GI Joe - Marauder/Valkyrie Custom Dial-Tone

Yes, I used to be a man. 

To be perfectly honest we cannot explain why GI Joe's Dia-Tone - who was male in the comics and the original cartoons - became a woman. 

Though we do like the gender-bend. We cannot find how exactly the two are related. We have the original female Dial-tone released by Toys R US in the Desert Troop Builder five pack, but we weren't happy with her very "base"look.

So we made our own. 

Originally we started building her out of her Toys R Us version, but we weren't happy because she was just so... basic.

So we decided to look to Marauders/Valkyries, to create our female fighting communications officer.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

GI Joe Custom Cover Girl

Presenting a GI Joe custom Cover Girl action figure.

Cover Girl is Specialist Courtney A. Krieger from Peoria, Illinois. She's probably best know in the GI Joe community for being the primary pilot associated with the GI Joe Wolverine missile-boat, AND for being a former high-end fashion model.

Sadly despite her success in the modern world, she found the modelling life completely unfulfilling. So she enlisted studied how to be a tank driver in Fort Knox and learned how to build/repair gas and diesel engines.

Eventually, despite her aversion to the use of her natural beauty in her career, she enrolled to study espionage in Fort Huachuca Military Intelligence School.

Sadly Hasbro has not deemed it fit to create a modern version of Cover Girl other than the really, really crappy likeness of the beautiful Karolína Kurková (Who Steven Sommers had Zartan knife in the back while she was flirting with General Hawk). The only modern version of Cover Girl available in the market is the outrageously priced version from the GI Joe Collectors Club.

So we made our own.

Custom Chromes from GIJoe Carlos

Presenting G.I. Joe Chrome Custom creations courtesy of GIJoe Carlos from sunny California . I have to say one of the nicest things about blogging is that you get to meet a whole new world of people and ideas.

I met - well I've never really met him - GIJoe Carlos in a Facebook group for G.I. Joe Collectors aptly named  G.I. Joe Collectors, look it up. And I have to say he is afine example of what you can experience if you socialize: you get a plethora of ideas that you may have never ever thought of; and you get to stand in awe at the effort that some people would go through to make their custom toys distinct and even more collectible.

Chroming something - electrolysis - is not an easy process. For lack of better words, I believe that these are no longer toys or collectibles, these are painstaking works of art.

And they're for sale!

More photos after the jump

DOTM Laserbeak combined with Optimus Prime and Shockwave.

Presenting what happens when you combine the Transformers Dark of the Moon (DOTM) Laserbeak with Optimus Prime and  Shockwave - yes apparently you can combine DOTM  Laserbeak  with some of the major DOTM Transformers - who knew? These are definitely not official link-ups though.

The idea first came to me after a series of great photo posted by Jon Jansen Campos over Facebook. Jon did the links then created some wonderful photos which he posted on his photo-blog jokerjester-campos on Deviant-Art. I was so inspired by the photographs that I decided I had to find out how the link-ups happened.

Exosquad LD-029 Field Sergeant E-Frame - G.I. Joe Custom

Presenting an Exosquad LD-029 Field Sergeant E-Frame Power Armor stripped and modified for  G.I. Joe action figure use.

Exosquad is a cartoon of American origin that ran for two seasons between 1993 and 1994. Unfortunately I've never seen the series and I don't believe it was ever released here in the Philippines.

But according to their wiki, Exosquad follows the exploits of Able Squad: An E-Frame (Exoskeleton Frames or Exo-Frames) enhanced military arm of the Earth Congress that becomes Earth's spearhead against the invading Neosapien Commonwealth.

The Neosapien Commonwealth is a race of what can best bed described as genetically crafted Humanoids made by humans to assist in the colonization and terraforming of Venus and Mars. Which is interesting because until 1991, no one knew if there was any "Terra" on Venus to "Form". Anyway, the Neosapiens get pissed at the abuse of the humans and revolt. Their first revolt is crushed and things are made better for them, but they rise again this time with a vengeance and a severe Adolf Hitler complex (Think Battlestar Galactica).

Marvel Legends: Steve Rodgers Custom

Presenting my custom build Marvel Legends Steve Rogers. This is my first ever custom build of a toy and I really do think it came out well. However with the recent injury (Hopefully death) of Bucky-Cap, the pending Captain America First Avenger movie coming, the re-boot of the Captain America series back to issue one,  rumor (Till he's actually wearing it, it's a rumor) has it that Steve Rogers is re-donning the Red-White and Blue scalemail.

So before Commander Steve Rogers, head of the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, or S.H.I.E.L.D.; which also makes him - as admitted by Special Agent Abigail Brand, head of the Sentient World Observation and Response Department, or S.W.O.R.D; leader of three Avenger's teams, ladies man (wink-wink), and defacto top-cop of the World becomes obsolete, I thought I might as well show him off.  

Transformers: BTS-03 G1 Prime Matrix of Leadership

Presenting BTS-03: The Matrix of Leadership custom add-on for the Gen 1 Optimus Prime! Lighting our Darkest hour - sorry, I know it's a cliche, but you can't be a Transformers fan without loving that statement.  Created by Best Toys, the BTS-03 G1 Prime Matrix of Leadership is probably the best upgrade for the G1 Optimus Prime available in the market.... well come to think of it it's probably the only upgrade for the G1 Optimus Prime in the market... well there's the trailer. 

I have to admit I've never liked the G1 Optimus Prime because of how crude it is in comparison to the many available Optimus Primes in the market today - I know, sacrilege and the G1 Optimus Prime was ahead of its time. But it always felt so incomplete. You can see the sun through a huge gaping hole in his chest and the rifle looked like it was going to expel paste. So when my favorite E-Bay supplier Victoyoyos said he had it, I had to grab it. 

G.I. Joe: Cobra Ferret (Custom)

While trawling through Greenhills a few months back, I came across this Cobra Ferret. This particular Cobra Ferret is a custom job done in military olive drab that gave it a neutrality that allows it to be used by G.I. Joe. The fun fact about this though is that this particular custom job is not original. Trawl the internet and you will find photos just like it. The original Cobra Ferret was meant as an answer to the fast G.I. Joe RAM cycles. While the Cobra Ferret could not match the RAM Cycles in speed, the Cobra Ferret could go where the awkwardly balanced RAM Cycle could not. However unlike the RAM cycle that could rely on its speed to keep its driver safe, the Ferret has neither armor or speed, reducing it to security and/or infantry support roles. 

This particular custom job, enhances its role as an infantry support vehicle and grants it a one-shot assault role - well there is power in numbers after all so imagine a cadre of one-shot assault vehicles coming down on a base's defenses. 

Transformers War for Cybertron Optimus Prime Battle Axe

I AM PRIME!!!!

Presenting Transformers War for Cybertron Optimus Prime's Battle Axe! This particularTransformers Custom  Battle Axe was specially ordered from Victoyoyos for PhP 1,200 inclusive of shipping.

Now, most people who have played the video game on X-box or PC will be quick to note that the Energy Battle Axe used by Optimus Prime in the War for Cybertron video game was a double-headed Battle Axe as can be seen in the art provided below. However, trawl the internet for War of Cybertron images and you will find images of Optimus Prime holding a Halberd (not an Axe) similar to the one he's holding now.

Also let's face it, with those stubby arms, there was no way that Prime was going to hold a double headed Battle Axe.

Iron Man Rolling Battle Headquarters (Custom)

Last year, at the height of the Iron Man 2 hype, Habro released the Iron Man Rolling Battle Headquarters. In a nutshell, it's an armed rolling one-man truck mobile base from which Iron Man can customize his armor and be launched into action. I liked it because it was reminiscent of the G.I. Joe Rapid Heli-Integrated Neutralizing Offensive Vehicle (RHINO) and the Rolling Operations Command Center (ROCC). I looked at it and saw its potential to become a custom Joe vehicle. 

The only problem was the Iron Man colors which was closer to colors used by Cobra then by Joes. Still I promised myself that I'd have to get it - not because I'm an Iron Man fan or collect Marvel toys that are that small, but because customizing it for my Joes was worth looking into. I waited quite a while though because I was hoping it would go on sale. So I was disappointed when it started to disappear from the local Toy Stores without having gone on sale. So I forked over the store price, bought a can of paint and a lot of masking tape and here it is.