The Adventurers Club

GI Joe Adventure Team - Who's the DoDo?

First in the Hazard Island Series. 

GI Joe Adventure Team - Hazard Island - Photo by Dan DiBiase

 

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'til the giant DoDo shows up

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

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GIJoe Adventure Team Today

GIJoe Adventure Team Today

After a long hiatus I'm proud to announce that Deering Productions is once again active and the world of 1/6 scale will never be the same.

Here's Dan's modern Adventure Team, an update to those fuzzy headed adventurers originally created by Hasbro in 1970.

GIJoe Adventure Team - 2013 Edition

Look for more coming soon. Follow us on Facebook.

'til our next mini movie

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Pop Candy - the Follow Up

It was an honor writing one of the POPCANDY blogs for USA Today. I've wanted to write that story for a while, and Whitney gave me a space, and a deadline.

If you popped over here because of the links in the blog - thanks.

Looking back, I can see that I was incredibly naïve to imagine a billion dollar toy company had any interest in my plans for their products, but I think that worked in my favor. Even as an adult I retained that sense of adventure I had as a child. By mixing in a little perseverance, and dash of Kung Fu Grip, I learned you can accomplish nearly anything.

I wanted to thank some people in the POPCANDY blog, but there's really no way. Once I listed one name, I had to list a dozen, and with a word count limit it just wouldn't work.

So, I thought I'd post something I did a while back, a scroll of folks that had a hand in bringing the Adventure Team back to life. They all contributed, and in their own way helped bring the era of Kung Fu Grip back to a store near you.

Barb Kelly Hasbro Marketing rep - with the first two modern "adventure" sets. Hawk River and Save the Tiger.

One of the many Paul Strassner camping photos.

Devil of the Woods promo shot by Dan DiBiase

One of the many logos designed for Adventure Gear by Daryl Williams. This is for the Carl Butcher adventures.

I'd like to make a long wave back through the time machine to my childhood friends Chip Tsangarides and Arnold Poplin. I haven't seen them in years, but I've never forgotten all the backyard adventures, or the rain that poured down every time we set up a tent.

Thanks to all of the gang at Spy Island, you can still buy Adventure Team stuff today through Collector's Club exclusives. A huge tip of the knitted cap to Barry, Tod and the rest of the gang that keep working it.

Lastly - Thank you Derryl for making me a Pharaoh. I'm proud to be in the company of giant spiders and pygmy gorillas.

If you're still interested. You can visit the museum for Adventure Gear.

'til all the old Fuzzheads retire for good

Keep the Adventure Alive,

Tom

P.S. Thanks to my amazing friends and fellow writers who get to (have to?) read all of the things I'm currently doing. They continue to inspire my creative side. Jean, Suze, Michelle, Diana, Viki and Robert. Thanks :)

P.S.S. Lori, Phillip and Tommy, who put up with all of this.

Trapping a Trapper

I showed you Tim Hare's Capture Copter last time.

The copter wasn't Tim's first reproduction vehicle. He started with the Big Trapper:

GIJoe Adventure Team Big Trapper

Look closely, it's not the real thing. The wheels are from the Hall Of Fame Rhino and many of the parts are custom built.

'til Tim starts creating spacecraft. I'll take a Space Pod and a Spindrift!

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Capturing a Copter

I've highlighted the work of Tim Hare in the past, but not recently enough. Tim is known for creating amazing models of one-sixth scale dragsters.

Recently Tim has been creating other one-sixth scale vehicles. Unable to find some of the harder to locate GIJoe sets from the seventies, Tim set out to create his own versions of these fantasy adventure vehicles. Starting from scratch, or building off of the shells of other vehicles, Tim has done an amazing job of recreating these vintage toys.

This is Tim's version of the GIJoe Adventure Team Capture Copter.

GIJoe Adventure Team Capture Copter

You have to look closely to realize that it's not an out-of-the-box copter, and then you have to look even closer to see how Tim actually improved on Hasbro's design.

It's too bad Hasbro got out of the one-sixth business. I think Tim could provide them a few tips.

'til Tim recreates the Mobile Support Vehicle.

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Kung Fu Grip - Do You Have It?

Not sure what The Brady Bunch has to do with GIJoe, but I like this ad for the Kung Gu Grip Joes.

'til Marcia Brady joins the Team

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Kung Fu Grip is Back!

For the first time since the mid seventies you can walk into a store (Walmart) and pick up a long slim cardboard coffin box containing a Kung Fu Grip, Adventure Team, GIJoe.

It's almost like being in a time machine.

No fancy packaging, no modern pricing, just a tribute to a simpler time.

Buy two, give one to a friend.

Kung Fu Grip GIJoe Photo by Daryl Williams

'til they bring back Atomic Man and Bullet Man (or maybe not)

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

GIJoe Secret of the Mummy's Tomb

Remember those book and record sets you had as a kid? Jim Sweet has taken an old Peter Pan record, and animated the GI Joe adventure - Secret of the Mummy's Tomb.

Mummy's Tomb was one of four GI Joe Adventure Team stories given the Peter Pan Treatment. Headquarters, Stolen Idol and Spy Island also received a book and record set and three of the adventures were later combined into a large deluxe book.

"Hello Boys and Girls, this is your Peter Pan storyteller..."

 

'til GIJoe Searches for the Stolen Idol

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Ode to GIJoe

I first saw this film at an animation festival at a theatre in Charlotte about 15 years ago.

It blew me away then and I still love it.

Created by Gregory Grant,it won a stack of awards and helped fuel the comeback of the 12 inch GI Joe. This clip is only fair in picture quality, but it's still a lot of fun to watch.

Look closely for other signs of the seventies such as the Partridge Family and that "awesome" Polaroid Swinger camera which took only black and white pictures, but amazingly spits out color photos in this film. That same camera took this photo of me in 1971.

My dad who has a bunch of old cameras, still has that Swinger.

Ode to GIJoe

'til the Adventure Team makes it to the big screen again

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

I've Got A Tough Assignment For You

This is what happens to The Adventure Team after a night of heavy drinking at The Adventurer's Club. (Dancing Joes Video by Tom Cantrell)

Because YouTube is such a great forum for video I added my remix of Nissan Toys 2.

'til they offer dancing lessons at The Adventurer's Club

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Back from the Wilderness

Just returned from a week of hiking on the Appalachian Trail, adding to the sketchbook and putting words to paper.

It was interesting that after I came back to civilization the first thing I noticed was the top story on CNN: Anna Nicole's Tragedy. Nothing against Anna Nicole, and I feel for her, but this is the biggest news that happened while I was gone?

Next time I'm staying two weeks.

Here's a bonus picture from Dan DiBiase, continuing last weeks theme.

That pesky vulture, swoops in on the Adventure Team Commander

'til I'm back in the wilderness

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Crocs Rule

Steve Irwin Croc - Set and photo by Dan DiBiase

Like the Crocs, I have a hard time understanding the sad twist of fate that took Steve Irwin from us.

'til the crocs understand

Keep the Adventure Alive,

Adventuretom

Fate of the Troubleshooter

I never owned the tracked "Troubleshooter" ATV as a kid. Dan's set brings it to life.

Wrapping up Series I of the Dan DiBiase gallery. Hope you enjoyed it. I know I enjoyed my week in the mountains! We return to our irregulary scheduled programming on Monday.

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT

Search for the Radioactive Satellite

The GIJoe Adventure Team set you had to have as a kid.

The Mobile Support Vehicle - Search for the Radioactive Satellite.

No Photoshop. Dan's backgrounds are always there.

'til GIJoe finds that radioactive satellite

Keep the Adventure Alive

AT

Kung Fu Grip Ain't What it Used to Be

Spoofing GIJoe's Kung Fu Grip.

Another photo adventure from Dan DiBiase

'til GIJoe gets a designated driver

Keep the Adventure Alive,

AT