Thank you,

Sam Damon
President
Joe Declassified

What am I supposed to say?

Within the last 24 hours, one of the best lives I’ve known has been snuffed out. My friend and confidant, Gary Head, AKA Gyre-Viper, is now gone. There’s a huge, gaping hole that he’s supposed to be occupying, and it won’t be filled.

For those that didn’t know him, Gary left behind a girlfriend and three beautiful children. As he was someone who was long without his own parents, I know it would pain him to no end to know that his kids will grow up never having the opportunity to truly know and understand their father as we do only in our later years. Gary won’t have the opportunity to bring them along on the ride that was his adult life. As my own son approaches an age where I begin to share this hobby with him, I know that he will never get to meet Gary. For all of that, I am devastated.

Also, for those unaware of our inner workings, Gary was a large contributor to what you’ve come to love and enjoy as Joe Declassified. Since joining us in 2011, Gary was the most prolific of our staff. He created the JDSO podcast, organized many of our public appearances, and was recently appointed as our Media Director – taking under his wings the panels and magazines that we produce. It was Gary that started up our give-away contests, and much of the money to fund those came from his own pocket. Gary was in fact the first “outsider” (not one of the original group of friends involved in Declassified from the beginning) that I brought on to the staff. His infectious enthusiasm and love for charity were big motivators in our burgeoning friendship. To many of you, Gary was the face of Declassified that you were most familiar with. He often liked to joke with me that it was “his organization,” due to the misinterpretations of our public audience. And I loved him for it. We’ve been at this game for 9 years now, and in his short time with us, I can honestly say that Gary contributed much of the drive and aggressiveness that has enabled us to do what we have done as of late. I don’t think you’ll truly realize what he brought to your lives. His impact here was immense.

Gary was a polarizing figure in our hobby – to those who weren’t friends or fans, I can only say that you didn’t “get the joke” in a sense. If you were one of those that didn’t get Gary, I am truly sorry. He left an imprint for sure, and I encourage you to revisit his writings with a different set of eyes. It is a testament to the man, though, that when I first brought him on to the staff here at Declass, his preeminent concern was the effect that his polarizing reputation would have on the organization. I’ve never been one to dance around detractors, so as always buddy – fuck it – I’ll take the hit. And I’ll take any hits for Gary until I, too, am gone. The fact that so many consider him their “best friend” tells you what kind of love and energy he had for others. Gary was a giver, every step of the way.

I’d like to leave you guys with this. Below is an excerpt from one of my oldest emails from Gary. At the time, I was in Afghanistan, and missing the first convention since I started Joe Declassified. I asked Gary to stand in to manage our booth, and I share this because I believe his words here were a direct and accurate reflection of his love and enthusiasm not only for the hobby, but what we were trying to accomplish:

Sam,
Hope all is well with you.
I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to be part of the booth this year. It meant a lot to me. And I had an amazing time. It meant a lot to me just to be able to have a dealer pass and spend extra time talking to Warden more so than not. The entire experience was invaluable. So thank you. Anything you ever need, I’m there. Hopefully I did the booth some justice and hopefully you haven’t heard any terrible things about me hehheeh.
Roshan kinda made me promise that I wouldn’t tell you this but it’d be wrong not to. No one came through with counter top cases and so on Friday Roshan drove hours in traffic to
get wood and plexi glass on his own dime just so the booth
could be the best it could be. He did this because of the amount of respect he has for YOU and of course Declassified.
Also… Chris Murray took the time to build the cases and volunteered his time at the booth just as much as Gary Godsoe and myself did. The response to the booth was really great this year. It seems a lot of people put the Declassified booth on their feedback forms this time around as well. Anyways… you were very missed by everyone and everyone hopes you’re safe. Again thank you so much for the trust and opportunity. It may not seem like it should be such a big deal but it amplified my con experience a thousand fold. So thank you. And take care.
-Goggles

Gary,
You left a huge wound, man. There is so much more I want to say…
Til Valhall

Respectfully,
Sam Damon
Owner/President/Mourner
Joe Declassified

The direct link is

Here.
(warning, it’s a large file)

Check it out, and then head to the forum to the and let us know what you think, or ask any questions you have!

Blown.

As the custom submissions began to come in for our Ultimate Custom Contest, a few things were immediately made clear: First, that some amazing people with top-notch talent had decided to participate. Secondly, that some truly inspiring work can be accomplished in a very short amount of time.

I want to seriously thank all our participants. One of the key hitches in the contest, despite what we feel were some overwhelming prizes, was the fact that the contest winners had to be willing to donate their work. The fact that each of these individuals supported us in such a manner is beyond flattering. I’m pressured to live up to their support.

Thanks as well to our partners-in-crime, Pluv and the gang from Joe Customs, as well as our guest judges – including Hasbro’s own John Warden. While the participants did their best to make sure our judges were drooling over customized eye-candy, our judges lent their time, analysis, and commentary.

Enough from me. You’re here to see some great work.

Grand Prize:

Coby Brown
Coby’s web-site: AVAC’s Lab
Judges Score: 9.06
The Man-O-War. (1993 Leviathan Defender – cancelled due to overly high production cost)

Original Hasbro Prototype:

Coby’s prize-winning work:

Judges’ commentary:

- Very nicely done, I have seen the actual model of this concept from the bygone era of 1990′s Joe, and I am impressed with the level of playability here. Clean and nicely done.
- Sweet merciful Zeus! This is a fantastic custom with a lot of fabrication going into the weapon system. Most impressive work.
- This looks deceptively easy, but let me assure anyone looking, those cuts are super clean and the removable, playable launcher is fantastic. This one goes beyond custom and enters the area of a preproduction mock-up. That is the level of skill it takes to pull this off.
- I think it completely looks like it fits in the GI JOE line.
- Wouldn’t expect anything less from AVAC. The dude’s vehicle custom skill is unmatched. He KNOWS how to make things that fit in your collection, whether they are from his own mind, whether he’s just changing a few things around, or if he’s dragging something out of GI JOE’s history… his stuff LOOKS like it was released or should have been.
- This was a wonderful piece, and a perfect example of what this contest is all about. This vehicle demonstrates superior craftsmanship, inspiration, innovation, and talent.

For his awesome Man-O-War, Coby takes home the Grand Prize itself, the cancelled carded Wave 14 Storm Shadow:

2nd Place:
Mike Switzer
Web-Site:  MSWI Customz
Judges Score: 8.77
Space Force. (Cancelled mid-80’s figure design)

Original Hasbro concept art:

Mike’s awesome work:

- A very nice recreation of a cigar-chomping swaggering Space Ace wannabe. Honestly– some very nice work here.
- Perfection. This concept art has been on my to-do list forever and now it has stepped right out of the source material. I’m not sure which I want more, the figure or Mswi’s voodoo magic to make that happen.
- My 1st place pick. I think it completely captures the contest and the source material.
- See now the Rocky is nice… but this to me LOOKs like what this contest should look like. Everything seems accounted for.
- This is a wonderful figure, and a near flawless representation of the original source material. It really works, and I wish Hasbro would make this officially.

Mike racked up 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place – for this one he claims the GIJCC Subscription figure set:

3rd Place:
Mike Switzer
Web-Site: MSWI Customz
Judges Score: 8.45
Dreadnok.

Original Hasbro presentation art:

Mike’s entry:

- FANTASTIC replication of a lost Dino-Hunters design. This is the kind of obscure piece that the GIJCC should POUNCE upon for the FSS. It looks like the figure stepped right off of the page!
- The head and accessories on this guy look amazing. The sculpting is so super clean. Well done.
- I like them all for different reasons, but I will pick dreadnok for being the most true to the original design.
- I think it is the cleanest and most to the point entry of the contest guidelines.
- While I dinged him pretty hard on Obscurity since from my own personal experience talking to people, everyone recognizes this character from the first pages of Bellomo’s book, this thing looks like you could play with it, makes me want to play with it, and wouldn’t be out of place in an unproduced concept themed 7 pack. And I think that’s the point of this contest is to bring archaeology into what should have been said archaeology’s eventual toy form. The personality of the custom really matches up to the personality in the art.
- While there were a few minor detractions here and there, overall I feel this is a most excellent figure that really captures the look and spirit of the original. This is further enhanced by the excellent detailing to make art-accurate weapons and gear

For this, MSWI takes home the carded SDCC 2012 white and red Jinxes:

4th Place:
Eric Magee
Eric’s customs at Figure Realm
Judges Score: 7.82
Insecticycle

Hasbro presentation art:

Eric nails it:

- Okay, sure we’ve seen pics of this Cobra-La vehicle for years but this is possibly the best execution I’ve ever seen done on the concept. I’d buy these in a cold second if they were mass produced.
- I’m really glad someone did the Insecticycle. The Tron cycle is an obvious place to start, but the guns and python pattern on this along with the exoskeleton are really hard to pull off.
- Upon first glance, I was certain the Insecticycle would run away with first place

Eric’s custom entry earns him a carded 2012 SDCC red Jinx:

5th Place:
Mike Switzer
Web-Site: MSWI Customz
Judges Score: 7.81
Rocky Balboa

Hasbro art:

Mike’s faithful work:

- Most fans know about Rocky, but this is a perfect and playable update to Rocky that I can see as a carded figure. What a “Knockout”!
- A nice Generation 3 take on a very familiar unproduced figure. This would be a good piece for the GIJCC’s FSS. Nice work!
- This is an amazing figure, and the likeness is incredible. A fantastic entry.

Mike’s 5th place custom entry earns him another carded 2012 SDCC red Jinx:

6th Place:
Darkwynter
Web-Site: The Angelforge
Judges Score: 7.45
Translucent Joe

Original prototype:

Darkwynter’s take:

- I love this custom. The overall design is something I would snap up in heartbeat. What hurt it is the Modern interpretation and the red lines not being super clean. The light up feature adds a really cool element to the piece.
- While not perfect, this was still a cool figure to bring to concept, and a neat choice to make when one has the capacity to cast transparent heads, chests, and arms—and even a cool bonus gun

Darkwynter’s custom entry earns him a carded 2012 SDCC red Jinx:

The rest: (In alphabetical order)

Bombardier
By Joemichaels70
JoeCustoms Custom Profile: Joemichaels70.

Original:

Custom:

Gnawgahyde
By Chad Smelcer
JoeCustoms Custom Profile: Chad_ghost.

- Excellent, great kit-bash and parts usage with an innovative concept that has gravity for fans and kids alike. However, I would have kept the Poacher name for accuracy.
- Clean, looks like a GI JOE TOY as opposed to a GI JOE custom. So points for that. But I don’t think it was true to the concept.

Hot Foot
By Marc Valentine

- This was my favorite total package custom. From the parts to paint, to accessories to the awesome bio, every aspect of this custom is fun. Lava Shoes!
- A guy in Spain did an amazing o-ring custom of this concept last year when I first revealed this image. So that was the standard I based this on. I applaud Marc for picking one of the concepts from my slides, because anyone doing one of those have to really think about parts usage, or even attempting parts usage. Not stellar, but brave.

Lt. Claymore
By Chad Smelcer
JoeCustoms Custom Profile: Chad_ghost.

Mega Marines Barbecue
By Arkadiusz Bojda
Facebook page: LLucz Customs.

- This was a nice try, but as stated, Modern Era parts don’t do this type of figure justice, especially since the parts library is too limited. The color pattern is too bright and kiddie for my tastes, and I do not get the “Mega Marine” feel from this.

Mercenary Adventurer
By Matt Smelcer
JoeCustoms Custom Profile: Matthew.

Outback Adventurer
By Matt Smelcer
JoeCustoms Custom Profile: Matthew.

Raider Adventurer
By Matt Smelcer
JoeCustoms Custom Profile:Matthew.

- This is a decent translation of what would happen if you turned a Modern Era figure into an O-ring. It was fairly simplistic in design, but I think it works in the favor of the figure.

Replicator Destro
By Cory Godfrey
Customs collected at Hisstank.com

- Excellent work at recreating the original w/o adding too much artistic license. Well done!
- If Hasbro ever does a modern interpretation of the Replicator concept I hope it looks this good. I’m all for play features that don’t hinder the base figure’s playability like this.

Replicator General Hawk #1
By “Starbuck”

- Starbuck obviously had a lot of fun with this. It just isn’t very true to the source material art but is actually pretty true to the source material CONCEPT. He also reached out to Chris Murray for further information on Chris’ Replicator collection, so for doing the homework (despite the overall execution), I gave him some extra points for hunting down more info for his entry.

Replicator General Hawk #2
By Arkadiusz Bojda
Facebook page: Llucz Customs.

Replicator Gung Ho #1
By “Starbuck”

- Very nice, cool concept, with playability.

Replicator Gung Ho #2
By Arkadiusz Bojda
Facebook page: Llucz Customs.

Sabretooth
By Nick Vreeland

- Quite nice, and I can actually see this as a carded figure. Great and faithful to this rare castaway from Tiger Force. Love it .

Thrasher
By Darkwynter
Web-Site: The Angelforge.

- Without a parts recipe I’m going to assume he used Goro. Which I think is too obvious. If I’m wrong please correct me. That being said, this thing looks like a lot of fun to play with.
- This was a risky figure to attempt, but the creator pulled it off. It’s also cool figure for a niche audience that required time and effort to make. A few aspects like the grenades, web-gear, and face could use some polish—and it was not wholly accurate in terms of clothing or footwear, but still, it was a labor of love and a great entry.

Tiger Force Ripcord
By Cory Godfrey
Customs collected at Hisstank.com

- In a contest like this, the simplicity of this design is going to hurt its chances of winning. At the same time, that simplicity, and the right people seeing it, is what lends it to one day possibly being a real production figure.

Tiger Ray
By Scott Perrett
Customs collected at Hisstank.com

- A nicely executed repaint of the Sea Ray. Solid homage to the original artwork.
- Not a winning entry but definitely a great paint job.
- This is not a complicated piece, but it works very effectively to convey the materialization of the concept art. A very good entry.

Trap Viper
By Chad Smelcer
JoeCustoms Custom Profile: Chad_ghost.

Urban Storm Shadow
By Dan Morris
Web-Site: Out of Commission Toys.

- This is a cool figure that successfully takes the art and jumps off the page into reality. It also reminds me of a G.I. Joe/Assassins Creed crossover with a VNF (Very Near Future) edge.
- The paint work on this and the overall look is almost perfect. If he added the symbols and the small pouch it would have been a perfect 10

Zombie Shock Trooper
By Dan Morris
Web-site: Out of Commission Toys.

- This custom makes me wish that more of the concept vault zombie figures would become a reality!!
- While a slight departure from the source material, it’s still a great looking figure highly reminiscent of Resident Evil.

That’s it! Some entries were disqualified due to lack of meeting contest criteria, and thus not shown. Additional judge commentaries are available to participants upon email request. Like or hate the judging, tell us here.

Thanks again to all who participated!

Custom contest rules:

1. Customs may be figures or vehicles.
2. Any customs created for any prior contest, or that have been shown prior on the web are automatically disqualified. Customizers should submit a photo with their entry that shows their construction materials with any dated item (magazine, etc) created after the contest start date.
3. Customs must be of an unfinished Hasbro product (Rocky, for example). Anything that ever existed in any state of design is eligible. Please see the references at the bottom for further inspiration.
4. All entries are due no later than 15April2013.
5. All prize-winning customs become property of Joe Declassified, and will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to help support future Declassified endeavors. If contest winners do not wish to participate in the fundraising process, we will select the next highest rated customs to take their place.
6. No more than 3 custom entries per individual.
7. Entries MUST include real name, any online screen names, city and state of origin. All entry photos should be submitted to damnedmp@gmail.com. Please include no more than 10 photos per entry. Any questions or clarifications of contest rules should be sent to the same email address.
8. All judges and Joe Declassified staff are automatically disbarred from entry.

The Prizes:

1st prize: Carded wave 14 Storm Shadow

2nd prize: all 13 Club FSS figures (these will ship to the winner after all 13 have been released)

3rd prize: Set of white and red SDCC Jinxes

4th-6th prizes: Red SDCC Jinx

Judging:

Judging will be on a rating system among several categories. Points assigned by each judge individually will be averaged to determine a winner.
Judges will include:
Joe Declassified Staff
Joe Customs Staff
Chris Chung – Admin of Joesightings.com
Fred Meyer – Owner/Admin of Joe Battlelines.com
Fran O’Boyle – Owner/Admin of Hisstank.com
Justin Bell – Owner/Admin of GeneralsJoes.com
Terry Dizard – Admin of YoJoe.com
And
John Warden of Hasbro

Judging categories are:

Faithfulness – How accurately the custom reflects whatever existing source material is available. Difficulty – Customs accomplished through minor parts swapping vs. those that require parts fabrication.
Obscurity – The lesser known the concept, the better -bonus points for revealing unknown sourece material.
Part usage – How creative the customizers parts choices are. Paint – Painting execution and detailing.
Buyability/Playability – How much does the finished product look like something likely to sell, as well as durability to play.
Overall execution

References:

The sites listed below all include some preproduction material, but are by no means intended as an all-inclusive list.

Joe Declassified forums
Joe Intel Preprodution Archives
Joe Declassified SpecOps podcasts
YoJoe.com’s preproduction archiv
A Real American Hero Book
The 788th Armored Division

Additionally, not only do we have big prizes and big name judges, but true to Declassified form we also have some big reveals to accompany the custom contest. Over the next few weeks, in conjunction with Joe Customs, we will be revealing some previously unseen G.I.Joe 80’s history in the form of concept art images and sculpts. These concepts can be used for your customs for this contest as they are all unproduced material. See the sneak peak images below, and get ready for more to come. Keep an eye both at JoeDeclassified and JoeCustoms over the next few weeks for more inspiration and history!

Good luck!

The direct link is
Here.

(warning, it’s a large file)

Check it out, and then head forum to the and let us know what you think!

Direct link to the episode.

Share your thoughts in the open thread.

-Zap vs Nano-B.A.T.
-Budo vs Dr. Mindbender

More after the break…

According to Justin at Generalsjoes.com, these were also going to be Wal-Mart 2-packs for Pursuit of Cobra at some point.  However, it is unclear if the Wal-Mart aspect would have been for their initial Rise of Cobra incarnations as well, which of course predates POC.  Obviously they would have been 2-packs in Rise of Cobra, but just not sure about the Wal-Mart specifics.  Artist Mike Thompson had posted images of his packaging art for these 2-packs, which can be seen here:

http://generalsjoes.com/2012/04/14/mike-thompson-breaks-his-g-i-joe-silence-with-some-more-roc-art/

But as you can see, Mr. Thompson’s images are adorned with Pursuit of Cobra logos and not Rise of Cobra logos like the Zap has.  Also it should be noted (although not pictured) that all of these figures came with blank Rise of Cobra stands.  Not to mention Zap is in the ROC armor.

Until now… the Budo, Mindbender, and Zap have never been seen in figure form.  These are the first images to surface of these figures.

Nano-B.A.T.’s existence was of course made public at JoeCon 2010 in Rhode Island at the Joe Declassified Booth.  Discovered by Pat “notpicard” Stewart and then released into the forum-wild by Gyre-Viper just after that convention, and then further down the line announced as part of the GJCC Figure Subscription Service… Nano-B.A.T. has quickly gone from canceled (and often controversial) legend to an (again) eventual reality.   You can hear more about Nano-B.A.T.’s origins and the theories surrounding him, on the NANO-B.A.T. VS IRON KLAW episode of the Joe Declassified Spec-OPS podcast here: http://jdso.podbean.com/2012/03/15/ep4nano-bat-vs-iron-klaw/

A special thanks to Pat “notpicard” Stewart for his insight and direction and to ChicagoScott for lending his production figures for comparison pics.