item can be replicated much more easily.

Take items like the DeSimone Jinx. He was still making those for collectors into the 2000's. So, that figure you pay for on Ebay thinking it was sold at the 1993 Joe convention could just as easily be an indistinguisable copy that DeSimone made in his garage a full decade later. In the end, what are you paying for? A piece of Joe history? A copy of a piece of Joe history that wasn't actually part of that history? Or a piece that is aesthically pleasing and enjoyable to you at the price you paid?



I'm not saying that the work isn't top notch. The price bears that out. But, you have to admit that it's much more likely to match this figure than anything that's production quality.

My main point is that if you want a custom, pay what you feel is fair. But, thinking that a custom is part of the Joe line or attached to it in any way is a stretch. If I create a figure in my garage tomorrow and sell it, that's one thing. But, if I take the same figure, invite a friend over, call it the "North Scottsdale G.I. Joe Convention" and get it front paged at Hisstank, it's pretty likely that the figure would sell for substantially more. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

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