GI JOE (classic) head into a modern body, serious HELP!

[Rique]

Hi all,

I've been looking for help in many forums by now. I guess my main problem is that I want to swap a GI Joe/Action Man head into a new, modern body like HT and not many modern 1/6 collectors have GI Joes.

First let me just point two things, please:
1) I am NOT a 1/6 collector, just Joe's. The only other figures on this scale I have is a Superman from Hot Toys and a Superman from Mattel. That being said the only other figure I have for refference is that Superman.
2) The main porpuse of this bash is to creat a modern ranger with a GI Joe head. I love that sculp and I think its pure classic and I think it will be nice creating an up to date version of a north american soldier, wich is pure Joe.

The set I want is this:


This is the head an body:


But then I found this body is a little shorter than I though. It stands for 24cm (body)/29cm (head and body). I believe the uniform will be ok but I am not sure. Most of modern bodies are 25cm (body only) so I guess that difference may be a problem... My Superman is not a refference either because HT used a 27cm body for that figure so it is out of the scale too.

Even if the uniform be ok, I think that would be nice if I attach this head into a modern body and get him more movement.

I am not a modder, I dont want use sculpy/epox or anything like that. Then the problems started. Someone pointed issues like this:

As you can see, just attaching his head into this kind of neck or neck post would let him with an unnatural neck, the other peg would let him short necked.

Someone proposed me use a BBI neck post with this piece I dont know what it is (washer?).

But he vanquised and I dont know what that little thing is. But that is what I am looking for: a clean mod, just attaching. No painting, sculpting etc.

The body I want to use is that TTM18 or maybe the new COOmodel. But I am open to suggestions...

I hope I can find proper help here. Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[**16k**]

I'm also a Joe collector. I've never done this, but this is what I'd do: take the original head and connector, get a knock off narrow TT off EBay ( they're easy to find and just like the real HT figs, only cheaper), then I'd remove the TT neck. You'll just have a cavity with a small rod ending in a ball.
Then, in the original head connector, I'd drill a hole the size of the ball with a dremmel. Then pop the head on the ball and voilà!

 

[Rique]

You mean this?
Custom Ver 4 1 6 Narrow Shoulder Body for Hot Toys Muscular Club TTM21 Hitfigure | eBay

That was one of my choices. And as I said I am not a modder... But I THINK that what you said is not that HARD hehe. The problem is poping that hole there. There is another issue I can point you later regarding this, but I will try illustrate:
This figure has a BALL neck. you have to lean the head on wards the make him stand still. If I make this hole in the center of the ball neck, he will stay looking "up". It is hard to explain without pic, but I will take some sunday and post here if needed!

 

[**16k**]

Yes, that's the one I mean.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean because basically, you can pull out the neck plug you see on the picture and the ball is underneath and what I suggest is just a similar system but with the original Joe neck plug.

For me, the only issue there may be is that I think the original Joe neck plug might be empty, making it hard to drill a hole that actually works on the neck plug.

Now, I'm pretty sure you can pop the head on the plug that comes with the new body, but im afraid the neck might look a little short afterwards.

Where are you? In the US? Now, I'm in France, but if you're not too much in a hurry, I can make you a neck adaptor that would fit a Joe and one of these bodies out of sculpey. It's a cinch and can be done in half an hour! Actually you could easily make it.
It's already late for me, but if you want, I can try a Joe head on a TT and show you tomorrow what it looks like.

 

[Rique]

Actually I am in Brazil. I am not in a hurry, man, dont worry, and I appreciate your help very much.

As much I would LOVE to see what you can do with sculpey, that is the kind of material I would like to avoid... I guess it would look like something too "hand made". Besides, at least here, sculpey is grey so that would demand some painting too, no? If we could work on something like that BBI neck with adaptor or adapting another neck post with connectors would be great.


There are some problems regarding using the original neck, my mobile is recharging but as soon as it is ready I will take some picks to show you.

I really appreciate your help, I am sure a seasoned modder like you will help me.

Another think, this same process would be ok for this body?
Coomodel Coo Standard Male Narrow Shoulders Body 25cm Skin Color 1 6 | eBay

Hold on, I will post the pics with the issues later. EDIT: quick edit, speaking about making a hole, the solution would be transfering the rubber adapter from the neck post to Joe's so it could be plugged there. But there are other issues. Hold.

 

[**16k**]

Actually, I've been trying out things for you today and found a quite easy way. Wether you take the coo model or the one I suggested doesn't matter, both would do just fine.

Those bodies come with two necks adapters, a short and a long one for neck less heads.

Now I try with the short neck and it's bad. The neck is way to short!

So I tried the long neck and it's what you're looking for. The necks are a little thick for the heads though so you'll just have to file\sand the top portion of the neck in its circumference to have a perfect fit, but it's an easy fix and it will fit just fine. With that method, you can even choose the length of the neck!

One word of advice though if it's your first time with these new bodies. The neckline is very different from the old joes and before sanding, dress the figure to better gauge at what height you should sand.

Also, the color is very different from the old joes. I think the joes from later batches like ATs are a better match.

I hope it helps you. If I'm not clear enough, let me know and I'll try to post pics.

Cheers,

JP

 

[Rique]

I'd like to see your picks too, of course!
Do you have ANY BBI neck post? Are they easy to adapt?
The problem as I said is that I am NOT a modder and I have no experience at all with this stuff.

I will send you the pics with the Joe head and the issues regarding very soon. Hope you can still see it today. I am here online all the time.

 

[Rique]

Another thing, this head is from Modellersloft, it is not an original Action Man vintage, but a reproduction from 2006.

 

[**16k**]

BBIs necks are quite similar. But the color is very orangey and not too good to look at. Moreover, you said you want to make a modern version. BBI is early 2000 and bodies have made a lot of progress since then. Articulation is better and they look better with clothes on. As for the head, I think that the color of the action man repros of 2006 is very pinkish. They are also larger at the base, with larger chins, so maybe you could fit them on one of these long necks without too much modding.

 

[Rique]

Here are the photos and the problems regarding adding the head to ANY neck post, including using the original (digging a hole).
As you can see bellow, the head base is not cutted "right", If you put it in a 0 degree the figure will be looking "up" all the time.


To make the character look forward the ball neck need to be moved a little onward.


Now
CASE 1: using the same neck from the figure, will prove difficult because I would have to pin it off his center.

CASE 1: using a neck post from the TT or any other, even if I sand it, it would require some calculation... and I have no still at all with that. UNLESS the head could be plugged (how?) in the neck post so it could be placed in the right position and also move around the base, making him look up, down etc.

 

[Rique]

Do you have ANY of these heads?

 

[**16k**]

I understand what you mean but I don't think it would be a problem.

I have joes heads from about every generation (and to be honest, those 2006 heads are the ones I like the least) and I will try to show you what mean with picture tomorrow. The TTs neck have a great range of movement so I really don't think there's a centering issue there. Once again, just sanding the neck to pop the head on and you're good. I'll post pics tomorrow!

 

[Rique]

Thanks man! If you have one of these, all the better! I hope you wont damage any of your property there. lol I really want to see how they fit.

I would like to know how to connect the head to neck too...

 

[Rique]

BTW I see a (color) difference between the head and the plastic in this figure here. Do you think it will be more or less the same?

 

[**16k**]

Okay, so hers what I mean.

I took a 40th head, the one you're trying to use, put it in hot water to make it soft then pushed it on a long neck. It may look high, but trust me, that's the height you're looking for, not lower.

As you can see, the head is well proportioned and he ca look level.

Now, bear in mind this was made without any moddiing! It would look better if you file the top portion of the neck (or cut some plastic inside the head). To secure it afterward, just glue it. It won't prevent it from turning or tilting, and if you want to remove it one day without breaking anything, just use a brush dipped into nail polish remover (without acetone) at the seam several times and it will dissolve the super glue.

Now, as you can see, the color is bad, but to my knowledge, you won't be able to find a good match. The closest I've seen in color are the 40th American joes which are more grayish, so closest to this type of bodies

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[**16k**]

Btw, I was wondering, you being in Brazil, do you have a source for one of these:

FORUM DU GROUP ACTION JOE :: PERSO ESTRELA

I collect joes from the world around and the Brazillian ones from the 80/90s still elude me!

 

[Rique]

Great, man, thanks a lot! I guess that it looks great, I mean the color match is indeed bad but I think those "narrow shoulders bodies" have a more orange-ish color than the one you used, no? But since the uniform has a high colar it wont be a problem. Here goes some questions:
1- Once the head is stuck, it wouldnt "pop" out if I move it?
2- You suggested to glue the head but is there an easy way to attack it and preventing it to pop out later?
3 - I belive this way you proposed will prevent me to move the head no? It will just come out in my hand.
4 - Is there any way to make an inside conector?Out of curiosoty wich body you used there? I liked that sculpt more.
5 - When you pushed the head in the neck post, it didnt deformed?
6 - The head there is fixed or leaned?

About what you asked, I can gladly provide any info you need for Falcons (brazilian GI Joe's, like french Action Joe). This one you are showing me is a re-issue from 1994. I dont have one of these, sadly, most of my stuff are from my childhood (late 70s, 80s) and now I have some new things like this 40th AM and 40th Gi Joe.

This one you are reffering was done by Estrela (like all Falcons from the 70s till 2000, more about that later) but for national destribution and afaik they had a decent quality. As you can see, most of them used parts from GI Joe Hall of Fame.
In 2000, a great magazine here, Lojas Americanas, made a deal with Estrela to sell another re-issue of Falcon, so they produced another set of figures, basically "the soldier", "the pilot" and "the enemy" (a green headed Torah with normal left hand) but these had a lower quality. I believe that in 2001 Lojas Americanas started importing Worldpeacekeepers and dropped Falcon from Estrela. Since it was an exclusive line, that was the end of 12" GI Joe here.

About getting one of these, ANY, the first thing you must understand is that Falcon market here is crazy, even crazier than GI Joes in USA. The prices are absurd. You cannot buy a full figure from the 70s for less than 400 euros. A full equiped one, well conserved and all is about 1000 euros. Easy. Crazy, no? You can also buy head and pieces, they are more rare but sometime you are luck. I've seen a Torak from this 94 line being sold for 100 euros, complete with costume and weapon but loose. And body pieces from here and there. I even asked in another forum if people would be interested in buying from me but none answered.

 

[**16k**]

Okay, so I'm gonna try to reply your questions in order:
1- no, if it's stuck it won't pop up.
2- f you don't want to glue it, I guess you could fill the head with blue tac. It would be less convenient, but would probably work.
3- no, with what I propose, it will keep it's full range of motion. Tilt up and down, turn, lean on the sides. The movement will take place where the connector connects to the body, not where the head connects to the connector
4- you could make an inside connector with an air hardening clay I guess. Fill the head with it push into position and let dry. The body I used is a Hot Toys regular body, they are the ancestors of what we now call narrow shoulder TTs. They're basically similar but the shoulders of narrow TTs look better under clothing. The former TTs can still be found but at a price. And be careful, the earlier batches had weak knees that break easily. The one I used here is broken.
5- yes, it diformed. That's why you must file the neck post a little. But don't worry! When I removed it, I just put it under hot water and it recovered its shape instantly!
6- inot sure I understand what you mean here

Thanks for the info on the Brazilian Joes. I know the prices are crazy. It's the same in France. Still, do you know any site/shop that sells any and accept PayPal?

Cheers,

JP

 

[Rique]

Sorry meant if the neck is leaned or "fixed" there. If that is the standart position of this neck in that body.

You said the head diformed and that is problem then... I'd need to sand the neck post that scares me a bit since I am not a modder and these things are not cheap. haha
About the color, you didnt say if this one is more grey-ish? The narrow shoulders from China looks more bright. Speaking about that, I found someone selling the bread shoulder, wich one is the best? I see little difference... and the price of the broad shoulders are not that different from coomodel's.

You said that to your knowledge you dont know a better option, but reagarding head? And the body? Perhaps there is one with a more orange tone. As I said I believe the ones from China, the narrow shoulders, have a more bright tone, but I never had one in my hands. See what I mean:
Hot Narrow Shoulder 1 6 Scale Action Figure Body Toys TTM18 TTM19 Male | eBay
I dont know if that is the photo, but this one look more brighter than yours.

About Falcons, sadly no. The main source to get it by your own on internet is mercadolivre.com.br, our ebay, but they dont work with paypal. You can try find individual sellers or even shops that work online with them, but the only one I know is this: Brinquedos Raros - Loja and they dont have any Falcons now and I dont think they work with paypal, but IF that was the case you could drop a line and ask them. But as you can see, they dont have any Facons (figures) aviable at the moment.

 

[**16k**]

Well, I'm sorry mate but I have to leave for a few hours. I'll try to reply to your questions better when I'm back. Just quickly about body color. Don't get fooled by the pictures. Everybody uses the same, and sadly, it's difficult to point you to a specific body as colors vary from batches.

But I'll be back in a few hours and will post a new pic so that you better understand how the neck articulation works....

TTYS
JP