I wouldn't call that awful at all, just an early attempt. You nailed it when you mentioned skill, though. As an example, I've painted and drawn my entire life, and in general, when someone sees a piece I've done, they use the word "talent", like it's some innate quality I possess. I usually respond that no, my fourth grade artwork was exactly the same as all other fourth graders'. Talent is giving enough of a shit to keep at it.

The diorama game is no different, and to be honest, most of that really comes down to knowing which materials to use for the job. The grass you've got there? Try a few shades of modeling turf, in a few different coarsenesses. A few spots of static grass will also look nice at the 6" scale. Expanding foam is great for rocks and terrain, silicone caulk for water. Model railroad tutorials are a veritable goldmine for this, and some wargaming channels are also helpful.

To whit- attempt that forest dio again, and I'll nearly guarantee you'll see an improvement. I made a living on building mini-dios for 3 3/4" Joes up until around 2 years ago, and while I'm no master, if you need any pointers, door's always open.

Man Hasbro picked the wrong wave to suddenly flood retail everywhere with IMO... Flint, Lady Jaye and CC are starting to pile up. I went to Macy's to look at the seasonal toy section and they had dozens of each... Macy is also the only place that I saw all the newest Studio Series too... they had a bunch of Sharkticons that I had to use all my will power to not buy a couple. Unfortunately, no Legends or Black Series... just Transformers and Joes. My Walmarts and Gamestops are also starting to pile up Flints, Jayes and CCs. Too bad they didn't have a revision wave ready to release during the holiday season. I bet a lot of people are still looking for the older figs or troop builders. One of the best things about the 25th line is that they had revision waves up the wazoo.

Mcy's sells toys?

Macy's still in business?!?

They tend to sell toys during the holiday season. Sears used to do so as well.

I snagged classified series movie Stormshadow at my local Walgreens yesterday for $12 as they had them on 50% sale.

Ally Viper is an instant buy. Hope they aren't an exclusive so I can get like 3 of them. No idea why they're doing another repaint of the Cobra Trooper though.

Officer has a new head and some new gear but does appear to be a reuse body. Neither are supposed to be exclusive. Pre-orders open at 8 ET for non-Premium members. Supposed to be on the online retailers as well so far as I know.

Edit:
Cross-comparing photos, it looks like the upper torso, head and (maybe) lower arms are new. The tactical harness is new per Emily on the stream. Unsure about the weapons.

Only the Officer was put up for pre-order with a 1 per customer limit.

You can go in and order twice. I was able to get an order for 2, cut me off on the 3rd.

Macy's is the new home for Toys R Us.

Yes, although when you go in one it's like the land time forgot inside. Definitely a reflection of a bygone Era.

But, supposedly from what I heard they are going to be the home of TRU pop up stores within the stores starting next year, and these toys showing up are a preview of that.

Tru Pop-up store???????

Yeah, like the seasonal ones that used to show up at some mall's around Christmas time. Only this time the idea is like you would go into Macy's, and then off in a corner somewhere is a mini department made up as the Toys R Us section with various toys.

Oh, I'll believe it when I see it just like that dude who keeps proclaiming he is going to bring KB Toys back.

Well that guy is bonkers, but this isn't that kind of come back. Unless you live in Canada, TRU as we knew it may be gone for good.

It's more about branding the toy section with a recognizable name for your mom (or similar type person who actually still shops at Macy's) to find a Spider-Man toy or Lego for little Timmy to gift to a friend for their birthday.

My BBQ just arrived a little bit ago.

https://i.imgur.com/rlPi2y5.jpg

He's pretty cool, though I'm not exactly sure how I put his axes in their holsters properly. It seems like the one fits best on his leg with the axe blade pointing forward, but if he falls or something, it might slice right into him.

The hose seems to be far superior in staying inplace comparing to the 25th anniversary one. Overall, I don't remember much about the character, but I have love his design.

Lastlly, I know there was someone out there who wanted to know if the Arcade head would work with his body, so here's a pic:

https://i.imgur.com/HN1bzwe.jpg

As you can see, the neck is quite long and the head just sits on the balljoint as the ball is smaller than the head hole. Thus, you're going to have to do a lot of fingaling to get it to work.

I know I'm joining this party late, but after the latest reveals I couldn't resist any longer and preordered Spirit, Storm Shadow, and Cobra Officer without deliberation. I'm in catch up mode now, though, so I picked up these gems in the last few days. Lady Jaye I got off eBay. Flint I found on sale ($17.99) at a physical Target, while Beach Head and Firefly came via Target's online store. The frustrations I've read regarding Target's exclusives has played no small part in my reluctance to invest in this line for a long time. Hopefully they and Hasbro get that shit figured out.

You should have no issue finding CC at this point as every Target seems to be stocked to the max with him.

Welcome to the dark side, I was there myself not long ago, though my ins were the HA Roadblock and Alpha Commandos Snake Eyes/Timber set. Target seems to have gotten their shit together, but of course, it's never to late to prove me wrong!

There's a dude over on Hisstank that has a few of the previous figures available for good prices, and I can vouch for him as a stand up guy.

Here's his thread, and if you hit him up, tell him I sent ya:

https://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-j...-new-post.html

Yeah, he seems fairly easy to come by. If I can't find the Regal variant at a reasonable price, I'll just pick up the standard release.


Thanks! I'll check him out.

GIJoe has never been known for their safe designs. It's a world where decapitating helicopters exist and they like to stand people behind blasting missiles.

That head is way too small for that body anyway.

Good luck. I have been trying to find the regal version for some time with no luck. They regularly go for over $50. I hope you have better luck than I have.

I think it's the neck that makes it look small. I mean, look at how small real firefighter's heads look when they are all geared up. I'm sure if the neck wasn't so long that head would probably look just fine.

Well, I had some fun tonight. I also realize I need to find some sort of road or something I can use as a base.

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