Thoughts? The Retro Stalker mold is a gift that keeps on giving.

_________________

That is a great head for Hawk, I'll have to see if I've got that in my Marauder head bag.

_________________

Two more for today and before anyone calls me on it, I know I'm skipping Scarlett for now. I promise it's not sexism or mysogyny or anything like that. It's just that I spent 40 bucks on the (really not so great) retail retro version and I want to be really careful when customizing it. So she'll kick off phase two of this project (fixes/alternatives to earlier Retro releases).

Meantime, here's Short Fuze and Snake Eyes:

Fuze is a Retro Grunt buck with a head from one of the dollar store Joes. He's sporting a backpack and harness that I have to imagine came with a 25th Short Fuze and the bigger mortar that came with the Retro Cobra Officer (a figure I also enjoy bunches). The gun belt is the black version of the one I used on Rock'n Roll. The prescription visor is a Mega Blox accessory, I think.

Snake Eyes was another I struggled with at first. The PoC version was really the best I could think of and, since his 1982 figure looked pretty different from most of the rest of the team (at least from the waist down) I started there. The head was an MU comic pack Venom with some goggles off a random Joe. The web gear is Retro Stalker's. The lower legs were from a 25th Hawk (the leather jacket version) and the feet were a random fodder bag find. Most of his accessories were from the PoC Snake Eyes I started with, except the knuckle knife, which is from Marauder, and the little bomb (no idea whose that was).

I think Short Fuze amd Snake were probably the most socially awkward of the original 13, and I bet Fuze would have enjoyed talking to (at) Snake because he wouldn't say anything to trip his temper. But I bet it got awkward when Snake Eyes tried to share the things he was passionate about:

What do you think?

More very nice figures. Great work on Shortfuze especially, I have a soft spot for him since I was 11C (mortars) when I was in the Army way back in the day.

_________________

He was my third Joe (Snake Eyes and Breaker were 1 &2).

I had to choose between him and Scarlett. Picked him for the visored helmet (I'd gotten the RAM for my birthday and thought Breaker would look cool on it wearing that helmet). Went back for Scarlett a few days later and she was gone. Took almost a year to find her again.

It's funny/karmic I guess that Fuze's custom cut the alphabetical line ahead of Scarlett here, too (she's almost done, though).

Still working on Scarlett, so I'll serve up the last two dudes from my A-Z original 13 in Retro form today.

Steeler was a cool looking figure when the 82 version first came out. Not really knowing how military ranks worked, I played him as the leader of the team. So he probably got some of the most use in the 80s. I made this version using Retro Stalkers legs (acetoned off the camo) with Retro Grunt boots and the torso/arms from a Convention Steeler figure (the colors were close, but I gave all the clothed parts a light wash of olive green to make it work). Added the same head I used for Short Fuze but with different hair (just like in the 80s) and some gold detailing on the functional shoulder holster.

Zap is Retro Stalker with some bright green detailing and Retro Grunt boots. The head, backpack and harness (I think) are from the Cobra Island boxed set Zap. Hands are Marauder. Belt is the same one I used for Fuze in brown. The Bazooka came with the (not at all badly done) Retro Cobra Trooper.

your getting really great proportions with these builds. they look good.

_________________

This is really what I was hoping Hasbro would continue with the Retro line.
Love your work man.

_________________

Thanks guys. I'm glad these are scrat hing the itch those late Retro releases gave some of us.

Finally making her debut and rounding out my Retro O-13 is Scarlett. She's also the first in a second subset of this project: Putting Right What Hasbro Wronged.

Scarlett's retail realease seemed to be a combination of baffling choices. They clearly put in some work/thought (shortening the longish Redolute Scarlett legs and giving her a more or less cartoon-accurate head), but the female Cobra Trooper upper body is super plain (they painted on her shoulder pad) and they decided to go with dainty little gloves instead of her usual gauntlets. For some reason they also failed to match the color of her boots and gloves to her torso, gave her the complexion of a vampire and left half her leg straps unpainted.

I repainted the torso and lightly washed the gloves/boots to match. Also made her an actual shoulder pad out of a spare neck ring from an old Star Wars Bossk figure. Added the grenade to make her a little more 1st appearance accurate, grafted a holster onto the one leg strap they painted (which was holding up nothing) and painted the other straps to match. Her head is a Marauder Athena with hair from a Resolute Scarlett grafted on. Pretty sure the crossbow is from an Avengers Ultimate Hawkeye.

Next in Righting the Wrongs, I scratch-built an alternative to the "o-face" repackaged Duke Hasbro gave us at retail.

I gave him the meanest looking Marauder head I could find because I never bought Duke's cartoon portrayal as a pretty boy romamtic action lead. To me his filecard implied machine-like competence, low tolerance for beurocracy/authority and willingness to do whatever it took (and maybe a little haunted/damaged from years of war). The upper body, arms and crotch are also Marauder. Legs are from 25th Gung Ho and feet were a fodder bag find. Bandolier is off a comic pack Duke, I think, and the belt is from an MU Commander Rogers. Backpack was 25th Airborne, no idea where the binoculars came from (maybe a Con figure?) And the helmet was the same base as Breaker's.

Here's a shot of the two of them dusting it up Sunbow style with their favorite punching bags - Retro Baroness (with an SDCC head) and Destro (whose head I liquid chromed):

great job! i love that angry duke and your write up too. the action shot is perfect.

_________________

For Zap, what method did you use to remove the camo print from the Stalker body?

These are all incredible by the way. I'm currently planning my own O13 set and these are providing some great inspiration!

This is what this line should look like out of the package, excellent work.

_________________

High-acetone nail polish remover. First I wiped everything lightly (you don't want to damage the plastic) with a soaked paper towel. Took off most of the darker green and darker skin tone easily. Then I went back at the nooks and crannies using a medium-small paintbrush (dip, brush, clean brush, repeat until remaining traces are gone).

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out.

If I were the shot caller at Hasbro, I would've released all of the OGs at once alongside their factory Cobra Commander, officer and trooper (those are all really nice figures) as wave 1. Duke and the head swapped Baroness and chromed Destro would be part of wave 2, as would this guy:

Some of the old timers will know I'm kind of a Bludd nut. I just love that he fancies himself a poet but applies his more practical skills to the highest bidder for auses he cares nothing about (that really resonated with me early in my professional life). But because his design is pretty distinctive, there really weren't Retro parts that would work. So I had to deep dive in my fodfer bins to find parts combinations that woukd acheive the same proportios and general aesthetic (pretty much the story for all of Wave 2).

The head, legs and right arm were off a Desert Assault pack Bludd (I bought a couple of those). I articulated the robot arm using a black Cobra Commander forearm, utility blade and a drill (I've done the same for all my bludd customs) and I jave no idea who/what I cut that holster off of (but it fita his rocket gun without a rocket on it). The torso and left arm are from Rise of Cobra Duke (I think he was a Target exclusive). The feet are from a Resolute 5-pack Destro. The backpak and rocket gun could've come from any number of 25th Bludds (I bought lots) and the chest armor is from Resolute comic-pack Destro. Here's a shot of him without the armor:

The dog tags are also from some 25th Bludd, as is the spare head (with hair from the Rise of Cobra "The Doctor"). I figure being quasi-creative, Bludd would have rigged up a few different attachmenta for his prosthetic arm (I know there are some who swear it's just armor, but to me it's always been a bionic).

Here's a shot of the Bad Major dressed back up for battle and dressing down some very green Retro Cobra Troopers:

As I move through what would be "Wave 2" of my dream Retro Joe offerings, I come to the Joes' first helicopter pilot, Wild Bill:

I remember as a kid I thought he was just weirdly obsessed with cowboy culture. But after learning more about the Civil War and seeing Apocalypse Now on HBO (way too young for that movie at the time), the figure and the character became more interesting to me.

The biggest change here from the 25th version I started with is his head. While almost all the figures in those first couple waves of the 25th had dispoportionately small heads, his was among the smallest. And the fact that his body was one of the tallest really made that look weird. This noggin is from a Dime Novel Legends cavalry officer, as is the hat. His also upsized, more articulated hands are from a Retaliation Beach Head. Then I added some leg straps for his previously unsupported two-gun holster rig and made the sheath and holster on his veat functional. Here's a shot with those weapons pulled ans his alternate, no-glasses head:

Lastly, a quick shot of him and Airborne, who I've outfitted with a new head and also given a functioning knife sheath on his vest:

he looks great! the functioning holster/sheaths make those vests so much nicer! it looks like you dremeled out the pistol holster. if so that's impressive. i see a little jagged edge that might smooth out hit with a lighter real quick. the only other thing is his knife not fully inserted in the sheath. i see it a lot with factory joes. to fix it on some i've just cut the blade down.

_________________