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This is the original 2:1 (2up) pattern for Iron Grenadier D.E.M.O.N. Driver (Ferret). It was hand-sculpted by Bill Merklein in 1987. I did NOT get this from Bill, but I fully intend to reunite them eventually as Bill and this Ferret pattern have not seen each other in almost 25 years. There are more pics below but I wanted to mention some things first. The reason this pattern only has one leg is because usually if one limb was to be identical to another (in this case the LOWER legs)... there would be no reason to waste time or money to HAND sculpt a second limb... not to mention that hand sculpting a second, identical limb would be tedious and would leave room for error or difference. Here is a photo of the 2:1 pattern in comparison to a 3 3/4 convention Ferret test-shot, so you can get an idea of how big a 2up pattern is for GI JOE. (More pics below).



If you do not know what a 2up is or a pattern is... or if you are simply curious as to how this 2:1 Ferret pattern "became" the 3 and 3/4 inch Ferret that may reside in your collection... I STRONGLY suggest you head on over to Joe Intel and check out their Preproduction Archive and accompanying articles on preproduction here:
http://joeintel.com/subcategory.php?cat_id=7&id=


If you want to hear from Bill Merklein himself in regards to his personal process for sculpting 2up patterns, here are the links to his youtube interviews and sculpting tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmgQeduUFW4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=261OWzcJz4g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NLBd3RtvZ0

Pattern pics:








Here is a picture of a bare leg buck piece that does not originate from this pattern but I've included to show what is under all the sculpting material in the other Ferret leg:

No where near enough of these make it into the collector market.

Fantastic.

Roger

So freaking awesome. This is the earliest 2 up besides the Dial Tone Hasbro showed at con that I can remember.

This one's by far more interesting in my opinion as its actual sculpture as opposed to a paint master.

Did Bill Merklein do this one?

Very cool. I sometimes wonder how cool it would have been if they had made a small line of 2 up sized joes much like the Giant Ninja Turtles & X-Men they made back in the 90's.

Does the torso open up? I'd love to see inside.

I'd also love to see the bottom of his foot.

VERY cool, I love the details in the head/chest. Never knew about the limbs majority of folks probably think you just broke it.

That is not a toy, that's fuckin artwork.

Thanks very much, Gary. Gorgeous piece. Love it. It's amazing at how much detail these figures had in them even over 20 years ago.

Holy shit Goggles....that piece rocks! NOW that is a solid piece of Joe history.

that right thigh looks different from the test shot figure you have pictured next to it. did the mold change? or did the convention figure that that is end up using different legs? i've not gotten a convention set since Major Storm and Falcon. i couldn't handle the skin color anymore, so i'm a little out of the loop by that point in the game.

are there any other differences in the mold that can't be seen through photos?