Cobra Ghost Mortal (Black Major)

The Cobra Mortal has quite a reputation among international releases. The silver and red version is highly prized, and the even rarer primarily white figure from Venezuela is something of an international grail for collectors. The Collectors Club covered both versions in convention sets, and based them on classic o-ring and modern construction Snake Eyes figures. Custom figure purveyor Black

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Plague Invasor (Black Major)

Here’s a mash-up I never would have imagined until I saw it–the Plague Invasor. It’s the sort of idea at which Black Major excels. Adapting the International exclusive Cobra Invasor concept to the 2000s era Plague sub-team is a brilliant step. When I first spotted this figure I assumed it was a Desert Scorpion type trooper, but the insignia tells

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TBT: Custom Snake Eyes

Here’s a blast from the past, a custom (and the photo itself) from almost 15 years ago! At the time, I was customizing figures in the Toy Biz style. I also made some Joes now and then, and this Snake Eyes was fairly easy to create. The body is Stealth Guile from the Street Fighter movie series. The head is

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Mayhem Trooper (Black Major)

Specialized Cobra troopers didn’t really become a part of the enemy forces until 1985’s Eels, Snow Serpents and Tele-Vipers. I often look back at the early Marvel comics issues and pick out the variant troopers that Herb Trimpe and Mike Vosburg came up with and wonder if someone will ever make custom versions of these guys. The 2000s comic packs

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Desert Scorpion Guard (Black Major)

Black Major has long cornered the market for Cobra trooper variants. From basic infantry to the elite troops, his customs run the gamut from environmental specialists to Cobra sub-teams, and has even branched into 1984 Storm Shadow and Night Vipers. All look pretty cool in a rainbow of unique colors that Hasbro never made. Crimson Guards in a desert theater

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Ultimate New Sculpt Duke

Back when the Built to Rule sets were released, I found many of the figures had some interesting parts that could be reused for customs. Hollow Point comes to mind first, as his head was a great stand-in for a modern Rock N’ Roll. Many Joe fans modified the BTR guys in order to remove the LEGO-like studs from arms

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Urban Shadow (2016 Black Major)

The mysterious Black Major has produced a veritable rainbow of variants to the classic Storm Shadow. Some have been based on rarities like Ninja Ku or Satan, and others have been true custom uniform designs. I’m a sucker for environment specific repaints, so the desert, jungle and urban schemes have been easy faves for me. Stormy had an official Hasbro

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