When John Kukovich saw Star Wars at the local drive-in, he was hooked. Science fiction and fantasy gave him worlds that allowed his imagination to soar. When the ARAH line of GI Joe hit the shelves, he had already started into military toys and models. He was a common patron of the closest government bookstore, absorbing knowledge on all things Cold War. Somewhere along the line, he picked up some drawing skills.
He started working for Tracker Marine in 1989, starting as a fiberglass repair technician and working his way up through R&D, building molds and prototypes. He worked his way through Engineering as a Bill of Materials Analyst, taught himself CAD modeling, and finally running the department for a few years until he was asked to build molds for a GT40 kit car. He eventually returned to Tracker as a project manager for the corporate R&D department. He started an internal 3D modelling shop, and then went on to manage Bills of Material for the entire Bass Pro line-up of boats. John’s experience in the action figure industry really took off working on COMLPEX building system.
John never stopped collecting sci-fi and military toys. He shares a home in Missouri with his wife and his collection. His son, Mikey, lives near by, and they still enjoy annual family vacations to GI Joe conventions. At one of these conventions, John met Troy and they realized they shared a common fascination with Cold War military and science fiction. They started Grindstone Toys and went to work creating a love letter to the toys that shaped their childhood – Callsign: Longbow.