Lifeline: G.I. JOE Medic (Custom Action Figure)

I'll admit, I'm not a fan of Lifeline. In fact, between his "bulls eye" colored uniform and his winy pacifist banter on the cartoon I have to say that I can't really stand the character. But I know he has a lot of fans including two buddies of mine. And I seem to remember an issue of G.I. JOE Special Missions where he showed some redeeming qualities. So I bit the bullet and made a 25th Anniversary version of him.

Head - Ultimate Battle pack Short Fuze

Body - Hard Master

Lower Arms and Hands - Crimson Guard

Web Gear - Breaker

Holster - Star Wars Biggs

Helmet - Duke

Goggles - Scuba Baroness

Pouches - Cut from some other military figure

RESCUE and chest symbol - Water Slide Decals Made by Me





"Those guys in the PX know I'm a pacifist, yet they found it necessary to put a holster and gun on my web gear. I bet they think they're really funny but I'll show them! I'll show them all someday that pacifism is the way to go."



"Here I come to save the day!!!"
BLAM! ZING!
"Hey, no fair shooting at the Medic!"

"Stalker's looking pretty bad. Should I use the silver duct tape I carry around in this case or just put him out of his misery with the hand gun...hmmmmm?"

Cover Girl G.I. JOE Custom Action Figure Art

Cover Girl made her first appearance in the comics way back in issue #16 along with some other 1983 Joes like Tripwire. However, her appearance was overshadowed by another event...Hawk being shot in the back. But she did take part in several missions afterward including the mission in the Swiss Alps that captured Cobra Commander.

I've always felt that Cover Girl was an underused character on a team that (at the time) had only one other female member. I didn't even have her figure as a kid because she only came with the Wolverine vehicle and was never re-released. But I always liked her background which was Supermodel turned tank driver. There has to be a great story behind it. Did she get some minor scar that ruined her? Was she just fed up with the artifice? Or as fellow Hisstanker Badgumbo and I conceived while we were researching her arm patch; did her grandfather serve in the 104th Infantry Division in World War II and she wanted to follow in his footsteps?

I finally bought her vintage figure a few years ago. Using it as reference, I combined the vintage figure look with her appearance on the package artwork to create the look of this 25th Anniversary style piece. I hope you dig her.

"Okay, Clutch, give me back the keys."



She's a combination of 6 different figures with all completely repainted parts. The jacket is a custom tailored Indiana Jones jacket. The patch is a waterslide decal created by me.



And, "yes," she does fit inside the vintage Wolverine!



Yo Joe!

Cobra Commander's Son Billy in Cobra Youth Uniform (Custom Action Figure)

In issue #33 of the original G.I. JOE Marvel comics run, we get a glimpse into the inner workings of the Cobra organization. It's not just a terrorist group of extremists, but a "family" where even children become indoctrinated into the Cobra mind-set. The "Cobra Youth," a group similar to Hitler's youth organization was taking part in a rally. Unbeknownst to The Commander, his long lost son Billy was a part of this group. But unlike all the other kids, he was additionally brainwashed by Major Bludd and The Baroness to assasinate The Commander.



I originally made this figure because I had the parts and thought it would make for a funny diorama. I'll let you be the judge bellow.

Mara Jade Star Wars Expanded Universe Custom Action Figure Art

While I'm mostly a dabbler in the Star Wars "Expanded Universe," I've had a crush on Mara Jade since her appearance on the cover of Star Wars Insider. With her tortured and dark past and eventual redemption, she's a character I can admire for taking life's lemons and making lemonade. The flaming red hair and black bodysuit also don't hurt my eyes either. ;-)

So when Hasbro announced an updated Mara Jade action figure, I was really psyched they'd get it right this time. You see, the first one they released had orange hair, fish eyes, and only 5 points of articulation. Unfortunately, the second time around wasn't much of an improvement. She still had had orange hair, but now she had a sleepy eyed face deco, a pink complexion, and a purple outfit. Below is my improved Mara Jade.






I dyed the entire body black as to not have any "paint rub" issues on the joints then repainted all the details giving her gear a more worn and "battle used" appearance. I also painted her hair deep firey red and completely repatined her face. The finishing touch was adding her trademark gray cape.


Mara Jade VS Juno Eclipse?

I hope you dig her, if you do, leave a comment, sign up for updates, follow me on Twitter, or contact me for a commission. Until next time, I remain "The Insidious One."

The Hard Master (Custom Action Figure)

As I mentioned before, Snake-Eyes is one of my favorite G.I. Joes. So when Mr. Hama revealed more about his mysterious past in issues #26 & #27 of the Marvel comic book series, I read them and re-read them until the pages were warped and torn. In them, we are introduced to the Arashikage ninja clan who trained not only Storm Shadow but also Snake-Eyes. The leader of the clan, who also happens to be Storm Shadow's uncle, is a quiet, wise, and extremely perceptive and deadly ninja called "The Hard Master."



This man, or more pointedly, the death of this man would have far reaching ramifications for many characters in the Joe universe but especially for Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow as it would set them on separate paths that would eventually pit them against each other many years later.

Yes, Hasbro gave us a Hard Master figure whose head and lower arms I use for this custom, but the rest of the figure was a repaint of Snake-Eyes' V3 uniform. It was very "modern commando" looking and nowhere near the Hard Master's gi as depicted in the comics. I remedied the situation by combining the above parts with a red ninja body, sculpting sleeves, and repainting the entire figure. The Arashikage symbols on his gi and his arm add the final touch and are water slide decals created by me.

I have another one in the works, but I haven't yet decided if I should take a dremel to his face to give him his wrinkles or I should find an entirely different "old man" head. I haven't found a suitable one yet. Anyone have any ideas?

Low-Light

I had this figure as a kid and really liked him because he not only looked bad-ass and had a sniper rifle for picking off stray Cobras, but he had a great story on his file card about starting out as a timid kid but getting lost in the woods alone and coming out a man.

The first time I saw comic pack Hawk, I took one look at his grimacing face and said, "that's Low-Light." So I set an extra Hawk head aside and waited for the right parts to be released to go with it. Hat and shoulder patch are sculpted by me.

I was really happy with how he turned out. Apparently so where other people as shortly after he sold on ebay, I was commissioned to do two more. And I think that the second two turned out even better.  I'll share pics of those in a later post.

Kamakura: G.I. JOE Ninja

While I'm not the biggest fan of the Devil's Due G.I. JOE comic books, (In my book, if Larry Hama didn't write it, it's not G.I. JOE.) I liked how they reached back to the final issue of the Marvel series (#155) for the origin of this character.

#155 is a very powerful issue in which the adopted son of one of Snake-Eyes' old Vietnam buddies writes him a letter explaining how he wants to join the army at age 17 but his father won't sign the papers. Snake-Eyes writes him back telling him what it was really like in Vietnam and what it really means to be a soldier.

Side note: (I was in college when this issue came out, still deciding between pursing an engineering degree or writing and art. This issue stopped me in my tracks and reminded me how important and powerful comics can be. BTW, I went with writing and art.)

In the DD series, this letter writing kid from #155 has grown up to become Snake-Eyes' pupil: Kamakura.

He began as one of the battle pack red ninjas but ended up being the combination of six different figures. He has been heavily modded including a sculpted hood and a reworked waist belt that includes a spot for a hidden "last resort" dagger behind his back. (See second photo below.)





This figure was part of the "Undisputed Ninja Master Contest" on Hisstank.com. (Click the link to see the other entries. I have a second entry in the contest. Can you guess which one?)

Dusty (As he would have appeared in G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra)

Did you see Dusty in the movie G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra? No? Well, that's because he wasn't in it. While most of my ROC customs are combinations of the movie look with vintage styling, this figure is a straight up Dusty as he would have looked if he were in the movie.

He features the ROC Joe camo uniform colors, trademark helmet with goggles and sun cloth, FAMAS machine gun, desert back pack, and face camo. I also fixed his eyes so he no longer has that "deer in the headlights" look we've been seeing on so many figures lately.

Would Dusty have turned the tide of the battle at the Pit? Yes, I say!

Dusty was my brother's favorite Joe. Was it his cool dester camo pattern? Was it the FAMAS machine gun with folding bipod? Or was it simply that he found his last name hilarious...Tadur?

Agent Courtney Krieger (Cover Girl) G.I. JOE Custom Action Figure Art

I've done quite a few Cover Girls in my day (Did I just write that?) but as you know, I never do the exact same piece twice so in my efforts to keep her fresh, this time I've created the Agent Courney Krieger version as seen in the Devil's Due comic books.


She features modded/sculpted hair and sleeves. Her face was a real challenge as the one I selected did not have enough forehead for the hair style so I actually sculpted a forehead for her and sanded it down until the contours matched. The fur lined jacket is modified from a Star Wars figure. The rest of her is a conglomeration of parts from many other figures. She also features her trademark Wolverine patch although this time it is moved from her sleeve to her shoulder as is the Devil's Due look.







This is just one of the many Cover Girl's I've made over the years. Just type "Cover Girl" in the "SEARCH" box on the right side of the page to see more. Until next time, I remain The Insidious One.