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Saturday, August 24, 2019

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Thoughts on my Writing

Just a few random thoughts and observations on where I'm at with my writing these days.


  • I'm still not writing as much as I used to. Years ago I would get in nearly two thousand words a day. For the past few months I've been topping out at one thousand a night. Usually closer to five hundred. The trade off is that I've been writing consistently for a much longer time. I'm closing in on a year now. Before it was only for about a month or so then I'd stop writing for a few months. I seem to be pacing myself a little better.
  • I have multiple stories in progress at the same time. Usually three different stories going on. Right now that is the pulp hero story I'm working on for an upcoming anthology. Another Challenger Rangers story for the next collection of those I self-publish. And I just started a new series of Junior Challenger Rangers spin-off stories. At other times I have my sword and sorcery tales I'm telling. I've also done some writing on my own pulp horror/hero story. I'm working on a science fiction styled story as well.
  • I find having different things to write about is good. If I get stuck on one, I can take a break and work on one of the others for a little while.
  • I also don't see myself writing any actual novels. I'm most comfortable with the short story format. I've written novels in the past and I've never been happy with any of them. So for the time being I think the shorter stuff is what I'll stick to.

If you're interested in checking out my stuff it can be found at Amazon


I'm also looking into setting up a Patreon Page, but that is still in the future.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Cobra Convergence IV - The Cobra Commander



The head snake himself, Cobra Commander. The man behind Cobra since day one. The only true leader they ever needed. I decided to capture several of my favorite looks for him.



Thursday, July 25, 2019

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Cobra Convergence IV - Raptor



Raptor, Cobra's accountant who liked to dress up as a bird. I have a soft spot for this somewhat goofy character. I actually think his design is cool and I have long had a fascination with falconry.



Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Cobra Convergence IV - Crimson Guard



The classic Crimson Guard. My favorite Cobra soldiers. I am especially enthusiastic about the Fred versions of them from the comics.



Monday, July 22, 2019

Cobra Convergence IV - Baroness


For my first drawing of CCIV I chose the Baroness. In her original uniform from her first appearance in G.I. Joe #1. It's more common to see her in the black uniform so I wanted to add to the art out there of her in this one.



Sunday, July 21, 2019

Cobra Convergence IV

The month of July has been Cobra Convergence IV. I hoped to be part of it this year, but wasn't sure if I would get anything done in time. Looks like I just made it. All this week (M-F) on my blog I will be posting drawing of Cobra I did. I will be adding commentary on each as well.

For more about this event check out Hooded Cobra Commander 788
Enjoy the week.

Jeremy L.

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Old Art

Tonight I thought I'd share some old art I drew back in 2012. I had the idea of drawing a bunch of G.I. Joe and Cobra characters as Dungeons & Dragons characters. I meant to do more of these but never did finish the series. Below are the ones I did finish.



Snake-Eyes


Dr. Mindbender


Scarlet


Cobra Commander


Roadblock


Destro

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Fantasy Art

Just a small collection of some recent drawings I've done over the past couple of months.









Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Character Sketch Commissions

I've decided to try doing some character sketch commissions. Rather simple and affordable ones. I'm ope to drawing comic book, cartoon, toy characters. Great for Dungeons & Dragons/Pathfinder or other RPG characters.

Below are some samples of the kind of sketches I can do.

Simple line art sketches 

Or pencil shaded sketches

Prices

  • Line Art   $10 for a single character $5 extra for each additional character up to four characters max.
  • Pencil Shaded  $15 for a single character $5 extra for each additional character up to four characters max.
  • Backgrounds $5 extra for line art $10 extra for pencil shaded.

Contact me at sojdesigns (at) aol dot com and let me know what you'd like me to draw for you. Payments will be made through PayPal. I will send you a scan of the drawing and if it meets your approval you can pay and I will mail you the original art as well as send you a high quality scan.

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Remco Toys Part 1 Soldiers

Note this is the first in a multi part series.

Good old Remco Toys. I've mentioned the before in my posts about the toys I had at Granny's. But I want to go a little more in depth and write about some of my memories of these cheap, wonderful toys. Most of mine came from either K-Mart or one of the Dollar Stores. Dollar General or Family Dollar. I probably go some elsewhere but those three places were the main stores for me.

The line I am most familiar with would be their military series that went by a few different names. Most notably American Defense or U. S. Forces.



 This was a line of 3 3/4" action figures along the lines of G. I. Joe. I had probably a dozen or so of them. As I said these were the ones I had at Granny's. The Good G.I. Joes stayed home but whenever I went to visit or stay I had these guys to play with there. And I had so much fun with them. I had a base from another Remco line that served as their headquarters.


Sure ManTech was a completely different scale but this base worked great for my soldiers. Like G.I. Joe they had some sci-fi elements and so it wasn't too odd.

Three of my favorite figures from the American Defense U.S. Forces line were

Heavy Metal

Forest Green


and Hidden Force


These were my go to guys. I've always liked figures made from translucent plastic like Hidden Force that made him seem to be invisible. Well at least that was what I think it was supposed to represent. Forest Green was a cool ranger type guy with the armor that had leaves on it. I got a kick out of that. As for Heavy Metal, come on look at him. He coulda been a Dreadnock easy. He was a great badguy for them to fight.

As cool as these were there was another military line that came first. Sgt. Rock! Based on the DC comic books that I read as a kid.


I only had Sarge himself and he was enough at the time. Though now I do wish I'd had more of that line. Oh well.

I had some of the vehicles and little playsets as well. I remember the boat and a jeep as well as a machine gun nest.

I don't have too many of them left these days. Most of the toys I had at Granny's I got rid of when she moved in with us. I just didn't have room for all of them. But there are a few left. I don't remember what thought process went into deciding which ones I kept and which ones I got rid of. None of my three favorites were kept for some reason.

I have a Sgt. Rock. Not my original though.


Then there are these three guys. Not too exciting compared to the others I had.


Finally there is this set. These were later releases that were of poorer quality and I'm certain I got these at one of the Dollar Stores. They were cheap and came in two packs. And I kept them.


Next up I'll talk about another line from Remco that was a favorite of mine. It features robots! Be ready.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

My New Adventures of He-Man Collection Attic Archaeology Pt 2

The past few days I've been going through the boxes in my attic again. More thoroughly than last time. I've been finding lots of cool stuff. Things I forgot I had, things I remembered but didn't know where they were exactly. So much good stuff.

For one thing I found what was left of my New Adventures of He-Man collection. Not a lot and most of it is either broken or missing pieces. But still I gathered up what I found and took some pics and even made a video which is at the end of this post. First however, the pics.




First up, the good guys. I have two of He-man, but only one has his helmet and armor. So I gave the one remaining shield to the other one. Neither has his sword anymore. Both of the swords got broken long ago. Then there's Hydron and Flipshot. Flip is missing his jetpack and Hydron's helmet is gone as well. Finally there is the block-headed robot guy. I had to look him up as I didn't remember that his name was Artilla, which it is. As far as I know he didn't come with any accessories so he's complete.

Now for the bad guys.



First off there is Skeletor. Two of him as well, but they are different versions at least. I believe they are both complete at least. Then we have Flogg, minus his helmet. But otherwise in pretty good shape.  And lastly there is Optikk with his gun making him complete.

And there is also the shuttle.




The Dreadwing shuttle was the only vehicle in the series I owned. It is pretty much complete. Even has the weapons in the back. However the guns on the front are messed up somewhat. but at least they are still there. And as you can see from the photos some of the stickers are peeling off. So it's pretty rough looking but in okay shape.

Finally, here is a short video I made of them.