The team at PHX Customs have been hard at work! Their latest custom collaboration project, Retro Toy Chest, brings us strolling down memory lane with modern era updates of toys, Cartoons & Games that in some instances, haven’t seen the light of day in years.
‘Member Saturday morning cartoons? ‘Member when 5 points of articulation was awesome? I ‘member. You will too when you check out this awesome lineup. Over the last week and a half, we’ve seen:
- Day 1 – Allstar Seaworthy from the Snorks
- Day 2 – Fisher-Price Little People & McDonalds
- Day 3 – The Legend of Zelda and Batman
- Day 4 – Bronze Bombers
- Day 5 – Contra and Double Dragon
- Day 6 – GUTS!
- Day 7 – Sgt. Rock and Mega Force
- Day 8 – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- Day 9 – Transformers
- Day 10 – American Defense
- Day 11 – Fisher-Price Adventure People
There’s so much more to come, so make sure to join us after the jump to check out the full thread!
PHX Customs says
Retro Contest Entries
We received many great entries for our Retro Toy Chest contest. We wanted to make sure everyone got their moment in the sun. Check out all the entries below and the winner will be announced tomorrow.
Congrats to all that entered!
TMNT Leonardo by Mainframe
Excite Bike by 2DARK2C
Donatello by 2DARK2C
April by 2DARK2C
Foot Soldier by 2DARK2C
Stomper Water Demon by DREMEL
Dr. Steel by HypnoHustler
Torpedo-Fist by HypnoHustler
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Behind the scenes of this project:
The orange base coat for Triceraton.
Early Mean Kid:
Very First mock ups: Clark Griswold wasn't supposed to be Clark at this point, he was going to be Pee Wee Herman. I was unable to secure the Screamin' Duke head, so he got pushed aside (I don't think I would have liked the head for Pee Wee anyways).
Here you can see the Joe missile that made the base for Adam Bomb's explosion, as well as the rubber bumpers osed to create the "clouds", before adding the elmers glue around them.
PHX Customs says
Day 1
'' The Snorks are a race of small, colorful beings that live happily in the undersea world of Snorkland. They have snorkels on their heads, which are used to propel them swiftly through the water. As evidenced by the cartoon series, when a Snork becomes excited their tube makes a "snork" sound. They have much of the same technology as contemporary humans, adapted to their own aquatic environment. The Snorks use clams as currency ("clams" is also a slang term for money).
According to the Snork back-story, which was described in the show's first opening theme, a few ventured to the surface (which the Snorks believe is "outer space") in 1643, and watched a Royal Navyship of the Spanish Armada being attacked by pirates. The captain wound up in the water, and that was the first contact between the species when the Snorks saved his life, to which the captain then expressed his gratitude by writing down the encounter in his logbook, although very few humans believe in the existence of the Snorks. Since then, Snorks have adopted several human habits, such as wearing clothes.'' – From Wikipedia
Snorks is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran for a total of four seasons (and 65 episodes) on NBC from September 15, 1984, to May 13, 1989. Although not as popular as its sister Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Smurfs, the program continued to be available in syndication from 1987 to 1989 as part of The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera's third season.
Allstar Seaworthy by Dusty79
The Snorks were always a favorite of mine. It was definitely a show I would always watch in the mid 80's. I never had any Snork toys as a kid, but I'm sure I would have loved them. 2DARK2C did a really great Smurf custom in 4 inch scale and I think that is what put this idea in my head.
Parts:
Head and Hands: Vintage Vinyl Snork
Torso: 50th Shipwreck
Arms and Legs: Dollar General Blue Cobra Trooper
Next: Bucky ''Believes in the Little People'' and Oreobuilder ''Looks for the Golden Arches!''
PHX Customs says
Day 2
Little People is a line of preschool toys produced by Fisher-Price since 1950. Since then, they have evolved several times. One of the most iconic playsets, the Play Family Barn (with doors that ''mooed'' when opened) was introduced in 1968. At the same time, Little People made the transition from wood to plastic. It seems everyone had Little People in their home at one time or another growing up.
Mean Kid and Dog by bucky
As mentioned above, if you grew up anytime in the 70's or 80's, more than likely some of your first toys were Fisher Price Little People. I had the typical assortment as a kid, with the barn, some cars, the plane, and quite a few people. Some were hand me downs and the people were wooden, and some were plastic. I thought it'd be fun to have a representation of Little People in Retro Toy Chest, and went for a couple of characters that always stuck out, being the Mean Kid and the Dog. When you go to make a custom of a toy that literally had no arm and legs, it let's you have a little more creative freedom during the translation. Here, the kid never grew up and still likes to cause trouble. And as you can see, his dog's just about had enough of his shenanigans.
Parts:
Head: Hit N Run 50th
Torso: Flint in Disguise
Arms: Flint in Disguise
Legs: Storm Shadow/Dusty 50th
Hat: Avacs Lab
Sticker: D&J Toys
Growing up in the 1980’s, McDonald’s commercials featuring Ronald McDonald, Grimace, the Hamburglar, the Fry Guys and all the others were a daily part of watching TV. They were on at all times of day. In television commercials, Ronald lives in a fantasy world called McDonaldland, and has adventures with his friends.
Ronald McDonald by Oreobuilder
When I was a kid, going to McDonald’s was a treat that was often associated with a prior trip to the dentist or a good report card. Since Ronald is as much associated with my childhood as Beta VCRs and Saturday morning cartoons, I thought it would be fun to include him in Retro Toy Chest II.
When it came time to give Ronald an accessory, I considered a bunch of options from hamburgers and cola to a heavy machine gun. I wanted to make something funny, silly and cartoony that works with the style of the figure. I thought that a big honkin’ purple bazooka that shoots milk shake fit the bill.
Parts:
Head, feet: Happy Meal PVC toy
Torso, arms: 25th Cobra Trooper
Upper legs: RoC Destro
Lower legs: 25th Hawk
Gun: 30th Cobra Viper rocket launcher with added MASS device elements tubes and S’ghetti hose.
Next: "The Legend Continues" with Dusty79 and from Bucky: "There are seven working defenses from this position. Three of them disarm with minimal contact. Three of them kill. The other - hurts"
PHX Customs says
Day 3
"The series centers on Link, the playable character and chief protagonist. Link is often given the task of rescuing Princess Zelda and the kingdom of Hyrule from Ganon, who is the principal antagonist of the series; however, other settings and antagonists have appeared in several titles. The games' plots commonly involve a relic known as the Triforce, a set of three omnipotent golden triangles.’’ – Synopsis from Wikipedia.org
The Legend of Zelda is a series of videogames that debuted in 1986 and, along with a few other iconic titles (Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, etc) helped put the original Nintendo Entertainment System on the map.
Ganondorf by Dusty79
I have always loved the videogame The Legend of Zelda. I have made several Link customs and this is just building on that earlier work. Battling against Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time on N64 when I got a bit older brought back great memories of the original Nintendo game from when I was a kid.
Parts:
Head: World of Nintendo Ganondorf
Torso, Arms, Lower Legs, and Cape: Thor
Upper Legs: 25th Destro
"The Dark Knight Returns was a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, and published by DC Comics. The Dark Knight Returns tells an alternative story of Bruce Wayne, who at 55 years old returns from retirement to fight crime and faces opposition from the Gotham City police force and the United States government. The story introduces Carrie Kelley as the new Robin and culminates with a confrontation against Superman."
Batman by bucky
For being one of the better Batman stories ever told, I honestly never read Dark Knight returns until sometime in high school. Maybe around 95-96? I was able to pick up a new trade copy at a comic store that was closing. I was aware of it's popularity, but in the 80's/90's, the emphasis was the art for me, not so much the story. I always had looked at the Frank Miller art as kinda hokey, and the style of it had always made me pass on this story. So I was not expecting much, but sitting down and reading this on a winter's night, I was blown away. I thought it was a fantastic story, and the art, though hit and miss at times, fit the story so well.
The custom itself was one of my more difficult translations I have come across, as there is a fine line in making a Joe sized custom and trying to stay true to Miller's art. I intentionally went with larger hands and feet to try to capture some of the look.
Parts:
Head: Angry Nomad's Cast
Torso: RoC heavy Duty
Arms: Roc Heavy Duty Upper/Road Pig Lowers, gloves sculpted
Legs: Wild Bill Upper/RoC Destro lower (with some sculpted boot)
Belt: Vortious Cast
Cape: Batman figure
Next: Oreobuilder calls on soldiers that claim that ''They Stand for Justice and They Never Lose!''
PHX Customs says
Day 4
''Fearlessly, the mighty U.S. 369th Infantry led the nation's greatest Black Army into battle. They fought in WWI and WWII and they never lost. There have been no warriors their equal until today! Today, we have the Bronze Bombers™! Today they defend the country against P.S.B. enemy squad. These highly skilled combatants stand for justice and they never lose!" – From 1988 card back
The Bronze Bombers was a short-lived toy line produced by Olmec. Two "waves" were produced. The first one, released in 1988, consisted of a dozen different figures and 2 small vehicles. The figures had similar molds to Galoob's A-Team figures from the early '80s and were of lesser quality. In 1997, Olmec acquired several GI Joe molds from Hasbro and produced a 12 figure boxset consisting of recolored vehicle drivers like Motor-Viper, Skidmark, Darklon and Strato-Viper. A year later, Olmec filled for bankrupcy and Bronze Bombers line disappeared.
Roughshot by Oreobuilder
I was not back into Joes when Olmec released their Bronze Bombers multipack in 1997. Apparently, it flew off store shelves and it's easy to see why. All of the figures in the pack make excellent additions to the ARAH Joe ranks and great custom fodder for easy head swaps.
For this project, I looked at all the figures in the pack as candidates for customs. I picked Roughshot because of the color scheme, but made a few changes. First, I added some bronze accents that were not on the original figure. These accents are included in all my current and future Bronze Bombers customs as a way of tying them all together. Second, I added a pilot helmet to define a specialty for the character. Down the road, I may look at giving him a plane or a helicopter to pilot, but I'm liking the jetpack for now. Now that I've dipped my toes in this team, I am planning to make the rest in the future.
Parts:
Head, helmet: Renegades Ripcord
Torso, arms, legs, vest: RoC Strato-Viper
Shaka Johnson by Oreobuilder
After looking at the 1997 Bronze Bombers for inspiration, I discovered that the line existed as far back as 1988 (thank you YoJoe for being a constant source of inspiration). This earlier line included figures that were a bit more generic (that had less flair) than the 1997 ones, but are interesting in an Original 13 sort of way.
For Johnson, I really like the green and yellow color scheme. It sets him apart from the other figures in the line while still keeping the military roots. I used mostly 25th parts to convey the retro feel of the figure.
Parts:
Head: RoC Heavy Duty
Beret: Marauder Task Force
Torso, upper arms: 25th Duke
Lower arms: 25th Airborne
Upper legs: 25th Firefly
Lower legs: 25th Snake Eyes
Mapman Jackson by Oreobuilder
Mapman Jackson was the last of three Bronze Bombers that I built for this project. Like Shaka Johnson, he has an Original 13 feel, but is different from the others because of his boots, his canopy helmet and the snazzy orange camoflage on his uniform.
Parts:
Head: RoC Ripcord
Helmet: AVAC cast
Torso: 30th Falcon
Upper arms: 25th Duke
Lower arms: DG Duke
Upper legs: 25th Cobra Commander
Lower legs: 25th Major Bludd
Collect them all!
Next: from Oreobuilder: "Pitted against the galaxy's fiercest foe, you either win or the world loses" and "You'll never have to stand in line to play [...] again!"
PHX Customs says
Day 5
''In 2633, two armed Elite Marine Commandos "Contra" named Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are sent on a mission to neutralize a terrorist organization called Red Falcon that is secretly planning to take over the entire world and it is up to this two man army to put an end to this madness once and for all.'' – From Contra.wikia.com
Contra is a 1987 run and gun action game developed and published by Konami and was the first game in a series released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). For the North American release, the publisher made a couple of changes. The characters were renamed Mad Dog and Scorpion and the year in the game was changed to 1987.
Mad Dog and Scorpion by Oreobuilder
In the original game, the two characters were nearly identical on the screen except for the hair and pants color. Over the course of the franchise, their looks evolved as technology progressed. For my customs, I tried to incorporate elements from a few different games while keeping them steeped in ‘80s action hero looks.
Parts:
Bill "Mad Dog" Rizer
Head: PoC Duke
Torso: Resolute Storm Shadow (Comic Pack)
Arms: 50th Dusty
Legs: 50th Firefly
Lance "Scorpion" Bean
Head, upper arms: Marauder Spirit
Torso, lower arms: Resolute Snake Eyes
Legs: 25th Beachhead
''Double Dragon is the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee, twin brothers who learned to fight on the cold, tough streets of their city. Their expert knowledge of the martial arts, combined with their street-smarts, has made them both formidable fighting machines.
But now Billy is faced with his greatest challenge: his girlfriend, Marian, has been kidnapped by the Black Warriors, the savage street gang of the mysterious Shadow Boss! Using whatever weapons come to hand - knives, whips, bats, rocks, oil drums, even dynamite - Billy must pursue the gang through the slums, factories, and wooded outskirts of the city to reach the hideout for his final confrontation with the Shadow Boss...his brother Jimmy'' – From Original Double Dragon packaging
Double Dragon is a 1987 beat ‘em up game developed by Technos Japan and was released as an arcade game. It was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1988.
Billy and Jimmy Lee by Oreobuilder
One of my friends had the Double Dragon cartridge for the NES and I remember playing the game with him when I was a kid. In the original arcade game, the two characters were nearly identical on the screen except for the hair and pants color. Over the course of the franchise, their looks evolved as technology progressed. For my customs, I tried to incorporate elements from a few different games while keeping them steeped in ‘80s looks. Since they are twin brothers, I used the same recipe for both.
Parts:
Billy Lee
Head: Animal Planet
Torso, upper arms: RoC Snake Eyes
Lower arms: 25th Storm Shadow
Legs: Roc Neo Viper
Jimmy Lee
Head: Star Wars Kenobi
Torso, upper arms: RoC Snake Eyes
Lower arms: 25th Storm Shadow
Legs: Roc Neo Viper
Next: Oreobuilder has ''The World's Toughest Troops at his Command!"
PHX Customs says
Day 6
''You command them to penetrate enemy lines, infiltrate and perform sabotage missions! They're warrior specialists with the best warfare technology in their hands. They've got the right stuff to get the toughest job done! They've got...GUTS!'' – From packaging
GUTS! was a line of small (2.5''-3'') army men. Released in 1986, each figure was molded in one piece, had no articulation and was painted. They were available in packs of 2, 5 and 10 and there were 6 squads for a grand total of 60 different soldiers to collect.
I had a few GUTS! Toys as a kid and I loved them. After making a half dozen GUTS! customs for last years's edition of Retro Toy Chest, I wanted to revisit the theme. After all, I have only barely scratched the surface of the 60 characters that exist. After wrapping up Resurgence 3, I set about building a bunch of GUTS! figures. In short order, I had most of the Jungle Fighters, Aikido Force and Green Berets pieced together. I picked 5 of my favorites for this projects and got to painting.
Bill Tell by Oreobuilder
Weapon: Bow
''Strikes down the enemy with pin-point accuracy!''
Bill Tell was the first Jungle Fighter that I assembled. He embodies what the GUTS! Jungle Fighters are all about - bare chest, rugged, real '80s Rambo/Commando types. Bill Tell is unique because of his weapon and all that inspired me to recreate him 4" form.
Parts:
Head: Star Wars Mace Windu
Torso, arms: 50th Gung-Ho
Legs: 25th Roadblock
Lone Wolf by Oreobuilder
Weapon: Custom built M-16
''Rugged individualist – swift, silent and awesome!''
Lone Wolf is interesting to me because of his haircut and his personality as a loner rogue mercenary type. His original card mentions a "custom built M-16" as his weapon of choice. However, the toy looks more like a grenade launcher, so I combined the ideas and gave him Leatherneck's M-203.
Parts:
Head: Retaliation GI Joe Trooper
Torso, arms, legs: RoC Leatherneck
K-9 Kid by Oreobuilder
Weapon: Rapid fire pistol
''Ready to unleash on the enemy!''
The Green Berets were my favorites as a kid. After making Steel Fingers and Detail (the German Shepard) last year, I thought K-9 Kid would make a logical addition. I used a different torso than Steel Fingers and kept the MP sleeve so he can be paired with Detail as a canine team.
Parts:
Head: DTC Flint
Torso, upper arms: RoC Zartan
Legs: RoC Pit Commando
Lower arms: Reatliation Kwinn
Weapon: Marauder
Long Chop by Oreobuilder
Weapon: Samurai Sword
''Master of the ancient art of the noble blade!''
Long Chop was one of the trickier recipes to nail down. To get the texture on the chest, using Serpentor parts made sense. After that, I needed to find a hea and legs to fit. Although I'm still not crazy about the kneepads, I'm pretty happy with the result.
Parts:
Head: Retaliation Kamakura
Torso, arms: 25th Serpentor
Legs: Resolute Roadblock
Skirt: PoC Dusty
Helmet: Retaliation Budo (modified)
Sensei by Oreobuilder
Weapon: Giant Staff
"The teacher – Grandmaster of the warriors!"
Sensei is the leader of Aikido Force (at least, that is how I understand his bio line) and one of the most ninja-y figures in the collection and so, he was one of the first ones I wanted to make. He is a pretty straight forward recipe. I tried to add a few dark gray highlights ti brak up all the black on the uniform.
Parts:
Head: Renegades Storm Shadow (Amazon 4-pack)
Torso, arms: RoC Neo Viper Commando
Vest: Resolute Destro (comic pack)
Legs: Resolute Storm Shadow
Collect Them All!
Next: Oreobuilder joins "Easy Company" and ''Takes Command!"
PHX Customs says
Day 7
''At the battle of Three Stripes Hill, Private Frank Rock gained a field promotion to sergeant and became the man all the other Easy Joes looked to for leadership. It was Sgt. Rock who forged Easy Company into the legendary fighting unit it became, fighting its way through Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and ultimately, Germany.'' – From Comicvine.com
Loosely based on the D.C. comics series, Sgt. Rock toys were produced by Remco in 1981-82. The 3 3/4" product line included figures, vehicles and playsets. Sgt Rock was the only named character in the first series. Other figures were simply known by their specialty like Ranger, Gunner, etc. A year later, Remco created a new enemy for the toy series. These consisted of repainted Sgt. Rock toys and featured a logo of a yellow snake. Apparently, "The Bad Guys" were enemies of Sgt. Rock, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.H. and "all mini action soldiers". Some Sgt. Rock accessories and vehicles would later be repainted and reused by Remco for their American Defense series.
Sgt Rock and River Commando Patrol by Oreobuilder
I discovered Sgt Rock a few years ago when I was doing research for my GI Joe 50th Anniversary Tribute. I had not heard of it before. I don’t know if the line has ever been available in Canada. I may have simply been too young to remember it. The figures are very much 3.75’’ articulated versions of little green army men. I was drawn in by the vintage comic book ad, the World War II/1950/1960s styling (with some more modern accessories) and the playsets.
After I learned that the toy line was based on a comic book, I decided to base the custom on the toy. Making a comic version of Sgt Rock is now on my to-do list.
Parts:
Head: Marauder Task Force
Torso, arms, legs: RoC Pit Commando
Hands: 50th Firefly
Helmet: Captain America
Harness: 50th Dusty
Snake by Oreobuilder
Once I decided to make Sgt Rock a part of this project, I wanted to add another figure. I look at the other "good guys" but they felt a bit too generic. "The Bad Guys" were much more interesting as they had code names and really fit the ‘80s evil henchman style. I found Snake interesting as he could be a pre-Cobra Sebastian Bludd. The original toy was mostly a repainted SGT Rock, but I picked some different parts to differentiate him. Also, I added some color highlights to break up the all-black uniform.
Parts:
Head: 25th Major Bludd
Torso, upper arms: Marauder Task Force
Lower arms: PoC Shock Trooper
Legs: 25th Snake Eyes
Weapon: Marauder
Vest: 30th Stalker
''Now you can fight mighty battles with the Triax and V-Rocs armies. Recently, the minor border skirmishes between the Triax and the V-Rocs countries erupted into full-scale war. Hundreds of land and air combat vehicles battle across the land. With their huge fighting machines, they stage the most massive battles ever. The largest armies in the world are in your hand… Take Command!'' – Taken from original Packaging.
Launched by Kenner in 1989, Mega Force was a line of small military style vehicles. The toy line only lasted one series, included vehicles of every scale from small units to huge carriers, made use of die cast and included no figures.
Triax Missile Launcher and Grunt by Oreobuilder
I had a few small Mega Force vehicle sets as a kid. Since there is no mention of any figures or characters in the fiction, I imagined that these vehicles are drones on a futuristic battlefield. For my custom, I started with my GIJCC Adventure Team vehicle. I was not using it, so I modified the driver area and built the rocket launcher into the space.
By making the TRIAX launcher a drone, I needed an operator. I wanted to include an established character to tie everything into the Joe-verse. Since Grunt is my favorite character and, in the comics, left the team to get his engineering degree, he fit the bill as an advanced battlefield robot operator. I picked the Spytroops look and colors to tie him into the color palette of the launcher.
Parts:
Rocket Launcher Parts:
Base: GIJCC Adventure Team Vehicle chopped up and modified
Wheels: Lego
Missiles: Lanard
Grunt Parts:
Head, torso, arms: 50th Dusty
Legs: PoC Dusty
Helmet: RoC Duke
Next: bucky gazes out his window......:
"Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an asshole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer..."
PHX Customs says
Day 8
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a 1989 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. It is the third installment in National Lampoon's Vacation film series, and was written by John Hughes, based on his short story in National Lampoon magazine, "Christmas '59". The film stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo and Randy Quaid, with Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki as the Griswold children Audrey and Rusty, respectively.
Since its release in 1989, Christmas Vacation has often been labeled as a modern Christmas classic. – From Wikipedia
Clark W. Griswold by bucky
Oddly enough, I actually saw this in the theater as a child, when relatives were visiting for Christmas. I can't tell you how many times I've seen it or watched it since, no matter the time of year. Hell, I'll watch it in July. As I grow older, the jokes get funnier. After having kids, and your sibings have children, and you all gather at someone's house for the holidays, you relate more and more. So many great quotes came out of this one movie, that if you can't find yourself laughing at some point in the film, you don't have a sense of humor.
While not technically a toy, it is something that grabs you makes you remember, which is what we try to do with the project.
Parts:
Head: Thrasher w/custom hat, sculpted hair
Torso: unknown top, lower Crimson Guard
Arms: RoC Smake Eyes
Legs: Unknown
Weapon: Dinner platter and Squirell courtesy of hobby lobby
Vest: raginspoon
Tie: Avacs Lab
Cousin Eddie by bucky
What can I really say about Cousin Eddie? The character needs no introduction, and has some of the best lines and scenes in Christmas Vacation. I hope that the rendition does the character justice.
Parts:
Head: 25th Breaker
Torso: BBTS Thrasher
Arms:
Legs: Kwinn
Hose: Gear tie
Hat: Avacs Lab
Robe: On loan from DRBindy
Next: Dusty79 and Oreobuilder are "More Than Meets The Eye!"
PHX Customs says
Day 9
''It is a world transformed where things are not what they seem. It is the world of the Transformers... A world of heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons'' – From 1984 marketing materials
Taking a page from their successful relaunch of GI Joe two years earlier, Hasbro launched The Transformers in 1984 as a toy line, animated TV show and comic all at once. Since then, the brand has seen its ups and downs and many re-inventions but has become a powerhouse in toy aisles.
Huffer by Dusty79
The G1 minibots were really great toys. They were very affordable, so both me and my friends all had quite a few of them. Huffer was my absolute favorite minibot. I think the episode where he pulled Prime's trailer sealed the deal for me that he was the best. My childhood Huffer now belongs to my 6 years old son. I have made quite a few Transformer crossover vehicles and this one is already one of my favorites.
Parts:
Base vehicle: Bruder Truck
Added parts: Stacks are made from PVC pipe fittings and aluminum tubes from push in solar powered yard lights. There are some Rattler engine parts in the trailer link up.
Gears by Dusty79
Gears is another great character and his G1 toy was fantastic. I still have mine from when I was a kid and my youngest son will one day inherit it. This is an attempt to pay tribute to Gears in Joe scale. As he had no specific make and model in his G1 version, I attempted to get the general feel of his alt mode. The Hummer was nice because after modifications it has ample seating room and I did sacrifice an SDCC Jetfire booster to the customizing gods on this one. Nothing is safe in my work area.
Parts:
Base vehicle: 1/18th diecast Hummer pickup
Added parts: The back section is made from an SDCC Jetfire booster
Brawn by Dusty79
Brawn was yet another cool minibot. I have so many memories playing with these little vehicles. He was origionally a Toyota Land Cruiser making the Bruder Land Rover pretty much the perfect base vehicle which required little modification to get Brawn made into 1/18th scale.
Parts:
Base vehicle: Bruder Land Rover
Added parts: 1/18th gas tank
Cliffjumper by Dusty79
Once we got rolling with these minibots I figured I may as well complete the year. It is hard to tell what make and model Cliffjumper originally was, supposedly a Porsche according to tfwiki, but I thought I would take some cues from later shows and update him a bit. I modified the interior to create more space and accept a figure.
Parts:
Base vehicle:1/18 diecast Dodge Charger
Windcharger by Dusty79
Here is another modernization. Windcharger was a Pontiac Firebird, but this is the modernized version and the Firebird has gone the way of the Dodo. Once again I modified the interior to accept a figure. This one absolutely only works with a modern era female Joe because those Vettes are cramped. (Not that I would know, but based on this diecast they are.)
Parts:
Base vehicle:1/18 diecast Chevy Corvette
Pretenders Bumblebee by Oreobuilder
Transformers pretenders were released in 1988. The concept involved Autobots and Decepticons hidden inside organic "Synthoplasmic" shells. The inner robot could still transform. The outer shell was humanoid in appearance and could be used as a separate unit from the Transformer.
By 1988, I was no longer collecting Transformers, so I missed the Pretenders completely. I "discovered" them when I started collecting as an adult. In the line, among all the new characters, Hasbro released a few classic characters as Pretenders. That’s what I chose to explore in custom form. I thought it would be a fun opportunity to bring an iconic character – Bumblebee – into Joe form.
Parts:
Body, arms, legs: Iron Man Drone
Head: McFarlane Halo Marine
Gun: KO vintage Devastator
Next: Bucky and Oreobuilder unleash "America's Best Defense"
Keep reading: PHX Customs Presents Retro Toy Chest *Updated Daily* - Page 2
Not a member yet? Join HissTank Now!