by generalsjoes | Feb 10, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie
Hidden in a corner of the internet that only a few toy geeks venture to, Wired.com has come up with a huge scoop! Blogger “Geekdad” has gotten some official pictures of some new upcoming G.I. Joe: Rise of COBRA vehicles, including the never-before-seen Night Raven w/ Strato-Viper! Also included are the Ice Dagger / Frostbite, the Rockslide ATAV w/ Snow Job, and the Scarab w/ Moto-Viper.
First of all, a HUGE kudos to Wired.com for getting the scoop, that’s some great info. Secondly, take a look at that freaking Night Raven. WOW. That thing is pure G. O. L. D.
It takes a lot of design perspective from the original Night Raven, but styled and sculpted a lot more like the more modern day stuff. Of course it’s smaller than the old school version, but wow, if that’s not one hell of a nice looking plane. I LOVE it. And hey, look! The Scarab has an opening door, and looks to be a lot more realistic size than the pic in Toy Fare. Another bonus.
Also a nice allotment of other figures as well. I’m not sure why Strato-Viper isn’t in his more standard colors, but here’s hoping that more of those supposedly “cancelled” 25th Anniversary figures will see release in the movie line. I think stuff like Thunderblast, Strato-Viper, and Moto-Viper are all really good signs.
Make sure to check out the original Wired.com story here.
by generalsjoes | Feb 10, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie
Okay, first of all… WTF?
People.com scoops the toy world today with a few pictures of movie figures from the upcoming G.I. Joe: Rise of COBRA film. Granted, it’s all figures we’ve seen before (Duke, the Baroness, and Hawk) but the pictures are nice and clear, and visible for the first time to folks who haven’t cracked open the latest issue of Toy Fare.
I’m thinking most of us saw these in Toy Fare a couple of weeks ago, though these pics are a bit better and have the full figure shown, rather than just a waist-up look. Overall, I like ’em. Yeah, the Baroness still has the manly face, and I’m not sure what the heck is going on with Duke’s pistol (where’s the holster??), but I think they are nice figures, and best of all, not just different shades of black and gray. I think fans of vintage stuff and new stuff are all in for a few nice surprises during Toy Fair this Saturday, and I’ll be there getting all the pics and info that I can.
by generalsjoes | Feb 8, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie
I know I’m not alone when I initially considered late 2009 my “off time” from collecting G.I. Joe heavily. Since 1982 I’ve been a “completist” (yes, even as an 8-year old I had a bizarre compulsion to get every Joe item released in any given year, a goal which I was never able to accomplish until the late 90’s). The anniversary line actually cured that completist “disease” due to the numerous repaints and re-releases, but I figured my desire for a full run of figures would even further deteriorate as the movie grew closer.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from a Real American Hero “purist”…I want to see G.I. Joe grow and evolve, and I think there’s something distressing about how “stuck in the past” some overly-nostaligic collectors can sometimes be. I am, by no means, married to G.I. Joe being exactly what it was in the 80’s, but I really didn’t see anything from a design perspective that made me think the movie line would be the least bit appealing. I’m a big Sigma 6 fan, so I really like those “super hero” type uniforms, but honestly a whole run of figures in various shades of black and blue doesn’t appeal much.
But then a funny thing happened… I actually saw some pictures. Take, for instance, the movie version of Shipwreck:
I’m about as uninsterested in Shipwreck as a character as I could possibly be. He has really never appealed to me whatsoever. From his dated “sailor” appearence to his sarcastic “goofball” persona in the Sunbow cartoons, he was just someone that I had no desire or inclination to really work into my G.I. Joe world. Devils’ Due was able to update his look a bit, but the character was still pulled from the 80’s cartoons, which again, sort of turned me off.
But this is the movie, and thus, pretty much a whole new world. And even though the Shipwreck character isn’t one of the main cast, he has been rumored as a potential “cameo” and I think this pretty much confirms that. So what is it about this figure that makes him so cool to me? Well, they managed to take elements from the classic (the full beard, the parrot, and somewhat cocky facial expression) the Devils’ Due version (his knit cap), and the movie look, and they managed to merge them all perfectly. He also manages to pretty strongly resemble the Sigma 6 version, which is neat, too– (continued…)
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by generalsjoes | Feb 6, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie
I plan on talking about the movie toys quite a bit more in the coming days, but I figured I should at least talk about them a bit since the pictures debuted today as we reported they would. By now most folks have seen the actual pics scattered across the internet and everyone is chiming in with their two cents. I’m sure everyone is just dying to know my thoughts… :shifty:
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by generalsjoes | Feb 6, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys
So with the craze of the movie TV spot, Resolute, and the 25th Anniversary, something flying under the radar is the 2009 Convention set… with the Convention a little more than 6 months away, we should start getting some idea of what the set is going to be any day now. In fact, the Collectors’ Club has given us a few hints already, and I’ve made my opinions pretty publicly known already. I’m pulling for the Red Shadows/Action Force pretty hard core, and the hints so far really do justify that in some ways. I have to give big props to “Admiral Hunter” of the Coil Club for tying a lot of this together, but what he says makes a lot of sense.
EDIT: Shame on me for not mentioning “ggpike” of the Coil Club as well! He gave Admiral Hunter the clues, so screw Hunter, George gets the props from me. 😉
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by generalsjoes | Feb 6, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Toys
LeonardoTDragon, the admin over at JoeBattleLines has uncovered some neat info buried on Amazon.com.
According to this listing, there is an upcoming G.I. Joe 4-Pack entitled an “Intro Pack” which is slated to include Duke, Agent Scarlett, Snake Eyes, and Roadblock. While it’s unknown at this point what new tooling (if any) will be utilized, this could be a great opportunity to get some updated versions of Duke (with fixed arms), Agent Scarlett, and Roadblock. Is this legit? It’s a tough call. There are some inconsistencies and even some spelling errors in the description, so it’s pretty tough to tell, but let’s keep our fingers crossed. It also appears to come with a DVD, and a “light up” G.I. Joe sign. No pictures as of yet, and take this all with a BIG grain of salt with no official confirmation. Hopefully we’ll see something at Toy Fair on the 14th!
