I can't believe it's been two months since I last made a post! Time flies and there's just way too much stuff to do, which seems to preclude playing with Joes or rpg's. Crud!

I was cranking out some Joe Marines a while back and just lost interest mid-way during the project. It was like running out of gas in your car--I just sorta coasted off to the side and stopped. Not that I don't like Marines or Joes. I just ran down. I haven't really found anything else to get the fire stoked up again, either. This is a sign of Joe burn-out, just like ya get burned-out at work--too many things to do, too many choices, and too many changes, and phuuut--yer all done, buddy!

I know it's happened, but I'm not entirely sure how to get revved up again. But I'm confident I will--I'm also seeing the signs of interests returning. Now--if ONLY "stuff" stops happening to cut into my Joe time! The Holidays are upon us once again, and that promises some amount of "down time" from the routine "aggravations and frustrations."

The major sign that tells me things are on the upward swing are an interest returning about my modern troops, with all their woodland camo clothes. Over the past few months, I was lucky enough to find a number of 21st Century Modern Infantry sets on E-bay--a few I didn't have from before 21C crashed and burned, and a few duplicates of some of their better, more complete Woodland outfits. I call them "the better sets" because they come with bayonets, helmets and entrenching tools, as well as a few other cool things.

My "thing" and my gripe about most of the toy soldier manufacturers is that they don't reproduce the common "infantryman" gear. The one most common trait between soldiers is that they get issued a certain "package" of equipment for their use. To an old Army dog like me, this is called their "initial issue" and TA-50 gear. "Initial issue" is all their basic clothing--shorts, pants, boots, underwear, etcetera--all the basic items they need to clothe themselves under most routine conditions. "TA-50" or "organizational issue" as it's sometimes called, is all the basic "fighting and outdoor living" gear they need while assigned to their permanent station unit--things like their pup tent, web gear, over shoes, winter parka, field pack/rucksack, canteens, protective mask, etc. Now, I KNOW it would cost a ton of cash to outfit a 1/6th troop to the standards of a "real" troops, but I don't think it's necessary to go the full nine yards on the issue. It would be "nice" to have the option or luxury to buy the little "fiddly" parts to equip a 1/6th troop, but NOT as part of a boxed set like Dragon's "Soldat" series, but Dragon had the right idea, just not a proper solution IMHO. I'm thinking you make a basic troop and several accessory sets to add the details, very much the "razors and blades" concept pioneered by GI Joe back in the 60's and 70's.

Anyway--I digress. I feel like I need to trick out a few modern troops real soon. We'll see how that goes because I am NOT the most prolific modeller east of the Big Muddy, doncha know? I'm big on "plotting and planning" stuff, but not so good carrying those ideas to completion.