I love when customizers do their own Original 13. For one, it's an expansive project, comprising 13 individual customs. While some customizers work almost exclusively in themed sets, it's hardly the norm. It requires the customizer to think beyond the individual figure and consider each as a part of a whole. Additionally, there are certain conceptual expectations around the Original 13--an established set of characters and specialities, a uniformity of color and style, a simplicity of design--that the customizer must negotiate. How one navigates those boundaries, embracing their limitations as a challenge or pushing them to the breaking point, reveals as much about the customizer's individual style as it does about the fundamental strength and malleability of that initial wave of Joes.

While I love an OG13 set, I've never done one of my own. I thought about it a lot when I first started customizing seriously in the early '00s, but never got around to it. It wasn't my intention to rush into doing one when I returned to the hobby earlier this year, but around the time I returned to the JoeCustoms boards this past spring, Spin Doctor was rolling out his own "Retro Series" customs and I started thinking more and more about my own ideas for realizing the Original 13 in the Modern Era style.

And so, several months and many Ebay, Marauder, Vitruvian Armory, AVAC's Lab, and Spartan118 orders later, I present the first three members of my own Original 13 set, or as I call them Operational Group 13, OG13 for short (but more on that later).

Fire Team
Grunt
Stalker
Rock N Roll
Breaker
Short Fuse
Zap

Experimental Tech & Tactics
Flash
Grand Slam

Intelligence & Infiltration
Scarlett
Snake Eyes (coming soon)
Shooter (coming soon)

Command & Support
Col. Hawk (coming soon)
Steeler
Clutch

Grunt



One of the things I was most excited to explore with my OG13 customs was the balance between uniformity and individuality. The original Hasbro releases were, of course, limited to a small handful of shared parts, primarily differentiated by accent colors. In re-conceiving the line-up, I wanted to retain the sense of an aesthetically cohesive unit and the essence of each character as described by Larry Hama in his personnel profiles/file cards, but I also wanted each figure to seem as distinct and individualized as the figures that followed in '83 and beyond.
Aside from a change in skin pigmentation, Grunt is the most straightforward and traditional take in the set. Built on Hasbro's most recent update to the standard OG13 sculpt, he's basically the same as their Walmart Retro Collection release. (Because I'm cheap like that, I used the more readily available Stalker as the base for this custom, but painted it to match Grunt's color scheme.) I was browsing available heads when I came across this one from the BFS Zombie series. It just felt very Grunt to me and having seen it I couldn't imagine another possibility.

Stalker



For some reason, Hasbro has repeatedly paired Stalker figures with a machine gun that would have been outdated by the time the character initially enlisted in the army in the late-60s, let alone now. And yet, the old grease gun has always worked for me because my personal OG13 exist out of time. They are past, present, and future all rolled up into one.
For all the jet packs and laser artillery cannons, the OG13 always reminded me of the "men on a mission" WWII commando movies of the '60s. The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dared, and the like. I initially intended to do a much more comics faithful Stalker built on the stellar Retalliation/50th Anniversary Firefly, but then I saw HissHissFangFang's flawless version of the same concept and decided I needed to do something different.
Stalker, as you see him here, was the last of my OG13 to be conceptualized and came together quite quickly, within the past week. In retrospect, the MTF WWII base figure was an obvious choice, but it took me a long time to realize it. I shaved away the collared shirt under the jacket and sculpted a turtleneck commando sweater in its place. (The collar was constructed from the brim of an MTF knit cap, while the rest was sculpted in green stuff and textured with the grip of a hobby knife.) The web-gear incorporates elements of the same Retro Collection figure I stole the head from and bits of a modular belt from MTF.

Rock N Roll



I already shared ol' RnR here a couple months back, as she was one of the first of this series that I finished. Nothing much new to report aside from new photos and a couple of updates to her kit.

Love these! Glad to see someone else reinventing the crew to be more representative & diverse. I've done the same with my new Joes (that I will post eventually), except with my group, Hawk, Cutter, & Steeler are now black, Ace & Doc are women, Lady Jaye is Hispanic, & Recondo is half Korean/half Panamanian (and wears the WWII-style uniform). Most of these changes are based on people I served with in real life, so I've blended the IRL backstories with the characters. It's been a fun & satisfying project.

Also really dig the uniform tweaks for Stalker & RR - very cool! Definitely getting Guns of Navarone vibes from Stalker - gonna steal that idea for future projects for sure.

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cool stuff! i enjoy seeing the group come together.

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good work

Those are fun! I think Stalker is my favorite.

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Nice work.

My only suggestion on Stalker would be to give him something anywhere- even an accessory that looks high-tech. As is, he looks like he stepped straight out of 1944. If that's specifically what you're going for, though (and I bet there's a reason?), then it's perfect.

Love seeing new takes on the original team.

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Thanks, everybody! I've had a lot of fun with this project and it's great to be able to finally share it with others. Looking forward to sharing the next installment! (Here, at least. Facebook remains a hellscape of "LASER BLAST" reactions.)


I agree 100%. I kind of rushed this one out. I like it, but the balance between past and future definitely feels off to me. Will definitely revisit this one. Thanks for the confirmation!

Flash




So, my rather loose concept for Operational Group 13 is that they're a testing ground for unconventional combat methods. In situations where there is no playbook, they're sent in to write the first draft. Flash and Grand Slam represent the tech portion of this concept, field testing next generation gear like energy weapons and jet packs.

I didn't really have a construction concept for these two before discovering the Animal Warriors of the Kingdom armor in the Vitruvian Armory store. I ordered various armor pieces, not really knowing whether it would work or not. Ultimately, it worked even better than I could have hoped.

The arm and leg armor on these customs is hip armor cut off of AWOK belts. I attached MTF mounting pegs to the backside of each piece so they could be be plugged into the modular mounting points on MTF Trooper figures.

Interestingly, Flash wound up being one of the most diverse figures in this series, in terms of parts used. The majority is MTF, but the lower arms are Dime Novel Legends and the lower legs and feet are BFS. Even still, there is very little painting on this figure.

The helmet visor is a piece of colored acetate. Specifically, it was cut from a sample of theatrical lighting "gels" that I've been hanging on to for 20 years because I always thought I could find a creative use for it.

Grand Slam




Growing up, Grand Slam was the most obscure Joe of them all. though I got my first Joe in 1982 at age 6, I had no idea Grand Slam existed until a friend of mine leant me his Yearbook 1 around 1985. Even then, though, there wasn't much to him. He wasn't on the cartoon, rarely appeared in the comic past the first few issues, and there was no internet at the time to fill you in on the figures you missed when you weren't paying attention.

The first time the character really registered for me was issue 59, where Hama gives GS a new role on the team as a field tester of new weapon systems. Finally, GS had a place in my Joe universe, and it's basically where I've placed him (along with Flash) in my OG13 re-imagining.

I initially thought I'd repaint his AWOK armor silver, but once the armor pieces arrived, the pearlescent coloration struck me as far more interesting and pseudo-futuristic. It retains the striking gleam of the 1983 silver padding that first distinguished GS from Flash, but has a certain next-gen ceramic, heat-deflecting appearance that feels more appropriately modern.

In regard to construction,I did something different with the leg armor here in comparison to Flash. The panels are still removable, but rather than useing the MTF modular mounting points, I glued the armor panels to thigh-hugging straps cut from other accessories.

A final note: My appreciation of GS was greatly boosted by a member of the JC community from way back (maybe he's still around; I've not seen him since I returned). Grand Slam was his handle and his avatar, and I feel like he single handedly made GS "a thing" to the extent that after a 23 year hiatus, we somehow got 5 official Hasbro releases of the character in the three year period between 2006 and 2009.

And not ONE of those releases gave Grand Slam an original/unshared head. He's the only member of the original team to not a unique head design at any point. Keep in mind that Aqua Viper got a brand new head- a head to be used under a helmet. Oh, Hasbro.

Great customs, by the way!

I love all of these so very much!

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Ain't no love like pluv love!


I know, right? I was really pleased to give him a head that feels very distinctive to me. Not sure I've ever seen another custom with the MTF Lee head and it's such a great sculpt.