_________________

Project: No Joe!

The Corps, American Defense, Sgt Rock, Bronze Bombers, US Forces, Ninja Strike Force, Commando Force, there were several 3.75’’ toy lines that competed with GI Joe in the 80s and 90s. We all had at least one figure like that in our childhood collections. Most of us have had that feeling of disappointment when we ask for GI Joes for our birthday only to open a Corps figure given to us by a well-meaning Grandparent.

Bucky and Oreobuilder have been talking about making customs based on these lines ever since we started our first Resurgence project in 2014. We opened that can of worms with last year’s ‘’Retro Toy Chest II’’ project when the whole PHX gang made some customs based on these characters. That gave us the momentum to continue with our project. This time, HypnoHustler joins us. He has demonstrated his love for these lines by making several kick-butt customs of various Remco figures. We will revisit a couple of those customs as well as show off a bunch of new ones.

The first step was to scour the web for good reference pictures. That is easier said than done. There are a few sites that have character lists with pictures, but none are exhaustive, so we were always finding figures that were not on one site or another. We started by making a master list of all the characters we could find. We each picked our favorites and went from there.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll show off what we came up with.

With that, we present Retro Toy Chest 3-Project: No Joe! Enjoy and happy Custom Celebration XII!

Bucky, DanoftheDead, Dusty79 and Oreobuilder. Special Guest Star Hypnohustler


Day 1 - American Defense from Remco




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


Deadblow by bucky














Dead Blow, or at least this incarnation of him, is based off the Remco figure from the Desert Patrol line, which i believe is an offshoot of American Defense. The Desert Patrol line up consisted of 6 figures: Dead Blow, Major Reckoning, Radar Tech, Colonel Striker, Black Thunder and Sgt. Sand Blaster. The line came out in 1990, and may or may not have been trying to capitalize on the Gulf War.

Parts:
I honestly don't remember, except the arms are from 50th Dusty. The lower legs I think are from DG Shipwreck.



Trenchcoat by HypnoHustler












Trenchcoat is another part of the S.I.T. subline, and the closest thing to a major villain I've found in any of the Remco lines. He's dedicated to the domination of the free world, hating freedom, and rocking purple striped deep V shirts. My version of him is definitely based on the cardback art for him more than the figure. The figure shared the same torso as Spike, Forst Trooper, Airman Package, and others, while the card art was more unique.

Head: PoC Storm Rider with JvC Wild Bill hat
Upper Torso: Marvel Universe Ant-Man
Lower Torso: 25th Cobra Trooper
Arms: Paris Pursuit Snake-Eyes
Legs: RoC Flash with swapped feet
Coat: Avengers Nick Fury



Spike aka Heavy Metal by Hypno Hustler












Like a lot of Remco figures, Spike was released under more than one name with no actual changes to the figure. I've never been able to find a bio for him, but based on his appearance he's your basic 80s punk/biker villain. Since the original figure had a magenta sport coat I leaned a bit more on the punk end of it, a disgruntled New Waver perhaps. My interpretation is mostly based on the look he had on the card art with the more complex boots and wristbands.

Head: Retaliation Joe Colton with an MU Ares mohawk and a mask made from a 25th Snow Serpent head and Marauder goggles
Torso: Temple Guardian Snake-Eyes
Arms: 25th Ripper (single card)
Legs: Neo-Viper



American Defense Defender by Oreobuilder














''Tactical Genius, supremely adaptable, American know-how at its best!''
Defender was one of the original 8 American Defense figures. Numbered AD-1, he was available in two different color schemes – green and tan. Since that pretty much makes Defender the American Defense equivalent of Grunt, my favorite GI Joe character and I had previously made the green version, ''Tan Defender'' was the first custom I put on my list for this project. Parts-wise, I changed a few elements from my green custom to use some of my fodder rather than trying to find the exact same parts. These small changes give this figure its own identity.

Head: 25th Airborne
Torso, arms: Retaliation Kwinn
Legs: Poc Steel Brigade
Harness: Marauder
Helmet: 50th Dusty

_________________

Day 2: American Defense from Remco




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


Forest Green by bucky












I remember this guy. I saw alot of him hanging on pegs at KB Toys. Part of the S.I.T. subline, Forest Green was an attempt of camo that actually is kind of intriguing and the same time silly. When looking all over the net I re-discovered him and jotted him down in my notebook, to keep in mind as to how to pull it off. Do I bring him into the 21st century and give him a gillie suit? That seemed like the easy way out, and didn't quite pay homage to the original like I wanted. While shopping the dollhouse section last winter for a basket for Max Axe (the Garbage Pail Kid seen in last year's Retro Toy Chest), I stumbled across a 2-in-1. A basket with fake plants in it. I trimmed them up, and they worked for the vision I had.

Parts:
DG Duke Helmet
Roc Duke Head
Cpt America armor
Data Viper Thighs
Lady Jaye Lower legs
Arms Unknown



Claw by HypnoHustler












Claw had actually been in the works far prior to this project, originally intended for the Knock-Offs Group Project on JoeCustoms. The figure stalled out when I couldn't find Claws I liked. Eventually a thrift store Transformer came to the rescue and I finished him up. The only photo of a Claw cardback I've ever found is nearly illegible, so all I know about him is that he has the strength of 12 men and is apparently a robot with a demolition specialty.

Head: Captain America Dark Threat Hydra Soldier
Torso: Silver Centurion Iron Man
Upper Arms: Rise of Cobra Accelerator Suit figure
Lower Arms: Star Wars with Beast Machines Jetstorm claws
Upper Legs: 25th Serpentor
Lower Legs: Iron Man 2 Comic Whiplash



American Defense Corporal Crusher by Oreobuilder














Corporal Crusher was part of Remco’s US Forces line. His card art depicted him as a wrestler-type wearing championship belt and tights. His toy shared parts with several other American Defense figures and his look was more military. I based my custom on the toy. Character-wise, Crusher seems to be Remco’s Big Brawler/Sgt Slaughter mash-up. As such, he carries a big gun and a sword and can probably take on an entire battalion on his own.

Head, torso, arms: Retaliation Roadblock
Legs: 50th Iron Grenadier

_________________

Day 3: Bronze Bombers from Olmec




''Fearlessly, the mighty U.S. 369th Infantry led the nation's greatest Black Army into battle. They fought in WWI and WWII and they never lost. There have been no warriors their equal until today! Today, we have the Bronze Bombers™! Today they defend the country against P.S.B. enemy squad. These highly skilled combatants stand for justice and they never lose!" – From 1988 card back

The Bronze Bombers was a short-lived toy line produced by Olmec. Two "waves" were produced. The first one, released in 1988, consisted of a dozen different figures and 2 small vehicles. The figures had similar molds to Galoob's A-Team figures from the early '80s and were of lesser quality. In 1997, Olmec acquired several GI Joe molds from Hasbro and produced a 12 figure boxset consisting of recolored vehicle drivers like Motor-Viper, Skidmark, Darklon and Strato-Viper. A year later, Olmec filled for bankrupcy and Bronze Bombers line disappeared.


Bronze Bombers Crazeblaze by DanoftheDead








Of all the Bronze Bombers badguys I did, this one I'm the happiest with. He required some real design and part finding, and I think he's one of the more accurate updated Darklon (or Darklon-based) figures I've seen around. I had never noticed that Crazeblaze's shoulders are swapped from Darklon's until I started pulling this together. Purple and tan-gold aren't the easiest colors to work with, so I happy the results were so smooth here. I had major frustrations with the rest of the team, and was happy to have one come out even better than I expected.

Parts:
Club Darklon Headcast, Darklon Gun
Iron Grenadier - Chest Armor, Gauntlet
James McCullen XXIV - Shoulder Armror
Cobra Commander v43 - Arms
Neo-Viper v9 - Torso
Firefly v22 - Legs



Bronze Bombers Sure Fire by Oreobuilder












The original Sure Fire figure shared the same parts as Shakka Johnson. Since I have a custom of that character, I repeated the recipe here, used a different head and painted him the proper colors. Like my other ''1988'' Bronze Bombers customs, I used mostly 25th parts to convey the retro feel of the figure.

Head: ROC Repeater
Torso, upper arms: 25th Duke
Lower arms, legs: 25th Hawk



Bronze Bombers Kaboom (Marc Walters) by Oreobuilder














For Kaboom, I started by building him in parts that were already mostly blue. His build is straight forward and I used mostly 25th parts to convey the retro feel of the figure. To go with his name, I made him an explosives expert and gave him appropriate accessories.

Head: ROC Ripcord
Torso: 25th Viper:
Arms: DG Cobra Commander
Upper legs: 25th Hawk
Lower legs: ROC Pit Commando

_________________

Day 4: Bronze Bombers from Olmec




''Fearlessly, the mighty U.S. 369th Infantry led the nation's greatest Black Army into battle. They fought in WWI and WWII and they never lost. There have been no warriors their equal until today! Today, we have the Bronze Bombers™! Today they defend the country against P.S.B. enemy squad. These highly skilled combatants stand for justice and they never lose!" – From 1988 card back

The Bronze Bombers was a short-lived toy line produced by Olmec. Two "waves" were produced. The first one, released in 1988, consisted of a dozen different figures and 2 small vehicles. The figures had similar molds to Galoob's A-Team figures from the early '80s and were of lesser quality. In 1997, Olmec acquired several GI Joe molds from Hasbro and produced a 12 figure boxset consisting of recolored vehicle drivers like Motor-Viper, Skidmark, Darklon and Strato-Viper. A year later, Olmec filled for bankrupcy and Bronze Bombers line disappeared.


Bronze Bombers Firebomb by DanoftheDead








This was a nightmare. I spent so much time splicing the DC torso to a Joe body to retain articulation, and then the hoses and rest of the build made a lot of that pointless. I tore this guy up trying to make it all work, then struggled with the primer and orange paint job. I had such high hopes for him, but he just didn't come out as clean as I'd have like.

Parts:
DC Multiverse Mr. Freeze - Upper Armor
Hazard Viper - Waist, Legs, Arms
Secto-Viper - Head
Techno-Viper - Canister Backpack
MU Colossus - Feet
Iron-Man - Hands
Flame Throwers - The Force Awakens/Captain America The First Avenger, LEGO hoses



Bronze Bombers Cool Breeze by Oreobuilder












The 1988 line generally included figures that were a bit more generic (that had less flair) than the 1997 ones, but there were a couple of exceptions. One of these was Cool Breeze. Labelled as an enemy of the Bronze Bombers, Cool Breeze was clad in a stark white retro-space uniform and helmet. This is what inspired me to make this custom. I used mostly 25th parts that were already white to convey the retro feel of the figure and cut down on painting.

Head: HACKS
Torso: 25th Shipwreck
Arms: ROC Storm Shadow
Upper legs: 25th Storm Shadow
Lower legs: 25th Red Star
Helmet: ROC Accelerator Suit Duke



Shortburst by Oreobuilder











For this project, I looked at all the figures in the pack as candidates for customs. I made Roughshot for Custom Celebration 2017, so I figured that I would keep going. Eventually, I want to make all twelve figures from the pack. For Shortburst, I used the same parts recipe as for Roughshot since the originals were both repaints of Strato-Viper. I added some bronze accents that were not on the original figure. These accents are included in all my current and future Bronze Bombers customs as a way of tying them all together.

Parts:
Head: Star Wars Finn
Everything else: ROC Air Viper

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Day 5: Sgt Rock from Remco




''At the battle of Three Stripes Hill, Private Frank Rock gained a field promotion to sergeant and became the man all the other Easy Joes looked to for leadership. It was Sgt. Rock who forged Easy Company into the legendary fighting unit it became, fighting its way through Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and ultimately, Germany.'' – From Comicvine.com

Loosely based on the D.C. comics series, Sgt. Rock toys were produced by Remco in 1981-82. The 3 3/4" product line included figures, vehicles and playsets. Sgt Rock was the only named character in the first series. Other figures were simply known by their specialty like Ranger, Gunner, etc. A year later, Remco created a new enemy for the toy series. These consisted of repainted Sgt. Rock toys and featured a logo of a yellow snake. Apparently, "The Bad Guys" were enemies of Sgt. Rock, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.H. and "all mini action soldiers". Some Sgt. Rock accessories and vehicles would later be repainted and reused by Remco for their American Defense series.


Sgt Rock Gunner by Oreobuilder












I made a Sgt Rock custom for Custom Celebration XI. I have been planning to add more characters to the ranks. Gunner proved to be different enough with his cap and rolled up sleeves to make him interesting. Parts-wise, he is still very close to my recipe for Sgt Rock, but I really like the cohesive uniforms for the team.

Head, hat: Marauder MTF
Torso, legs: RoC Pit Commando
Vest: 50th Spirit
Upper arms: 25th Mutt
Lower arms: 25th Shipwreck
Hands: DG Duke



Sgt Rock Hawk by Oreobuilder














I made a Bad Guy custom of Snake for Custom Celebration XI. Now, I’m adding to the enemy ranks with Hawk. I reworked my parts recipe compared to Snake to be more in line with the other figures and I also changed the gold helmet and boots to tan to make the color scheme a bit more grounded. The 25th Duke head is not my favorite, but it is one of the only heads that can fit that Captain America helmet.

Head: 25th Duke
Helmet: Captain America
Torso: 50th Falcon
Legs: 25th Snake Eyes
Arms: PoC Snake Eyes
Vest: 30th Stalker
Weapon: PoC Steel Brigade



Sgt Rock Raider by Oreobuilder














Since I was expanding the ranks of my Sgt Rock team with Gunner, I decided to add another member to the team while I was at it. Looking through the options, I liked the Green Beret. I used the same recipe as my Sgt Rock figure except for the head and beret. The standard uniform look of the team makes these customs into 4’’ versions of green army men, which is an aspect that I really enjoy.

Head, beret: 50th Falcon
Torso, arms, legs: RoC Pit Commando
Vest: BBTS Spirit
Weapon: DG Duke



Sgt Rock Raider (repaint) by Oreobuilder












After making the original all-green version of Raider, I found pictures of the camoflage version online. I really liked the colors, so I scraped together the parts to build it. I did not deviate from my established recipe. The original figures all shared the same construction, so I wanted my versions to do the same. However, I gave him a different head so that he could be a different character.

Parts:
Head: ROC Sgt Stone
Harness: 50th Dusty
Everything else: ROC Pit Commando



Sgt Rock Machine Gun Nest Playset by Oreobuilder


















The Sgt Rock line included some vehicles and playsets. I made modern version of the River Commando playset for Custom Celebration XI. At the time, I also had my eye on the Machine Gun Nest. I had an old The Corps playset that fit the bill nicely, I added a bit of paint and modified it to fit a GI Joe machine gun and that was that. This is a 5-minute custom.

Sandbags: The Corps Playset
Machine gun: Retaliation Roadblock


Collect them all!

_________________

Day 6: American Defense




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


American Defense Captain Impermeable by bucky












Captain Impermeable is a Remco US Forces figure, released around 86-87.
One of my last minute additions to the project, Captain Impermeable (what a name) came about only because I stumbled upon the headgear in a fodder box. I looked at it for a bit, and realized it would make a great update. a couple coats of spraypaint later, and the Captain was born.

Parts:
TRU military line helmet
Data Viper



American Defense Captain Combat by Hypno Hustler












Very obviously inspired by Gung-Ho, Captain Combat was part of the American Defense line. He was a fun figure to put together. The chain belt is just a fun piece. While squinting at pictures of the original figure online to paint the chest tattoo, I realized he had something on his arms too. After comparing the card art and various pictures, I realized he had a heart tattoo on his bicep. Honestly I'm surprised Hasbro never had a character with one, its such a classic tattoo design, but finding out Captain Combat had one definitely made me like him more.

Head, Torso: Marvel Universe Drax
Upper Arms: 25th Nemesis Enforcer
Lower Arms: Marvel Universe X-Force Wolverine
Legs: RoC Snake-Eyes



American Defense Frogman by Oreobuilder












The diver was a super simple custom to make. I had a spare AOCI Wetsuit. Since the colors are so close, I started there. Even though he is completely painted, he remains completely poseable.

Head: 50th Dusty
Torso, arms, legs: 25th Wetsuit
Mask, backpack, fins: 25th Torpedo

_________________

Day 7: The Corps




Created and produced by Lanard Toys, “the Corps!” is the toy line that has had the longest lifespan and that has been the best seller of all the various GI Joe knock-offs. The first figures were produced in 1986 and are still sold in various stores.

John Eagle by bucky














John Eagle is one of the more frequently repainted CORPS figures from the late 80's/90's/00's. They got alot of use out of that mold, and he seemed like a legit bad ***, his early bio read that he is trained in martial arts and a veteran of many long range reconnaissance missions, and a former Special Forces Green Beret. For this incarnation, I went with the look from the John Eagle figure I owned, which I think is his original color scheme as well.

Parts:
Head: Kwinn
Hat: raginspoon
Upper body and arms: 50th trooper
Hands: kwinn
Legs: 50th Trooper



Avalanche by bucky














Avalanche was a figure I used alot. Another medic always seemed to be needed in my battles. Plus, he was skier and a medic. The snow outfit is great, and lends itself easily to a modern interpretation. He was at the top of my list this go around, much as Tiger Claw was last year in Retro Toy Chest 2.

Tactical Profile: Specializes in top secret close range combat tactics and technology.
Dossier: Graduated at the top of his Marine Combat Training class. Developed advanced combat body armor and battle field equipment.

Parts:
Low Light Head
MTF Vest
Snow Job Body
Dr. Mindbender FunPub collar



Red Raven by bucky












From YoJoe.com:
Note that the cover art has a G.I.Joe-like "explosion" behind the characters. In addition, the filecards include the exact text from the back of G.I.Joe figures - "Clip and Save for your... Files".

While the cardbacks pictured above were purchased in South America, the figures were produced in China. It's likely that these figures were sold in the United States at some point, because the card text is all in English. Bad English, however - "Those Guys From the Other Galaxy"????

I've seen pictures of this line many a times, but there isn't alot of info outside of what YoJoe.com lists that tells me more. The entire line has awesome looking characters in it and Red Raven is the one I chose to represent the Power Commandos.

Parts:
Head: unknown
Rest: MTF

_________________

Day 8: American Defense




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


***FLASHBACK to 2017***American Defense Underground by HypnoHustler













US Forces Protector by Oreobuilder












Part of Remco’s US Forces line, Protector was a straight repaint of Defender, one of the original 8 American Defense figures. Numbered US-3, he is the US Forces equivalent of Grunt, my favorite GI Joe character. Since I already made both versions of Defender, I figured, why not make the ''third''’. The way I see it, this is the same character wearing his urban camouflage uniform. For parts, I replicated my previous recipe. For colors, I toned down the blue a bit, but kept the yellow to add some pop.

Head: DG Duke
Torso, arms: Retaliation Kwinn
Legs: Poc Steel Brigade
Harness: Marauder
Helmet: 50th Dusty



American Defense Black Belt by Oreobuilder













"Silent weapons & night combat expert trained in stealth by a Ninja master''
Black Belt was one of the original 8 American Defense figures. Numbered AD-4, he was one of two martial arts experts on the team (Karate King was the other). When I started putting this custom together, I was surprised at how well this figure could be updated with existing parts. The Renegades Storm Shadow head is an almost perfect match for the original figure’s hooded look and the rest of the parts fell in place almost immediately after that.

Head: 50th Storm Shadow
Torso, upper arms: RoC Snake Eyes
Legs: RoC Cobra Commander
Feet: 25th Storm Shadow
Lower arms: 25th Flint
Hands: retaliation Storm Shadow
Belt: PoC Snake Eyes with 25th Storm Shadow added bits



American Defense Ramrod by Oreobuider











"Behind the lines infiltration specialist, enemies in awe of his incredible strength!''
Ramrod was one of the original 8 American Defense figures. Numbered AD-5, he was the bare-chested Rambo type. Ramrod seems to have had several variants back in the day. Some had all green pants, others had camouflage, and others had green pants with painted light green thigh pads. I decided to go with the camouflage pattern as it made the figure more interesting in my opinion.

Head, torso, upper arms: 30th Spirit
Lower arms: 25th Flint
Hands: RoC Pit Commando
Legs: RoC Duke

_________________

Day 9: American Defense from Remco




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


American Defense Colonel Striker by bucky












Another Remco figure from the sub line "Deseert Patrol", Colonel Striker is an odd visual. When you look at the art on the back of the packages, he appears to have some rolled up sleeves, where as the actual figure has some out of place straight black arms coming from under his button up shirt. Not sure what the deal was with that, but it makes for an interesting visual. I translated the look as best I could, and am pleased with the results I got.


Parts:
Duke head with Sculpted hair
Kwinn torso
Snake Eyes forearms
Lt. Falcon bbts legs



American Defense Wolfman by HypnoHustler


















Wolfman is precisely that. Part of the S.I.T. subline the original figure had a head with two faces, one of which was usually hidden under his helmet. This allowed him to "transform" into a werewolf, much like Man-E-Faces from He-Man. I have a soft spot for a good gimmick, and I've been doing a lot of work lately with interchangeable parts, so Wolfman jumped out to me as a chance to explore that further. His filecard is pure cheesy goodness, even stating that he "makes the SIT team's fight for freedom RUFF RUFF RUFF." How they managed to avoid a SIT pun I have no idea.

Heads: Man of Steel Zod and Wolverine Orgins Sabretooth, modded
Torso and upper arms: 25th Viper
Lower arms: RoC Hawk and Clone Wars Chewbacca
Legs: 25th Dusty



Ninja Strike Force Samurai Hero by Oreobuilder












Remco produced many different lines using the same molds during the '80s and '90s. One of the more obscure was Ninja Strike Force. The whole line consisted of only 6 figures. Samurai Hero was interesting to make as a custom as it was another way of using the Budo head. I changed the build a little from the original. The biggest change was the boots. I went with ninja style wrapping instead of jackboots. I felt it worked better for this figure. Also, I added the arms bands and hand wrapping as well. I figure this can be Samurai Hero's training look rather than his battle outfit.

Head: Retaliation Budo
Torso, upper arms: PoC Zartan
Lower arms: 30th Gnaw
Hands: Resolute Storm Shadow
Legs: DG Storm Shadow

_________________

Day 10: American Defense from Remco




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


***FLASHBACK to 2015*** American Defense Slugger by HypnoHustler













American Defense The Fish by HypnoHustler














The Fish is the S.I.T. team's frogman, presumably Swamp Man's arch-nemesis. An Aqua-Nut for freedom according to his filecard, I wasn't sold on him until I started piecing him together. You wouldn't think black, 2 shades of blue, and neon green would play well together, but I quite liked it when all was said and done. I appreciate that the design is flexible enough to work in either land or water as well. All the removable gear on this figure is inspired by the original figure, so that versatility has always been there.

Head: Star Wars Jodo Kast
Torso and Arms: RoC Breaker
Legs: RoC Hawk



Prof Slanders (Kaido from Bikin) by bucky












Made back in 1990 by the manufacturer "Bikin" from Belgium, "Mission Kaido" is a G.I. Joe-like themed action figure toyline. This toyline was short lived and sold only in a few European countries, most if not all came with a sonic weapons sound making backpack of some sort. I'm not 100% certain, but I think the line, or some of it, was sold in the states under a different name. While researching the figure, I came across another (named Zorgev, but different color scheme) that I know I received as an Xmas present in 93-94.

Parts:
Poc Spirit head
MTF body



American Defense Mac Tough by Oreobuilder












''Raw guts, gumption and common sense make him one of America’s best!''
Mac Tough was the second of the original 8 American Defense team members, numbered AD-2. Remco repainted Mac Tough a few times to make different characters. Among them was Commando Hank, which Bucky had previously made a custom of. When I built my custom, I wanted to use different parts to give Mac Tough his own look and identity, so I started with a large body Roadblock as a base. That instantly set him apart.

Parts
Head, helmet: DG Duke
Torso, arms: retaliation Roadblock
Legs: 30th BBTS Red Dog
Holster: 25th Steeler
Weapon: Resolute Cobra Trooper

_________________

Day 11: Bronze Bombers from Olmec




''Fearlessly, the mighty U.S. 369th Infantry led the nation's greatest Black Army into battle. They fought in WWI and WWII and they never lost. There have been no warriors their equal until today! Today, we have the Bronze Bombers™! Today they defend the country against P.S.B. enemy squad. These highly skilled combatants stand for justice and they never lose!" – From 1988 card back

The Bronze Bombers was a short-lived toy line produced by Olmec. Two "waves" were produced. The first one, released in 1988, consisted of a dozen different figures and 2 small vehicles. The figures had similar molds to Galoob's A-Team figures from the early '80s and were of lesser quality. In 1997, Olmec acquired several GI Joe molds from Hasbro and produced a 12 figure boxset consisting of recolored vehicle drivers like Motor-Viper, Skidmark, Darklon and Strato-Viper. A year later, Olmec filled for bankrupcy and Bronze Bombers line disappeared.


Bronze Bombers Backdraft by DanoftheDead








A pretty simple custom, I went with a sprayed red base coat but got my brands mixed up and the base coat was thicker and tackier than what I usually use. Tried to cover it up with some Krylon, which mostly worked, but would have been happier if I just did it right the first time. Did some minor adjustments to the placement of his colors but managed to convince myself to stick with the original Christmas color scheme, though I was tempted to leave off that bright green.

Parts:
Air-Viper v5 - Figure
Star Wars: The Force Awakens FlameTrooper - Backpack and Flamethrower



Bronze Bombers Krunch by Oreobuilder












Krunch was one of the Bronze Bombers that I looked at making for PHX Customs’ Retro Toy Chest in 2017. I settled on different figures for the project, but kept all the other Bronze Bombers in mind for future customs. Since I had all the parts I needed in my fodder bins, I assembled him anyway and put him aside until I had some spare time to get him painted.

Head: Star Wars
Torso, arms: 30th Stalker
Vest: RoC Pit Commando
Legs: RoC Snake Eyes



Bronze Bombers Suppressor X by Oreobuilder












Suppressor X was a one-day custom. I tried to build him with only black parts so I only had the tan details and the bronze highlights (that are a common feature on all my Bronze Bombers) left to do.

Head: Marauder MTF
Torso, upper arms, lower legs: RoC Neo Viper
Lower arms: RoC Snake Eyes
Upper legs: RoC Ripcord

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Day 12: American Defense from Remco




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


American Defense Touchdown by HypnoHustler














Kids like sports and kids like army men. Hasbro knew that, Remco presumably realized it once they saw Hasbro do it. Either way, it's how we got that gridiron grenadier, Touchdown. I like his simple look, and he was an excellent use of some larger fodder.

Head: Playmakers Peyton Manning
Torso, Arms, and Upper Legs: 50th Bazooka
Lower Legs: Renegades Roadblock



Toymax M P.A.C.T. Crimson Eye by bucky














I had stumbled across the picture of this guy, saved it, figured out his name and made him. While doing the write ups, I dug a bit deeper and found out this blurb: "This 8 man team was assembled to maintain world peace, and more importantly, stop the catastrophic activities of the world's most menacing criminals - Shatter Force. Since each member is a top crime fighting specialist and technical expert, the world can rest easy when Global Force arrives on the scene of any would-be disaster!"
I'd assumed he was a bad guy, and a member of Shatter Force. However, it turns out he's a good guy from England.

Parts:
Low Light head
30th Viper Body
MTF harness



American Defense Sky Fighter by Oreobuilder














"Drops from above with the fury of streak of lightning and rolling thunder!''
Sky Fighter was one of the original 8 American Defense figures. Numbered AD-6, he was the paratrooper or pilot on the team. The parts recipe for him was straight forward. The Retaliation Data Viper body is perfect to make customs of pilots, so I used it as is. To create the breathing unit, I turned to PTE’s Navy SEAL re-breather. I removed the hoses and made a hole on the front to plug in the mask. All in all, it was a simple custom, but I’m quite happy with the result.

Head: Retaliation Kwinn
Torso, arms, legs: Retaliation Data Viper
Helmet, mask: 50th Blowtorch
Breathing Unit: PTE (modified)

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Day 13: Bronze Bombers from Olmec




''Fearlessly, the mighty U.S. 369th Infantry led the nation's greatest Black Army into battle. They fought in WWI and WWII and they never lost. There have been no warriors their equal until today! Today, we have the Bronze Bombers™! Today they defend the country against P.S.B. enemy squad. These highly skilled combatants stand for justice and they never lose!" – From 1988 card back

The Bronze Bombers was a short-lived toy line produced by Olmec. Two "waves" were produced. The first one, released in 1988, consisted of a dozen different figures and 2 small vehicles. The figures had similar molds to Galoob's A-Team figures from the early '80s and were of lesser quality. In 1997, Olmec acquired several GI Joe molds from Hasbro and produced a 12 figure boxset consisting of recolored vehicle drivers like Motor-Viper, Skidmark, Darklon and Strato-Viper. A year later, Olmec filled for bankruptcy and Bronze Bombers line disappeared.


Bronze Bombers Scorch by DanoftheDead








I originally planned on making Scorch into and army builder, intending to make a set of these, but painting that bright green over dark colors convinced me otherwise... and ultimately I'm happy I stuck to the original designs/concepts/characters as best as I could. Nothing too fancy here, other than having to be patient with all the layers it took to get the green on.

Parts:
Nitro-Viper v2
Dr. Link Talbot - Grenade Launcher



Bronze Bombers No Flak by Oreobuilder














No Flak was one of the Bronze Bombers that I looked at making for PHX Customs’ Retro Toy Chest in 2017. I settled on different figures for the project, but kept all the other Bronze Bombers in mind for future customs. Since I had all the parts I needed in my fodder bins, I assembled him anyway and put him aside until I had some spare time to get him painted. I went back and forth on the head and ended up using one with a buzzcut to make it as close to the original figure as possible.

Head: Renegades Red Dog
Torso, arms: 30th Stalker
Vest: RoC Pit Commando
Legs: RoC Snake Eyes



Bronze Bombers Justice by Oreobuilder














For this project, I looked at all the figures in the 12-pack as candidates for customs. I made Roughshot a while ago, now I’m adding Justice. Eventually, I want to make all twelve figures from the pack. I added some bronze accents that were not on the original figure. These accents are included in all my current and future Bronze Bombers customs as a way of tying them all together.

Head: HACKS
Torso: ROC Neo Viper
Right upper arm, left lower arm: ROC Storm Shadow
Left upper arm: 25th Zartan
Right lower arm: 25th Torpedo
Right Hand: 25th Flint
Left hand: 25th Barbecue
Upper legs: 25th HISS Driver
Lower legs: 25th Crimson Guard

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Day 14: American Defense from Remco




''American Defense... the very name strikes terror into the hearts of the enemies of freedom! American Defense... the elite secret troop of specialized fighters in Defense of Freedom! American Defense... headed by the Super Eight Attack Squad... America's best Defense!'' - Taken from back of 1986 packaging.

American Defense was a line of 3 ¾’’ military toys sold exclusively at Kmart in the eighties. The line started with Galoob’s A-Team molds and Remco grew it from there. It was later produced by different companies and ended up in dollar stores and discount outlets. Similar to GI Joe, it included a wide variety of colorful characters. However, without a cartoon, comic or any marketing to back it up, the line rode GI Joe’s coattails for a while and then disappeared.


American Defense Zooks by bucky














I remember seeing Zooks as a kid on the shelves at KB Toys or K Mart. I couldn't find much on him, other than he was part of the American Defense line, probably some others from Remco as well. He was a very easy figure to put together. I deviated slightly from the standard uniform, but not the colors.

Parts:
Dusty 30th with Tripwire helmet
Dusty 30th Torso, arms and Lower legs
Pit Trooper Thighs
MTF Harness



***FLASHBACK to 2017*** American Defense Fake Out by Hypno Hustler













American Defense Bush Fighter by Oreobuilder












"Jungle warfare soldier… the deeper and the darker… the better!''
Bush Fighter was one of the original 8 American Defense figures. Numbered AD-7, he was the jungle soldier, American Defense’s version of Recondo. The original figure had rippled thigh pads (like many other American Defense figures). I dropped this detail on my custom since they were covered up by camouflage paint.

Head: Retaliation Kwinn
Hat: PoC Recondo
Torso: 25th Shipwreck
Legs: 50th Lady Jaye
Upper arms: RoC Monkey Wrench
Lower arms: 25th Flint
Hands: Star Wars
Harness: PoC Duke



American Defense TACAL by Oreobuilder


















The TACAL – Tactical Assault Craft Amphibious Lander – was one of a only a handful of vehicles produced for the American Defense line. It was released in 1986 with the first line of figures. For my custom, I had a spare True Heroes Wave Runner Jet Ski. I have previously used this small vehicle to make a custom Cobra craft and later a Joe watercraft. It is a fun little vehicle and offers up something that the Joe line does not have. The base vehicle is very similar to the American Defense TACAL, so I did not modify it. I simply painted it in the right colors.

All: True Heroes Wave Runner Jet Ski

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