Nice price ont hat Vator, good for you man...  

I'm personally awaiting these as per usual...  Find it at the store, unless my buddy Paul gets a case and has extras, haha.

I gotta ask you some ?'s in your review about overall body construction and height (looks short with that stormie ).

Nice images...

Even though I can safely say I'd have as many complaints about this line as I do Star Wars, I think I'd likely get into G.I. Joe collecting.

I'd of course be heavy into their customizing as well...

LOTR is a close second in getting my vote though, only because they have a diverse line already and have seemingly committed to the long haul.

G.I. Joe I would conosider a blanket "military" line I'd collect though, so I'd buy up BBI and 21st Cent. Figures (like I do now) to mix in.    Kinda cheap cop-out to get 2 choices in 1, I know.

Nonetheless, I'm sure I'd have a pretty extensive Joe collection (vintage ARAH 82-89 at the latest) and customs going right about now.  Joe was THE Toy Line when I was a kid...  Not Star Wars.

Articulation's part of toys, and being that toys are what I want to collect I say the more the better GENERALLY.  The Marvel line I'm familiar with enough, but I generally don't collect them.

This figure, to me, is close to perfection...  Hasbro's SA Clone or Durge MAYBE best this though, with their VERY excellent use of Ball/socket joints.  Unfortunately where 21st excels Hasbro doesn't, and where Hasbro excels 21st doeosn't.



To me, the SW line's severely lacking in this single area more than any other.  Rubbery accessories are dealt with, absurd distribution's a fact of life, oversaturation's been with us since vintage days.  Articulation is an area they just are reluctant to tread.

21st's figures are incredibly poseable (as are BBI's) and look AMAZING displayed.  Truly impressive little pieces of plastic, and even with pre-posed interchangeable arms they really add a dynamic there for "static pose" collectors.

Bottom line though, articulation is the #1 area that makes a toy, and more focused an action figure, a truly fun item to play with.  The popularity of poseable toy lines should be a guide for all toy lines...  G.I. Joe, Marvel, LOTR, Stikfas (and similar), BBI Elite Force, 12" military lines, etc...  

Lots to learn from there.  I'd love to see Hasbro wind up doing figures in their SW line as well as the SA Clone or Deluxe Durge were (or VOTC's).  Incredible sculpting, articulation, and deco all in one.  Keep salt shaker senators and the like, but go all-out on the rest.  

I'd even like a more dramatically posed side-line alongside the poseable basic line at the same time.  Like Unleashed, but in more "realistic" poses and in the same 3.75" scale.  A 3.75" Han running (circa DS Escape) looks a LOT more fun for specific dioramas when you've got VOTC Han to pose however you want and play with.

Remember our policy guys.

Vator doesn't believe it, he doesn't support it...  Leave it at that, but I would rather not see this get any worse than it has (though I see it is "escalating" already).

Just remember that you don't have to agree on this, but it's not something we're wanting to turn into another political debate with points and counterpoints that aren't doing anything but pissing both sides off.

Ah!  WTF is up with that?  

No I don't want him to quit though...  It's his smoking and other bad primate habits that endear me to him.

On Ebay, smoking monkeys are relatively inexpensive...  And they make the #1 boutique X-Mas gift item.

Link saved, and many thank yous for it.

On a smoking monkey note, please observe some recent auction wins of mine!

A cigarette case...  Very classy!



And a cigarette-incense burner (the cigs are incense I guess?) made of ceramic, and wearing the classic fez design.



I'm ecstatic for both personally...  Excellent additions at low, low, low cost.

Recently I also used a lovely monkey .jpg to illustrate a point I was making about 2 of the more, uhm, "youthful" members at GalacticHunter one evening.

The link for the image was:

http://www.postcardworld.co.uk/cards/subject/animals/swords.jpg

But I'm not sure it's working any longer now.  A funny image of monkeys fighting with sabers while other dapper monkeys looked on.   It did give a strong visual of what I felt the "argument" would look like in real life as well.

Do any of you guys collect, and more importantly do customizing, with Joes?

I was looking for sites that do casts of G.I. Joe parts for customizers.  I saw one from J&R or J&P Customs or something like that...  I have that one bookmarked.  But, there's another site out there that I KNOW exists that I can't find anything out about.

They have a lot more headcasts including sets for Cobra Troopers with removable helmets and stuff.  I recall seeing Wild Weasel's helmet too.  I was wanting to just make a couple customs for myself and my brother and needed this other site's items.

I definately have the one site, just not the other.

Any help guys?