sabotage set

Mark (Chip) was recently very kind to me, sent me some kit that I didn't ask for,
but sent it to me out of kindness. I was very surprised at what he sent me!

I was expecting a few bits, but he sent me three kits that were practically complete!

I just won another VAM on the bay to fill one of the sets.

But here is the first of the three, the sabotage set. Very much like Joe's Secret Mission
to Spy Island, which I haven't had a chance to complete yet. I put it on one of my VAM
figures. He needs his eyebrows touched up, and has Cotswold hands. Here are some photos.

Secret Mission to Spy Island!

Or... close enough! Looks like the Spy Island set that I remember.

What are the differences between Sabotage and Spy Island?

Here are a couple of images that I added a background with photoshop.







I hope you like them.

Daryl

They are basically the same. The pants are jeans instead of black, the grease gun is
unpainted, and the binoculars are black instead of red.

The shirt is also a much higher quality than the Joe version.

What a wonderful gesture of kindness and totally captures the spirit of AMMO, to help a fellow collector . well done Chip! I bet you were truly surprised Daryl when these sets dropped on your mat?  
Great pics of the set , and the photoshop work is superb

Thanks Dal!

And yes, I was blown away when I got the package!

I still have two sets to put on a figure, and get photos.
In fact I just won an auction on the bay for another VAM
figure. I will need to get him some hands, so I guess I
will need to do a Cotswold order.

I was lucky to find the background, it was a free photo
to be used as wallpaper for a computer. Of the ones I saw,
I thought this one was the best.

I'm glad you like the photos. It took some time to make the
photos of the figure blend well. But I unfortunately forgot
to do the lighting so it matched with the background.

So just imagine he is approaching his target, and the lighting
on him is from the base he is about to infiltrate.

That was a very kind gesture of kindness and totally captures the spirit of AMMO Chip sending you some kit unexpectedly. I’m liking the couple of images that you added a background with photoshop. The photoshop background is very appropriate for that set. Congratulations on winning another VAM on the Ebay. What is the set that your going fill with the new VAM that you won ?

Thank you Alexander!

The next set I plan to fill is the Ski Patrol set.

I found another free wallpaper photo to add him to.

I'm not sure how long it will take to get the figure,
he needs some cleaning and a set of hands. He is
a blond (no beard) EE head on a regular body.

Daryl

TNshooter wrote:

Thank you Alexander!

The next set I plan to fill is the Ski Patrol set.

I found another free wallpaper photo to add him to.

I'm not sure how long it will take to get the figure,
he needs some cleaning and a set of hands. He is
a blond (no beard) EE head on a regular body.

Daryl

Cool, the Ski Patrol set. Looking forward to seeing what wallpaper photo your be using in front of the Ski Patrol VAM. Some collectors type it’s the cleaning up and repairing a old VAM to bring it back to life once again that they enjoy doing about our hobby and it sounds like your one of them collectors Daryl to me .
You getting into VAM a new thing or are you picking up where you left off with VAM?

Nice to see the kit being used Daryl , I am glad you are having fun with it , the pics are great . I am looking forward to see the others in your growing A.M collection .

I do enjoy bringing old figures back to life. I have three US Joes and a Canadian Joe
that is on my current list to clean up and repair.

And I like the VAM figures just as much. But they are hard to get here. Especially with
the shipping costs that are in place. Shipping costs are outrageous these days!

Being here has upped my interest in VAM, although the ones I have, I bought some
years ago. I like, and like to collect, any version of GI Joe (I guess you could call them
cousins). I don't necessarily consider VAM as Joe. It's just that Joe came first. Other
countries and companies have made similar figures under license from Hasbro. And
the gang at Palitoy came up with ideas that Hasbro later used.

It's my understanding that Palitoy was the first to make flocked hair, gripping hands
and eagle eyes, which Hasbro later used in their Joe line. The guys at Palitoy were
ahead of the game, even though the VAM line was licensed from Hasbro.

VAM is not new to me. But I do have a renewed interest from past collecting since
I joined up here. The 12" Action Man continued until 1986. So there is a lot more VAM
sets and vehicles that were made. The original Action Man was a great line of figures!

Luckily I have been able to get some of the Modern Action Man figures. Some I was
able to get from sellers here, others came from the UK and Australia. Shipping costs
seemed high then, but wow, they were cheap considering todays prices!

Thanks Mark!!

I'm glad you like the photos. And again, thank you for sending me
these items!!

I received the VAM figure I won on the bay. Got it in seven days!

In the post I also received a letter from my medical insurance dated
5 or 6 six days ago. Who knows about the mail these days.

Anyway, the figure is a little rougher than I expected. He needs some
TLC. I need to do a bit of cleaning, getting him new hands and a complete
restring. He is as floppy as a rag doll. So it will probably be a bit of time
before I will have him ready for duty.

I think he was put together from at least two Action Man figures. Some
of the body parts are a different tint than others. And even though his
left shoulder is marked with an L, it appears the shoulders are switched.
His forearms seem to be put on as far as they will go, but don't go as
far as they should. The left one is pretty beat up.







Considering the extra body parts I have, I may have to get him Cotswold
forearms as well as the hands. I guess it will depend on how well the
vintage forearms fit compared to this figure and the Canadian Joe I
have with missing arms from the elbows down. I only have a couple, so
one of them will have to get Cots repros.

this guy has some rusted rivets, but the knee rivets look new. He
has definitely seen some serious battles, and some underwater time
as the elastic is stained with rust. Either that or he crawled through
a lot of mud.

Daryl

Great pick up Daryl, I'm sure you'll have him battle ready in no time

I just completed making an order from Cotswold. Hands and a restring kit
included for him. In fact, I got five restring kits. My Sabotage figure is a bit
loose, the Joe from my childhood needs a restring, a main Joe torso I plan
to fix up that I got from a member on another forum....

Too many projects and too little time!

Considering I've heard complaints about the Cotswold restring kit being a
bit too tight, and I only have two hands, I'm looking at hobby vise's on
Amazon. I need more than two hands, so I need another to hold him while
I stretch the elastic for the restring.

I looked him over again after my last post, his thigh rivets are very rusty,
but the rest look pretty much brand new. Here in the states we have the
phrase "frankenjoe," which means a figure is made from parts from
different figures. Is there a phrase like that in the UK?

And did you notice the shoulders from the photos? I still think they are
wrong, although they seem to be marked for the right position.

Thank you for your words of confidence Dal! I've never done a restring,
so this should provide interesting.

Daryl

I think his shoulders just need rotating don't they?

I'm sure you'll be fine mate, a few sore fingers afterwards but other than that fine. I seem to recall sparklbudgie (maybe drop him a pm) where he used metal coat hangers to make slightly longer connectors?

I am sure he will scrub up in your hands Daryl , and it`s nice seeing these old boys get a new lease of life . Look forward to seeing him progress .

I agree with Blondeactionman, it looks to me like the shoulders simply need to be rotated back in to position.

I tried that, but in doing so his elbows are facing his back, in order to get
the biceps in line. To get the shoulders right, and the elbows to face forward,
his biceps don't line up.

Once I get the restring kits from Cotswold, I will try switching the shoulders
to see if his arms will line up correctly.

But I still need to get a hobby vise to hold him while I do the restring work.
It will take two hands to stretch and attach the new elastic.

If anyone here has done a restring on a vintage body, and can give me tips,
it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Daryl , I found these . If they don`t help let me know . I have re-strung lots of vintage A.M , but we all seem to do it different . Hopefully these will help . I never used anything but my hands and a screwdriver and pliers , so don`t buy any accessories like vices , you wont need them .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD7ralMQ7II

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad2Cs-b7uAM

Kind Regards Chip

Thank you for the links Mark!

However I have purchased Cotswold's restring kit.

https://www.gijoeelite.com/Elastic-And-Hardware-Set

I thought it had new hip rivets, but it's okay that they don't.
Maybe they do but are not pictured? If they don't have the rivets
included, you would think they would include zip ties.
I have heard of people cutting the metal connecters, bending them so that
they could be hooked to the original rivet, and then bending them straight
again, which is what I had planned. I hadn't heard of using zip ties
to connect them. That is why I figured I needed a third hand to hold him,
and why I was looing at hobby vise's.

Which I have already ordered. It will clamp to a table and has rubber pads
on the part that holds items, to prevent marring of the figure. It was only
$32 after shipping. In order to do the connecters as I planned,
I will need to stretch the elastic to hook the leg pieces with the metal
connector. And then hold the leg with one hand while using plyers to
close back the metal connector. I will use locking needle nose plyers to
hold the elastic while I work the metal connectors.

I plan to use a resting kit first on the torso I have, so if I mess up the
first time I will learn from mistakes before trying it on a complete body.

But thank you again for the links, they give me a better idea on what
I will need to do!

Daryl

I've had this bookmarked for a while.

http://kungfugrip.mysite.com/restringing_vintage_joe.htm

The second photos shows the Cotswold kit on the left, and also shows
restringing the arms.

Daryl

Seeing your added link , think I used a similar wire hook to pull the elastic through , as I said we all do it a little different . Your be fine I am sure . Looking forward to seeing your results . Please show us your vice , sound a handy tool to have .

Regards Chip .

This is the vise I ordered.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088LYPS1T/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B088LYPS1Tp13NParams&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExRjVCUVpNMFRHUE1FJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTMyNDc2MVM3N0NSMjRSRDlWTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDQ1OTAwM1VFM1VHS0xDQTkwQSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1

It rotates, others had a ball and socket where you could angle it, but
reviews on them talked about the socket breaking. So I decided on this one.

I looked at those a while back , but was put off by similar braking points in the reviews . Looks a handy bit of kit to have .