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Meeting Number 4
Tuscola, IL February, 2007
"Search for the Master Craftsman"
THE ARRIVAL
Meeting #4 took place at the home of Don Hanke in Tuscola, IL. Despite the frigid weather, we were all determined to seek out our newest member and view his GIJOE collection. And that's all we were expecting, really. But, BOY, were we in for some surprises!
After getting slightly lost, we finally arrived about 12:45. In front of Don's house sat an all-original 1940s "5-Star" Willys Jeep (see photo above) decorated with a large GIJOE banner instructing us to "park around back." We did so, and Don greeted us and led us into his garage. It's now a combination den, Joe room, shooting gallery and workout area all-in-one.
As soon as we entered, we were surrounded by a comforting warmth (thank you, li'l kerosene heater) and the overwhelming JOY that GIJoe collectors collectively feel when suddenly surrounded by wall-to-wall Joes, dioramas, full-size military gear and more. Oh yes, we could see that this was going to be FUN!
MEET
DA' "MASTER"
We quickly learned that Don's a USMC reservist, contractor, father, and long-time GIJoe collector. But what we were most surprised to discover was that he is also a highly talented customizer and master craftsman. He's one of those guys that seems to be able to make practically anything. (Yes, we were green with envy!)
For years, Don has been making his own uniforms, caps, helmets, rifle slings, backpacks, patches, army cots, tables, and other 3-D 1:6 scale props and accessories, plus creating humorous photo dioramas, and much more. After a while, we realized how much of his collection was hand crafted. It's amazing what he can do!
Don told us he does all his own sewing, all of his own mold-making and casting, and all the final assembly and hand-painting. Geez, what CAN'T you do Don? ;-) He showed us his hand-made helmets, caps, medic bags, backpacks, army cots, gas and water cans, camo gear, you name it...he's made it!
DON'S
COLLECTION
Don's GIJoe collection is not the largest you'll ever see, but it is definitely one of the most original. Thanks to his skills as a master customizer, the vast majority of his collection is hand-crafted and very unique.
Don's got everything just sort of laying about, not in any particular order. Most have been taken out and messed with, half dressed or undressed--whatever. He's not too concerned with maintaining a "museum" kind of approach to collecting. He's much more of a hands-on Joe collector.
It's obvious too, that he's not a "mint in box" type collector either. He clearly prefers to remove the figures, alter and improve on their appearance, add detail to them, and display or arrange them. In other words, he likes to PLAY with them in the way they were intended. You go, Don!
His Japanese soldiers (see photo above) especially caught my eye. Don made that perfect cloth cap himself. They both rest atop a nice reproduction window box. Cool figures!
Along the walls we found box after box of a colorful mix of vintage,
reproduction and custom figures. Seriously, some of them are
so impressive it would be very hard for an untrained eye to tell
them apart. (If you look carefully, you'll see another of Don's
hand-painted helmets.)
There's also books, magazines, old ads, puzzles, and other assorted toys related to GIJoe, too many to list here. All we could do was walk around and stare in awe. This is a really nice collection.
The more we looked, the more we discovered. The lighting in the garage was soft, so it made each new discovery a genuine surprise. I look at these pictures now and see things I didn't notice the first time!
This bookcase had closing glass doors, but we opened them up for this shot. We especially liked the Planet of the Apes guys. Their hair tends to get a little wild though!
Here's another closeup of Don's amazing helmet painting skills.
Absolutely stunning work!
DON'S DIORAMAS
After creating his own custom uniforms (mostly of Marines, natch!) and assorted equipment, Don sets it all up in giant 6' table-top dioramas (see photo below), complete with buildings, bomb and bullet damage, and props galore. Holy Moly! This stuff is so great. Just look at those Marines. (Burn that room out, flamethrower! Go! Go! Go!)
THE
LUNCH
Don's also a fan of target shooting, collecting 1:1 militaria, classic cartoons and MST3K (Mystery Science Theatre 3000). All during our 5 hours in Don's garage, there was either an episode of MST3K or a classic cartoon playing on one of his 3 TVs in the background. While eating our pizza, we laughed as we watched part of an absurd MST3K movie starring the guy who played Dr. Bellows on "I Dream of Jeannie," Hayden Rourke. Remember him? If you never pictured him as a leading man, then you were right on. He's WASN'T! It was pretty hilarious.
SCOTT'S SHOW-N-TELL
After lunch, Scott
McCullar showed us three more exciting figures from his
collection for us to ooh and ahh over.
Here's Scott describing them:
Repro Adventure Team Talking Astronaut:
"If GI Joe Collector's Club members remember, the Talking Astronaut Timeless Collection figure came with both a white cloth cap and a white plastic fatigue cap. It also came with tall white boots and a pair of white waffle boots. Members could pick and choose which hat and boots to give their Timeless Collection talking astronaut.
Since the reproduction box was of the 1969 "Adventures of GI Joe" era, I gave my original timeless collection Joe the cloth cap and tall white boots look of the last painted hair era talking astronaut.
Okay,
with all that said, I had the repro white waffle boots and repro
white plastic fatigue cap left over from that set. Then I ended
up acquiring another nude GIJCC talking astronaut Timeless Collection
action figure off of eBay for about $10.
A few years earlier, I had another Timeless Collection head that I sent out to Club Hair for GI Joe and had it flocked with blond hair by Craig Blankenship. I basically ended up popping off the red painted hair head and popped this blond Man of Action fuzzy head onto the Timeless Collection talking astronaut body.
Late last year, I attended my first Central Illinois GI Joe Collector's Club meeting. I traded some Joe stuff to Robert and I acquired a vintage white astronaut zippered jump suit. I took it home, washed and bleached it by hand very carefully in a bowl and cleaned it up. I outfitted my new blond fuzzy hair Adventure Team talking astronaut with the white flight suit and gave him the extra repro white tall boots and white plastic fatigue cap.
Bam! I had a 1970's era Talking Astronaut. I used a left over repro Adventure Team "AT" sticker. I know it wasn't a repro of the rocket patch, but I was happy just the same. But what really helps top this off is a custom reproduction 1970's era Adventure Team Talking Astronaut box that I bought from a customizer who wants to remain anonymous. This repro box is lithographed professional with the insert. It looks like Hasbro produced this themselves. Put together, I now have a reproduction Timeless Collection 1970's AT Talking Astronaut. The only true vintage piece on him is the white flight suit."
Repro Soldiers of the World
German Stormtrooper:
"This is a simple kitbash. Basically this is the brand new 40th Anniversary Action Man German Stormtrooper carded outfit. I placed this on a Timeless Collection figure with a reproduction of a blond foreign head Joe. The repro head came off one of the GI Joe Collector Club German soldiers that came from one of the convention sets that I picked up a few years ago.
The boots that came with the Action Man set were rubbery and I used those for a different (and more authentic looking) customized German soldier figure. Instead of using the rubbery Action Man jackboots, I instead gave him a pair of black Cotswold Collectibles repro jackboots.
Bam! I have a mint condition looking Timeless Collection German Stormtrooper from the Soldiers of the World series."
Customized Korean War American Air Force Sabre Pilot:
"He is probably in my top five favorite Joes in my ENTIRE collection. Basically, the outfit and gear come straight out of a stock issue BBI North American F-86 Sabre Pilot set representing an Air Force pilot from the Korean War. I added two pieces to his outfit. I gave him a 40th Anniverary GI Joe Timeless Collection reproduction of a vintage Joe clipboard. It is clipped onto his leg.
Somewhere,
I found a tiny plastic baggy where I placed the map into it.
Looks really cool. I also gave him one of the blue cloth fatigue
caps that came with the Timeless Collection dress pilot that
the GI Joe Collector's Club put out. The cap fits sticks out
of one of his shin pockets on his flight suit.
I pretty much ONLY use Timeless Collection figures in my collection for kitbashing. I get alot of weird looks from some fellow Joe collectors, but I end up trading or selling all the other types of bodied figures I get when kitbashing. I love that vintage look.
For this custom pilot, I did something a bit unique. I took one of the Dreams & Visions Timeless Collection "crew cut" edition GI Joe bodies ( the redhead flattop Joe from the Action Sailor set) and used him to place the BBI outfit and gear on. He has that early 1950's look to him with that crewcut.
I love that pilot helmet and tuck it under his arm to show off his haircut. So, yes, the body is a repro of the vintage Joe. One thing I did that was unique, I popped off his nosepicker hands and donated them to another needy Joe in my collection. Instead, I popped off the hands of the BBI Sabre pilot figure, used a little duct tape, and then popped on the BBI hands with the leather USAF pilot gloves into the wrist pegs of this Timeless Collection GI Joe body.
He's a little more "detailed realistically" than most of the Hasbro sets and is in line with what Dreams and Visions sets with the repro Joes. This kitbashed pilot looks like he is ready to "get some" in MIG Alley." Enjoy!---Scott
TRADE-A-PALOOZA
Next up was trading time. As always, we gathered round a little card table, dumped out a tub of trading stuff and began to search through it piece by piece, looking for whatever we wanted. Some things were bought, some were sold, most were traded, and some were generously given away.
Without a doubt, this is the most enjoyable benefit of our
club meetings. Every time, some great trades and deals are made.
And this month was no exception. THIS is what a great GIJoe club
is all about. TRADE ON!
MORE HANKE MASTERPIECES
After trading, we returned to our inspection and admiration of Don's hand-crafted uniforms and equipment. Here's some more pictures of these miniature 1:6 scale masterpieces:
WHAT A DAY!
Finally, our thanks go out again to Don and his generous family for hosting our meeting this month. Everyone had a great time and the Hankes even treated us all to pizza! Our "Search For the Master Craftsman" was a clearly a resounding success. Many of us plan on attending the GIJoe show up in Chicago next month. On top of this, while on the way out of town, Robert pointed out a vintage toy store that carries GIJoes and other great old toys. With Don's collection still beckoning and those other old toys a-calling, we'll definitely have to come back to Tuscola very soon! Go JOE!