Yeah since it just came up today I haven't determined how much plastic is used and all that. That's what's really determining the cost. Technically the time it requires to do this, if I were to charge what most would, it would put this project way out there. So yeah a lot of my time is just nothing I'm worrying with. I guess what it'll come down to is having a with seats and without seat option. I want to say $15 without seats and $20 with seats. That's off the top of my head, no measuring and estimating the cost of the plastic. I'm at work so I don't have all that in front of me. If prices are any different by the time I get home and look at everything I'll post.

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Sorry, I shouldn't have spoken without talking to the boss first.

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Hehe, not a problem. That's within the price we talked about. My main thing is I don't want to price it insanely high. Of course a little money has to be profit so that we can sink it back into the project. The base isn't something none of us will get rich off of. It's just a way to get an item to fans in a better way than it ever was and something to get the rest of the ideas started. If all goes well, stuff to come will blow everyone away. We're no Hasbro or anything, but we'll have some cool stuff to offer.

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It's time I give everyone an update. I haven't been able to really lock down what to say until now so, here we are.

This is a bear to make. No matter how you look at it, this thing isn't easy to do. I've had so many delays that it's getting crazy at this point. If it hasn't been one thing it's been another.

I figure I'll talk about some of the delays just so you know where I'm coming from. This goes beyond the previous stuff that's already been covered before. What's happened since is the way I'm getting the image onto the plastic became 1 delay. Materials and such became a problem and I had to rethink doing it. I finally got that covered though. Then came cutting the plastic out. I use a huge band saw with a real fine blade. Well that blade broke and then I had to track down another one which wasn't easy for this saw. The next delay I'll cover further down.

What you see here is 4 full bases cut out:



I've got all the parts in a box to keep up with them. Here's a shot of 2 rockets and an elevator:



Now this is the hard one to cut out:



The console has a lot of angles and such. You have to be pretty much exact so that everything matches up. Now here's where another delay came in:



That's the back of the console. You can't just fold plastic, so you have to cut notches to allow it. The prototypes I cut are pieced together. The angles are not perfect and it was pieced up actually. These are cut to the exact angles. To do so has been a journey. I've had to actually make my own tools to make it work, such as these:





The top one is a piece of wood that I shaped so I can hold it in my hand without slipping and it allows a dremel bit ti be placed in the center. That bit is so that I can sand back and forth on the plastic to create one of the seams to fold the plastic. The other one attaches to a router to make certain other angles on other parts. There's guides and several other things that's been required.

I'm still learning and progressing too. That in it's self I guess has delayed me too. Knowing there is a better way than what I currently know has caused me to slack in doing some of this. I just want to be sure that it comes out as professional as possible. Without the guides, tools to cut angles, etc. it'll look like it's just thrown together. With all the right tools you get this:



I'm happy with the way that looks, it's clean and all the parts fit correctly. Now it shouldn't be long to finish up these first few. Those that got the email a little more than a month ago can expect shipping very soon. The next group of emails will follow for those that pre-ordered.

I'll shoot a picture of the group of them before they ship out. There's 4, and that's what I'll be doing each time is 4. It's easier to do them in groups of that number. You'll note that one of these is on black plastic. This one is a special one going to Kirk Bozigian.

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I am sorry to hear about the issues you are having with this project J_man.

Thank you for keeping us up to date on the progress. Even though it is hitting hiccups, it is still the coolest project ever attempted on the joe boards, EVER!

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Have you thought of making/tried to make a jig that would allow you to trace off a master cut? Similar to a key cutting machine or something along those lines?

Yep. Unless I had a huge industrial press to do die cuts, none of that helps. I do have a master that I use to draw the patterns, but that's about it. I've got a CNC machine, but cutting out these shapes doesn't work with that. The one I have doesn't allow you to put very small cutting bits in, so the corners do not get cut, or it over cuts. SO it's easier to just cut it by hand. Now that I have the blade it's no problem there. It's just the blade I originally had was one my dad originally bought with the band saw. That was more than 40 years ago.

Yeah I'm going to keep going with it. I;ve come too far not to finsih out this project. I'm sure as I go along I'll figure out some stuff to simplify and maybe get even more than 4 at a time done.

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Here it is, the first official Cobra Base that will be shipping this week! It's taken a lot to get to this point and finally I'm glad to say we're finally about to see this project happen. I've said I wasn't giving up! Here's some shots:


First up here's the base pretty much like you'll see it when you open the box. The rocket folded down and the elevator in the upper far right of the track. It'll be packed with lots of newspaper so it'll be well protected. Those who got one of my display bases can tell you I pack it tight.



Next we're opened up and it's ready for play. All the features are brought over from the original except now it's plastic and you don't have to worry about messing it up.



Rocket ready for launch!



Here we get a close up of the console and you can see the modifications done. It's a lot better in my opinion than the original. I mean, not to pat myself on the back, but aside from the holes being a nightmare to cut, it didn't look good. I reworked the art to allow a more 3Dish look.



Just another shot showing Cobra readying the rocket for launch. Destro looks on to make sure the target is set.



Now we see the biggest part! The console is not attached. It can sit on it's own as a play feature. It can be placed with another playset. Whatever you want to do.



This shot shows the backside. It's not just an open hole. I created a whole new piece of art to cover the back area. It is totally a piece of it's own. Yes this console will be available as a seperate piece soon.



Here's some figures placed in the seats just for an extra playset shot!



Here's a shot with the figures in place showing the backside again.


That's it for now. The painted areas are done. It may or may not be noticed where it was painted, but there are a few areas. I did not paint the underside so if you flip the console upside down you'll see my glued up areas and pins. Yep there's small pins/nails to make sure everything stays together. I figured it best to add that so that glue alone wasn't all that's on it. I feel more safe knowing it's solid that way.

So there's the update everyone was waiting for. A good way to kick off the new board too!

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Absolutely stunning!

I wish I could afford one.

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That's pretty sweet. Just curious what the selling unit cost is on this sucker and what kinda of wait list is currently existing? Thanks.

Unfortunately due to production costs and such, it's $70. I wanted to get it lower than that, but this comes after:

1) Buying a machine able to reproduce such a high quality image that cost me a couple thousand dollars.

2) Raw plastic that isn't too cheap it's self. I get it by the sheet and hand cut each part.

3) The tools that's required to make this item. Some I've had to buy parts to build special tools myself.

4) Misc. other material costs that's too numerous to list.

All in all if I were to try and sell this for a cost that I'd actually make money off of it, it sure wouldn't be $70, hehe. But this is a fan project for fans of the G.I.Joe product. An original cardboard one runs $600 to $1,500, so this one can be had for $70. There's no production "time limit" either so if you can't get one now, I'll be making these for as long as I can.

Right now I have a pre-order list of around 23 people confirmed. More had been waiting on me to officially announce production. 3 orders are about to be filled. I'll move along as well as I can to get everyone that wants one. If you haven't pre-ordered and want one, go ahead and do so. I'm keeping the master list and will fill the order in the order they come in.

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To be frank, 70$ is an excellent price for this. You offer more than Hasbro's PIT playset does at 30$ less.

Just that with shipping to Canada factored in, it's a bit over my budget.

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That's incredibly awesome, Joe. You've gone above and beyond with this project. Way to go!

I'll order one when I can afford it... one of these days...

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*giggle*

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Billy's always looking for the in every post, hehe.

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