The COMBINED OPERATIONS
GROUP PROJECT
These are some figures that I put together a while back. I am not exactly sure where the idea for COG came from. I think perhaps I was looking for something a little fanciful; out of the box as it were. As if the 'Bar at the End of the Universe' weren't fanciful enough. I have always enjoyed the simple backyard adventures of the Joe Adventure Team. There is not this overwhelming need for accuracy and scale, its just good, clean fun. I think that is where I am headed with COG. I don't even know what I will do with it long term, but I decided to borrow the look of the 1980's Joes with these "cards" and give everyone an introduction to my COG Teams.
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TEAM ONE
The figures that I used for Team One were all Dragon figures. I actually put these team together probably about a year or so before I did Team Two. I just had some gear and uniforms and felt like having a little fun. By the way, the nickname for COG is actually "Crusty Old Guys".
TEAM TWO
Team Two was actually done to go with a Hasbro Desert Patrol Vehicle that I bought on eBay. Adding them to COG was an after thought. These three figures are all Power Team figures. I like these figures; they're cheap, the facial sculpts all feel modern and they have pretty good articulation (which matters with most Hasbro vehicles).
Below, I like to make accessories for my figures and the COG Team was no exception. I have found that I can make an awful lot of miniature (and full size as well) artwork on the computer using Photoshop and Indesign. And most of the paper and cardstock stuff you see here was done just that way.
Below, I like to make accessories for my figures and the COG Team was no exception. I have found that I can make an awful lot of miniature (and full size as well) artwork on the computer using Photoshop and Indesign. And most of the paper and cardstock stuff you see here was done just that way.
The Hall of Fame Rhino Assault Vehicle is not the most realistic 1:6th vehicle on the planet. I think we can all agree to that. However, I wanted something different and "fanciful" for my Team One to ride in and I found this one on eBay. I had never seen a camouflaged one before. Turns out this was a 35th Anniversary version. I will trick it out with some gear and it will hopefully look cool with my COG Operators riding in it.
The Hasbro Chenowth DPV is not a perfect representation of the actual vehicle, but with a little work, it can look quite a bit better. I haven't gotten around to doing that work yet, but I have been assembling some gear for it and will eventually get around to sprucing it up.
These are some other items that I have purchased for future Backyard Adventures with the COG Teams. Obviously this stuff can use a little sprucing up as well, though maybe not as much as I might do with some of my more "historical" endeavors. When and what these Backyard Adventures will be... I don't know yet, but eventually there will be something more to see. Who knows, maybe I will end up liking this so much, I'll drop the other stuff..... nah!
9/14/2021 Update
I would love to claim that I occasionally have flashes of brilliant insight (yeah, wouldn't we all). Okay... truthfully, I don't know if this is going to be a good idea or not, but I am going to give it a try. Back in 2008, I introduced a comic storyline called Border Patrol 2028 on Green Leader's Ultimate Soldier Fan Page. It was one episode comprised of six parts and that's as far as I went with it. Well, I am going to bring those characters back and combine them with the COG units in a sequel to that original story; this one called Border Patrol 2031. The following images contain some of my thought process and preparation as I work to adding this storyline back into my Comic Fold. - PM