So in the course of rebooting my Joe-Verse, I've struggled with how to modernize characters without losing what made them great and unique. For 99% of my new Joe customs, I'm using Marauder Inc parts. One of the biggest roadblocks (no put intended) I've run into is with Spirit. I loved the character in the comics - especially his first appearance in the Snake Eyes cabin arc. Even though I wasn't a big fan of his "cram-every-stereotype-into-one-figure" look.
I almost dropped him from the "to-do" list completely. Thought about a full-up reboot using the MTF WWII Navajo Code Talker head, but I already used that one for my Torpedo update. And I didn't want to go down the stereotypical "Native Medicine Man" route. I was going to try & do something with the 50A version -- was almost going to just use the original fig as-is, despite him being smaller than the MTF buck (Joe Colton & Airborne for scale):
Honestly not a huge fan of the headband or black stripe, but it's better than the twin braids. Then I realized something - with this head, the flesh tone is almost as dark as the "dark flesh" tone of the MTF figs, so I started going through my parts bin and found something that I started to like:
I thought it looked very southwestern-y and fit my view of the character (a retired Soldier who came back to join the Joe team). But then I remembered that my plan was for him to be on the 'Ghost Squad" with other stealthy Joes like Torpedo, Snake Eyes, Stalker, etc. The bright red & khaki didn't fit that narrative, so I started thinking some more. I had JUST ordered another big bunch of MTF parts, so I didn't want to hit the store again (since there's a processing delay due to covid, etc), so I dug around in my WIPs & fodder bin and this came together and REALLY gave me a Sigma 6 vibe (and fit the night ops theme I was looking for):
...and now it's probably one of my favorite figures. Still need to do some paint tweaks - the skin tone on the arms needs to be lightened a bit to match the head, and I might add some "Night Force" camo to the arms. And his factory eyes are wonky, so I need to fix those. And honestly, I might scrap the tomahawk, since that's also a little too stereotypical. Going to do some in-depth research on the Taos Pueblo Tribe and get a feel for anything traditional that might be a better fit for his character.
Anyway - wanted to share because I was so jazzed with how he came together while I was sitting in a boring web meeting. My "reboot" project has blown up into a huge backstory write-up in addition to all the actual customs, but I need to start posting stuff because I've got the majority of the project complete. But knowing how big the thread is going to be is a little daunting
Cheers!
