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As everyone knows at this point, the first package from Wave 1 of the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club Figure Subscription Service (FSS) has been shipped, and has been received by more and more collectors throughout the world.

As everyone also knows at this point, the “surprise” of the two figures contained within lasted for all of about two hours before it was front-paged.  Thankfully the post was spoiler-warninged, so folks who didn’t want to know knew to avoid it, but I am reassuring you the same thing will happen here.

But first I want to talk a little bit about the concept of surprise and the vilification of the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club for continuing to support the idea of surprise with their product.  Is it a little silly for them to insist on surprising their fanbase when their fanbase doesn’t seem to want to be surprised?  Yeah, it probably is.  Does that mean they should stop doing it?  I don’t know…  I don’t think so.

Try and remember for a second what we’re talking about here.  This is toy collecting.  Buying action figures.  Yes, we are adult collectors and I know its “serious business” but doesn’t any small part of you long to go back in time to when we were kids?  I’m not sure about anyone else, but one of the clearest memories I have of buying G.I. Joe figures back in the day was walking into a Rich’s Department Store in New Hampshire and finding the ’85 figures on the pegs.  The feeling you get as your eyes focus on the blisters, just trying to see if there’s anything new there, or if it’s just the same old thing you’ve seen several times before.  As kids, we walked into those aisles having absolutely no clue what we were going to find…and the feeling when we did find something was fantastic.  Scooping that Flint, Snake Eyes, and Quick Kick off those pegs when 10 minutes sooner I had absolutely no idea they even existed was one of the biggest thrills of my young collecting life.  Is it so bad to at least relive some of that today?

I know the Internet drives us all to immediate gratification and the feeling that we are owed something.  We are owed answers as soon as we demand them, and there is no place left for surprise.

Screw that.  Sometimes it’s more fun being a kid, and looking forward to the unknown.  Sometimes toy collecting doesn’t have to be “serious business”.  Sometimes, it just should be stupid fun.  Yeah, I know I’m in the minority there, but I think I can live with that.  😉

For you instant gratification folks, the first two FSS figures are listed after the jump.  If you’re trying to avoid spoilers, continue on…

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Hopefully that’s enough of a chance to turn away…

So, yeah.  The “secret” lasted all of two hours before the first shipment of Figure Subscription Service figures was revealed as Jinx and Dice.  Are all of these figures going to be released in “themes”?  I don’t know, but these first two figures are terrific examples of what the Collectors’ Club is able to do within the scope of this FSS concept.

Reused parts, to be sure, with the Rise of Cobra Aqua-Viper Officer head for Dice, and other assorted ninja components.  Jinx is more new, with a newly tooled head, the body previously allocated to Resolute Scarlett (and also used with the ill-fated City Strike Scarlett) and also including the excellent City Strike Scarlett weapons that we had, as of yet, not gotten into our sweaty grasp.  Jinx pulls elements from Sigma 6 and Valor Vs. Venom, and I dare say, I may just prefer this version for a modern G.I. Joe operative over the San Diego ComicCon version.

So, there you go.

Whether or not you like surprises, I believe the Club will continue doing what they do, and there are some of us out there who enjoy it.  But if the first shipment is any indication folks who don’t care for the surprise don’t have to worry about it, the secret will be spilled pretty quickly.

To check out the first batch of images from the first FSS Shipment, hit up HissTank.com.