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Meeting Number 6 "The Search for the New Member" THE ARRIVAL Meeting #6 took place at the home of Mark Otnes in Urbana, IL (also known as the International Headquarters of Patches of Pride). New member Jeff Sherer made our "search" for him easy as he was the first to arrive in a shiny black pickup, along with his lovely wife Shannon. Together, we all unloaded what must have been about 8 boxes of assorted figures, footlockers, gear and miscellaneous 1:6 stuff from his car. Jeff said he could've brought a whole lot more! Seeing that we were already knee-deep into talking about Joes, Shannon declared that she "was going shopping," and off she went, leaving us to wallow in our favorite obsession for the next 4 hours. Robert arrived soon after, and the conversation was already quickly in full swing. Don Hanke was supposed to attend this meeting as well, but family matters prevented him from coming, and Craig O'Neill had just sold his 1/6th Tiger tank (see meeting #1) and is busy selling off his Joes and other 1/6th vehicles. Oh well, see you next time, Don, and best of luck to you in whatever hobbies you pursue in the future, Craig.
We set up a table full of this month's "show-n-tell"
items including a beautiful YF-22 Raptor and "Miss Clawd"
Littlebird that Mark had customized for his PoP
website, plus a number of Jeff's custom figures and an Action
Man ATV that was never available in the U.S. (see main photo
at top of page). But what really caught our eye was the amazing
customization work from newcomer Jeff. Mr. Sherer, it turns out,
is another one of those talented customizers (like Don Hanke)
that can actually SEW his own |
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For lunch, we enjoyed some Domino's Pizza while we watched a new DVD Mark had purchased on eBay with ALL of the vintage GIjOE commercials. This was not a professional DVD. And, although the video quality ranges from average to poor, all of the commercials are on there and many were ones we had never seen before. Some guy in Canada is burning and shipping these, and you get what you pay for...but it's still a LOT OF FUN to watch. Why Hasbro doesn't make a "real" DVD like this from the original master commercial films is beyond logical understanding. They'd sell a ton of them. But, this amateur version is still a hoot to watch. Search eBay if you want one. Until Hasbro puts out the real thing, this disc is a must-have for die-hard Joe-heads (and our only current option). TOURING MARK'S COLLECTION Mark keeps his toys in a basement Joe room, so we all headed down there after lunch to see his collection. There are actually two separate rooms to view, his GIjOE room and the "everything else" room. Many of his figures have been paired with original custom boxes (similar to his Battlebox line) and there is a large amount of vehicles and other items for use in dioramas jammed into corners here and there.
Some of the most interesting, eye-catching items are the two "rings of honor" ( see photo below) hanging from the ceiling. It turns out that Robert had saved them from a local TRU dumpster. Amazing items. What a tragedy it would have been if they had just gone to the landfill. Thankfully, they were rescued and will now survive for many proud years to come.
Mark's other toy room is full of miscellaneous 1960s and 70s non-GIjOE toys such as robots, games, etc. Major Matt Mason makes an appearance over in one corner, while classics like Mr. Machine, Omega Supreme, a Give-a-Show projector and more are also there to be played with and enjoyed. Nice! WHAT A DAY! Finally, our thanks go out again to Mark and his generous family for hosting our meeting this month. Everyone had a great time and the Otnes' treated us to the pizza as well. Our "Search For the New Member" was a clearly a resounding success. Go JOE! |
SHOW-N-TELL
uniforms,
convert old broken toys into new ones (see the jet pack photo
above) and whose imagination for new ideas seems limitless. His
next project involves an old, Buzz Lightyeat wing assembly that
he plans to convert into some sort of AT jet pack, along the
lines of the yellow one he's already done (see above). Except
this one will have those nifty "snap-out" Buzz Lightyear
wings. Sounds like another good one, Jeff. Finally, we all drooled
over Jeff's vintage Joe that was wearing the new club exclusive
Green Beret uniform set (see above). It was an amazingly accurate
reproduction of the original GB set. Kudos to Master Collector
and Hasbro.
FOOD,
FILM & FUN!
