It would certainly seem as if 2015 kind of got away from me when it comes to my G.I. Joe reviews… I managed to stay on top of the 50th Anniversary releases fairly well, but several of the G.I. Joe Collectors Club releases lagged a bit behind.
Interesting that now that I’m tackling them, we’re dealing with the distinct possibility that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club as we know it (as well as the G.I. Joe Convention) may be coming to an end after 2016. A real shame to be losing them as a resource as I dive into several of their really fun exclusives from 2015. I truly hope Hasbro has some kind of plans post GIJCC to bring the G.I. Joe brand to collectors, as I believe we’ve been the driving force in keeping the brand alive over the past several years. That will be considerably more difficult with an annual convention gathering or a Collectors Club offering exclusive toys geared towards us.
I will be cautiously optimistic that Hasbro recognizes our value and isn’t going to just leave the collectors who have been supporting the brand for over 50 years high and dry, but I suppose time will tell.
On that note, you can check out my review of the Arctic Dr. Mindbender at the link below, or on the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review Page. Hopefully we still have many years of exclusives like this to look forward to.
I find it strange to admit that there are a number of things I’m really not crazy about in the G.I. Joe world that everyone else seems to love… two of the highest items on that list are arctic figures and the character of Dr. Mindbender. That being said, you’d think that a figure of an Arctic Dr. Mindbender would fall down pretty far on my list of desired items, and I would have agreed. But once I got my hands on the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club’s rendition of this figure, I immediately fell in love.
Well…fell in ‘big like’ might be more accurate. I don’t quite LOVE the figure, but I like it quite a bit, thank you very much.
For this particular figure, the Club worked with Boss Fight Studio to add a newly sculpted head and fur collar in order to accentuate the newness of the figure, and it works really well. The first Mindbender was a part of the Defense of COBRA Island 7-Pack, and as such was sculpted in the aesthetic of the times, which looks a bit dated compared to more modern offerings. He was certainly due for an updated head sculpt, and he got one heck of a nice one here, looking as if it was pulled straight from Sunbow concept art.
The fur collar also adds nice variety to the figure, which is otherwise a mixture of the canceled Arctic COBRA Commander (with mostly comprised of Renegades COBRA Commander arms and legs). The combination gives us a figure with a terrific arctic look (that happens to be pretty animation accurate) as well as maintaining at least some level of decent articulation.
With the long coat, the legs are still pretty limited, but the arms at least have significantly unrestricted elbow movement, which was one of the major detractions of the Arctic COBRA Commander tooling (which was used for a Convention Iron Grenadier a few years back).
Using the animation as a template, Mindbender is done up in a really nice purple and black paint scheme, following the queues from the vintage version, and you end up with a very nice looking figure that slides pretty seamlessly into any arctic environment, yet also looks unique and very true to Mindbender’s aesthetic.
Accessories
Dr. Mindbender comes with a nice number of accessories, with a familiar pistol as well as his trademark “mind bending” device (stun rod w/ generator), and also comes with the black hose and a repainted version of Sci-Fi’s backpack. He also has a great COBRA-themed laptop and arctic display stand.
The accessories all fit the character well, and the inclusion of Sci-Fi’s backpack is a nice one, too, as it retains a nice technical look while not being immediately identifiable as belonging to someone else.
Anyone who has been reading my reviews knows that I geek out over media-centric figures, and I love that this version of Mindbender is a true Sunbow homage. It’s also pretty cool that the Club has been using him heavily throughout the comic. While I wouldn’t have thought an arctic version of COBRA’s lead scientist would be appealing to me, the reality is this is a very fun figure that suits the good doctor remarkably well. Kudos on this one.
G.I. Joe Collectors Club Arctic Mindbender
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.3
Summary
As the 2015 G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club incentive figure, an arctic version of Dr. Mindbender doesn’t seem like something that would sit atop many collectors’ lists of needed figures. All that being said, in execution the figure is a pretty fantastic rendition of COBRA’s lead scientist and ends up being a surprisingly fun and interesting addition to the modern COBRA roster.
Every so often, over on his blog, Robert Atkins (IDW G.I. Joe and comics artist extraordinaire) posts some images of recent commissions and other work that he’s done in the realm of G.I. Joe. Over the past few days he’s posted some fantastic work, including a particularly cool Snake Eyes/Deadpool team up that seems appropriate with the new Deadpool film incoming.
There’s some really great stuff there, and while Atkins isn’t currently soliciting commission work, it’s still a heck of a lot of fun to check out the work he’s been posting.
Check it out over at RobertAtkinsArt.Blogspot.com and I strongly recommend you visit the site regularly. There’s always some cool stuff to check out.
Part five of the new COBRA World Order hits comic shops tomorrow, and you can see the five part preview below!
G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero #223: COBRA WORLD ORDER Part 5
Larry Hama (w) • S L Gallant (a) • Stephen Mooney (c)
The Sleepers Awaken! COBRA’s covert agents, situated all over the world, activate and prepare to bring about the Cobra World Order. G.I. JOE scrambles to take them down—but it may just be too late!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
COBRA’s sleepers rise up—and enact the COBRA WORLD ORDER!
Well, it’s still a mystery, for the most part. Folks are still suspecting that Fun Publications’ license with Hasbro will expire (and not be renewed) at the end of 2016. So far we have neither seen nor heard anything to contradict this.
Over on the GIJoeClub Message Board, a thread has opened up with an inquiry into this, but still no information is imminent.
At this point the most succinct reply is to “Check the January newsletter” for more information on their membership plans. This does continue to sound ominous, however, there is also a post on the forum there that mentions 2016 Club members being eligible to purchase FSS 5.0. That, of course, begs the question… will there be an FSS 5.0 if the license expires in 2016?
Perhaps Fun Publications will just not be able to hold a convention, yet can still produce product? Or if they launch FSS 5.0 within the 2016 calendar year, does that still fall within their license period?
Still many more questions than answers, though it sounds like once the January newsletter hits, we should get at least some information and some idea of what’s to come.
One thing is clear, and it was especially evident as I ran down my list of Top 10 figures for 2015, from a product standpoint, the Club going away would be unfortunate. There was some great figures released through the FSS and Convention in 2015, and with the G.I. Joe fandom especially grasping for any crumbs, this seems like a bad time to take away whatever morsels we might get.
A short while ago, we announced an exciting G.I. Joe themed Kindle Worlds crossover event entitled G.I. Joe: Legacy! The idea was for four separate Kindle Worlds authors (Jim Beard, Bill Nedrow, Troy Osgood and myself) to write different installments of a G.I. Joe story taking place in different era’s of time, from the 1970s all the way up until the 21st century.
Well, Part 01, featuring the Adventure Team is online! It’s a novella, very affordably priced at only .99 and will be kicking off this exciting G.I. Joe: Legacy project. Look for the remaining parts to hit monthly over the next few months. As one might expect, I’m handling the 90s.
Check out Jim’s Adventure Team installment here, it’s a great read, and very quick. Good stuff, and I’m thrilled to be part of this project!
