The end of the Pick...

Okay, so... I'm two weeks into December, and have had no picks. Why? Well, I'm discontinuing the product, as it were. Do to the lack of feedback, and the fact that I'm a bit bored with it, I shall do no more picks. That's not to say they won't come back (especially if I get feedback!), but right now, I'm going to focus on other things. I'll probably have a November vote sometime next week, and that'll be the end...

In the meantime: The novel is under way again! I've finished writing an extensive draft of notes and plot details, and will now start actually writing again! Also: as soon as get my birthday/christmas camera (a Canon Rebel T2i!), I'm going to take some good pictures of my own customs and upload those. Finally, Those who read Pockett will notice a real, live, legitimate update! An update that promises... reruns. Yes, ten strips in, and reruns. But there will be some new content, and I'm also working my way towards finishing the digital models for all new stuff, so look for great things to come from Pockett!

Thanks now, and see y'all later!

Pick of the Week, Nov 4/4

Okay, November draws to a close, and I'm late again. Phoo sticks.
So yeah... Thanksgiving was good, black friday was skipped entirely, and I'm in my last week of fall semester; shots all around. To check out two of my final projects, head over to pockett.comicgenesis.com I think you'll like what you see... If I ever actually update the comics...

Now, onto the Pick. This week we have WWII 101st Screaming Eagles by lance858a. While the 101st was a real unit, these characters are not: they are Duke, Hawk, and Flint from the joeverse. However, the costumes are very well done and historically accurate, and feature parts from multiple toy lines, as well as original sculpted parts. Add in the detailed paint job, and you have a trio of very good figures.

And as for the October Pick of the Month: the winner is Kamakura by kingphilbert. Congratulations, kingphilbert!

Pick of the Week, Nov 3/4

And this week's pick is... late. Again. But enough about my lack of time management skills. Today we welcome back an old Pick alumnus, and creator of the September pick, Mythic, with Updated/PoC Cobra Viper. For those of you who've been following the Picks, we had a Viper in the first month, but this one is a little different. Stylistically, this one is an almost straight carryover of design from the original costume. However, there are still some changes. Its sort of like the difference between Movie Spider-man and Comic Spider-man; it's the same, just... different. And of course its got a pimpin' paint job... So, congratulations a=once again to Mythic; keep up the good work! View the figure at: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/91023-updated-poc-cobra-viper-mythic.html

Also, please remember to vote! Options explained in the last post. (And thanks to everyone who voted...)

October Pick of the Month-- Voting

Okay, so here it is-- voting for October Pick of the month! Just like last month, Pick one option on the poll box to the right and say which figure is your favorite! The candidates are, in chronological order:

GI JOE LETHAL Shockwave by IIIzoeIII
Mary Blaine by stocos28
Supreme Class Blackout by UltraMagnus2008
Kamakura by kingphilbert

Please remember to vote, and have a good week! Hez out.

Pick of the Week, Nov 2/4

A day late and a dollar short, but here's this weeks Pick: Quick Kick by daremo. I honestly don't know much about this character, but the recent figures of him have been... disappointing. This version, however, is quite groovy, and he really looks like a modern martial-arts commando. The parts and paint are good, and overall, I like it. Check it out at http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/90457-my-poc-quick-kick.html

As for last month's picks... Voting will happen this week. Seriously this time. I got caught up in my church's fast last week, and didn't have time to post it. As for other updates...

Pockett is still technically on hiatus, but, by the grace of God, I've set up a pimpin' new site for it! Head on over to http://pockett.comicgenesis.com/ NOW. Please do so on Safari or Opera however, as it currently looks weird on other browsers. Fixes will be coming.

And finally, career news... Last night our church played host to worship leader Kelanie Gloeckler, and I got to run the lyrics display. Not only that, but we keyed all the words, so I got to be a full-on technical director, with my brother on hand to physically push the switcher buttons. If you're in the Tulsa area, stop by Open Bible Fellowship and ask for the KG 11/13 DVD. It looks great!

And now... Hez out.

Pick of the Week, Nov 1/4

Mkay, another pick of the week! But first, the news.
- In the spirit of NaNoWriMo, E.H.U.D. is progressing.
-Pockett has updated, of a sort. The site itself has been updated, and a 'comic' appeared... saying that there would be no comic...
-Pick of the Month voting for October will begin next week.

And onto this week's pick!

This week, we have a battle damaged Cobra B.A.T. created by TTT, one of the moderators at Hisstank! There are actually three figures made, with the designations BD BAT 019, 020, and 021. The one shown in the image above is 020. All the figures are well done, but the spliced in terminator parts and the real wires really caused this one to stand out. Now, it may be hard to believe, but good battle damage is hard to do. TTT has pulled these off quire nicely, and, even though I generally don't like B.A.T.s, I really like these figures.

http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/90116-bd-bat-019-020-cfw-entry-021-a.html

Pick of the Week, Oct 4/4

Okay, here it is: the final pick of the week for October! Yes, yes, there should be five; so sue me. (Not really) Anyhoo, this week's pick is Kamakura by kingphilbert. Yes, that's right, another Kamakura. This one, however, is quite different than last month's reigning champ: kingphilbert decided to go with a completely different style, going for a more utilitarian, light-traveling commando look. The only thing that really screams Kamakura out of all of this is the green color and mask. Still though, it's an interesting new take on a... okay, he's still a new character, but you get where I'm going. Of special note on this figure though is the skin tone: it is a custom mix, not store bought. Quite impressive. You can check out the figure at
http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/89756-kamakura-kingphilbert.html

Other incidental update: Pockett is currently floundering, but I should be updating it again sometime in late November. Also, I've started actively writing E.H.U.D. again, so expect updates soon TTFN, Hez out.

Pick of the Week, Oct 3/4

Okay, so I missed last week... I was still stoned; I'm sorry. Besides, its not like anyone actually reads this, right? So anyway, I'm bumping October down to only four Picks. And here's this week's: Supreme Class Blackout, by UltraMagnus2008. One of my long-term Transformer fantasies has been to have figures that are in scale with G.I. Joes. After all, they both come from the same company, both have a strong shared history, and Joes constantly use vehicles. Perfect right? Well UM08 obviously thought so, so he brought us Blackout, done in a movie styling, in scale with Joes (although I have to admit, he still looks a little to small...) Unfortunately, it doesn't transform, but it still looks cool. Very imposing, well constructed... And UM08 even says that a better paint job is forthcoming! So, Kudos to UM 08 for a job well done! Check out the figure at: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/89151-supreme-class-blackout.html

Pick of the Week, Oct 2/5

Okay, this is a little late, but here is Pick #2 for October: Mary Blaine, by stocos28. Mary's an origional charachter, but fits in well with the rest of the more rationaly designed Joes. This figure, while clearly femenine, has limbs containing parts from masculine figures, making her just a tad more bulky, thereby more real and far less fragile looking. A good design choice, in my eyes. Also, they dry brushing adds a lot of depth to the figure. (I likes me some dry brushin'!) So congratulations to stocos28 on a job well done! http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/88454-mary-blaine-stocos28.html

On a related note: thanks to all seven of you who participated in the Pick of the Month poll last week. The winner was *drumroll* Kamakura by Mythic. Yay!!!!

Pick of the Week, Oct 1/5

Okay, the first pick of October goes to GI JOE LETHAL Shockwave by IIIzoeIII. To be honest, I don't know much about Shockwave other than the fact that he's an urban commando type dude. And to be honest; I don't know what this figure is made out of; I can identify a few parts (head, accessorries) but not the whole thing. That's becasue this figure has a full fabric outfit. Yeah, it's that awesome. At this scale, not too many people try fabric, or have it look good even if they do try. Heck, Hasbro still has a hard time getting it right. But IIIzoeIII has managed to pull off something that looks right, that looks perfectly blended into the sculpted details, looks right at home on this figure. If this figure were upsized to a twelve-inch doll, it would still be pretty impressive. So at this size... well... In addition, the paintwork (including, I assume, the fabric camo) looks good, the figure is recognizably Shockwave, and it just has an all around good presentation. Kudos to you, IIIzoeIII.

To see more of this figure, as well as to find other figures in the GI JOE LETHAL series, head on over to http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/88098-gi-joe-lethal-series-2-shockwave.html#post2003375

Also, don't forget to vote for the September Pick of the Month to your right.

Hez out.

September Pick of the Month

Okay, so it's that time again, for the first time: Vote for pick of the month! It's simple, a box will appear somewhere on the right of the screen, and you just pick what figure you want to win; voting closes on the eighth.

Options are:

Sideshow Firefly, by GI Guppy the third

Cobra Viper by Wry1

Snake Eyes by Hrothmeir

Kamakura by Mythic

So vote fast, please vote just once, and have a good week.

Hez out...

Pick of the Week-- Sept 4/4

Okay, final figure of September... This week was another tough choice; I had it down to four really good competitors. But in the end, I chose Kamakura by Mythic http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/87598-custom-poc-kamakura.html I've looked at some pictures of the real Kammy figures, and I have to say that Mythic's iteration very nicely takes the best elements of the real figures and merges them easily with the RoC styling, making this figure perfect in design. It is also perfect in execution, sporting an excellent paint job, good parts mix, and excellent accessories. Kudos, Mythic, Kudos...


Sometime next week I will be putting up a poll so you, yes you, can pick the Pick of the Month for September. Stay tuned!

Pick of the Week-- Sept 3/4

Okay, time yet again for a Pick of the Week...

This one was a hard one. I really liked this figure. I thought the paint was good, the parts were good, it was a good rendition of the character... heck, it even had sculpted thighs to differentiate its parts from other figures with the same parts...

But then there was another figure. As a figure, it was... okay. It sufficed. It was not spectacular, nor was it particularly bad. But it didn't stand out. EXCEPT... oh, except: it had THE most amazing accessories. I'll go ahead and give credit where credit is do on it, check it out here: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/27692-4-sideshow-snake-eyes-finished.html But I could not in good conscience Pick it for the week. According to my personal standards of custom excellence... It was just sorta lacking. Except the accessories.

So instead the award goes to the figure featured in the photo above: Snake Eyes V2, by Hrothmeir... Wait, Hrothmeir... where have I heard that name before?

Oh...

Yeah. You see my problem. I really can't select this figure, because, well... Nepotism of the first degree. On the other hand, this award is meant to honor what I see as great customs, based on the merits of the actual work, not on any personal connection to the creator. So... If I picked someone's custom based on the person of the artist, that would be wrong. If I didn't pick a custom based on the person of the artist, that would also be wrong. So in the end, I let objectivism (as well as advice from family and eventually the randomness of a coin toss [best three out of five, coin pre-tossed each time to determine final starting side]) decide, and based my pick solely on the qualities of the figure. Well, and a little on the accessories. Sometimes you can't separates a figure from its accessories (coats, helmets), but when all that a figure has going for it is the accessories, well...

So, that's it. My controversial little Pick of the Week. May God bless us all....





And I really expect some discussion on this one...

Pick of the Week-- Sept 2/4

Okay, Pick of the Week # 2. This week the award goes to Viper, by Wry1. The Viper is an important part of the G.I. Joe universe, and past versions have been... iffy, at best. The original (and re-releases, updates) was one of the best real-world style troop-builders, but recent versions *Cough* Rise of Cobra! *Cough* have been lacking.

Wry1's version, however, is a nice compromise. With the helmet, goggles, color scheme, and armored pads, it is reminiscent of the original figure, but it manages to update the design, and bring the figure straight into urban warfare. in addition to that, the paint is clean and detailed, the use of parts is good, and it just has an all around good presentation. The only nit-pick is that, from certain angles, the chest pouches look rather... moob-ish...

To view the figure, visit http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/86446-wry1-viper.html

And remember, please leave comment! Hez Out.

Pick of the Week-- Sept 1/4

Nnnnnnneeeeewwwwwwwww feature time! That's right folks, time for a new, weekly feature! The Realms of Neldak Pick of the Week! Every Friday, I will go out to my favorite custom site, hisstank.com, and pick a custom action-figure/diorama/vehicle to be that weeks pick! The month's picks will then fight against each other for who is the monthly pick, and then the yearly pick!
The rules for being selected are simple: any finished customs within the first two pages on the forums, and that are not already winners, are eligible. Judging will be based on creativity, professionalism, sculpt work, paint, etc, etc, etc... The winner will receive the Official PotW Seal in their comment forum, and be featured here on the realms. And without further ado, let me present this week's winner...

Sideshow Firefly, by GI Guppy the third. The figure is done in the G.I. Joe 25th anniversary/ modern style, and is based on the upcoming 6th scale Firefly figure from Sideshow Collectibles. The figure was chosen because it has clean paints, excellent sculpt (the head is all new!), and very closely matches the source material. It is a superb figure, and worthy of the PotW Seal.

To view the figure, please visit
http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs-finished-projects/85446-sideshow-firefly.html You may need an account too see it, however.

The image of the figure is presumed copyright 2010 GI Guppy the third, used without permission, although permission was sought, but has not been granted yet, but hey, I have a deadline, so...

If you feel this figure is not worthy, or if you have another pick you think is better, please feel free to comment. Thanks, and congratulations to GI Gup!