by generalsjoes | Jul 10, 2012 | Exclusives, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Reviews, SDCC, SDCC Reviews, Show and Convention Coverage
In celebration of San Diego ComicCon, which is quickly approaching, I completed my review of the soon to be released SDCC Exclusive “Shockwave” HISS Tank! Kindly supplied by Hunter PR and Hasbro, I was extremely fortunate enough to get my hands on this a couple of days early so you SDCC attendees know what you’re getting into and why you’re waiting in that six hour line!
Check out the review on my 25th Anniversary Page, and also at the direct link below. I know this doesn’t really belong in the 25th Anniversary necessarily, I’m still struggling to find a place.
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 1, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Extreme, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, JoeCon 2012, Show and Convention Coverage
Good morning! I apologize about the delay in coverage for this as the Convention quickly turned into a whirlwind yesterday afternoon and evening. The Collectors’ Club roundtable kicked off yesterday afternoon and much was discussed.
Brian apologized for what happened with the credit card system and revealed some details about how the third party software vendor and service provider could have done some things better. There were programming errors in the web form they provided and no security package installed within the application as there should have been. He did took full responsibility for what occurred, and informed us that he used a famous security analyst to uncover the issue and ensure that the new software package had all of the required security.
They discussed quite a bit about the package design for the carded Footloose and the Convention exclusive items, breaking down the numerous paint applications required for each figure. Also discussed was the upcoming Membership Incentive figures. For 2013, they are as follows:
- 12″ Comrade of Action – an undercover Adventure Team agent in Russia
- 4″ Iceberg! Borrowing elements from the classic version, but attempting a more modern twist. No figure picture was shown, but details were revealed.
Speaking a bit on the Figure Subscription Service as well, and showing off those figures at the front of the hall. They are still testing the software platform for the store, and are hoping to get it online and rolled out shortly. Still aren’t revealing 100% concrete pricing structure yet, as costs have changed in the manufacturing process over the past 8 months. The figures for the FSS are essentially a “pre-order” where they will solicit the subscription, and then produce figures based on the demand from the orders.
They also announced… FIGURE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE WAVE 2!
Hoping to get that launched, again, based on demand, after Wave 1 has settled somewhat, and even have three figures lined up for it:
- Dragonsky
- Big Bear
- Night Force Lt. Falcon
A mock up picture was shown of Dragonsky, but not for the other two. Big Bear will come with his trusty hat and a new head sculpt, while Lt. Falcon will be similar to the canceled 25th Anniversary Night Force version only with the new sculpted head from the Marauders 7-pack.
Again, I know this posting is late, but keep in mind I do a lot of Live Tweeting and up-to-the-minute news updates from my Twitter Feed. Check out the images from the presentation below.
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by generalsjoes | Jun 30, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, 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 Video Game, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, JoeCon 2012, Show and Convention Coverage
I’m between seminars at the moment, but wanted to at least get the slideshow images posted from the 2013 Product demonstration. Many of these items will be in the display and I will get those images posted throughout the day as well, but wanted to get this AWESOME stuff up first. Highlights:
- Micro Force Quarter-Sized collectible figures in blind bags. Over 80 figures to collect and trade. Foot holes are compatible with normal vehicle foot pegs for display!
- Alpha sized Night Landing vehicle with Cobra Eel. Cobra Eel figure is the canceled Rise of Cobra Ripcord which is extremely detailed, highly accessorized and uses the figure design that was sculpted to resemble the Sigma 6 Sigma Suits
- Night Viper is moved up to Wave 3
- Very movie accurate “Ultimate Firefly” with mini-HISS in Wave 3
- Very movie accurate “Cobra Trooper” (Cobra Combat Ninja) in Wave 3
- Movie accurate “Ultimate Duke” (with Data-Viper Predator Drone) in Wave 3
- Comic accurate/toy accurate Snake Eyes ’85 w/ Timber totally newly tooled in Wave 4
- Crimson Guard in Wave 5 with customizable label sheet
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More details as they emerge! Follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Tweets and posts from the SyFy panel and the GIJCC panel later today.
by generalsjoes | Jun 29, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2012, Pursuit of COBRA, Show and Convention Coverage
I think most fans seem to be having the same sentiment in regards to the concept shelf, and the same feeling of mixed emotions. While I personally love to see pre-production items, unproduced items, and things in various stages of design and production, having a full blown glass case of figures that are currently not due for release is a real blow to the gut.
That’s not to say I don’t want to see them and I want Hasbro to not show this stuff…I absolutely love it and eat this up, but it does fill me with some serious mixed emotions. Obviously the G.I. Joe: Renegades shelf hit me hard with very nice, crisp pre-production Coyote and Flint’s Jeep concepts. Scrap Iron was a beauty as well. But for many folks, it was likely the 30th Anniversary shelf that was particularly devastating.
An awesome Flint update with his classic look, accompanied by Lady Jaye. Beachhead, HEAT-Viper, Snow Serpent, Laser-Viper, Tele-Viper…and Hit & Run. Oh good God that Hit & Run. This figure is something I’ve been dreaming about with the character for years. It reeked of Hit & Run perfection…but apparently it is not to be. Twist that knife a little deeper, Hasbro.
In all seriousness, I cannot stop commending the Hasbro designers for what they’re able to do. This case was loaded with a ton of great looking figures that were by and large cobbled together from existing parts, and the fact that they could get updated designs to come out as strong and flawless as they did without doing too much new tooling is quite simply astounding. Applause, Hasbro designers… now, how do we convince the bean counters to let this stuff get to retail?
Check out some images below, as organized as I can make them. I will refine this all into a SuperPage at some point very soon, but for now, let’s just get the images up there.
G.I. Joe: Renegades
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G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary and the Pursuit of Cobra
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G.I. Joe: Legend of the Arashikage Ninja
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G.I. Joe: Zombie Attack
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G.I. Joe Vehicle Concepts
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Items of note… the guy with the hockey mask is a “Dreadnok Trooper”. The Howler and the Diver were both shown in Providence. The diver figure has the familiar “Sigma 6” ports on his uniform, so that wounds me like a gunshot. The bearded guy behind the Dreadnok Trooper is an unreleased PoC Clutch.
In talking with John Warden and Derryl, they were certain to point out that these are all definitely concepts and not to expect release on anything shown here, however, they were very interested to hear in our favorites. They strongly encouraged communication with Hasbro to express our interest in some of these offerings.
I plan on rolling out some polls and top ten lists perhaps next week once Con hysteria slows down to try and form up some sort of consistent message that can hopefully be relayed about how much we want to see some of these items released. I would imagine stuff like the G.I. Joe: Renegades items are pretty much off the table, just because of the nature of the brand at this point, but I would imagine there might be other possibilities if we can express our opinions intelligently and constructively.
As I said, I will get this better organized in a SuperPage format going forward, but I wanted to at least get the images out there, I know they are spreading like wildfire already as it is. Interesting note in my opinion was that all of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation product shown had shelf tags leading up to 4/12/2013, but nothing beyond. That shows to me there is still a lot planned for next year, so it will be interesting to see what ends up being revealed tomorrow at the Hasbro seminar.
Fingers crossed!
More coverage to come, I promise. Sorry for the delay on this stuff. Crazy day as you can imagine.
by generalsjoes | Jun 28, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Special Ops, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe Video Game, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: The Movie, IDW, JoeCon 2012, Show and Convention Coverage
Granted I haven’t been paying a lot of attention online over the past 24 hours, but to my knowledge these further details about Convention seminars haven’t really been discussed. Starting on Friday and running through Sunday, the various seminars and panels have been a destination for Convention goers every year. Looks like this year is no different. In fact, it looks like we have some VERY exciting news coming up for the Hasbro panels with two special announcements and reveals! Excellent.
Be sure to stay tuned to GeneralsJoes.com for the latest and greatest.
Here are some details on the seminars we’ll be seeing, according to the write up in the 2012 Convention Comic:
Behind-the scenes of G.I. Joe: Retaliation – Hasbro (Saturday 10:00 – 10:50am)
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of G.I. Joe: Retaliation! Hasbro GI Joe designer, Logan Lubera, will share his experience of being embedded directly on the set of the new movie! Find the inside scoop on how Logan and Hasbro partnered with Paramount Pictures, director Jon Chu, and actors Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis to bring an authentic GI Joe experience to life on the big screen. From script development to costume, vehicle, and weapon design, Logan will share his ultimate G.I. Joe adventure and answer your questions about the making of the movie!
Insider’s Guide t0 the G.I. Joe 2013 Product Line…including a special SNEAK PEEK! – Hasbro (Saturday 11:00am – 11:50am)
Join Hasbro’s lead G.I. Joe designer John Warden and Global Marketing Leader Derryl DePriest in a roundtable discussion where they will answer your questions about the 2013 line and give first hand insight into what is going on with the brand both present and future. Be the first to hear not one, but TWO exciting new announcements for the G.I. Joe product line. You won’t want to miss this exciting reveal!
G.I. Joe Collectors Club (Saturday 3:00pm – 3:50pm)
Join the Club staff as they answer your burning questions about the club, figure creation, manufacturing and the announcement of future exclusives! Panel hosts – Brian Savage, Lanny Lathem, David S. Lane, and Pete Sinclair.
IDW’s G.I. Joe: Real American Heroes (Saturday 4:00pm – 4:50pm)
What’s coming up on IDW’s G.I. Joe, and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero titles? Editor Carlos Guzman will discuss new storylines in store for the G.I. Joe books and the return of fan-favorite characters. There’ll be some new surprises as well…after all, Oktober is Coming!
GIJCC Magazine and Comic Q & A (Friday 12:00pm – 12:50pm)
For the latest scoop on the GIJCC Magazine and an inside look at this year’s Convention comic “G.I. Joe VS Cobra Issue 5: Operation Bear Trap”, be sure to check out this panel hosted by David S. Lane.
G.I. Joe: Special Ops – Bringing the battle between G.I. JOE and COBRA Online (SyFy Games/Hasbro) (Saturday 1:00pm – 1:50pm)
Get an inside look at the conception, creation and development of the G.I. JOE: Special Ops game. Learn about how the SyFy Games (publisher), Artplant (developer) and Hasbro teams joined forces to create the first-ever multiplayer online game for G.I. JOE. Hear how the characters were selected and created for a 3D digital world as well as which characters will be added to the game next!
Of course, there are also many other great seminars being shown, like the 1982 panel from Kirk Bozigian, the Costume Play panel from Cobra’s Finest, Operation: Shooting Star! which showcases how some of the awesome 90’s era themed brands came about. There are also the voice actor panels, Mark Bellomo’s informative presentation, and the Art of G.I. Joe with Rod Whigham and Larry Selman. The full schedule of events for the Convention weekend and the seminars can be found at GIJoeCon.com right here.
