Over on JoeDeclassified, Gyre-Viper has posted a terrific interview with Greg Berndston, who was a long time designer for Hasbro and worked intimately with the G.I. Joe brand during it’s formative years.
They explore a lot of great topics, and it is definitely worth a read. Stuff like this is really the cool “secret world” of G.I. Joe that not many modern collectors appreciate, but really demonstrates some of the great building blocks of the brand as we know it.
Wow, I think it’s safe to say this episode was packed. We had a bunch of stuff to talk about, so we brought on The Mike from the Canadian JoeCon, the guys from the JoBurg Podcast, but we also really wanted to pay some close attention to the guys from Go Go Dynamo, who are behind The Hero Project and also were the lifeblood behind a little 8″ toy line you might have heard of… Sigma 6.
As many episodes of these podcasts that I’ve done, it surprises me that we can continue to talk to folks who I consider personal heroes. Wayne and Tuck from Go Go Dynamo are absolute revolutionaries in design and art, and I considered it a true privilege to talk to them for an hour or so. Cast whatever stones towards Sigma 6 that you might want to, but listening to their absolutely brilliant insight behind toy design, the G.I. Joe universe in 2005 and how that whole thing translates to The Hero Project was one of the most interesting and captivating 60 minutes I’ve ever spent on the show. Truly awesome stuff.
Please consider supporting The Hero Project on Kickstarter, and once you’re done, come on back and hit up our Podbean Page to listen to the latest episode, especially because we also talk a ton about the awesome Canadian JoeCon and keep the JoBurg guys up way past their bed time. Things get pretty wacky!
Check out the embedded player below, and the Show Notes after the jump.
Here we are. Number one. My most requested, most admired, and most longed after item that we saw in the Concept Case at the 2012 G.I. Joe Convention. I will admit something, though. If we’re talking about being impressed by a specific item itself, I would have to admit, the Coyote was probably the most impressive toy that I saw, standing on its own. But with the thought in mind that we will likely never see this thing at retail, I wanted to place the number one moniker on a more realistic goal. A figure with some new tooling (but not too much), and a figure of a character that I have loved for a very long time.
1 – G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary Hit & Run
In 1988 I was just starting high school, and trying to figure out what I wanted to be “when I grew up”. I bounced between being an artist, being a writer, and pretty much as far away from Information Services flunky as you can get. Back in those days, well before I ever heard the term “fanfic” I explored my writing by diving into the G.I. Joe universe. With it being 1988, and the last Sunbow G.I. Joe adventures being behind us, it felt kind of like a new start, even though I was a devout comic fan, and the comic was still going strong. One of the first figures I bought from the 1988 series was Hit & Run, and I was immediately blown away. As a 14 year old kid, I was especially impressed by his background on the filecard, involving the death of his parents, and it immediately gave the character an immense depth in my mind.
My own personal G.I. Joe universe developed over the next couple of years, and in 1990 I really dove into my writing, which involved the Joe team picking up the pieces after a massive battle had eliminated much of their leadership team. Stalker was the new commander, Bullhorn played a key communications role, and Hit & Run earned his spot as the trademark “lone wolf” being rather anti-social and angry at the world because of his rocky upbringing and his inability to stay in one place for too long. As a big fan of Wolverine and The Punisher back then, the whole lone wolf mentality was fresh in my head, and the character was without a doubt the focus of my entire G.I. Joe universe. He wasn’t a ninja like Snake Eyes, but he was fast, awesome with a weapon, and he just didn’t care about anything but killing Cobra.
The character has just always resonated with me, and continued to when I wrote my fanfic The Price of Peace (which is pretty different than what I was writing in 1990, but still had some of those elements in place), and then when I moved over to my Dio-Stories. Hit & Run has always remained a constant, and even as I’ve watched several other characters evolve through new designs and concepts, my trusty ’88 Hit & Run has maintained his place. Yes, we did receive a 25th Anniversary update in the Attack of Cobra Island boxed set, which both surprised and impressed me, but the end result, unfortunately, didn’t really give the character justice in my mind. I wondered if a new version ever would.
Turns out that yes. A new version could do the character justice. Justice in a huge way. As I walked to the Concept Case up ahead, after grabbing my parachute figures from the Sales floor, I had already heard the whispers of people milling around. No less than four people walked up to me in the 20 minutes I was in line, a couple of them practically jogging, to excitedly tell me there was a Hit & Run in the case. I almost couldn’t believe it.
After waiting in line I rushed over, and there it was. A newly tooled head, with the necessary green facepaint and camouflage. Lots of borrowed parts, but parts borrowed from as of yet unreleased figures (upcoming 3-Pack Firefly torso, upcoming 3-Pack Agent Mouse arms) and using the fantastic parachute rig that was never included with Lifeline…essentially the figure looks all new, but with lots of borrowed tooling. Parts choice was perfect, the weapons used were simply fantastic, and the new head, helmet, and goggles simply topped the whole thing off. This figure is freaking gorgeous. Gorgeous. Not only does it look amazing, but it does a perfect job of taking one of my all time favorite characters, as obscure as he might be, and planting him firmly in the modern era, capturing all of the old school spirit, yet making all of the right updates. If I was allowed to make the perfect update to Hit & Run myself, this figure would be the end result. I love this figure so much, I’m desperately trying to not imagine a world where it is never released. I’m trying to convince myself that fan demand will somehow prevail and this figure will end up at retail or as some sort of online exclusive somewhere, some time, and some place. I don’t care when, I don’t care how, and I don’t care how much, this figure must happen.
Getting down to the nitty gritty, which is where you’ll find this particular figure on most people’s want lists. To be honest, if I had been asked a month ago what my most wanted figure would be, this guy would be pretty much have hit the top of the list without any competition.
Well, when Hasbro unveiled the Concept Case at this year’s G.I. Joe Convention suddenly there was a LOT of competition. Vehicles, figures, ideas… it almost relegated this guy to the “been there, done that” pile. But not quite.
One close up look at this figure will tell you that even for folks who don’t really care for the character are still getting a very good G.I. Joe toy.
3 – G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary Kwinn
Of course one might ask, among a team of heavily armored, heavily equipped, future tech sporting super-soldiers, where does an Eskimo with shorts, a khaki shirt, and a weasel skull necklace fit in? That question has obviously been asked a lot, especially by Hasbro themselves as this poor guy (who is a fully tooled and ready for release figure) still has not gotten an opportunity to be released yet.
I think Hasbro pushed fans near the breaking point when they actually displayed him in a case full of unused (and perhaps never-to-be-used) concepts, but based on conversations with Hasbro at JoeCon, I think chances of Kwinn being released are probably around 85 – 90%. This is not a guy you need to worry about never getting your hands on. Regardless, he still stands proud pretty close to the top of my Top Ten list. Admittedly, though, based on responses I’m seeing from the Concept Case survey, I am in the minority for putting him this far back, which should be good news for all of you Kwinn fans out there.
Just wanted to drop a line to remind folks that the Concept Case Survey is still rolling along, and Round 1 will end Friday, July 20th. Responses from Round 1 will be tabulated and I will post the actual SurveyMonkey charting to ensure 100% transparency.
Based on those results, I will set up Round 2 of the Survey to kick off, most likely next Monday, where the winners of Round 1 can face off against each other to get an idea of what the fans want!
Meanwhile, propaganda has started appearing online…the political machine is already at work. Ladies and gentlemen…Joe fans…I encourage you to vote with your hearts. But if you’re easily swayed…
Please be aware, as a neutral party, I believe in equal opportunity…if you have a candidate you want to endorse, find a creative way to express that, and let me know!
Along with the previews this morning, IDW also made available their solicitations for October, 2012, including a full compliment of G.I. Joe titles. We see the fourth (and final) issue of the Danger Girl/G.I. Joe crossover as well as new issues of Cobra, G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and of course G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The whole Target: Snake Eyes initiative kicks off this month as well, which actually excites me, especially if it can approach the levels of coolness we got with Cobra Command.
Of course, these releases are hitting in “Oktober” as well… a theme you will quickly recognize in the titles below.
Good stuff all around. Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the full list.
