by generalsjoes | May 30, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club
Obviously not wanting the reveal of the G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary figures to steal all the thunder, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has given us our first FSS 3.0 reveal!
Spearhead and Max in their original 1988 color scheme! This is a Photoshop mock up, so final colors may change, but it’s a good idea of what we’re looking to get when the next FSS kicks off.
Keep watching GIJoeClub.com for the latest news and updates on the Figure Subscription Service!
by generalsjoes | May 8, 2014 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Toys
Hot of the heels of an especially great Convention exclusive set, we now have an equally great membership incentive figure! Available carded at the Convention itself (and through the Club store), the free membership figure started arriving last week.
Well, I got mine, and you can check out the review at the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review page, or also linked below.
by generalsjoes | Apr 30, 2014 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Toys
When you’re pounding through 20 something reviews in 10 days, some times there are some details that get missed, and unfortunately it’s been pointed out to me that complaints about Outback’s arm articulation were likely because I had his left arm positioned backwards throughout most of the review.
That is a true point, though it doesn’t help the movement issues in his right arm, but hey, if you’re cool with Outback being left-handed then he can hold and position his weapons a LOT better than I indicated in my review.
So I do apologize, and from now on in my universe, ole Outback is a south paw. 🙂
I’ve added the images and a little clarification text to my Outback review as well. Thanks to the folks who pointed this out to me.
by generalsjoes | Apr 28, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2014, Show and Convention Coverage
First and foremost, a HUGE thanks to long time Joe friend and fellow website admin Fred from JoeBattleLines. For folks who don’t follow me on Twitter, you may not know this, but during my trip to JoeCon, my beloved Fuji digital camera got destroyed in transit. That’s one of the reasons why my pictures from JoeCon were all of the less-than-optimal smart phone variety. So, fresh off an expensive JoeCon trip, I was faced with the distinct possibility of replacing my camera.
Well, Fred heard my dilemma and without hesitation, sent a loaner in the mail to me at his own expense. It was that camera that I used to take all of the pictures for these reviews, so make sure you thank Fred for his quick generosity. It’s quite possible these reviews may not have happened nearly as quickly without his help. While you’re at it, check out JoeBattleLines.com or on Facebook or Twitter to see his Joe reviews and general geekery.
Now, on to the review talk..
The questions generally start coming in about a day or two after I return from the Convention… “when are you going to post the Convention Set reviews?!”
In previous years I had sort of combined all of the individual pieces into one review, but it was getting arduous and lengthy, and I felt like each individual part of the set was not getting its due scrutiny. So starting last year I broke everything out into individual reviews, all linked to one central “Set Review”. Is the format perfect? Nope, probably not. And really, in my opinion, there’s no way to slam out 20 reviews in 2 weeks time without some of it sounding repetitive. Hopefully I do these toys justice, because there are some fantastic ones in here.
You can hit up the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review page, or just click the link below for this monster. This will hopefully be a good way to kill a couple of hours on a busy Monday.
by generalsjoes | Apr 17, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Toys
Anyone who follows the Transformers Collectors Club has heard about the “Shattered Glass” phenomenon by now. Essentially it’s a “mirror universe” situation where the good guys are bad guys and vice versa. Based loosely off of the “Mirror, Mirror” episode of Star Trek, it is a very interesting storyline idea, and seems to have worked somewhat effectively for Transformers.
The question is, does it work the same way (or could it work the same way) for G.I. Joe?
Brian Savage posed that very question during the Collectors Club round table at the 2014 G.I. Joe Convention, and to my great surprise, the majority of people in attendance raised their hands in favor of a Shattered Glass element to the G.I. Joe Collectors Club toy offerings. So where is this coming from? For folks who haven’t been reading the G.I. Joe Collectors Club newsletter, in the very fun Adventure Team comic by Todd Pleasant and Rod Whigham (yes, that Rod Whigham) has shown the Adventurers passing through the Bermuda triangle, and into a parallel universe where Cobra is the leading governmental entity, and has recruited some G.I. Joe operatives to serve under them (most notably Flint, Lady Jaye, and Wild Bill). So the question comes up, does this formula work for the toys?
My opinion? No, no it doesn’t. At least not right now.
The Collectors Club has been finding a very successful formula recently for their exclusives and convention offerings. They have been able to walk that line between paying homage to the vintage elements, pulling from other mythologies (Extreme, Action Force, and Adventure Team) and adding some neat new things to create a great synergy between all of those. This year’s Convention set was a primary example. We got some cool ECO Force vintage figures, new style Outback and Clutch figures, and a cool zombie storyline all woven together to create some really fun toys. What happens when Shattered Glass gets injected into that?
Pete Sinclair with the Collectors Club was quick to say that Transformers fans were negative about Shattered Glass at first, but seem to have come around…but Transformers also has a myriad of other mainstream toy lines to collect. If Transformers fans don’t like Shattered Glass, they can always just buy retail (or third party for that matter). If G.I. Joe fans don’t like Shattered Glass, and the Club is devoting significant resources to Shattered Glass, those G.I. Joe fans are simply out of luck.
I realize that Hasbro and the Collectors Club have done a number of updates and hundreds of new toys under the G.I. Joe banner over the past several years, but they are still just scratching the surface. There are still many more different paths the brand could take. I just don’t believe, at this point, that Shattered Glass is among them.
What are your thoughts? If you feel strongly one way or another, I strongly suggest you contact the Collectors Club. Get them on Twitter, on Facebook, or on their forums at GIJoeClub.com. Share your concerns (if you have them). The vote at the Convention seemed pretty clear to my eyes that the Club was preparing to move forward on this. If you have strong feelings, please express them. The Club needs to know one way or the other.
by generalsjoes | Apr 16, 2014 | Boss Fight Studio, Customs, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, JoeCon 2014, Podcasts, Show and Convention Coverage, What's on Joe Mind
So just prior to the 2014 G.I. Joe Convention, the What’s on Joe Mind crew got together and recorded Episode 93…this was, of course, before Episode 92 was even finished yet, but we wanted to get Convention preparation online as quickly as possible.
From the floor of JoeCon we kept the recorder flying, and have posted a number of quick “One Shots” from Package Pick Up night and from the Custom Class itself.
All told we recorded several hours worth of content throughout the weekend, including many of the seminars, and pending approval from The G.I. Joe Collectors Club, we’ll hopefully be able to post some of those. Until then, though, enjoy our coverage (so far) of the 2014 G.I. Joe Convention!
Episode 93
Why episode 93?! Well, because episode 92 is not ready yet. However, this one is ready and why make anyone wait? It’s our “LIVE” show before JoeCon. Once again we are joined by the Vice President of The Crappy Figure Brigade, Don Anderson. We finally let Chuck talk a little wrestling, but really this episode is about one thing, JoeCon. The guys will preview the convention schedule and will give you an up-to-the-minute AccuWeather forecast for Dallas. It’s raw and unfiltered and contains 50% more Chuck – so play this out of earshot of kids.
For the rest of the updates click the Continue Reading link below, and huge thanks to Planet Nerd Rage Productions for sponsoring the WOJM coverage for JoeCon 2014!
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