It’s true. GI Joe turns 50 this year. And it’s also true we were born in the same year, within weeks of each other.
This year the GI Joe Collectors’ Club is holding its annual convention in Dallas and as a birthday gift, my wife and my daughter gave me this convention.
The only other convention I was able to attend was the 2010 Con in Providence, because it’s a half-hour drive from here. I went, met some great people, some of whom I have known for years online, and I had a good time. I got the Convention Set, which is this amazing piece of work:
One thing the Convention offers is contests. There are two diorama contests I will likely be entering. One is restricted to a 15″ x 15″ table space, and the other is less restrictive at 30″ x 48″.
Here are my two entries from the 2010 Convention. I scored a prize for the TARDIS Interior dio.
Large Diorama: – The Regeneration.
Here, two characters from my epic 8 chapter “The Second Key” photo story, Sir Edmund of Sussex and Ellanuir of Aquitanis, watch as my Doctor undergoes a regeneration.
This one was my full TARDIS interior set, on a foam-core floor, with a small hole cut into it for a blue LED which slowly flashed. I used a clear GI Joe figure, whose head diffused the light beautifully, lighting up the whole head. He was dressed in my Doctor’s costume, and there was a photo frame monitor in the back wall flashing images of space, and the title of the diorama.
Small Diorama: Return to Metabelis III
This one did not win a prize. You could have knocked me over with a feather. The thing is, this is a GI Joe convention, not a ComiCon. This diorama shows MY Doctor character with a blue crystal in his hands, landing on a planet, leaving the TARDIS, and being approached by dangerous spiders. This is a fairly deep diorama in that it makes many references to the Jon Pertwee Doctor Who era. In that era, he keeps promising his companion, Jo, that he will take her to Metabelis III because it has these amazing blue crystals. He never gets to. For most of his time his TARDIS is out of commission as a punishment from the Time Lords. But he does get there at one point, and steals a blue crystal. This comes back to bite him in the ass in another episode “The Planet of the Spiders” because the spiders want the crystal back. It is a very important crystal to them. However, at one point, the Doctor mails the crystal to Jo who is in the South American jungle doing missionary work. While there, the crystal, apparently, spooks the natives. They can feel its power.
So my diorama is the Doctor returning the crystal to Metabelis III. The crystal is a real cobalt crystal, the spiders are Shelob from the Lord of the Rings series, and one from a creepy Little Miss Muffett action figure.
Photo Contest: Remote Delivery
This one is a dog sled in the snow, being driven by one of my Joes. It’s a photo from my “Remote Delivery” photo story, a one-page sentimental story I did when Charlotte was young.
So this year I will be entering two dioramas, but probably will not submit a photo.
The two sets will highlight my 3D Adventure Team sets.
1) The Adventure Team Backpack Flight Pack
2) Save The Endangered Pygmy Rhino
Without going into too much detail, since I don’t want to alert the competition, I will be doing a test flight of the Flight Pack, and I will be displaying the Rhino set as an AT set.
Here is the comic I did. This is not the final, and it has test fonts, but it’s close. This will also be a part of the set. I’m also going to print a bunch to give away.
I’ll do a more detailed photo spread when both dioramas hit the Convention floor in April.
Hello and what can I say but AWESOME!!! I also have gotten into the 3D printer thing and have begun repro’ ing action figure accessories. Currently I am working on Mego Scale items. Soon I’ll be working on some GI Joe goodies as well.
I am using a MonoPrice Delta an work mostly in PLA.
Although I lean towards the 70’s classic GI Joe accessories, I love the 70’s Knock Off accessories like LJN’s Mr. Action.
SO keep up the great work and hope to see more of your Joe related creations.
Dan Gaffney