recarding supplies

[nacho]

Hey, does anyone know where I can find some blisters / bubbles for some recard work? I'm a MOC ARAH collector, and I want to display some modern stuff along side their vintage counterparts. But obviously, vintage vehicle drivers and mail aways never had cards, and some modern figures like Short Fuze never got a carded version. I want to customize a few things like this to fill in some holes. I might even try to card some of the new Slayer o-ring figures when they come out.

Alternatively, is there a good way to clean the paper off blisters that have been torn from a card so that they can be reused? I'm just thinking of creative alternatives.

I know some people have issues with recarding, but I don't ever sell anything, and I'm obviously not interested in trying to scam anyone (as if my work would fool anyone anyway). I just want to create some interesting displays. The blisters don't need to be "accurate" per se, since I'm not trying to recreate anything. Something even remotely close to vintage bubbles would suffice. So far, all I can find is SW stuff for early Kenner figures. I might have to settle for that if I can't find another way to do it.

Any leads would be greatly appreciated.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

geeze, i don't know about the vintage bubbles...buy cheap carded figures from the 90's?

as for cleaning blisters...i've done it with a few 25th ones...kind of a pain...takes a bit of time...i believe i used some Bestine or acetone and heaps of elbow grease

 

[nacho]

There were some people that made repro bubbles and blisters for Joes, SW, and such. Now the SW ones are all I can find anywhere.

 

[SR_501]

Would the Protech blister's they use for lose figures work? If not, You could always do what Eddie said. (That sounds weird saying that.) There was a guide to doing it in an old Lees or Toyfare mag. I think I still have the issue some were.......

 

[nacho]

I suppose those might work in a pinch if you just cut the back portion off as well as the hang tag loop. Obviously, the more they look like the vintage blisters, the better. It probably depends on how much flat surface they have going around the edge in order to glue them down.

 

[nacho]

Just to update this topic (in case anyone else cares), I did find one source (fingers crossed). They only had one blister type, but it looked nice and fairly generic (designed from the bubble of an '85 CG).

http://www.vendio.com/stores/swcustomcarded/category/g-i-joe-bubbles-blisters-/catId=3528644

I'll update if/when they arrive and I have a chance to check them out. Really hoping this works, as joe recarding supplies are apparently virtually non-existent.

Also, I found one other guy that had several different designs, but his store links didn't work. I sent an email but haven't gotten a response. Maybe I'll hear back from him eventually too.

Honestly, I'm surprised, as I thought this would be as much of a cottage industry as so many other 3rd party parts custom creators. If I were into recarding vintage SW figures, I'd have about a half dozen good choices, but Joe has squat.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

glad you found something ...did vintage Joes have the blister inside that held the figure in place?...seems i recall them just rattling around in there

 

[nacho]

No, there was no internal blister; they weren't held in place, but the blister was barely larger than the figure, so they didn't move much. Not sure these repro ones based on an '85 CG will be large enough to custom-card a modern figure though. The change from 3.75" to 4" might be my downfall there. Either way, I should have 20 to play with. If nothing else, I'll try my hand at carding some vintage mail-aways or maybe a custom figure or two. Just one more project I'll start... and finish a decade from now.

 

[Wild weasel]

this sounds like a cool project. Let me know if you are able to make custom cards, I've got a few arah figures that were never carded that I wouldn't mind having as mocs. I also wouldn't be as worried about the height of the new ME's as much as the width to card them.

 

[nacho]

One more update: I got my bubbles, and they look fantastic. I ordered 20 of them, but now I have to figure out what to card! They even had a punch for the hangtab at the top, so I got one of those too for that authentic look. Being based on the '85 CG bubble, they are too small for 4" 25th/modern figures, but for carding figs from the 80's, they'll be great. I might card some vehicle drivers, some ARAH customs, some not too old GIJCC o-ring figures, and maybe even some of the new Slayer Club ARAH figures.

But anyway, I just wanted to report that I did get these, and they really do look nice. I have to find the time to work on card art to do them justice.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

can't wait to see the results...you proficient at making cards?

 

[nacho]

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm half-decent with photoshop. I'll have some vintage card scans, and I might have to scan a few more. amongst all that, I think I can cobble up some card art that will suffice.

For a random example, if I decided to card a vintage Wild Bill, I can use a vintage card for a template, steal the character artwork from a 25th card, and use a vintage logo. I've got enough time logged on the "clone stamp" and "healing brush" to make that look natural

 

[Cloud Strife]

I want to see your collection, Nacho.

 

[nacho]

Not much to see yet!

 

[Cloud Strife]

Do you plan on posting pics once you get them all displayed?

 

[nacho]

Oh yeah, I'll be stoked to put up pics of my toy room! ... but since I just started building my house, it might be a year or so.

 

[SR_501]

Can't wait to see how this turns out. I have thought about re-carding some of my O-ring stuff. This may final get me off my ass to do.

 

[Wild weasel]

I totally wanna see this! Hit me up if you do wild weasel or int'l figures(on U.S. or country of origin cards)

 

[nacho]

FYI, I found an ebay seller that has some really nice reproduction cardbacks and blisters for Joes and SW figures. Since I've basically completed my MOC collection, this wasn't exactly what I was hunting (I wanted supplies to card figures that were not originally single-carded, such as vehicle drivers or mail-aways).

But for those wanting a MOC-looking collection to display without spending a fortune, this guy has some really neat stuff. It's nicely done, each one has "Reproduction Packaging" on the back at the bottom so that it can't be used to scam anyone, but for display purposes, it's tough to beat.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/beggars_can..._trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649&_trksid=p4340.l2562

The only one he offered for a figure that didn't originally come carded was Zartan, so I ordered one. It came quickly and it's really nice! I always thought Zartan needed to come on a card too, so now I can make that happen!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-GI-...ltDomain_0&hash=item1c22b263db#ht_1451wt_1396