the twins are great. i really like the suits.

_________________

More excellent work.

_________________

So the last of my Wave 2 Retro-fitted Cobras represents the point at which I was pretty sure G.I. Joe officially jumped the proverbial shark.

I was on-board when they introduced Zartan the Chameleon Man and I was willing to go along for the ride with creepy twins who felt each other's feels. But when they introduced a dentist who accidentally turned himself into something between Dr. Frank N. Furter and Josef Mengele (with a WWF wardrobe), I was about ready to clock out:

Fortunately the Bad Doctor grew on me as his arc unfolded in the comics (and at one point he became the most entertaining character on the cartoon). So I thought he deserved a figure closer to his original appearance than the 25th offering. I kept the torso, arms to the wrists and chain-link suspenders from that figure, but gave him the head from an Arctic Doctor Mindbender exclusive. The gauntlets/hands came from an MU Skrull Soldier. Upper legs were 25th Tunnel Rat's. Knees from an MU Red Ninja. Lower legs and feet from a 25th Viper. The cape may have been original to v1 Mindbender. After that I repainted the purple to better coordinate with the 50th Techno-Viper.

Here he is showing off his latest attempt at grafting actual DNA onto a largely synthetic artificial human:

And here he is - several dozen attempts later - blowing Retro Cobra Commander's mind (under that hooded alternate head I gave him) with the reveal of his crowning acheivement, the Cobra Emperor:

Serpentor is a complete repaint (all metallics) of the 25th release with a home-made cape and a Retaliation Firefly noggin under the hood.

And, with that, the stage is set for Wave 3.

Thoughts?

awesome! mindbender is perfect.

_________________

Fantastic


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________

Lookin’ good!

_________________

Glad you guys dig Minbender.

So even in this fantastical alternate universe where Hasbro followed these blueprints to keep the Retro momentum going for a couple more waves, some multiversal constants would prevail. Surely they'd have found some reason to pull the line from brick and mortar distribution while they publicly re-reimagine Joe for yet another new generation (who has zero interest in war toys). But they'd probably still find ways to take our money by putting out exlcusive Retro multipacks, available through select digital retailers and Hasbro Pulse. These "Special Missions" packs would introduce new Retro-fitted versions of fan favorite characters from '85 on alongside repainted/slightly modified Wave 1 and 2 characters re-equipped for the specific mission parameters.

The first two Special Missions 4-packs would follow the "Woodland Warriors" narrative. Part 1 would be subtitled "Operation: Wingfield."

Dissatisfied with the cultural and political direction he perceives his nation to be heading, former soldier-turned-Preppers'R Us supplies mogul Vance Wingfield has gathered scores of like-minded individuals to his private paramilitary compound in Vermont and equipped them with what appear to be M.A.R.S. industries weapons. The Joes dispatch Outback on an undercover mission to infiltrate the compound, learn what Wingfield's Strike First militia is up to...and how Cobra might be involved.


Outback was built to Retro proportions using a marauder torso and arms, the same thighs as my Snake Eyes (with a holster swap), the same lower legs as my Duke with a boot sheath grafted on and Maurauder feet (gives him a skooch more height than the standard Retro buck). For rthe head I modified a Legacy Collection Obi Wan. The flashlight and gun are Marauder (with a Chap Mei sling). The backpack is also Chap Mei (with 25th arctic Snake Eyes harness and original Wildcard machete/sheath grafted on) as is the big survival knife.

Vance Wingfield is a revisit of an old custom that combined a Build'n Brawl arms/torso with 25th Hawk legs and a JvC Ripper head. I gave him slightly taller feet and new hands to raise bis height and give him better gun grips for that Viper Assault rifle.

Here's a shot of two Strike First militiamen (grabbed two tall-ish heads that matched the skin tones on some Resolute Joe bodies I had sitting around) catching "the new guy" poking around in a restricted area:

I'll post the second 4-pack later.

nice to see a new outback. i like them all, but need a 4 pack group shot!

_________________

So here's the narrative for the second 4-pack in the Wilderness Warriors set, subtitled Explosive Extraction:

A coded transmission from Outback, still undercover at the Strike First compound, indicates that Wingfield is in possession of a small nucear weapon, with which he plans to plunge the nation into chaos so he and his militia cells in multiple states can "restore order." In Response the Joes dispatch a small team to retrieve the nuclear device, capture Wingfield and extract their operative.

Leading the four-man extraction team is Lt. Falcon, who is built on a Rise of Cobra Pit Commando body with Retaliation Joe Colton lower arms and a Rise of Cobra Hawk head. The gun holster on his skirt is functional and I've added a knife/sheath to the back of it. Web gear and backpack are from 25th Falcon.

Cross Hair will cover the rest of the team from the treeline. The base figure here was a convention exclusive Wet Suit with wrists grafted on from a 25th Snow Job. Hands are Marauder. Not sure whose head that was. Hat came with Wet Suit and goggles are off a comic pack Firefly. The gun belt is from a 25th Hawk. The vest and camo suit are from v1 Cross Hair. The rifle is also "new sculpt" era.

Here they are with the rest of the team, planning their attack:

Tunnel Rat (25th comic pack figure with more proportionate arms/hands, functional leg sheath, v3 Low-Light backpack and Elite Force machine gun) will sneak in through the drainage system to locate the nuke as Footloose (Collector's Club exclusive with new Marauder assault rifle and upgraded hands) and the others keep the Strike Firsters busy while searching for Outback and Wingfield.

i'm liking this set best! more of a real world feel to them.

_________________

On to the next environmentally themed multi-packs in my "Special Missions" series of Retro-fitted Joes: Desert Dust-Up. The first pack is subtitled "Questionable Qisas."

In the Middle-Eastern nation of Trucial Abysmia, acts of terror against U.S. diplomatic outposts and commercial interests have spiked in recent months. The country's leaders blame a nomadic group of religous radicals and have requested American weapons and money to help combat them. But the nomads' leader has publicly denied involvement. Begrudgingly, Trucial Abysmia has agreed to admit a small team of Joes to investigate and confirm the government's claims.

This set was inspired by those first tan recasts of Grunt and Clutch back in 1983. I was super excited to take my original 13 Joes into different environments (even if I was ind of baffled as to why an infantryman would be assigned to a hang glider) and was pretty disappointed that they didn't continue down this path.

Nothing against Grunt, but if the idea behind the Falcon glider was to give the Joes eyes and an advantage in the air over the dunes, I would pick the J.U.M.P. pack and a seasoned pilot like Grand Slam every time. This version is built on the Cobra Mine Detector trooper (who happens to share all but lower legs with the 25th Grand Slam) from the Desert Assault multi-pack with a slightly lighter paint wash and the same head/helmet/hands combo I used for Retro Grand Slam. J.U.M.P. pack is also repainted.

I realize Snake Eyes is one of the most overexposed characters on the roster and a bit of a Mary Sue when it comes to resolving any issue that doesn't require talking, but as a kid I wanted him on every mission. The Rise of Cobra line released a desert version that I thought was a little more than half bad, so I Retro-fitted that for this mission. Now that he has the same upper legs as my O-13 Retro Snake Eyes and the same lowers as my Retro Duke, he's the right height. I also replaced the torso with one from a Renegades Snake Eyes (looked more natural) and gave him the hands from a Pursuit of Cobra Firefly. Modified the bandolier to better hold my default Snake Eyes scimitar from Marauder and that's where the micro-uzi in his thigh holster and the silencer on his Rise of Cobra SMG came from as well. The knives and hip sheaths are from a Retaliation Joe Trooper.

The last two figures in the four pack would be mission leader Beach Head (Retaliation version with repainted legs, weapons and select details) and, of course, Dusty (25th version with the head of my favorite star-faring desert moisture farmer, new hands and a rifle from Marauder).

You didn't think I'd leave Clutch out of the arrid action, did you? But I figure hasbro would release him separately with a repack of the 25th VAMP II (because money):

He's essentially a repaint of my O-13 Retro Clutch, but I was out of Retro legs so had to cobble together a best approximation.

I'll post the enemy figures later.

Much as I loved your Retro Series O13, these mission packs are on another level. Love the Wingfield update and this latest desert team is everything I wish Hasbro was doing with the line. Awesome work, all around!

Glad you're digging these. They're fun to work on.

Here are the bad guys from the Desert Dust-Up theme in a 4-pack titled "Snakes in the Sand."

Upon arrival in Trucial Abysmia, the Joes are presented with a new recording in which the leader of the nomads claims his group is actually responsible for the attacks on U.S. interests. The team isn't convinced and continues its investigation, only to be ambushed by Cobra in the desert. Turns out they were working with the Trucial Abysmian government to defraud the U.S. out of money and weapons...and they believe the plan can still succeed if they kill the Joes and blame their deaths on the nomads.

Leading Cobra's forces in Trucial Abysmia is Firefly, whose attacks on the U.S. embassy and corporate facilities were convincingly made to look like the work of amateur locals. He was content to let the Joes' investigation continue until Cobra Commander offered to triple his payout if the Joes were successfully slaughtered. He's built on a Pursuit of Cobra Dusty body (and goggles?) with a Firefly head, wrist knife and gun holster cut from 25th Lady Jaye lower legs, demolitions pack from the Cobra Desert Assault mine detector and a Retaliation submachine gun.

The Sand Tele-Viper was responsible for the (poorly) doctored audio confession of the nomad leader and jams the Joes communications when the ambush begins. He is built on a re-equipped Cobra Desert Assault trooper body with a Rise of Cobra Tele-Viper head, Marauder hands original Tele-Viper backpack (adapted), accessory pack Tele-Viper transmitter blunderbuss and select paint details.

Here they are with the other two figures in the pack (a gift to army builders) a pair of Sand Vipers. They're both head swapped Desert Assault Pack troopers with heads from the flamethrower figure in that pack (I bought several for the Major Bludds) and standard 25th Viper goggles/backpacks/assault rifles. I hit some paint details on these as well.

And of course the bad guys would get a vehicle pack for this theme, too.

The Desert Hi.S.S. is a repaint of the Crimson version Hasbro released and the driver utilizes the same torso/arms as my desert Grand Slam with repainted head and legs from a 25th Hi.S.S. driver.