By far one of my favorite customizing events is G.I. Joe: Resurgence, a very elaborate and well thought out group of customs posted to Oreo Builder’s blog as well as elsewhere throughout the Internet. Billed as a refreshed and new concept G.I. Joe for the next generation, the figures are all at once great homages to the past as well as some really fresh, new ideas.
The third installment of Resurgence kicks off today with three great initial entries, including Croc Master, Swamp Fox, and Underbrush. A great story is woven together among the customs with some really interesting filecards as well.
Keep following Oreo Builder to see the latest installments, and meanwhile, I’m going to go drool over that awesome Croc Master some more!
I’ve covered many of Oreo Builder’s projects in the past enthusiastically…him and Bucky both have some great customizing talent, and I love what they’ve done with past projects, especially the ones focused on Battle Corps and the 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Well, now they’re jumping on something new and even more exciting (to me)!
The year is 2015, and G.I. Joe has made its official return to retail with a whole new story and whole new series. With a mixture of familiar classics and brand new characters, Resurgence will simulate a whole new retail presence for G.I. Joe.
I was priviledged enough to write a few file cards for the project, and I think folks are really going to love it. Keep watching Oreo Builder’s Blog for updates and huge props to Oreo Builder, Bucky, GI Trekker, Dusty79, notpicard, and even Kirk Bozigian himself!
It is the year 2015. Following years of relative peace, the ruthless terrorist organization known as Cobra has resurfaced by staging several bold attacks on high profile targets all over the World. Returning to active duty, General Hawk enlists the help of his most trusted acolytes – Duke, Beachhead, Stalker and others. Together, they recruit a new group of soldiers and rebuild the World’s ultimate special operations unit: GI Joe.
Coming in 2015, GI Joe: Resurgence brings back famous GI Joe members from all eras and introduces many new faces to the team. It also marks the return of Cobra Commander and his army of evil henchmen bent on World domination! Collect them all and create your own battles.
Oreobuilder has been doing simply amazing things over the past several months. Even if you somehow missed his fantastic work on “Battle Corps” month last year, I think his spectacular job on his tribute to G.I. Joe’s 50th Anniversary most likely got your attention. I’ve actually seen many folks saying that Oreobuilder’s tribute was far more fitting to G.I. Joe’s legacy than Hasbro’s own offerings at Toy Fair, and it would be tough to disagree with that.
Well, now he’s taken things even one step further, and working alongside long time Joe Customizer Bucky, they are tackling something near and dear to my heart. The new sculpt era!
I was a huge supporter of the G.I. Joe era from 2002 – 2005 and have often reminisced about how great the coalescence between direct to DVD films, comics, and the toyline was back then, and that Hasbro was actually charting new territory and weaving new stories. The designs for many of those new sculpt figures were terrific, unfortunately the execution was just not quite there. Whether that was due to technology or desired format still isn’t really clear, but what is clear is that many of the new sculpt figures would greatly benefit from modern era treatment. Over on OreoBuilder’s blog he is already hip deep in the project and has already given some new sculpt figures fantastic overhauls in the more modern style. Agent Faces? I mean, come on! That stuff is gold.
Make sure you book mark and visit often, as we’re sure to see plenty of updates and check some of the past work while you’re at it. I’ve mirrored a couple of images below.
I’ve talked about Oreobuilder’s projects here before, specifically his awesome Battle Corps theme month where he tackled many of the various Battle Corps characters in one month long customization barrage that had me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next one to show up.
Well, now, appropriately, he is celebrating 2014 with a new month long custom event, this time the G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary!
Already 7 figures into it, you can check out his thread over on JoeCustoms.com and see new figures emerging on a regular basis. He’s already tackled many awesome classic figures, and he shows off the original 12″ versions, too, if only to prove how great an accurate modern 4″ line based off the old school 12″ stuff could be. I know lots of folks have wished for a modern Adventure Team, but Oreobuilder is showing that some of these tribute figures would work in the old military aesthetic, too.
Really impressive stuff. Keep watching JoeCustoms.com for each new entry. I’ve mirrored just a couple of images below.
I don’t think the pictures even do this thing justice…. I talked about Assembly Required from the Codename: Iowa guys last week, and one of the showcases of that even was, without a doubt, the diorama by customizer/genius AVAC. He’s famous for his HISS Tank themed and construction vehicle themed customs, but this diorama set totally goes above and beyond. It’s simply spectacular.
These images were featured on HissTank.com, and the video was shared by the Codename: Iowa Facebook page that really shows the size, scale, and scope of this amazing diorama.
All I can say is I wanna play with this thing! Just imagine the dio-story potential here… wow.
Check out the images and the embedded video below. I think this qualifies as a Kick Ass Custom, to be sure.
no images were found
Don’t forget you can also hit up the Codename: Iowa Goodsmiths store and pick up some of the great exclusive pieces they had for sale at the show.
This past weekend the always entertaining NJCC (New Jersey Collectors’ Con) tore up New Jersey, and just like last year, the immortal Kevin Watts provided door prizes in the form of modified HISS Tanks. This year, they focused on tanks for the 30th Anniversary Hazard Vipers, and they came out very nicely.
But as cool as the HAZARD Tanks are, this is where Kevin really knocked it out of the park. As part of the show, Kevin build a diorama for the Compound Z Lab. Using existing G.I. Joe playset parts, he assembled a very professional looking lab that fits the theme perfectly.
Check out the thread on HissTank.com and I’ve also mirrored a few images below. Kevin does some fantastic work, I’m one of his biggest fans, and I think this is an example of some of the great stuff he can do. Bad enough his customs are tearing it up, now he’s gotta depress me with his awesome diorama work, too. Ah, well…
