20th Anniversary

20 Year look back

Matthew: Chad and I did our first customs around 1992-1993. We took some of our old Joes and painted them like Marvel and Mortal Kombat characters. In 1999 Chad discovered eBay and hunted down his childhood grail, helmeted Cobra Commander. Soon I bought a swivel-armed version of my childhood favorite, Flash. Our reintroduction to the hobby led us to yojoe.com. It was there that I first saw Cobra De Aço. The figure was a mystery and combined two of my favorite Joes, Snake Eyes and Flash, in a glorious combination. Not knowing if I could find (or afford) this figure, 20 years ago I turned out my first custom figure as an adult. Soon after, Chad created this Battle Armored Cobra Commander.

Chad: I can still remember where I was when painting that Cobra Commander: my parents’ kitchen table in their old dining room. This was before spraying painting, and I brush painted the base coat on the whole figure. I still have those exact paint bottles; they are still amazingly usable! If I recall, Matt “painted” the eyes and eyebrows with a pen for me.

I suppose I found the image of Cobra Commander via a pre-Google search engine; I did not own the actual issue until years later.

Part Choices, Colors, and Character Selection

Matthew: Early on Chad and I created custom with whatever parts we had. This often led to some random parts used that we certainly wouldn’t use now (I’m looking at you Scrap-Iron). I struggled with character choices and tended to make customs of existing characters while Chad was more creative and made unique characters such as Redrum, Death, and Silent Fury. I still envy his ability to mix parts and create characters. It’s one of the things that makes his self-custom, Ghost, so great. A main source of inspiration for us came from joecustoms.com, where we’ve loved being involved with their Group Projects. Check out our first decade of customs at loserville.us/gijoe.

Chad: Do not let Matt sell himself short. I had forgotten how many of his early figures were inspired by cards, cartoons, etc. Even still, there is a uniqueness to his work. His creativity shined, however, with the group projects, and, later on, with his own team projects. Just checkout his Alpha and Beta Mega Marines teams (especially Sgt. Slaughter, Leatherneck, and (yes, even him) Robo-Joe!). 

Matthew: In 2010 we launched chadmatted.wordpress.com. This last decade, I’ve been selective on what I made. I want my work to look factory produced and always consider what Hasbro would’ve done (parts, colors, file cards, etc). Some examples are Crimson Asp, Cobra Driver, and Night Adder that were created for joecustoms.com’s Empty Seats Group Project.

Chad: I definitely do not add to the site enough, but that was the same with the original site. I really dislike taking pictures, but I am glad that we have the blog. I want to echo Matt’s sentiments; at this point I really want my customs to look and feel production. I take more time and care on this than ever before.

Current State of the Union

Matthew: While I still love G.I. Joe as much as I ever have, but there are more important things in life. As I look back, I realize I have completed a lot of customs that I’m not sure why I ever created them, and that’s okay. I also have way too many customs sitting unfinished, and that’s okay too. But maybe it’s not about the plastic at all. G.I. Joe has a great community and I’ve met some awesome people through it, some which I’ve had the pleasure of meeting at conventions, others I’ve only known online. Heck, customizing G.I. Joe’s has even allowed me to do freelance toy design, my dream job. But the one thing I love most about G.I. Joe is that I’ve been able to share this with my brother, and that’s something in which there are no words.

Chad: I could not agree more. Without further ado, let us see those customs (maybe in another decade I will have my three finished!).

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