Retro 3-3/4" O-Ring Action Figures embattled in the 80s Cold War!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
CALLSIGN: LONGBOW Update - Aug 2026
6 days ago
– Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 08:01:39 AM
Hello CALLSIGN: LONGBOW® Backers!
Here is the progress we've seen from the factory team in the last month:
Production Update
Lancer & Krasny-Ninja
Production has been completed on KRASNY-NINJA (these were pretty much done in our last update).
We had two revisions to make on LANCER. The factory is already implementing these changes and has assured us they will not add substantial time to completing these figures.
Adjustments needed to be made to the paint application on the Lancer's eyes. (The eyes were not quite pointing in the same direction.) The factory has already cut an updated mask for this and is in the process of painting. Our project manager, Dave Proctor, sent along this image of the updated eyes:
Lacner eye correction, courtesy of Dave Proctor.
A change has been made to the forks that hold his machete on his backpack. Originally, the pack and forks were supposed to be made of PVC. Once in production, the forks would bend and would not hold the accessory as well as we would like. The factory recommended a change to ABS for the forks and to manufacture them as a separate part. This part has already been tooled, and Dave sent along this image:
** Note: these are not the final colors and were just used for testing.
Lancer backpack forks, courtesy of Dave Proctor.
Cardbacks for these two figures have been produced and are awaiting heat-sealing. Once Lancer is good-to-go, they should be able to start packaging these guys right away.
We are continuing to push the factory team to complete these as quickly as they can.
Volk, Uptown, GRU Spetsnaz, Outlaw, and Henchmen
We were told the factory team was doing some fine-tune polishing on the body tools for these figures. This process cleans up any rough or flat spots that may be showing up on the finished ABS parts. We don't have any pictures to share of this, but it is an important step for overall quality control on the figures.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
We have a little bit of a fall break here before our last planned show of the year.
Join us as we round out the year at our home show, Assembly Required, presented by CODENAME: IOWA, November 13-14, at the EMC Expo Center at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA.
We hope to see as many of you as possible at these conventions around the country!
Thank you again for making this project a reality!
-GRINDSTONE TOYS
CALLSIGN: LONGBOW Update - July 2026
about 1 month ago
– Fri, Jul 31, 2026 at 08:28:08 AM
Hello CALLSIGN: LONGBOW® Backers!
We hope everyone had a great July this year and an extra special Independence Day!
Production Update
Lancer & Krasny-Ninja
Work continues on these two figures. Our project manager, Dave Proctor, sent along this great shot of a bin full of Krasny-Ninjas.
Image courtesy of Dave Proctor
Henchmen
The factory provided us with a video of the latest sample on the Henchmen (Tracksuit).
Shock-Trooper & MTF Retro-Ops
The factory team also provided us with some video of the new prints for the Steel Web Shock-Trooper and MTF: Retro-Ops figures.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
We have a little bit of a fall break here before our last planned show of the year.
Join us as we round out the year at our home show, Assembly Required, presented by CODENAME: IOWA, November 13-14, at the EMC Expo Center at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA.
We hope to see as many of you as possible at these conventions around the country!
Thank you again for making this project a reality!
-GRINDSTONE TOYS
CALLSIGN: LONGBOW Update - June 2026 - PAINT!
2 months ago
– Wed, Jul 01, 2026 at 02:01:54 PM
Hello CALLSIGN: LONGBOW® Backers!
We would like to wish everyone here in the States an early Happy 4th of July, as we celebrate 250 years of American Independence. Have a happy and safe semiquincentennial, everyone!
We'd also like to thank everyone who came out to Joefest 2026 in Augusta. It was great to get to chat and hang out with many of you this past weekend. It was EPIC!
A special thanks to Doug Hart for joining us again this year!
Production Update
Lancer & Krasny-Ninja
As we mentioned in last month's update, these figures are currently with the pain department. Mid-month, our project manager (Dave Proctor) at the factory shared these images with us of the figures making their way through the paint process.
Please note that these parts have some paint applications, but not all of their paint, and will have additional detail upon completion. These are in-progress shots.
"LANCER" Painted Parts courtesy of Dave Proctor
Paint work continues on Krasny-Ninja as well.
"KRASNY-NINJA" Painted Parts courtesy of Dave Proctor
Dave also sent us this video to share of the paint process. Much of this work is still done by hand at the factory. You can see that parts are placed into the mask, and then the spray application is applied.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
We have a little bit of a fall break here before our last planned show of the year.
Join us as we round out the year at our home show, Assembly Required presented by CODENAME: IOWA, November 13-14, at the EMC Expo Center at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA.
We hope to see as many of you as possible at these conventions around the country!
Thank you again for making this project a reality!
-GRINDSTONE TOYS
CALLSIGN: LONGBOW Update - May 2026 - PARTS!
3 months ago
– Sun, May 31, 2026 at 08:00:14 AM
Hello CALLSIGN: LONGBOW® Backers!
We're posting this from the DFW G.I. Joe and Action Figures Show. Thank you to everyone who came out to the show. It was great to meet everyone in person.
Unfortunately, Bill Young was unable to attend as the show approached. We hope he can make it out next year!
This month, we have a lot of visible progress to share from the factory team.
Lancer & Krasny-Ninja
The factory has started molding parts on the Lancer & Krasny-Ninja!
They shared images of all the ABS parts for Krasny-Ninja.
Krasny-Ninja parts courtesy of Dave Proctor
We also got to see some of the upper body ABS parts for Lancer.
Lancer parts courtesy of Dave Proctor
We were also informed that the factory is staffing up the paint department, which hopefully will help keep these figures moving forward without delay.
And on that note, they've started painting Krasny-Ninja! Check out all these left hands with painted gauntlets.
Ninja Hands courtesy of Dave Proctor
Volk, Uptown, Spetsnaz, & Outlaw
The same corrections that they've been working on for better waist and leg movement function have been updated on these figures as well.
Updated Volk/Uptown/Spetnaz/Outlaw courtesy of Dave Proctor
Steel Web Shock-Trooper, MTF: Retro-Ops, ADAPT Trooper, & Henchmen
The model shop has completed the modifications on the 3D files for these three figures.
At this stage, these are still 3D prints. The files used to create these prints will be used to cut the new tooling.
These new versions have corrections to prevent the issues we saw with the waist/leg movement on the other figures. Creating these models is intended to head off those issues before the tooling stage.
Steel Web Shock-Trooper, MTF: Retro-Ops, and ADAPT Trooper parts courtesy of Dave Proctor
JOEFEST
Come see us at JoeFest Toy and Comic Convention, June 26-28, at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center in Augusta, GA.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
And we'll round out the year at our home show, Assembly Required presented by CODENAME: IOWA, November 13-14, at the EMC Expo Center at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA.
We hope to see as many of you as possible at these conventions around the country!
Thank you again for making this project a reality!
-GRINDSTONE TOYS
CALLSIGN: LONGBOW Update - April 2026
4 months ago
– Thu, Apr 30, 2026 at 07:58:25 AM
Hello CALLSIGN: LONGBOW® Backers!
Here is the progress we've seen in the last month:
Lancer & Krasny-Ninja
In last month's update, we noted that the factory was going to do some additional polishing on some rough spots on these tools; this work has now been completed.
The factory team also identified an issue with the fit of the upper arms on Lancer and Krasny-Ninja, where the parts are sonic-welded. This issue has now been fixed and functions properly.
The following video, provided by Dave Proctor, shows updates to the Lancer tooling and some of the corrections that have been made to the figure, along with a comparison to our earlier test shots.
Uptown, Volk, Outlaw, & GRU Spetsnaz
Outlaw's Gasmask has been slightly resized for a better fit, and the tooling has been revised accordingly. (image below)
New resized OUTLAW Gasmask Tool courtesy of Dave Proctor
We are awaiting the new waist and thighs for this group to be tooled.
We are seeing progress from the factory on these figures. However, the progress is not keeping pace with the factory's most recent timeline.
This is the extent of the updates we've received in the last month, and we are continuing to push our factory on the finalization of tooling.
We are also announcing that we will be sponsoring Bill Young at the show. Bill was a senior product designer at Hasbro from 1984 to 1997. He designed some great vehicles on the G.I. Joe brand, including the Cobra WOLF, Buzz Boar, Phantom X-19, Cobra Rage, and Hurricane VTOL.
If you are going to the show, please stop by and meet Bill!
JOEFEST
Come see us at JoeFest Toy and Comic Convention, June 26-28, at the Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center in Augusta, GA.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED
And we'll round out the year at our home show, Assembly Required presented by CODENAME: IOWA, November 13-14, at the EMC Expo Center at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA.
We hope to see as many of you as possible at these conventions around the country!
Thank you again for making this project a reality!
