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So now that the flood of news has slowed to a simmer since yesterday afternoon, I figured it was time to sit back and see exactly what was revealed yesterday and break down what really stood out to me and what rose to the top.

This will be somewhat of a mixed bag, because as many folks have already witnessed, there is a lot of “carry forward” product here, which obviously is pretty cool in some respects, but not something that’s going to crack my Top 10 list.

After the jump I’ll break down my opinions.

10 – G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Cobra Night Landing w/ Cobra Eel

10---Night-Landing-with-Eel

The Night Landing at this point has almost become a running joke since it’s been solicited a couple of different times and still has not managed a single release yet, but something tells me the third time will be the charm.  While the black version with the great black and red Cobra Eel is a really great look, the classic blue raft with traditionally colored Eel is the highlight here, very reminiscent of the vintage, with an apparent rebuild (via the Concept Case) of Cobra’s first underwater trooper.

9 – G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Lady Jaye

09-----Lady-Jaye

The G.I. Joe Collectors Club released a version of this for the convention in 2013, but it was slightly different than this version, and this version looks to fix some of the faults of that one, plus is extremely vintage true.  I’m hoping the head can be swapped out for the 25th Anniversary Boxed Set version to get a really nice cartoon/comic accurate version of the character.

8 – G.I. Joe Kre-O Zartan

08---Zartan

One of the main baddies that was missing from the G.I. Joe Kre-O line is now an apparent mini figure release destined for 2014 and that’s great news!  Even cooler is that he’s not packaged with an elaborate boxed set (unlike many of his high ranking Cobra compatriots) and the last original Dreadnok Torch is also making his presence known this year.

7 – G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary HEAT Viper

07_HEAT_Viper

One of the highlights of the concept case for me was the inclusion of the Crimson Guard Immortal and HEAT Viper, which were both favorite late 80s/early 90s army builders for me in my younger years.  HEAT Viper especially really looked awesomely vintage and uses some terrific base parts as well.  This is a great looking update.

6 – G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary VAMP MK II w/ Flint

06_VAMP_Flint

I mean, come on, let’s face it.. I think everyone knows how great this Flint is, considering he came in 1st in the Concept Case survey I ran here on GeneralsJoes shortly after the 2012 Convention in New Orleans.  As cool as Flint is, the updated VAMP MK II matches it, being an awesome old school vehicle with the terrific modern 25th Anniversary tooling.  If this truly is an SDCC exclusive, I think some folks will be disappointed, but hopefully it ends up in more mainstream release.

5 – G.I. Joe Kre-O Nemesis Enforcer

05_Nemesis_Enforcer

Are you kidding me?!  Are you freaking kidding me?  This little guy is the best mini figure Kre-On ever and I will strike down any who oppose me.

4 – G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Destro

04_Destro

When this figure showed his ugly, angular face at JoeCon last year, the entirety of the G.I. Joe fans in attendance simultaneously lost their minds.  With a distinctly familiar, card-accurate head sculpt, and an amazingly sculpted stature, this is truly the “ultimate” Destro that is reminiscent of his vintage version and almost like seeing his Mike Vosberg drawn visage step off the Marvel Comics page, mixed with the collar and broad shoulders of the animated version.  Win-win!

3 – G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Leatherneck

03_Leatherneck

See Destro above, only Hasbro managed to re-use a lot of tooling.  With G.I. Joe: Retaliation Ultimate Roadblock as a base, they put a fantastic new head sculpt and new vest on the figure, and suddenly a drastically absent key member of the G.I. Joe team is present and accounted for in style!  Now, of course, you realize, we NEED a better Wet Suit.  Make it happen, Hasbro!

2 – G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary Cobra Snow Wolf w/ Ice Viper

02_Snow_Wolf

This absolutely floored me in a few different ways.  First of all, I don’t think anyone even knew that this tooling was out there and existed, but apparently it did, and here it is!  The Snow Wolf is one of my favorite Cobra vehicles, and as a kid, I really loved the ninja elements of the Ice Viper (you know back when Ninjas in G.I. Joe were cool).  This updated Ice Viper even has the thigh pads for his sais, a unique helmet, and some great parts.  I’m not especially sold on the Rise of Cobra forearms, though I have to say.  What’s up with that?

1 – G.I. Joe Kre-O Terror Drome

01_Terror_Drome

As excited as I am for the 50th Anniversary announcement and all of the great concept stuff being release for that, I can’t get over how incredibly awesome this Kre-O Terror Drome is.  Spectacularly vintage accurate with a great scale Skyhawk, and SIX Kre-Ons, including General Hawk, Xamot, Gung Ho, Mainframe, an apparent Cobra Officer, and of course the highlight mini figure, Serpentor with his Air Chariot!

As if this isn’t enough, JoeBattleLines representative BreauxShow reveals that the Firebat actually fits in the launch pad and it raises and lowers to boot!  Wowzers.

Folks and readers have already somewhat rubbed my nose in the fact that I was off base when I assumed that there wouldn’t be much (if anything) to see at Toy Fair this year, but believe me, I’ve never been more happy to be mistaken.  The product revealed (especially for Kre-O) was mind blowingly awesome, and while I would have liked to have seen a bit more ingenuity and creativity with the 50th Anniversary stuff, there’s some terrific concept work that’s finally getting released.