A common question for folks when they want to join The Finest is basically, “How do I join?”
So here is a little guide.
1.) Pick a character and costume to build. At The Finest we welcome any official character build that comes from official sources. There’s literally thousands of options for a person to choose from, but what is considered correct to choose as a source?
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Official Cartoons - Sunbow, DiC, Extreme, Sigma 6, Resolute, Renegades, etc, etc.
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Comic Books - Character appearing in the many officially licensed comic book series are all fair game.
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Movies - Live action and animated
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Toys - Anything made as an official Hasbro licensed GI Joe toy.
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Artwork - Officially licensed GI Joe artwork based off any novels, art posters, and other products.
2.) Choose a specific source. To build your costume you need references and you also need to provide the club with said references. Our judges need to know exactly what you are building and need references you are using.
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Make your reference specific! Theres over 69 Snake Eyes action figures alone for example, when you choose a reference make sure you are using a single example of that character. Do not mix up your references.
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Don’t mix references! A very common mistake is people will choose a toy reference, then take a piece of unrelated artwork, or other versions of a character and use these as a combined reference. GI Joe characters have gone through many representations over the years, it’s important you focus on a single specific character. Don’t build using a piece of art, but then look at some action figure version and take details from another source.
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Avoid any unofficial references. Be careful to not use fan art, custom made action figures, or any other fan produced GI Joe item as a reference point for your costume. This is a common mistake folks also make.
3.) Build your costume! Do your research once you have your costume choice and picked your reference point. Build the costume!
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Make a check list. Study your reference material, it can be helpful to make a checklist of all the important items you need.
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Don’t change details. The Finest is about making canon costumes based off official GI Joe representations, this means don’t take liberties just because you want to. If you are building a Flint costume, don’t change the color of his shirt just because you like to. Building to join The Finest, you want to try to match your reference materials as close as possible.
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Don’t embellish your costume with extras. Lot of folks feel the need to put a custom twist on a character, this is not what we are looking for in The Finest. Don’t start adding items not present on your original source. Don’t add extra random patches, pins, medals. Do not add extra gear not present on the original. It’s a common mistake to have people take a character from the 80’s and they go to town adding all kinds of modern accessories to it. At times these changes take a classic character fans will recognize and make them into something totally new.
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Don’t mix up parts! Again this is something that happens all the time, people take different reference points and mix up the items to create a custom creation. For example don’t try to build a classic V1 Zartan toy costume, but then mix in armor from a modern piece of comic artwork, and then take tactical gear from a Sideshow Collectibles statues, and create a Frankenstein custom creation.
4.) Submit your finished work! : Go to www.thefinestcc.com and fill out the application and send us clear pictures of your front, back, and sides of your costume. Also include the references you used to build off of!