My Mike Power Project #1

A while ago I purchased a Mike Power Atomic Man vintage head and wanted to use it in a project.  I had also ordered a cybernetic body from Cotswold, so I decided for my first Mike Power project I would put the vintage head on the Cotswold body and create my own updated version of Mike Power Atomic Man!

Let me give you a little background on why this was a project for me.  First, I collected the 12" GI Joes when I was a kid in the late '60s and early '70s.  I remember going to the store and seeing Mike Power and Bullet Man action figures!  (I never had either one, but I do remember having a Six Million Dollar Man action figure.)  In September of 2019 I got back into collecting GI Joes (both 12" and 3 3/4") and wanted to make Mike Power a part of my collection.  I really liked his back story and the look of the original action figure.  But since most of the vintage figures are not in mint condition, I thought I could get a vintage head and put it on a newer Cotswold body.

I started researching how to repair and restore vintage Joes, and came across several videos that were really helpful.  I never knew that Joe's legs and head were attached by elastic!  Since the Cotswold body is a vintage Joe body, complete with the elastic attaching the head to the legs, I thought if I got a vintage Mike Power head, I could just simply swap out the head.  I was pretty nervous about that, worrying I might snap the elastic or somehow damage it.

Cotswold cybernetic body

My vintage Mike Power head came with the neck post, so all I needed to do was pull up on the neck post on the Cotswold figure and then put a pencil between the elastic to keep it from falling back into the body while I switched out the heads.  It took a little pulling and maneuvering, but I was able to get the neck post off the Cotswold body off and the vintage Mike Power head attached.  

Vintage Mike Power head with neck post

One thing I made sure of was that the Mike Power vintage head had the atomic eye complete and in working condition.  I've purchased a few other Mike Power figures and on one of them they eye lense is missing.  In some cases I've heard of the entire atomic eye apparatus missing.

Here's a look at my finished Mike Power project!  Like the original action figure, Mike has an atomic right arm.  However, unlike the original, he has two atomic legs.

Atomic eye activated!

A vintage Mike Power figure on the
left and my Mike Power special
project figure on the right

I was able to find a vintage Mike Power outfit and just need to wash it and put it on my newly created action figure.  I really like the look of how it turned out and had a lot of fun researching and working on this project.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!