by generalsjoes | Jan 11, 2016 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club
It would certainly seem as if 2015 kind of got away from me when it comes to my G.I. Joe reviews… I managed to stay on top of the 50th Anniversary releases fairly well, but several of the G.I. Joe Collectors Club releases lagged a bit behind.
Interesting that now that I’m tackling them, we’re dealing with the distinct possibility that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club as we know it (as well as the G.I. Joe Convention) may be coming to an end after 2016. A real shame to be losing them as a resource as I dive into several of their really fun exclusives from 2015. I truly hope Hasbro has some kind of plans post GIJCC to bring the G.I. Joe brand to collectors, as I believe we’ve been the driving force in keeping the brand alive over the past several years. That will be considerably more difficult with an annual convention gathering or a Collectors Club offering exclusive toys geared towards us.
I will be cautiously optimistic that Hasbro recognizes our value and isn’t going to just leave the collectors who have been supporting the brand for over 50 years high and dry, but I suppose time will tell.
On that note, you can check out my review of the Arctic Dr. Mindbender at the link below, or on the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review Page. Hopefully we still have many years of exclusives like this to look forward to.

by generalsjoes | Jan 8, 2016 | Eagle Force
The folks over at Fresh Monkey Fiction have opened up an Instagram account, and as one of their first actions, they’ve posted a great looking preview of Captain Eagle from the upcoming Eagle Force Kickstarter!
Check out Fresh Monkey Fiction on Instagram and check it out for yourself!

by generalsjoes | Jan 8, 2016 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
As G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero rolls through the COBRA World Order, we’ve been seeing some great variant covers. The folks at Blindbox Comics are now offering special “Trading Card” style variant covers for these comics!
First up is Snow Job (paging Gary Godsoe) which comes in three separate variations, color, black & white, or gold, and is available on G.I. Joe: ARAH #221 right now from Blindbox Comics! The books are set to ship January 10th, and you can check them out on the Blindbox Product page now.
Also – Exclusive here to GeneralsJoes, you can save 10% on your entire order by entering General10 in the discount field at checkout! Check out the different covers below, and keep watching Blindbox Comics for more great looking trading card covers!
by generalsjoes | Jan 8, 2016 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Every so often, over on his blog, Robert Atkins (IDW G.I. Joe and comics artist extraordinaire) posts some images of recent commissions and other work that he’s done in the realm of G.I. Joe. Over the past few days he’s posted some fantastic work, including a particularly cool Snake Eyes/Deadpool team up that seems appropriate with the new Deadpool film incoming.
There’s some really great stuff there, and while Atkins isn’t currently soliciting commission work, it’s still a heck of a lot of fun to check out the work he’s been posting.
Check it out over at RobertAtkinsArt.Blogspot.com and I strongly recommend you visit the site regularly. There’s always some cool stuff to check out.

by generalsjoes | Jan 5, 2016 | 5 Page Previews, Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Part five of the new COBRA World Order hits comic shops tomorrow, and you can see the five part preview below!
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #223: COBRA WORLD ORDER Part 5
Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a) • Stephen Mooney (c)
The Sleepers Awaken! COBRA’s covert agents, situated all over the world, activate and prepare to bring about the Cobra World Order. G.I. JOE scrambles to take them down—but it may just be too late!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
- COBRA’s sleepers rise up—and enact the COBRA WORLD ORDER!
by generalsjoes | Jan 5, 2016 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club
Well, it’s still a mystery, for the most part. Folks are still suspecting that Fun Publications’ license with Hasbro will expire (and not be renewed) at the end of 2016. So far we have neither seen nor heard anything to contradict this.
Over on the GIJoeClub Message Board, a thread has opened up with an inquiry into this, but still no information is imminent.
At this point the most succinct reply is to “Check the January newsletter” for more information on their membership plans. This does continue to sound ominous, however, there is also a post on the forum there that mentions 2016 Club members being eligible to purchase FSS 5.0. That, of course, begs the question… will there be an FSS 5.0 if the license expires in 2016?
Perhaps Fun Publications will just not be able to hold a convention, yet can still produce product? Or if they launch FSS 5.0 within the 2016 calendar year, does that still fall within their license period?
Still many more questions than answers, though it sounds like once the January newsletter hits, we should get at least some information and some idea of what’s to come.
One thing is clear, and it was especially evident as I ran down my list of Top 10 figures for 2015, from a product standpoint, the Club going away would be unfortunate. There was some great figures released through the FSS and Convention in 2015, and with the G.I. Joe fandom especially grasping for any crumbs, this seems like a bad time to take away whatever morsels we might get.
Stay tuned.

by generalsjoes | Jan 2, 2016 | G.I. Joe, Kindle Worlds
A short while ago, we announced an exciting G.I. Joe themed Kindle Worlds crossover event entitled G.I. Joe: Legacy! The idea was for four separate Kindle Worlds authors (Jim Beard, Bill Nedrow, Troy Osgood and myself) to write different installments of a G.I. Joe story taking place in different era’s of time, from the 1970s all the way up until the 21st century.
Well, Part 01, featuring the Adventure Team is online! It’s a novella, very affordably priced at only .99 and will be kicking off this exciting G.I. Joe: Legacy project. Look for the remaining parts to hit monthly over the next few months. As one might expect, I’m handling the 90s.
Check out Jim’s Adventure Team installment here, it’s a great read, and very quick. Good stuff, and I’m thrilled to be part of this project!
by generalsjoes | Jan 1, 2016 | Uncategorized
I’ll be the first to admit that it’s been a trying year both from a personal standpoint and the “hobby” standpoint. Certainly great things have come throughout 2015, but losing a close friend (as well as close family) always puts a big red “X” through any particular year on the calendar.
As we put 2015 in the rear view mirror and look towards 2016 lets all remember that we are called a community because we are one. My closest friends that I have in the world are all people I met through the G.I. Joe brand and at various G.I. Joe Conventions throughout the years. The mere hint that something like that might not be a given past 2016 is deeply troubling to me, and hopefully troubling to other folks in the community as well.
I keep my hopes up and look towards the New Year with optimism. Hopefully all of you have great things to look forward to as well.
Happy New Year!

by generalsjoes | Dec 31, 2015 | 50th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Kre-O, G.I. Joe Toys
The last couple of years as I sat down to write this up, I think ‘oh, this will be easy this year…there was barely any product’!
Then I go through all of my reviews over the past 12 months and realize that for a line that is supposedly on prolonged life support, we still got some GREAT stuff in 2015. Really great stuff.
Now, I migrated to a new review system in 2015, one that makes calculating review scores a bit more granular. But, I’ll be honest… I still went by the seat of my pants on this rundown, and looked at these figures from the perspective of a 100 mile view. It can be tough to write up a review “hot off the presses” right when I get a figure in hand, because honestly, that’s often when I’m in love the most. It can be tough to be impartial that close to the newness of that toy for the first time.
So I whittled down the list and ultimately looked at figures that I could step away from for a little while and gauge my appreciation.
The results are after the break.
(more…)
by generalsjoes | Dec 31, 2015 | G.I. Joe, Podcasts
It’s a Christmas miracle! Those fine British folks celebrate the holidays with a Christmas themed episode covering all the latest end of year G.I. Joe and Action Force news and notes!
Also starting in this episode, the news will be brought to you by GeneralsJoes.com. Hear my dulcet tones as I reveal the latest news from the world of G.I. Joe and hand it off to the Full Force guys for discussion.
There’s a LOT to talk about with this episode, so make sure you head over to the Podbean site to check it out. The latest episode is also embedded below.
Keep your eyes on the Full Force Facebook Page for contest information and for the latest show notes.
FUULLL FOOOOOOORRRRRCE!
