As only Alexx can, he’s covered new Toys “R” Us Exclusive G.I. Joe “Murder Specialist” Bench Press on JoeBattleLines. Check out the mirrored images below. This is one guy I HAVE to find, especially after this. Love it.
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Back in my day, I was a fairly prolific customizer in the vintage Real American Hero format, but in these newer days, the simpler a custom is, the better I like it. I just don’t have time these days to rip figures apart, paint them religiously, and put them all back together, so I always love to hear about simple part swaps, especially when they’re amazingly effective. MadMac41 over at JoeBattleLines has been doing some little part swaps and tweaks on the Rise of Cobra figures pretty much since the day they were released.
He first got my attention with a trio of customs seen on JBL here. Salvo was a very simple part swap, yet looked really neat. Outback didn’t take much messing with, but, again, looked like a really effective movie style update. Recondo was the same way. Here are pics of those three customs that first kind of got my attention:
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As cool as they were, though, I wasn’t sure they were kick ass custom of the week material…but then MadMac posted a pretty neat Dial Tone, and then followed up with Scott McCoy (Chuck Norris in the Delta Squad movies!) and finally a Major Bludd that really rocked. It was the Major Bludd that finally put me over the edge, using the awesome Jungle Assault Ripcord figure base with that great camouflage scheme, a Reactive Armor arm, and the Anniversary Bludd head. It all just fit together too nicely.
So, due to the sheer volume of work and the amazing improvements he’s made since beginning, and my love for this Major Bludd, MadMac gets this rendition of Kick Ass Custom…well-deserved!
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Sorry for the hint of sarcasm… as many folks have no doubt noticed, HissTank.com reported earlier this afternoon that the third wave of Alpha vehicles has been canceled via GIJoeClub.com pre-orders. Friend of GeneralsJoes and JBL staffmember madmac41 went right to the source at the G.I. Joe Club, and was given the same information. Essentially Alpha Wave 3 is not being shipped to retailers as far as they’re aware. Hasbro has released no information about when they might get them out, if they ever do.
This news has, of course, caused fandom hysteria. The Rise of Cobra haters are out in force, as expected, while the folks who enjoy the toys are desperately trying to defend them and find reasoning for this seemingly sudden turn of events. I think everyone needs to step back and get a little perspective.
First of all, I have to think even the most ardent Rise of Cobra supporter (who I count myself one of) has to realize that there is a TON of product out there on shelves, and there has been for a long time. And as refresher cases hit with new figures, those also get packed in with the existing figures, the new figures sell, the existing figures build on pegs with previous releases, and you end up with pegs 12″ deep of version 1 Storm Shadows and not a whole lot else. This, obviously, is a problem.
I find it interesting that this news comes on the heels of Hasbro’s latest Earning Reports, which sounded amazingly optimistic in the press…but, of course, that’s a message to stockholders, which isn’t necessarily indicative of the “real story”. But, on the other hand, the cancellation of a single assortment of overpriced Alpha vehicles is NOT indicative of widespread failure and/or cancellation.
The rosey side says “profits were up 8.8%! The movie made 300 million dollars! There’s a ton of product for people to buy!”
The not-so-rosey side says “peg warmers galore! Cancelling assortments! Deth of teh line!!11!”
So, where’s the truth? As always, somewhere in the middle, I’m sure. I would bet big money that sales of Rise of Cobra product are not what Hasbro expected or hoped for. I have a feeling they did not anticipate such a glut of figures on pegs this deep into the release date, and I have a feeling that the earnings report behind the scenes was probably not as rosey as it appeared in the Associated Press, at least in regards to G.I. Joe.
But, on the other hand, I don’t think the fandom should look at the cancellation of a single assortment of Alpha Vehicles as all doom and gloom. The Alpha’s are overpriced, oversaturated, and undesired, and this 3rd wave of them was rife with repaints as it was. I’ll admit, I’m a bit bummed about the Polar Shark Sub, but nothing else in that assortment breaks my heart in the least.
I think folks on both sides should get some perspective as we eagerly await future Q & A sessions and Toy Fair in the beginning of 2010. I would not be shocked to see a somewhat scaled back push for Pursuit of Cobra, but I don’t think for a second that the line is in danger of assortment-wide cancellation. Ain’t gonna happen. Things may change a bit, but I’m sure Pursuit of Cobra will be right there as expected in 2010. Perhaps it won’t look quite the same, but it’ll be there. At least, it better be…if I don’t get my Resolute 7-Packs, heads are gonna roll… :shifty:
Gotta say, though, I do have to see the humor in some of this…I especially loved a post on the HissTank forums from flash70…
“well that is that…like everyone one is saying bring back the 25th line.
we don’t want multiple dukes, heavy dutys, ripcords, and really bad neo-vipers.
get back to work and start making the 25th line a great product again with $5.99 price points.”
Heh…how soon folks forget. Bringing back the Anniversary line ain’t gonna magically drop prices and instantly “fix” the line, folks. And does anyone really think going back to the Anniversary will reduce the number of duplicate Dukes, Snake Eyes, etc? Did people already put on those rose colored glasses from last year? Wow.
Anyway. Those who are happily singing the death knell for RoC, keep singing…I don’t think it’s dead yet. For those folks who eagerly await the new stuff next year, hold your breath a bit, because it may not shake out how we’re expecting. But as always, things are not as black and white as they seem, and the truth is always somewhere in the middle…
Paramount was kind enough to extend an invitation to GeneralsJoes to attend an exclusive press event that was taking place a couple of weeks ago (the same time we broke the news about the Resolute 7-Packs…the only downside? It was in Los Angeles, and with me being staged in New England…well, there were some obvious logistical difficulties. But GeneralsJoes’ influence extends everywhere :shifty: and a few hours later, I had an LA representative by the name of Mysterious Stranger who was cool enough to not only attend the event, but take some great pictures, and write up the whole shebang. I can’t thank him enough for taking some time out of his busy schedule to allow GeneralsJoes to bring some of this information to the G.I. Joe fandom. Click the “Read the Rest of This Entry” link below for the full report with images and all!
i09.com has posted a nice clip from behind the scenes of the effects from the Rise of Cobra. There’s some cool tidbits about the production of the film and lots of raw footage of the CGI in progress and some insight into the production itself.
Pretty cool…check it out here.
Thanks to a report on Entertainment News International, we know that Brian Goldner, CEO at Hasbro had a conference call yesterday to discuss company earnings, and the topic of G.I. Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony television projects came up. According to ENI:
“Hasbro’s CEO Brian Goldner today during a company earnings conference call made hint to the possibility that G.I. Joe, Transformers and My Little Pony could be returning to television in 2010. Goldner stated that they planned to have television support for these three properties along with Star Wars: The Clone Wars and a number of Marvel related projects…”
Mr. Goldner also talked about the Rise of Cobra and mentioned that the sequel was in the planning stages.
But, most importantly, while talking about the potential television products, it was revealed “…that they plan to reveal more details about these projects at their Hasbro Investor Day event which will be held on November 5, 2009 at their headquarters in Rhode Island.”
So, on the surface, it sounds like things are moving along at a brisk pace. 2010 certainly looks to be a potentially exciting year for G.I. Joe fans, let’s hope everything pans out as expected! Hopefully we’ll hear some cool information come November.