I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve been a monstrous fan of G.I. Joe in pretty much any characterization or scale out there…  except for the one that started it all.  For whatever reason, I just find it hard to get into the whole 12″ figure scene, but that’s not because I don’t like it or have a certain appreciation for it.  Usually it comes down to price or what you get for your buck, and it’s very rare that the 12″ scene gives me a good “go between” there.  The figures are either simplistic, non-detailed, and dull, or they are overly exagerrated, insanely detailed, yet priced way out of my affordable range.  There doesn’t seem to be anything in between.  Some of the Spy Troops and Valor Vs. Venom stuff gave us the best of both worlds, in my opinion…a reasonable price range, yet still enough bang for the buck, but recent releases have just been dull and uninspired, especially for the recently elevated price tags, even on basic retail shelves.

The Sideshow Collectibles stuff is out of this world, of course.  It’s simply fantastic.  However, the $100 – $120 price tag per figure doesn’t fit my somewhat limited Joe budget.  So, it always amazes me when I run across 12″ enthusiasts who actually accumulate enough fodder to do some crazy customs.  And I’ll tell you, the customs don’t get much crazier than a member of the One Sixth Warrior forum, gaiagear.  I’ve seen my fair share of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero themed 12″ customs, but gaiagear tackles something near and dear to my heart, G.I. Joe: Resolute.  There aren’t really enough words I can type in this post that express just how insane these customs are.  They are truly works of art and things of beauty.  In fact, pretty much every custom that gaiagear has done affiliated with the G.I. Joe universe really blows me away…but it’s really just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out a small sampling of gaiagear’s incredible work below, all found on the One Sixth Warrior Forums.  The gallery below features incredible versions of the following characters:

• Destro
• Duke
• Snake Eyes
• Storm Shadow
• Beachhead
• Flint
• Zartan
• Firefly
• Agent Helix!

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Crazy stuff.  But the craziest thing is this is just the beginning.  There are a wealth of insanely talented 12″ customizers on the One Sixth Warrior forums, and there is some equally insane Real American Hero styled customs over there.  Check out this thread for some of them.  While I don’t have the budget or the real incentive to dive headlong into the 12″ scale, I can certainly appreciate the work that goes into these customs.  Some awesome stuff here, I think fans of any scale will really dig ’em.