I mentioned this in another thread, but it really is long past due. The forums will be locked down at some point during the first week of January. You'll be able to view and read the forums, but won't be able to post anything. I'd originally planned to do this a couple of years ago and then Covid came along and for some of us, this place was the only respite. The cost of keeping everything up to date to avoid further hacker/crackers or being totally passed up by the ever changing demands of maintaining an online environment aren't worth the time and effort...mostly the time. I sincerely mean no disrespect to anyone. I've made lifelong friends here. Some of my best memories are times shared on here.

This website, well more accurately, the Bivouac before JoeCustoms, came about partly from a lack of places to talk about GI Joe and customizing. While other websites rose and fell over the years, now you can't throw a stick without hitting a community on any number of social media platforms (example: JoeCustoms Critiques on Facebook). I'd like to close out with two things, first, the Gallery custom section will remain open for submissions. That isn't going anywhere. Second, thank you. All of you, past and present, for making this forum the bestest home away from home for a dork with a love for a niche within a niche of a hobby. I've learned so much and became better just by being around all of you.

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I haven't posted in here in ages, but I happened to click on the bookmark by mistake when going to pay some bills. This site got me through my loner high school days and my kidney transplant back when the internet was a much simpler thing than it is now. So strange to have clicked the link today, the day after you posted this. Made me feel the urge to log on and wish the forums a farewell. It had been a very special place to share what continues to be my favorite hobby, well into adulthood and marriage and all of the other changes that have occurred since this place started.

And thanks to pluv for maintaining it and beav before and anyone else who had a hand in creating this place.

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This is not the news I wanted to read today.

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There are only a handful of us still using it regularly, so it's not a shock.

Thanks for keeping it going for as long as you have, pluv. This place has meant a lot to me through the last 15 years. Glad that the gallery will remain open at least.

When 2DARK2C stopped coming around it felt like the end of an era. Bummer.

Knew this was coming but was still hoping it wasn't.
Been part of this place since the Bivouac days and it's one of the tabs I leave open on my tablet.
Gonna miss it.

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What happened to 2DARK2C?

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Nothing. He's still alive and everything, he just slowed down on posting.

Should we start an e-mail group w each other before January?

Truly the end of an era. My preference for online interaction is always forums vs social media, but I'm an old fuddy duddy like that.

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Finding the Bivouac back around '99 was a revelatory moment (holy "LASER BLAST"! Other 20-something dudes are taking apart/modifying old GI Joe figures to make new "LASER BLAST"?!), but the transition to JoeCustoms and the establishment of the forum was really special and maybe the most "online" I've ever been. Never, before or since, was I as engaged with an online community as I was with the JoeCustoms crowd between 2000 and 2003. Never found another to compare.

Huge thanks to pluv and all the community members who kept this place open, welcoming, and alive for over 20 years. Truly an incredible accomplishment and a gift to all of us who have found shared interest, mutual appreciation, and creative inspiration here.

Thank you all.

it's been a tough several years. i love this place and it's hard to mentally/emotionally see it go.

more than just a place to hang out JC has been my "home" online.

i was almost banned from the start for posting a sexy cow pic. utterly
https://servimg.com/view/18310726/167

"You'd better flush out your head, new guy. This isn't about freedom; this is a slaughter. If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word is "poontang".
Animal Mother


seriously a big thanks to pluv and all the great people who ive known here over the years.

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Even though I knew this was coming from the other thread, it still hurts to hear. This has been the one site I've consistently come to nearly every day since the Bivouac days. I haven't posted regularly in years, but I've still lurked like crazy. I've made friends, and seen amazing custom work, and gotten inspiration and learned new techniques from a collection of truly talented folks. Most of my favorite customs of all time, the ones I still think about and marvel at, reside in the gallery or in the Critiques forum.

Pluv, I can't thank you enough for the literal decades of enjoyment that Joecustoms has brought to my life. Your approach to the site has always been appreciated: the tone has always been light, the work has been incredible, and the atmosphere, as Kowalski said, has always been welcoming...and that last part is a true rarity in niche communities like ours. Thanks to everyone who's made this place what it has been: a delight. Joecustoms, you were enjoyed.

Same...

I understand the time thing completely. I have less free time now than ever before.

Thank goodness for that! I do plan to submit customs again if I am ever focused enough to actually finish something again.

I am willing to bet there are more lurkers than you would think. I was around for a bit of the Bivouac and didn't submit my first figure or post on the forums until long after Joecustoms was established. Even then I didn't post as much as I should have.

Same here as well. It is just a better format in my opinion. I feel like I can take more time to formulate my thoughts and I don't have to be logged in just to see what is going on.

Thank you everyone past and present who have been involved with the site.
Thank you everyone past and present who have been active in the community.
And thank you lurkers, you are appreciated as well.

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bummer. i fell off the horse visiting here around 2005-2006ish because a lot of life things were going on at the time and i just stopped coming. things like "i really cant take a girl here" when half my apartment was a toy custom office. so i broke that down and put my toys away. i did a lot of personal growth and cringe when the occasional memory of the stupid "LASER BLAST" i've said here bubbles up. i didnt pick up customizing action figures again until like, 2015? i dont know. over time this place moved more into modern gijoes and marauder stuff and that's just not my thing; so i'd lurk without signing in, and keep up on the "what i got today" was great except that guy getting socks and dental procedures, and who to avoid if i needed to buy some o-ring joes or where to get custom parts.

i only picked up posting here on occasion recently to get some more chit chat going about various o-ring kickstarters. it was selfish, because i wanted to get the word out for these things to have a better chance of success (except easy kill 9.) i have a few comments in the general customizing area.

anyway. sad to see it go, i grew up here (from being a kid on bivouac). im glad the gallery will stay open.

I don't post as I used to, but I visit the site everyday.
We've been through a lot on this site. We've seen the rise and fall of many incarnations of the Joe brand, Good times indeed.

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(starts humming Closing Time and weeping uncontrollably)

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