I’ve been slacking in my comic reviews, but when I had a few spare moments this week and wanted to post a review for the IDW Cobra title because it continues to excel and reinvent the G.I. Joe mythology, and manage to do it well. So many fans get so absorbed with the way they view G.I. Joe and how it “should be” I think it’s really refreshing to see someone like Mike Costa rewrite the formula and do it so damned well.
Click the read the rest of the story link below to check out the full review
Okay, so when is the FSS gonna start shipping again?! Over on their Facebook page, the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club has revealed the first carded product image from a Figure Subscription Service figure… and it’s Big Boa!
That homage card art is fantastic, and the figure looks terrific, too. How cool is it going to be to have new G.I. Joe product coming at us again? Check out the G.I. Joe Collectors Club on Facebook, and I’ve mirrored the image below. Also make sure to check out GIJoeClub.com for the latest and greatest FSS news and intel.
Currently, the fantastic Amazon Exclusive G.I. Joe Renegades 3.75 inch Figure 4 pack is on sale at a great price – only $25.89 for four pretty great figures. Also, according to Amazon.com, the G.I. Joe: Retaliation 4-Pack will go on “Lightning Deal” at 3:00pm Pacific time (6:00pm Eastern) though no sale price is currently indicated.
Click the banners below to grab these items!
Also, if you want to check out my reviews of the G.I. Joe: Renegades 4-Pack, click the links below. Thanks to Chuck and Mysterious Stranger for the intel!
I’ve seen this image passed around quite a bit today, and with the latest Big Bad Toy Store newsletter, there are now some pre-orders to go along with it. NECA has long established their place in action figure lore, but mostly in the larger scale figures for licensed properties like Predator, Terminator, Robocop, and Prometheus (among many others). To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time they’ve experimented with the 3 3/4″ scale (or perhaps these are closer to 4″?).
The results are pretty impressive from an appearance point of view. Anyone who has played (or even seen) the video game Gears of War will acknowledge there is a very distinct artistic style to the characters and the game, and NECA has done an exceptional job capturing that style. Large, bulky figures with all of the right gear and accessories, these Gears of War toys could almost pass for 6″ at first blush, but apparently they fall closer to G.I. Joe sized.
While I’m not necessarily a huge Gears of War enthusiast, I have certainly played the games quite a bit, and I am very pleasantly surprised by the quality and articulation of what I see here, though the apparent lack of a swivel bicep is a bit disconcerting. I’ll be paying close attention to this line as it gets closer to release. Early indications are pretty damn good.
Check out the pre-order links below as well as the mirrored product image.
Troops of Doom has been chugging along for a while now, and has just reached a huge milestone! A whopping 500 installments of the Troops of Doom comic has just gone online, and to celebrate, there are numerous contests going on.
The official note just came in:
“Troops of Doom hits 500 comics
Troops of Doom comic hits 500 episodes today. Stop by for multiple “Become a Troop of Doom” contests where readers can have a character named after them and have a recurring role in the comic.
Troops of Doom is an action figure webcomic featuring GI Joe battling Star Wars for Lego technology. Launched in February 2008 and updated as often as possible Monday to Friday. Check it out for a laugh.
Well, not totally, but I think most of us are aware of Funskool and their license with Hasbro for the use of their G.I. Joe characters and tooling. Some how, somewhere, someone stumbled upon a Youtube video of an advertisement for Funskool G.I. Joe product that aired in India…and it’s awesome.
A strange combination of Sunbow animation, Funskool products, and even some products that have never been seen under the Funskool banner, this is a pretty neat look at a licensed product from outside the country.
If you’re a relatively new G.I. Joe collector you may not appreciate the impact Funskool had on the hobby from an online perspective. Back in the day, when G.I. Joe figures were not nearly as prevalent, Corey Stinson and a few other folks took some initiative and was able to get Funskool product in the U.S. for a great price. American collectors could get Hydro-Vipers, Crimson Guard Immortals, Night Vipers, Toxo-Vipers, and many other figures that closely resembled the domestic product at a fraction of the price. You did take a chance with the quality of the toys themselves, as many Funskool items had paint slop and wonky joints…but many of us were willing to trade that chance for a relatively inexpensive way to build our armies.
Aside from some of the more common figures, Funskool has become a real focus of some high end collectors as well, with some of the rarer figures fetching some big dollar offers. It’s really a fascinating piece of G.I. Joe history, and for folks who have nothing to shop for these days, it might serve you well to look at some of these hidden gems in G.I. Joe history:
Things get interesting when the retail shelves are bare, especially at Christmas time. It seems almost criminal to have a holiday season with nary a single G.I. Joe item to be found on shelves…but such is the unfortunate dichotomy that comes with a Hollywood marriage. The brand can live or die with the fate of the film, and for 2012 at least, G.I. Joe is a non-factor.
Hopefully with 2013 and the coming of G.I. Joe: Retaliation that will change. In fact, online stores are already offering pre-orders for the first two waves of G.I. Joe: Retaliation product, currently slated to hit in February. But with all of this G.I. Joe “down time” I got to thinking.
Over the past few years we’ve seen a LOT of great G.I. Joe toys come and go, and sometimes they either went too quickly, or they were somewhat difficult to get a hand on due to exclusivity.
Purely for the sake of discussion, and for the sake of gathering information, I took further advantage of the Survey Monkey tool and created a quick survey. Looking back through the Pursuit of Cobra, 30th Anniversary, and the 7-Packs, which figures were the best figures that you had the hardest time finding? What figures did you love the looks of, but were disappointed that you couldn’t get your hands on?
The best example I can think of from my own perspective is a figure like Shadow Tracker, who I think is very cool, and was also very hard to find. The same could be said of Renegades Storm Shadow. However, figures like Zombie-Viper or Jungle-Viper were good figures, but not as hard to find. Of course your mileage may vary…that’s kinda the point of the survey. 😉
Essentially what I’m asking is if you could get access to some recently released figures again in single card form, which figures would you prefer? Check out the Survey Monkey survey below and share your thoughts! If you need any refreshers on which figures were in which waves, more than just the list below, check out the GeneralsJoes review sections:
The latest email from the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club gives us an update on the FSS… looks like we may be getting an early Christmas present! See the email below:
“Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
This is going out to everyone who subscribed to the GI Joe Collectors’ Club Figure Subscription Service.
If any of you have moved since you placed your subscription order it’s time for you to update your new address!
Please click here to log in and check your account!
We are anticipating that the first two figure shipment will ship before Christmas so that means you have until December 2nd to update your address. After that date, we do not guarantee that your shipment will go the correct address.
In order to get all of the orders out the door in one week, we need to start the printing and prep for all of the orders we received starting on December 3rd.
Provided that our shipment from China is not delayed, we are working on getting all orders out the door before Christmas. We will hopefully start sending them out the week before Christmas.
For those of you who have purchased on the installment plan, we anticipate that the second billing will take place in mid-January so we will give you updates as soon as we know the final schedule.
Thanks for all of your support and we hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season!
Brian
PS. If you have any questions, you can use the link at the bottom of the log in page to contact customer service.”
is on sale at a great price – only $25.89 for four pretty great figures. Also, according to Amazon.com, the G.I. Joe: Retaliation 4-Pack will go on “Lightning Deal” at 3:00pm Pacific time (6:00pm Eastern) though no sale price is currently indicated.
