Prehistoric Scenes - Just plain Awesome!

I absolutely loved these models from back in the early years of the 70s. I wound up with the whole collection. Very cool stuff! Too bad it's all gone!

This first picture shows the first series. Dinos and humans together! Still awesome despite being extremely scientifically inaccurate.

Here's the lay out for the total series. I'll have to post scans of each individual kit.

More Classic GI Joe Coolness!

Some more paperwork from the classic days of GI Joe!

Interesting replies from Hasbro for some of their mail in orders. Out of stock? Mail the kids some Flag Points as compensation.

An example of Flag Point bonuses for ordering from the bonus catalogs.

The mail-away order form for Duke and the Manta sail board.

The mail away for the Hooded Cobra Commander, along with the Manta sail board.

Cool stuff! I've got more to dig out and post. Stay tuned!

Old School GI Joe Goodness!

I recently found some old ads that I had cut out years and years ago and had stuck away along with some other GI Joe paperwork. Cool stuff! I thought I'd share it with my "vast" audience.

IMHO, the finest, most awesome GI Joe vehicle! The Defiant Shuttle Complex! $129.99 at Toys R Us - I never saw it anywhere else. I think I bought mine a couple years after the initial release for $99.00.

Tiger Force advertisement - very cool stuff! I still have the Tiger Cat. The picture with the four figures shows that mythical Tiger Force character - Sabertooth. I think that was supposed to be his name. Proof that he existed in some form!

Another great ad - $2.99 for a GI Joe figure - oh those were the days!

Exclusive Night Force stuff from TRU. I was never really impressed with them and never bought any. Damn shame. The Night Striker (black Whale) is a huge pile of win wrapped in a soft taco shell of awesome!

More treasures uncovered and coming soon! Stay tuned! (both of you...)

Layering images in Photoshop

I'm currently in the slow process of creating a photo montage with my 1/6th scale GI Joes. The basic idea is that the Joes are being pursued by Cobra forces - nothing very new there. The problem is that I don't have any Cobra vehicles or a large amount of Cobra figures. The two main 1/6th scale vehicles that I have are the HMMWV and the Chenowth light strike vehicle. The Chenowth doesn't have any insignia, so it gets to be used as a Cobra vehicle.

I wanted to create the illusion of multiple pursuers and came up with an easy way to do that with photo editing. I thought that if I used a tripod and had my camera in a stationary place and moved the vehicle to multiple locations, I could edit the pictures in Photoshop.

Here's the first picture.

Second shot, moved the Chenowth a little farther back and to the left.

Third shot, a little farther back and again at a different position.

Here's the final result after several attempts. The picture with the most distant vehicle wound up being the background with the other pictures being layered over in order of the distance.

Careful erasing and shifting layers to get the desired effect of multiple vehicles. Worked pretty good to me!

What do you think?

New GI Joe: ROC Exclusives @ Sam's Club

Sam's Club has ROC exclusives - two packs of vehicles for $24.83. Snake Trak ATV w/ Armored Panther & Rockslide ATAV w/ Mole Pod. No variations on drivers - they look the same with no visible variations. Sorry for the lousy pictures - too close with the camera!

Oh, the carnage!

My two newest Power Team guys were doomed before they even left the store. Once I got a glimpse of the detailed head sculpts, I knew they were destined for Hasbro super articulated bodies.
So much for the review, time for some carnage! Above is a Power Team head that I used for my tutorial on head swaps between Power Team and Hasbro bodies. The utility knife is ready to go!

One head sliced, needing to be trimmed and another ready and waiting!

The thick o-ring wedged in, ready for test fitting.

The Green Beret gets the treatment as well. Bottom of the neck post sliced, thick washer installed.

And here they are... Both successful survivors of radical head surgery! For a more detailed look at the process, check out this earlier post.

HEY!

YEAH, YOU!

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Power Team Review - Green Beret & SAS

About a week ago, my wife and I stopped by a local Big Lots and I checked out the toy department to see what kind of "stuff" Big Lots had in stock. I was pleasantly surprised by the first signs of Christmas - Power Team figures at Big Lots! Yesterday, I finally picked up a couple of them - the Green Beret and the SAS soldier. So here's my review of these two guys.

I'm usually very pleased with Power Team figures in general, but when Hasbro cranks out high dollar molded shirt, minimal accessory figures, Power Team just kicks the big H's butt! Power Team figures come with cloth uniforms, usually a load of decently detailed accessories, and a $10.00 price tag that is hard to beat.

I have two big complaints about Power Team figures - the body style and the head sculpts. The body style is amazingly articulated. These guys have some of the best artic around for 12" figures. Rugged, tough and kid-friendly - they are great! But, for me personally, there are minimal limitations on the knee and elbow joints and they wind up looking a little goofy. Besides, I'm partial to the Hasbro super articulated body style, so I'm biased.

The head sculpts range from goofy looking to incredible detail. The two guys I picked were primarily for their head sculpts.

The first on the review block is the Green Beret - not much on the accessory department, but an excellent head sculpt.

The second is the SAS trooper. Again, great head sculpt and pretty good gear with this guy.

Here's a look at the package back. I'm hoping the deluxe set with the UAV shows up again this year. I don't want to miss it again! Most of these guys are great for kit bashing and restocking your 1/6th scale goodies. It's a tough market out there for 1/6th scale stuff!

Here's a close up of the Green Beret. I just like this sculpt. Detailed, a bit aged, five o'clock shadow. There is some character in this face!

Here he is outfitted with most of his gear. The vest is very high quality, very well made. His jeans are well done as well. Plus, he's wearing sneakers! How cool is that!

Here's a look at the GB's gear. Not much to look at. PT holsters are well made but not belt/web gear friendly. Not too thrilled with the AK-47 "ish" weapon. It will wind up in a box buried somewhere. The watch is nicely made and the head set is not so great. Everything else is pretty decent.

Here's a close up of the SAS guy. Another great head sculpt. He's got some pock-marks on the sides of his chin, nice natural lines in the face. Again, there's a character behind this head sculpt.

Here he is outfitted in his gear. The SAS troop has much more gear than the Green Beret and it's all pretty well made.

Here's a look at his gear. The hat? Not so much. The rifle? A British SA80 - this weapon is awesome! Excellent detailing and paint apps. Okay, it's not fine detail, but for the price, it's pretty damn sweet! There's a canteen and three pouches that fit on the web belt (another win) and a pretty decent back pack that has space to store stuff inside. The camo netting thingy? I guess it's a scarf or something. It's well made, but I'm not sure what to do with it.

I'm very pleased with these two figures. They are well made, have excellent head sculpts and decently made gear. I highly recommend Power Team figures for all 1/6th scale soldier collectors!

Too bad I'm going to cut their heads off!

HEY!

YEAH, YOU!

Please feel free to leave a comment!