Retelo

Retelo is a high tech communications trooper and comes geared up with state of the art communications technology, but he’s also equipped with old school gear that would work in the face of an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack. 
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EMP-proof comms gear: flare gun, smoke grenades (red/yellow/blue), keyboard on right forearm that attaches to his Tactical Cyber Equipment-C5ISR/EW CMOSS (Modular Open Suite of Standards) Chassis, and Retelo's trusty sidekick: a real carrier pigeon! 

New high tech comms gear: tactical helmet with compact microphone and heads up display visor (HUD can display 360 degree camera system on backpack perch), IR signal light on grenade bandolier, 360 degree IR signal light on backpack perch, quad copter drone with carrier pigeon inspired design (attaches to backpack), bird shaped head houses zoom camera lens.

Weapons: SIG Sauer MCX Rattler (with removable suppressor and magazines, and a folding stock)

Real world analogues 

Modern day tactical radio over-the-air operations research (click here).

Real world United States Army carrier pigeon research (click here).

Stage 1: The Pitch! 

Retelo was initially submitted to Hasbro in 1989 by ten year old collector and future curator of 3DJoes, R. Carson Mataxis. Katy Ranallo of Hasbro Direct, Inc. returned the pitch with a letter stating the submission was neither copied nor reviewed. Undaunted, Carson pushed forward 30 years later, instead going straight to the creators that invented so many of the toys that enriched his childhood. The deck below shows the initial pitch as well as the follow up pitch which was shared with Ron Rudat and Kirk Bozigian in the fall of 2019. 

Stage 2: Design (Ron Rudat)

With the initial pitch in hand, Ron was ready to dig in and create several loose sketches illustrating various figure and accessory options.  

Stage 3: Design feedback (Kirk Bozigian)

Once Ron illustrated several figure and accessory options, Kirk Bozigian weighed in, combining ideas and bringing some new ideas to the table. 

Stage 4: Revised design (Ron Rudat)

With Kirk's feedback in hand, Ron was ready to dig in and finalize Retelo's design.

Stage 5: Design feedback (Kirk Bozigian)

Once Ron finalized the figure and accessory designs, he also provided several color studies. Kirk Bozigian weighed in, combining a few options.
Picture

Stage 6: Presentation art (Ron Rudat)

With Kirk's color feedback in hand, Ron was ready to dig in and create Retelo's presentation art.
Picture

Stage 7: Additional research for file card development (R. Carson Mataxis)

Before kicking off file card development with Larry Hama, Carson researched modern day tactical radio over-the-air operations (click here) and real world United States Army carrier pigeons (click here).

Stage 8: Accessory 3D modeling (Adam Freeman)

Before moving into package design, we collaborated with Adam Freeman to create 3D models that the packaging director and package painter could reference when creating their illustrations.
Tactical Cyber Equipment-C5ISR/EW CMOSS (Modular Open Suite of Standards) Chassis
Approximate backpack dimensions: wide: 1”  tall: 1.25”  deep: 0.9”
Quad copter drone with carrier pigeon inspired design (attaches to backpack), bird shaped head houses zoom camera lens.
Approximate drone dimensions: wide: 0.75”  tall: 0.35”  deep: 0.75”
Retelo's trusty sidekick: a real carrier pigeon! Pigeon wears a flak vest and a helmet for protection, a backpack, and a traditional U.S. Army Signal Corps aluminum PG-14 message holder (for attachment to a war pigeon's leg).
Approximate pigeon dimensions: wide: 1.25”  tall: 0.6”  deep: 0.6”
Tactical helmet with compact microphone and heads up display visor (HUD can display 360 degree camera system on backpack perch).
Approximate helmet dimensions: wide: 0.6”  tall: 0.5”  deep: 0.6”
SIG Sauer MCX Rattler (with removable suppressor and magazines, and a folding stock)
Approximate gun dimensions: wide: 1.5”  tall: 0.5”  deep: 0.1”

Stage 9: Package design and illustration

Coming soon!