Over the past few years there has been a propensity of books being funded and sold throughout the online fandom, many of them being done through Kickstarter. Brian Hickey and Paddy Lennon (who frequently appear on the always entertaining Full Force Podcast) went another route, producing the book entirely out of pocket for sale directly to collectors.
Their work on Total Retaliation, covering the G.I. Joe: Retaliation action figure line was fantastic, and their look at (most of) Series 01 of Vitruvian HACKS is equally spectacular. Actually, moreso in many ways.
Total HACKS is an almost 100 page coffee table book crammed full with action figure profiles, fantastic diorama shots and short fiction stories interwoven within the universe of HACKS. It truly is a magnificent book from many different perspectives.
The action figure profiles have great images of each figure (up through Series 01 Wave 6) as well as the Skeletons, with many really fun diorama images worked in along the way. See really awesome battle sequences, interesting connectivity with other toy lines and some fantastic conversation pieces.
Taking all of that, you then get exposure to the wider Vitruvian HACKS universe with the great short stories by Paddy Lennon mixed within the other elements. Paddy is also the one writing the bio’s on the action figure packages, so he certainly is immersed in the HACKS universe and is the perfect choice to be telling these stories.
If you haven’t checked this book out yet, you really need to. It’s at a discounted price at BossFightShop.com through December 31st, and it’s worth every single penny. The quicker they sell through Total HACKS volume 1, the quicker we can get volume 2 rolling and I’m pretty fired up to see what they come up with for that.
It’s great stuff. During this awesome month-long series of sales at BossFightShop.com you need to just toss it in your cart and prepare to find new ways to love Vitruvian HACKS.
The Full Force has posted Series 4, Episode 9 of their awesome podcast, this time featuring a plethora of content about Transformers! They speak to former Hasbro Transformers and G.I. Joe manager Marc Weber and dig into the awesomeness that is Transformers lore for a solid NINE HOURS.
It’s bound to be some good listenin’! Check out the latest episode on Podbean (also embedded below and be sure to check out the show notes on the Full Force Facebook page, they always have a ton of images and great details straight from the show.
So I realize as I prepare to write this that I’ve been taking something for granted. Month in and month out, the greatness of Larry Hama and SL Gallant effortlessly weaving their way through the G.I. Joe mythology, incorporating new things, adding some great vintage homages and generally having fun with it all. I’ve been buying it every month, reading it every month, and enjoying it every month. But it became a routine and I just kind of expected to have it there, month in and month out.
When IDW announced that SL Gallant would no longer be the primary artist on G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, I have to admit, I was pretty upset. His work with Hama had become evocative of the legendary Hama/Whigham work from back in the day, a team that became so inexorably tied with the brand that it’s difficult to think of that era of G.I. Joe without picturing those particular versions of those characters in your head. The same had become true of Gallant’s time on the title, and now that I don’t have that routine anymore, it feels like a piece of that history is gone.
It’s odd because I’m typically not a fan of brands leaning on vintage nostalgia like a crutch, and I’d much prefer to see different ways that brands can evolve and stay relevant with these days rather than becoming overly reliant on trying to revisit the past…yet Hama/Gallant had just enough taste of the past to feel natural without feeling forced.
That being said, Netho Diaz has certainly made a splash and a very good impression with his work here. Keep reading for a full review.
A year ago, if you told me I’d be reviewing Bucky O’Hare figures on this site, I would have said you were full of it. But here we are!
You can thank the fine folks at Boss Fight Studio for not only acquiring the awesome Hama/Adams/Golden license, but for also absolutely killing it with the toy design and production. These are some fantastic, fun toys made as a labor of love and you can really tell.
Check out my brand spanking new Bucky O’Hare Review Page or click the links below to see what I thought!
While I think many of us wait patiently for news of the upcoming Hasbro Cinematic Universe so we can set expectations for new retail G.I. Joe figures, a few licensees have emerged with potential G.I. Joe related items in various stages of conception and production.
Perhaps most unusual is news from Dynamic Attractions (revealed via Skinny on Twitter) who is apparently planning a new full-blown amusement park attraction and framing it around the G.I. Joe brand. They speak about it in depth in this YouTube video and even show some brief video (including a look at very COBRA-themed set design and a vehicle that looks more than a little like a four-seat VAMP):
Dubbed an “All-Terrain Dark Ride” this was announced at IAAPA 2017 (The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and even included some promotional opportunities.
Along with this information, Pop Culture Shock Collectibles has also announced they have acquired rights to produce some G.I. Joe product as well. Most well known for their lines of statues, we’ll have to see what they have in store and how it compares (or compliments) the existing work of Prime 1 Studio.
“PCS Collectibles is pleased to announce we have now secured a licensing agreement with Hasbro Inc. We are excited about the opportunity to team with Hasbro in creating collectibles based on characters from properties like TRANSFORMERS, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, G.I. JOE and MY LITTLE PONY to name a few. Stay tuned for further details!
G.I. JOE, TRANSFORMERS, and MY LITTLE PONY are trademarks of Hasbro. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast LLC.”
As always, time will tell how this all shakes out. Stay tuned!
Honestly, when it comes to characters that require $35 modern updates, I wouldn’t put any of the above three on that list, but the Collectors Club revealed their version of the 1988 Desert Fox driver for FSS 7 regardless.
It’s a fine figure, pretty standard parts (though the sweater sleeves combined with the smooth torso is throwing me just a bit). Check it out at GIJoeClub.com or the mirrored image below.
I don’t talk about The Corps! on this site a whole lot, but trust me when I say, they’ve often found a place among my G.I. Joe figures (especially in my Dio-Stories). Apparently I’m not alone!
Dustin over on The Dragon Fortress brought together a bunch of like-minded Joefans who all spoke their praises about The Corps, and he posted an awesome article on his site. Lots of familiar contributors with lots of fun stuff to say.
Boogie on over to The Dragon Fortress and check it out, it’ll take you back to a simpler and better time when Steve Wyoming was the hero America needed.
Rhode Island ComicCon kicks off today in Providence, Rhode Island, and Boss Fight Studio is there already breaking some news.
Over on the Boss Fighters Facebook Group, Troy Osgood shared some images from the Boss Fight booth featuring artwork for an upcoming Kickstarter for a Vitruvian HACKS Horse! We first saw some rough test shots for this horse at New Jersey Collectors Con, but things seem to have come a very long way since then. According to the display at the booth, there is a Kickstarter planned for March.
The horse will apparently have Pegasus wings, a unicorn and dark unicorn head, various saddles, and will even be HACKS blank compatible to make freaking centaurs.
A ton of great work behind the scenes has been going on for a while, and I’m thrilled to announce that the Kickstarter for the Marauder Task Force RPG is officially LIVE.
Tapping into resources from very talented industry professionals, a really unique gaming system has been built around the Marauder Task Force formula and it promises to be a LOT of fun for folks who love military action figures and military stories.
If enough support is put towards the project, there are even some exclusive Marauder Task Force figures that can be unlocked!
If you’re a fan of Marauder Task Force, or even other 1:18 military action figure lines, this RPG is right up your alley. Check it out at Kickstarter and help support us. I’m beyond thrilled to be involved in writing for this project and greatly look forward to bringing it to fans everywhere upon Kickstarter funding.
Once again I’ve been a little delinquent on posting reveals for the G.I. Joe Collectors Club FSS 7, but they have just released an image for their fourth figure – Dreadnok KAOS.
While on the one hand, I’m really glad they’re dipping into the Concept Case unreleased Pursuit of COBRA items, on the other hand, this was probably my least favorite of those items. Show me some N.O.M.A.D., Clutch, or Raven’s Wing… or heck, some of those heavy Alley Viper or HISS Drivers, too!
Figure three was revealed a couple of days back, and I gotta be honest, this is one of the coolest figures I’ve seen in a long time. Yeah, I’m mark for most things General Hawk, but as a kid I LOVED the jet pack version of him (I wish it had been used more in the comic) and I think this is a pretty cool representation. The colors aren’t quite right, but the build is fantastic and I just love how the figure looks.
Figure #2… I’m kind of blah. For a nearly swan song Figure Subscription Service, the last thing we need is yet another COBRA Commander. And honestly, the Arctic Version was horribly overrated just because it was a canceled figure. If it had been released, I can almost guarantee nobody would have cared less.
That being said, I’m glad at least that the Club overhauled the parts with more modern choices so the articulation wasn’t quite so bad. It’s an okay figure, I guess, I just don’t get the hype.
