Meeting Number 27 Washington, IL, September 25, 2011 Fulfilling David's Dream Dream Big, Be Big! AKA...It's David's Way, or the Driveway! HA For Meeting #27, we had a mission: Right out of the gate, David wanted to connect up all of our vehicles, load 'em with drivers and passengers and head 'em on down the highway (his driveway). The kicker? The entire convoy of 6 vehicles was to be powered by just ONE tiny R/C vehicle...Mark's cool new Can-Am 3-wheeler. WOW! Could you make it any more difficult, David? HA Seeing the mighty challenge laid before us, we decided to tackle this part of the meeting first, before any rewards of Trade-a-Palooza or pizza would be offered by our host. So...we regrouped outside and each member began prepping their vehicle. Drivers were assigned, passengers were placed and all were connected with an almost invisible, thin strand of fishing line. The physics were clearly against us, but we knew that if this worked, it would look OUTSTANDING! The first few attempts were amusing flops. The lines would snap. The Can-Am cycle mysteriously tilted over onto its side. Repeatedly. Or the whole train just stopped dead. The weight-to-power ratio, as we suspected was too far off. Serious debates ensued as to what could be the problem and what should be the solution. Finally, we realized a few important factors. Number 1: We were trying to pull UPHILL. It turns out, David's driveway is on a slight, barely visible incline and even a mighty Hummer would have trouble pulling our train up the slope. We decided to reverse the course, thereby enabling the Can-Am to pull on a slightly downward slope instead. Nevertheless, it still struggled to pull the weight of those 5 big Joe vehicles! Regardless, we had a blast trying to get the whole thing to work and took videos of it at the same time. After about three more attempts, we finally achieved our successful FIRST-EVER "Club Convoy." The Can-Am worked hard and all the other vehicles looked great following right behind. Great job, fellas! If you missed the real deal, click here now to see the OFFICIAL CLUB VIDEO! Show-n-Tell Highlights (Above)- This month's Show-n-Tell was chocked full of great stuff. Our youngest member, Aaliyah, started things off by showing us her (and her Grandpa's) newest creative pursuit...GIjOE video! Directed by Aaliyah and shot by Ryan entirely in their backyard, the exciting "Backyard Battle" flick was fun, entertaining and VERY cool. Mark promised to take their DVD home and see if he could add some titles or other graphics, but just as it is, it was OUTSTANDING! (Above)- Robert Mitchell shared a few samples of his growing Marx horse collection and kitbashed knights. Simply stunning! Robert promised to display all of his stuff at his home for our next meeting. Until then, here's a nice closeup of his custom facing off with Mark's Mag7 "Kato." (Above)- Mark brought a tub full of Steve Scout figures and accessories. They're REALLY nicely done and were only offered by Kenner for one year. Club member Robert Findlay, picked them up at a garage sale in Champaign and then traded them to Mark. Nice score, guys! (Above)- Robert Mitchell amazed us with how well his ebay "lurking" had paid off. Here's the $65 Dragon figure he snagged for only about $8. Too bad he's deaf as a post. HA (Above)- David then took us downstairs for a tour of his previously unseen "Secret Vaults" where he stores the bulk of his growing collection. We loved his interlocking all-black shelving units too. Super sharp and strong! (Above)- Another amazing addition to David's fleet was this new Desimone Russian tank. Oh yeah, baby! Trade-a-Palooza MANIA! It was a "Free-for-all of FUN" as members traded, sold and bought all types of figures, gear and accessories! Finally, after stuffing ourselves with hot pizza, cold soda and even SUB SANDWICHES, we bid our Joe buddies good-bye until next time. Thanks for being such a generous host, David! If you missed this month's meeting...we missed you too! Hope to see everyone at the next one in Quincy, Illinois! GO JOE! Member Bio Pages Past Meetings Archive Helpful Links Home Page Please visit our sponsor: If you'd like to advertise here, contact Mark at sterling@shout.net