Select Page

More information emerges about G.I. Joe: Renegades launch date and writing staff

Keep in mind, I’m taking some of this information with a grain of salt, because the language within the interview is somewhat unclear.  But according to an interview with Greg Johnson at 411Mania, there is a possibility that G.I. Joe: Renegades might air early November…perhaps even the 10th.
Honestly, I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate.  There’s no telling when this interview was done (though it was only released yesterday) but Mr. Johnson specifically mentioning the 10th appears to me to be more related to the debut of The Hub rather than Renegades specifically.  We’ll see.
To me, the better information is that Greg Johnson is involved in the first place.  This guy is an action animation powerhouse, who has been involved in a wealth of fantastic animation.  This is his resume:

  • Beast Wars
  • X-Men: Evolution
  • Ultimate Avengers & Ultimate Avengers II
  • Invincible Iron Man
  • Dr. Strange
  • Wolverine and the X-Men

So yeah, pretty much every Marvel related animation release over the past several years has been written by Greg Johnson.  Just seeing Beast Wars, X-Men: Evolution, and Wolverine and the X-Men on this list is freaking AWESOME to me.  Three of my favorite animated series over the past several years.  Great news.
Another little tidbit of information comes from MultiChannel.com.  The information they reveal mentions G.I. Joe: Renegades being a part of the “Weekend” schedule.

WEEKEND AFTERNOONS
Deltora Quest
Men in Black
G.I. Joe Renegades
Batman Beyond
Hubworld
Hub Family Movie Night”

WEEKEND OVERNIGHT
G.I. Joe Renegades
Batman Beyond
Men in Black…”

Take this all with a grain of salt, of course, but as we get closer to November hopefully the picture will start clarifying.

Sideshow Collectibles Desert Weapons Cache w/ Sandstorm revealed!

We caught a glimpse of it during the announcement of the 12″ Dusty figure, and now it has been officially announced by Sideshow Collectibles.  To go along with the Recon at Waypoint, Sideshow is releasing a new environment, the Desert Weapons Cache w/ Sandstorm.
Of course, what has really caught my eye is the desert themed Cobra Trooper in the set as well.  Very cool.
Check it out right here.

Awesome Jungle-Viper article in the latest GIJCC Newsletter

I know there has been a lot of recent discussion about the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club newsletter, especially with the announcement of Dial Tone as the 2011 incentive figure.  Well, in my mind, even if many fans weren’t wild about Dial Tone, the newsletter is still a pretty cool commodity, and John Warden is a big reason why.
Warden is the lead designer on the G.I. Joe line these days and has a deep impact on the figures you see on store shelves, and over the past few months, he’s contributed to the newsletter with some fantastic articles about recent figures.  He’s already spoken about the SDCC Exclusive Sgt. Slaughter, the upcoming Wave 3 Snake Eyes, and this month, he talks at great length about the awesome Jungle-Viper.  Some of the insights are fantastic.
He mentions that he came up with the figure in a dream, and immediately sketched the basic idea, and yes, the Cobra Night-Vipers were a very strong influence on the overall design.  The red dots scattered throughout his optical “ghille suit” are actually miniature cameras, which give him a great view around him and “eyes in the back of his head”.
Speaking of eyes, many Joe fans have wondered why Jungle Viper’s eyes are white…according to John Warden, the “…eyes are a ghostly white, a side effect from relying on the optics for sight for months on end.”
Insight like this is awesome, and really makes for an interesting read.  The details I mentioned above are just scratching the surface…there are three whole pages of text and great pre-production images that answer a LOT of fan questions about this character…and it sounds like there is plenty more to come!  If you like what you hear, hit up GIJoeClub.com and join up!  It’s worth it.

IDW Comic News recap from New York ComicCon

Now that NYCC has wrapped up, we’re starting to finally get some good, nicely detailed reports about all of the panels and events that went on in the Big Apple this past weekend.  Among those reports was one from Comic Book Resources which focused on IDW and Hasbro’s joint panel and what to expect from their licensed titles over the next several months.  I will try and outline the various news items below.

  • G.I. Joe: Origins #23 is the final issue.  Editor Andy Schmidt revealed that G.I. Joe: Origins would end with the 23rd issue.  I’m not sure if this is sales related or that they simply had no more stories to tell, but regardless, after just wrapping issue #19, we’ve got about 4 more issues to go.
  • Christos Gage is leaving G.I. Joe: Cobra after issue #13.  I reported this during NYCC, but IDW confirmed it, also reporting that Mike Costa would handle the writing duties solo from then on.
  • G.I. Joe #27 will wrap up “Season One” of the main Joe title.  In April of 2011, G.I. Joe will begin “Season Two”, starting over from issue #0 and kicking off with a Cobra Civil War.  Schmidt also says that in April, the only Joe title taking place in IDW continuity that month released would be G.I. Joe #0.  Dixon will still be writing the title, but Javier Saltares will be tackling the art chores.

Schmidt also talked a bit about Infestation and how it ties into the G.I. Joe realm, and remarked that Joe fans did not seem very “chill” to the idea…at least not to the level of Transformers fans.
Some interesting news, to be sure.  I could have sworn that at one point I read that this latest issue of G.I. Joe was going to be the end of “Season One” but apparently that’s being pushed off a bit.  Chuck Dixon has been hit or miss for me throughout his G.I. Joe run, and honestly I’m not sure what I think of Saltares on the title.  Loved his stuff with Moon Knight, and his Ghost Rider work was pretty cool as well, but those are both very supernatural, dark, and gritty worlds.  I think G.I. Joe can be gritty (just see the Cobra title) but I’m not sure Saltares’ exaggerated style works real well in a pseudo-realistic military setting.  I’ll certainly give it a shot, though.
You can read the entire article right here, and thanks to The Terror Drome for the heads up!

SmallJoes.com – * New products, new web site! *

* * * * * * * * * [ SMALLJOES.COM NEWSLETTER ] * * * * * * * * * *
http://smalljoes.com
Hi folks!  We’re pleased to write and introduce a number of new features for our
web site.  We’ve rolled out an all-new design which we hope you’ll enjoy.
After being absent for over a year the search feature is back and now integrated
directly with our own software to produce easily readable results.  This is a
great way to look up an item without digging for it in the menu categories.  You
can now log out of your account without closing your web browser.  When you view
a product at the site you can now see a listing of popular items purchased by
other customers who also purchased that item.
Lastly, we’ve created a Facebook page and integrated the feed into the menu bar.
The Facebook feed is a great way to keep up on all of our news and new product
listings that occur in between the email updates.  Our Facebook page can be
found here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smalljoescom/119151574807188
Please click on the link then “Like” our page by clicking the like button on the
top (next to our logo).  You will then be able to see our occasional new
product updates and other notices, usually one or two a week.
GI JOE
======
GI JOE: Pursuit of Cobra wave 3 figures are up for pre-order.  We strongly
recommend the complete set of four figures at the low price of $27.99.  These
figures are expected to ship early/mid December.
Some refresh cases of Pursuit of Cobra waves 1 and 2 will be shipping in
November.  We will not be ordering a lot of these so recommend you put in a
pre-order to reserve figure sets if you’re interested.
http://smalljoes.com/cgi-bin/pgen.cgi?CatId=2&Stage=5
Lots of new GI JOE comics have arrived since our last mailing, including:
GI JOE: Cobra special #2 – Origin of Chameleon (double-sized issue)
GI JOE main series #23 – Storm Shadow makes his first appearance in the IDW
books!
Hearts & Minds #5 – Last issue in this limited series features Blowtorch and
the nameless, faceless Cobra trooper.
Origins #19 – Written by Larry Hama, a silent issue featuring Snake-Eyes!  An
homage to the groundbreaking issue #21 from the original Marvel series.
GI JOE: Cobra #8 – Features Skullbuster, who leads the unforgiving, hard-core
training of Cobra recruits.
You can find all of the new comic offerings here:
http://smalljoes.com/cgi-bin/pgen.cgi?CatId=79&Stage=5
(more…)

Sponsorship news from Past Generation Toys

This week @ PastGenerationToys.com
If you missed out on any of the GI Joe DTC Action Figures will still have several figures left, but quantities are low.  The GI Joe: Pursuit of Cobra Wave 3 PreOrders have proven to be very popular! Wave 3 includes Duke v6, Snake-Eyes v6, Storm Shadow v6 and Shock Trooper (another army builder!)
We have listed a ton of PreOrders this week!
If you like Star Wars, Bobble Heads and Monster Movies then we have the perfect thing for you!  Star Wars Monster Mash-Ups Bobble Heads!  We have 6” of these which include: Werebacca, Darthenstein (or Frank Vader), Skeletontrooper, and Yodagoyle!
Have you seen the DC Universe Mini Force vinyl figures?  We just got these and these vinyl action figures look great!  Series 1 includes Batgirl, Batman, Joker, Penguin and Robin!  Hasbro’s Marvel Universe Series 12 has sold well and some figure are about sold out.  This wave includes: World War Hulk, Doc Sampson, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Spider-Man 2099 and Spider-Woman!
Even more Transformers: Generations Action Figure PerOrders and  Transformers: Hunt for the Decepticon Action Figure PreOrders have been listed!
For you Facebook fans we just added some new functionality to the site that you will be familiar with – you can now “like” items we sell the same you “like” our Facebook Fan Page!
And as always, check out the Past Generation Toys Blog, PGT on Facebook, and PGT on Twitter for updates on our world of toys and collectibles!