For folks who are fans of Lego and fans of G.I. Joe, the following video will make you cheer and possibly cry. An immense Lego G.I. Joe diorama was showcased at the G.I. Joe Convention in New Orleans and this below video was shown as part of the short film contest.
It’s an incredible look at the awesome ways G.I. Joe and Lego can work together, but a reminder that, to date, there is no official license joining the two. Good friend of GeneralsJoes Todd from Magnum 6 Delta brought this video to my attention, and I was able to meet its excellent creator at the JoeCon itself.
During the Hasbro presentation at GIJoeCon this past weekend we were treated to a special trailer for the upcoming online game G.I. Joe: Special Ops! Over on their Facebook page, SyFy Games did the same thing so the rest of you guys can check it out as well.
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.
This news crossed a couple of days ago, but I was in the middle of post Convention nervous breakdown so I didn’t get a chance to jump on it. Thankfully, Jose over at Now Back to G.I. Joe is all over it, and actually posted the sneak peek!
Rumored to be revealed at San Diego ComicCon next week (alongside her chrome-domed companion) The Baroness looks striking in her skin-tight black outfit and layered armored plate. Sideshow Collectibles designed a whole new female body for The Baroness, and it looks like we’re very close to finding out just how well it works.
Check out the mirrored image below and thanks again to TheRealJoseGon on Twitter for the peek.
With JoeCon behind us, all eyes are forward to the next big event, which takes form in the shape of the Canadian JoeCon, coming August 10th – 11th at the Sheraton in Toronto, Ontario! The show has been running for several years, and is one of the favorite destinations of not just Canadian G.I. Joe fans, but also many domestic fans as well. One of the highlights of the show is the super-limited edition figure boxed set, which has dominated the secondary market and thrilled Joe fans across many countries.
The Canadian JoeCon celebrated Canada Day by revealing their first figure in the set… Traction! Apparently a vehicle driver, Traction is also an explosives expert. Not satisfied with one reveal, this morning, the Canadian JoeCon launched a preview for figure #2… H.A.G.A.R.! In a very surprising move, the Canadian JoeCon guys dipped back into the o-ring wells, using the Valor Vs. Venom B.A.T. figure with a more modern vest on top of it. Very interesting choice.
Yes, here is Special Edition #16…a very special edition indeed. Back when I hopped on this little internet radio show, it seemed like a very fun way to kill some time and explore the G.I. Joe fandom in different ways, but that’s really all it was. Even as it felt like our bonds were growing closer with each episode and our barriers were coming down, I never really thought the show would necessarily evolve to anything…it was still just four buddies BS’ing about G.I. Joe.
Over the next many months, the show would lose a friend to other commitments, but gain another, and along the way make connections with voice actors, G.I. Joe comic professionals, and even the director of a certain major motion picture to come in March, 2013. Through it all, it was just four guys having fun.
Well, this past weekend these four guys having fun got a very rare opportunity to sit down for a lengthy 25 minute round table discussion with several members of Hasbro’s design and marketing team. The folks directly responsible for those four inch pieces of plastic that decorate your house in such vast numbers. I can’t quite express how cool it was for Hasbro and for Justin Aclin from Hunter PR to make this all happen. In normal circumstances, even having a chance to talk with one person from the Hasbro team would have been amazing. But on Sunday morning, we were fortunate enough to sit down with not one… not two… not even three… we had a great round table discussion with four members of the Hasbro G.I. Joe team.
John Warden, designer mastermind of the G.I. Joe line. Dave Proctor, sculpting manager and the sculptor of one of everyone’s favorite G.I. Joe figures ever, the 30th Anniversary Storm Shadow. Erik Arana, an input designer, and along with Wayne Park, one of the geniuses behind the G.I. Joe: Resolute 7-Packs as well as design elements of the Slaughter’s Marauders and Dreadnoks 7-Packs. Last, but absolutely not least we spoke with Joe Del Regno, the current Marketing Director for the G.I. Joe line.
During this discussion, we covered a wealth of topics including the controversy behind the “Concept Case” as well as how fans can get their voices heard and express their desire to see certain figures come to light. We speak about G.I. Joe: Retaliation, upcoming releases for 2013, and much more. It was a very fun discussion, and was the highlight of the entire weekend for the What’s on Joe Mind team.
Cold Slither came close, but in the end, the Hasbro team won the vote.
This is a very quick episode, only about 25 minutes so even folks who don’t listen to the podcast should check it out and learn some cool things that you may not have known otherwise!
I’m certain I speak from everyone on the What’s on Joe Mind team when I say THANK YOU to John, Dave, Erik, Joe, and Justin for all working so hard together to get us that slot of time and for devoting their precious time to the show. It was extremely exciting for us, and hopefully exciting for the Joe community as well. Check it out on Podbean, or listen via the embedded players below:
