G.I. Joe Classified Series (1:12)

[nacho]

Yes, underwhelming is the right word. WTF, they didn't get to all the reveals, but they showed off the side-scrolling video game, the Hall of Fame inductees, and a lame wannbe PSA. It's almost as if this wasn't about the toys.

I'll be getting all the figures... especially Starduster. Even though he's an obscure mail-away nobody, he was a personal favorite as a kid. I never ate the cereal, but the figure was great.

I'll even be getting SAW Viper, because of all the rainbow of 90s vipers, he was the one that actually had a lasting impact with a notable SAW killing Doc, Quick Kick, Breaker, Crazylegs, Heavy Metal, Thunder, and Crankcase. Given that Cobra was unable to kill anyone in the preceding 108 issues, this was a watershed moment, and I need a scary evil SAW Viper in my collection. And this deco is a mish-mash of several SV iterations, but I like it because it's far less pink than his OG figure.

But as panels go, this was a huge dud. I actually miss Emily. Her noob enthusiasm and "I just learned about this character yesterday" vibe is entertaining. The last thing the joe team needed was a new neckbeard.

 

[nacho]

 

[nacho]

FYI, if you're ordering from Pulse, their system is shitting the bed. Nobody in the 4:00 Premium window could check out and kept getting a server busy error. Someone suggested using paypal, and it worked. And supposedly they don't charge you up front using paypal like some retailers. Fingers crossed. Not that it matters much, but I didn't want to shell out $300 months in advance, so hopefully they can do preorders with paypal now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I managed to get my orders through, got confirmation emails... but my orders don't show up in my order history. I was hoping to go in and manually edit the payment method, but I guess I'll just leave it for now. HP's new website is a dumpster fire.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Law & Order look pretty good. I like my version of Heavy Duty (CI Roadblock) better. Still no retro renders?

 

[ThunderDan19]

I made my version of Jinx:

I said I wanted a “tactically useful“ version and Vala offered this base figure (they make really solid figs!), which is mighty close to what I was looking for and much better than Helix with a different head. I ninja’ed her up a little, but kept a couple of the kinetics as well, since she’s following the footsteps of her mentors, Snake Eyes and Scarlett - at least until SS finds his way to the right team! Green makes a lot more sense, but I kept the red arrow frets as the one nod to the original color.

I wouldn’t say I consider her an ”ultimate” version just yet, since technically those full length arrows aren’t a match for the compact crossbow, but I like her so far, way better than the original or new versions. I don’t think the compound bows we’ve gotten are a good fit so I’ve stayed away from those. I also looked at Night Creeper’s crossbow, but don’t like all the bolts on it. I wasn’t sure if I thought I could remove them without causing too much damage or being to obvious, so I fell back to the compact for now. If something better comes along, she’ll get a new primary weapon.

As a bonus, Shockwave inherited a tricked out MP7 from this figure’s loadout, and now I have another armor kit, helmet and M4 for the future Bombstrike I’m going to make from the 60th Action Marine. Also, my Grunt is looking the plainest of my Joes and should be getting a deco and kit upgrade on Monday when my (discounted!) 60th Action Soldier arrives. Huzzah!

 

[nacho]

Vala really does make awesome figures. They are easier to customize than Classified, and the females in particular are... beefier. not fat, but they feel substantial compared to the ultra skinny hasbro females. Put your jinx next to a hasbro girl and she'll look like she'd snap the official in half.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Is the new Jinx a little more meaty though? She looks that way from the pics. That was another reason I liked the Vala buck for mine. She looks like she‘s got the muscle of a lifelong martial arts trainee, while still remaining feminine enough to blend in if she needed to go incognito to get out of a hot zone without being noticed.

Hasbro could learn a little from the Valas if they haven’t already. It will be interesting to see if the 60th Marine is a little beefier or not. Doesn’t really look like it from the pics.

 

[ThunderDan19]

As promised, I gave Grunt an upgrade to a more modern deco and a better rifle:

His original gear actually goes quite well with the deserty camo pattern so all that got moved over. I wanted to swap over his boots too, but Hasbro, in all its wisdom, apparently feels it necessary to vary the connector peg sizes there too, kind of like the neck balls I guess. So he gets to keep the lighter shaded boots from the 60th. Thankfully, I was able to bring over his head and neck and just used the 60th AS’s helmet for him. I think he looks great - in the vein of the original tan v.2 with a modern upgrade. Way more interesting than previously, and now deserving of a spot at the front! Only think he could maybe use is some eye pro, if I can come up with a good solution there. I’d also love it if there was a helmet like that which was actually clasped at the chin. He seems like he’d be a little more serious about making sure he was all secured and tight before going to combat (just my opinion ).

Not sure yet if I will ever make a dramatic change like that on Breaker or not. I’ve already given him some upgrades and he doesn’t look quite so plain in his ODs as Grunt did. Plus, I don’t think there’s as obvious an upgrade buck out there for him, at least not yet. He’s also not right at the front of my display where he would stand out for not standing out. And of course RnR already has some modernization and upgrades from my previous work on him so he’s all set, for me at least.

I did learn a lesson on the arms. Apparently those shoulder plates (I don’t know what else to call them) are impossible to reattach in their original spot once removed. Unfortunately, the youtube videos I watched to figure out how to disassemble CS figs for vest replacement did not emphasize making sure those don’t come out with the arms, so all four came out when I popped the arms out. I was able to jam them back in and twist them tight on the upgraded Grunt, though if you look closely enough, you can see the pegs are just holding them there now by friction, rotated from how they are supposed to be seated in holes. They work fine for display, but I doubt they’d stand up to significant play, or close inspection for that matter. Not really a problem for now, but something I will try to figure out for next time. And old grunt’s buck is armless, for now at least. From my estimation, they must glue the torso together with those shoulder plates already in place, unless there is a reinstallation trick I haven’t figured out.

 

[nacho]

Gridiron has eye protection:

GA0286D (R) 1:12 RED Tactical Shades great for G.I. Joe Classified, Cosmic Legions, Mythic, Outback, Gung Ho, Custom Action figures, Mezco, One12 Sunglasses Marvel (gridironprops.com)

Yeah, I've only taken the shoulders apart once. I managed to get it all back in the right place, but it wasn't something I wanted to do regularly. I typically just use a heat-gun and detach arms at the bicep, even if it means I have to sand/paint the shoulder joints... or I find a new torso with the right color shoulders.

You can get most webgear off by just removing the arms at the bicep, heating the gear to make it stretchy if necessary. The full vests are trickier. I typically just cut them off, but rather than doing a straight up cut that would be hard to glue back together as a butt-joint, I slice them on a rear/side around a kidney... but at a super-shallow angle so that you have a lot of overlapping surface area to reglue. Works like a charm, and it's invisible.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Ooh, those look cool! But I was actually thinking clear eye pro for him (I know, high maintenance). I already tried Mutt and Hawk’s tinted ones and didn’t like them very much. Edit: I knew I had seen clear ones somewhere, and just found them again. I will likely give him Leatherneck’s glasses when I get them.

That was the first time I tried changing out the full vests without them being cut. I saw a video from a vendor of replacement vests that made it look really easy to pop the arms off so I set about to doing that. I guess you have to make darn sure those plates stay in place and just get the actual arms from the shoulder and it works fine . Not 100% sure that’s possible because none of mine came out without it.

I used the hot water method this time over my usual hair dryer method. It did take a little toll on Grunt’s mini laptop, which is a little loose now compared to previously. I think I will go back to the hair dryer because it’s at least a little more targeted. It was fun to go a little deeper than I usually do with my customizations, but obviously opens up new complications. I’m just glad it worked out well enough for what I was looking to do for Grunt.