by generalsjoes | Jul 4, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, Dollar Store, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: The Movie, JoeCon 2012, Pursuit of COBRA, Show and Convention Coverage
And no, I’m not talking about bringing home toys. I’m talking about intangible things. Opinions, feelings, impressions, etc…
I felt quite lucky throughout the weekend to be able to spend quite a bit of time with various folks at the Convention. Whether it was speaking with Lanny or Brian from the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club at the Golden Ticket dinner, or speaking to Hasbro at the Charity Casino Night dinner and on the sales floor. I was left with a series of impressions, both good and bad, and I’m not certain folks who weren’t there could grasp that through the convention coverage.
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by generalsjoes | Jul 3, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie, JoeCon 2012, Podcasts, Show and Convention Coverage, What's on Joe Mind
Yes, here is Special Edition #16…a very special edition indeed. Back when I hopped on this little internet radio show, it seemed like a very fun way to kill some time and explore the G.I. Joe fandom in different ways, but that’s really all it was. Even as it felt like our bonds were growing closer with each episode and our barriers were coming down, I never really thought the show would necessarily evolve to anything…it was still just four buddies BS’ing about G.I. Joe.
Over the next many months, the show would lose a friend to other commitments, but gain another, and along the way make connections with voice actors, G.I. Joe comic professionals, and even the director of a certain major motion picture to come in March, 2013. Through it all, it was just four guys having fun.
Well, this past weekend these four guys having fun got a very rare opportunity to sit down for a lengthy 25 minute round table discussion with several members of Hasbro’s design and marketing team. The folks directly responsible for those four inch pieces of plastic that decorate your house in such vast numbers. I can’t quite express how cool it was for Hasbro and for Justin Aclin from Hunter PR to make this all happen. In normal circumstances, even having a chance to talk with one person from the Hasbro team would have been amazing. But on Sunday morning, we were fortunate enough to sit down with not one… not two… not even three… we had a great round table discussion with four members of the Hasbro G.I. Joe team.
John Warden, designer mastermind of the G.I. Joe line. Dave Proctor, sculpting manager and the sculptor of one of everyone’s favorite G.I. Joe figures ever, the 30th Anniversary Storm Shadow. Erik Arana, an input designer, and along with Wayne Park, one of the geniuses behind the G.I. Joe: Resolute 7-Packs as well as design elements of the Slaughter’s Marauders and Dreadnoks 7-Packs. Last, but absolutely not least we spoke with Joe Del Regno, the current Marketing Director for the G.I. Joe line.
During this discussion, we covered a wealth of topics including the controversy behind the “Concept Case” as well as how fans can get their voices heard and express their desire to see certain figures come to light. We speak about G.I. Joe: Retaliation, upcoming releases for 2013, and much more. It was a very fun discussion, and was the highlight of the entire weekend for the What’s on Joe Mind team.
Cold Slither came close, but in the end, the Hasbro team won the vote.
This is a very quick episode, only about 25 minutes so even folks who don’t listen to the podcast should check it out and learn some cool things that you may not have known otherwise!
I’m certain I speak from everyone on the What’s on Joe Mind team when I say THANK YOU to John, Dave, Erik, Joe, and Justin for all working so hard together to get us that slot of time and for devoting their precious time to the show. It was extremely exciting for us, and hopefully exciting for the Joe community as well. Check it out on Podbean, or listen via the embedded players below:
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by generalsjoes | Jul 3, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: Renegades, G.I. Joe: The Movie, Podcasts, What's on Joe Mind
Well, the guys from What’s on Joe Mind were out in force for the 2012 International G.I. Joe Collectors’ Convention in New Orleans over the weekend, and they attacked the Joe fandom with a ton of content over the past few days.
I am outlining some of that content here, but will save the extra special event over the Con weekend for it’s own post.
What’s on Joe Mind Special Edition #15 – Day 2 & 3 of GIJoeCon Coverage
We focused on the day one coverage right here, but What’s on Joe Mind came back for days 2 & 3, recording from the booth of AVAC and noted author James Kavanaugh where we talked about JoeCon so far, specifically focusing on the Attendee exclusives which were revealed and also talking about the now infamous “Concept Case” that Hasbro brought to the show to give Joe fans a peek behind the glass, so to speak. The swear they didn’t do it to break hearts, that was just a neat side effect. Check out this episode at Podbean, or via the embedded players below.
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What’s on Joe Mind Special Edition #17 – The G.I. Joe Convention Wrap Up!
Wait a minute…where’s Special Edition #16? I’ll cover that one separately.
In this quick and to the point special edition, the What’s on Joe Mind crew get back together as the Convention prepares to wrap up, and you can feel the fatigue in our voices. We’re joined by the guys from Moderately Geeky as well as Terry Dizard and Jim Dolan from YoJoe! We also speak with John from JoeArmory.com and of course talk about everything we saw, heard, and experienced in New Orleans throughout the weekend. The main focus is on the information gathered from the Hasbro round tables as well as the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club. Information on new releases revealed for 2013 as well as next year’s membership figure and FSS Wave 2?!? Check it all out at Podbean.com or through the players below.
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by generalsjoes | Jul 1, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe: The Movie, JoeCon 2012, Show and Convention Coverage
This coverage of the behind-the-scenes look at G.I. Joe: Retaliation hadn’t gone live yet just because there wasn’t really any “breaking news” so to speak, just some awesome glimpses of the production art, weapons, and costumes of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film.
Logan Lubera, a Hasbro representative, spent four months essentially embedded with Paramount, providing consulting, approval, and negotiation every single step of the way. From weapon design to costume design, to action set pieces, Logan had a hand in many of the elements of the Retaliation motion picture. He actually designed the entire Battle Kata weapons system, initially as something that could be used for role play in the toyline, but it actually ended up being included in the film itself! This was something Logan was especially proud of.
Throughout the entirety of the film, their main desire was to bring G.I. Joe back down to Earth. Make it much more gritty and realistic military action film, drawing back the super hero “shiny armor” elements. Focus much more tightly on quick-paced, character themed action and much less on huge spectacle and special effects.
There are many vehicles injected into the film, more than what we’ve seen in trailers and footage so far, and a lot of character-based nods to the fans as well. As many folks have suspected, Jinx was given the yellow mountain fighting suit to separate her a bit from the Red Ninjas and also as an homage to Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.
As with many of the panels, you can read all of my aggregated Live Tweets on my Twitter Feed to get more insight and information.
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by generalsjoes | Jun 25, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
I will admit, I’m not entirely sure what a “Powerblock” is, but apparently it’s a TV series on Spike geared towards fans of motorsports. Last week the show aired a segment going behind the scenes of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and had some considerable content on not only the transforming Cobra motorcycle that we’ve seen in several clips, but also with what looks to be a G.I. Joe themed military dune buggy.
According to PowerblockTV.com it looks as if certain segments air online after airing on television, so there is a good chance we’ll get to see this segment, but for now, we rely on press photos courtesy of Comic Book Movie.
Check out the mirrored images and the episode synopsis below.
“This weekend on PowerBlock, we go behind the scenes of G.I. Joe: Retaliation slated to hit movie theaters in Spring 2013. Our sponsor Royal Purple has a role in this sequel to “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra,” and Courtney gives you an advanced look at some of the vehicles including a 17’ combat dune buggy armed with a 50 caliber machine gun and a radically transformed 796 Ducati attack bike. The buggy weighs nearly 6000 pounds and has 450 horsepower. You’ll meet the builder and Picture Car Coordinator, Bill Barillaro, responsible for the buggy and 22-ton, 16′ tall Hiss Tank. Bill started his career in the movie “Speed” as a bus mechanic. Courtney also welcomes the man who arms all the vehicles and the actors, Kevin McCullough. Check it out on PowerBlock June 23 & 24. For more go to GIJoemovie.com or RoyalPurple.com”
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by generalsjoes | Jun 25, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
It seems like forever since we all expected G.I. Joe: Retaliation to hit theaters on Friday, and we celebrate this week with an Aint It Cool News interview with Channing Tatum. A big rumor surrounding the delay of the film was that Tatum was going to be brought back to life considering his recent surge in popularity.
If Duke is indeed getting better from his rumored demise, it certainly seems like Tatum is the last to know. Either that, or the production has enough existing footage to shoot around the events. Aint it Cool News’ Capone spoke with Tatum about Magic Mike, and thankfully managed to squeak in some G.I. Joe questions among all the male stripper talk.
“Capone: Before I let you go, because I’ve got to ask, can you shed any light on what is going on with this G.I. JOE sequel right now?
CT: You know what? I would love to, and this is the honest answer, they haven’t talked to me about anything. I haven’t even seen the movie, so I don’t know anything.
Capone: I keep hearing they’re going to bring you back in to do some reshoots.
CT: They haven’t called me. Everybody sends me the Deadline reports, all of my friends and even my representation. They’re just kind of like, “Has anybody called you?” I’m like “No,” then they’re like “Well they haven’t called us.” So I don’t really know. I have no idea.
Capone: All right, well I had to ask.
[Both Laugh]
CT: We’ll see, though, very shortly I’m guessing.
Capone: They’ve got a lot of time to play with.
CT: Yeah, exactly. More than enough, right?
Capone: Yeah.
CT: Which is interesting. I’m intrigued to see what their plan is. [G.I. JOE: RETALIATION Producer] Lorenzo di Bonaventura, he’s also a producer on BITTER PILL. So I’m going to see him very shortly here, and I’m going to be like, “What’s up, dude?” [Laughs] “What’s the deal?”
Rumors have already been floating around out there that Channing Tatum had already come back for potential reshoots a number of months ago, and even more rumors suggested that multiple endings had been shown in test screenings, which may have partially resulted in the decision to delay the film. My guess is yes, there will be plot tweaks to the film to remove Duke’s death, but it is also quite possible that no reshoots will be required on Tatum’s end.
Time will tell. Check out the full interview on AICN, and thanks to Dolemite from HissTank.com for the information.