OreoBuilder wrote:
Resurgence became an experiment is expanding the GI Joe universe. We tried something new by structuring our project around a mock product launch. We made enough customs to fill a month, along with filecards, concept art, packaging mock-ups and catalogues to flesh out our pretend line. We structured our entire project around 20 or so new unknown characters. Whether we accomplished what we set out to do or not, we’ll leave that up to you guys.
You accomplished this objective astonishingly well. I've seen a lot of very impressive customs during my time on this board. I've never seen anything brought together so effectively as this, with the clear intent of presenting itself so effectively as a practical restart of G.I. Joe as it should be, something that, if Hasbro could be persuaded to make it, and the retailers could be persuaded to buy it, would essentially need NO alterations to speak of to bring it to market. I mean, really, this is good to go as it is.
And you take a look at those catalogues presented today, essentially seeing everything on a couple of pages, and all I can do is stare in wonder at all the hard work on everybody's part at what was achieved here. This is the sort of thing that -- well, makes one wish for access to an alternate universe where all of these fine figures and vehicles were indeed brought to market, just so they could all be added to our collections. There is no doubt in my mind that, if that were done, with the proper media support, it'd be 1982 all over again.
You described this as trying to capture "lightning in a bottle" again. The last time I heard that phrase used was with regard to Star Trek: The Next Generation. When it first came along, no one knew if the fans would accept an entirely new Star Trek series with a whole new crew, different uniforms, new time period, the works. Well, we know what happened there. Next Generation was a massive hit, and led to Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. G.I. Joe Resurgence has that same spirit. You have succeeded, and I am sure that I am one among many who congratulate you, and only wish we could own these figures ourselves.
OreoBuilder wrote:
GITrekker (Thomas Wheeler) and Justin over at generalsjoes.com really helped us with the characterization of each custom character. They really put effort into it, sometimes only getting a picture and a name, sometimes a rough draft of what the character was about. Justin obviously loves the brand, as does Trekker, whom helped write the filecards from the re-launch of ARAH back at the turn of the century, and loves to do so. Trekker writes for a living, and is available for hire to write if anybody wants to get in touch with him. Those guys really hit a home run with the filecards.
Thank you, and may I say that it's been a joy and an honor to be part of this. The last time I was involved in a project of this scope was, indeed, the 1997 and 1998 G.I. Joe lines for Hasbro. While I have written file cards for some of my own customs, which have appeared here on JoeCustoms, I've never before been involved in such an extensive project for someone else like this, and I really enjoyed it. I got to see some (but not all) of the product ahead of time, and was consistently blown away by how impressive it was, and was given a few basic bits of information regarding the characters I would be writing about, but for the most part, I was free to develop these characters as I saw fit, and I'm pleased that my efforts were received so well.
And a tip of the hat to Lifeline_MD for writing a really awesome fanfic story that really captures these new characters and brings them into the Joe mythos. I especially liked how he handled Glitch, Tracer, and Riff Raff!
And indeed, I am most definitely available for hire for similar projects as this, or any other writing/proofing/editing projects anyone might care to send my way. I'd love to keep this sort of thing going, and -- heck, I can use the work.
Designing the file cards to look as much like the originals as my graphics program could manage was a lot of fun, as well. I'm glad to have been a part of this. Bucky, OreoBuilder, and Dusty79 have clearly shown they know what G.I. Joe is all about, and it has really shown in this project. The recommendations of Kirk Bozigian certainly helped bring it all together, and everyone involved has resulted in, I'm sure, G.I. JOE: RESURGENCE being the sort of G.I. Joe we'd all like to see. Well done, everyone!