The G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club kindly sent along an email reminder today that today is the deadline for placing your pre-order for the second run of the Oktober Guard Convention set. Don’t miss your second chance! This doesn’t come around very often. The context of the email is below:
“The official G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club is proud to announce a special limited edition second-run of the “sold out” and extremely popular 2012 Operation: Bear Trap! convention set. This exclusive Oktober Guard vs. Iron Grenadiers set includes fifteen modern era 3 3/4-inch action figures with weapons and accessories. You will get the classic Oktober Guard characters such as Colonel Brekhov, Daina, Schrage, Stormavik and Horror Show. Plus, for the first time ever… the Oktober Guard General: Iron Bear. The Iron Grenadiers have unique troop builders that include: Iron Grenadier Elite Troopers x4, Iron Grenadier Elite Guards x2, Iron Grenadier Heavy Weapon Specialists x2 and also for the first time ever… the Iron Grenadier General: Voltar! Don’t miss this limited edition second-run of these fantastic Oktober Guard vs. Iron Grenadiers action figures. You must be an official G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club member to order. Visit the Club Store to pre-order before the Nov. 30th, 2012 deadline! (Product will be shipping in the spring of 2013, exact date TBD). Cost is $360 per set (plus shipping). Only boxed sets will be produced and the production run will only be what is pre-ordered. Don’t miss this final opportunity to own this highly sought after set! Check it out at GIJoeClub.com/shop.
For pictures of the individual figures from GIJoeCon.com click here!
It was supposedly a close race between Big Boa and Cover Girl as to which carded image the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club would show first, and Big Boa won out. Turns out, though, that Cover Girl fans (like Gary Godsoe) wouldn’t have to wait too long.
Over on their Facebook page, the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club has posted their latest carded FSS image, and it is indeed the former model and now an armor operator… check out their Facebook page for the latest intel, and take a peek at the mirrored image below.
Not too long ago I posted about the excellent Acid Free Gallery G.I. Joe licensed prints, which had been available at NYCC, and then were available online in their store. Apparently they are kicking off another terrific project, this one by Rhys Cooper.
It looks like they have three Cobra prints in the hopper and the first one has been revealed in the form of The Baroness. It looks pretty amazing, and I’m officially excited to see the other two. Check out the image mirrored below, and keep your eyes on the Acid Free Gallery blog to see the other two and buy The Baroness on December 6th!
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.
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:
