by generalsjoes | Apr 28, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2014, Show and Convention Coverage
First and foremost, a HUGE thanks to long time Joe friend and fellow website admin Fred from JoeBattleLines. For folks who don’t follow me on Twitter, you may not know this, but during my trip to JoeCon, my beloved Fuji digital camera got destroyed in transit. That’s one of the reasons why my pictures from JoeCon were all of the less-than-optimal smart phone variety. So, fresh off an expensive JoeCon trip, I was faced with the distinct possibility of replacing my camera.
Well, Fred heard my dilemma and without hesitation, sent a loaner in the mail to me at his own expense. It was that camera that I used to take all of the pictures for these reviews, so make sure you thank Fred for his quick generosity. It’s quite possible these reviews may not have happened nearly as quickly without his help. While you’re at it, check out JoeBattleLines.com or on Facebook or Twitter to see his Joe reviews and general geekery.
Now, on to the review talk..
The questions generally start coming in about a day or two after I return from the Convention… “when are you going to post the Convention Set reviews?!”
In previous years I had sort of combined all of the individual pieces into one review, but it was getting arduous and lengthy, and I felt like each individual part of the set was not getting its due scrutiny. So starting last year I broke everything out into individual reviews, all linked to one central “Set Review”. Is the format perfect? Nope, probably not. And really, in my opinion, there’s no way to slam out 20 reviews in 2 weeks time without some of it sounding repetitive. Hopefully I do these toys justice, because there are some fantastic ones in here.
You can hit up the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review page, or just click the link below for this monster. This will hopefully be a good way to kill a couple of hours on a busy Monday.
by generalsjoes | Apr 17, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Toys
Anyone who follows the Transformers Collectors Club has heard about the “Shattered Glass” phenomenon by now. Essentially it’s a “mirror universe” situation where the good guys are bad guys and vice versa. Based loosely off of the “Mirror, Mirror” episode of Star Trek, it is a very interesting storyline idea, and seems to have worked somewhat effectively for Transformers.
The question is, does it work the same way (or could it work the same way) for G.I. Joe?
Brian Savage posed that very question during the Collectors Club round table at the 2014 G.I. Joe Convention, and to my great surprise, the majority of people in attendance raised their hands in favor of a Shattered Glass element to the G.I. Joe Collectors Club toy offerings. So where is this coming from? For folks who haven’t been reading the G.I. Joe Collectors Club newsletter, in the very fun Adventure Team comic by Todd Pleasant and Rod Whigham (yes, that Rod Whigham) has shown the Adventurers passing through the Bermuda triangle, and into a parallel universe where Cobra is the leading governmental entity, and has recruited some G.I. Joe operatives to serve under them (most notably Flint, Lady Jaye, and Wild Bill). So the question comes up, does this formula work for the toys?
My opinion? No, no it doesn’t. At least not right now.
The Collectors Club has been finding a very successful formula recently for their exclusives and convention offerings. They have been able to walk that line between paying homage to the vintage elements, pulling from other mythologies (Extreme, Action Force, and Adventure Team) and adding some neat new things to create a great synergy between all of those. This year’s Convention set was a primary example. We got some cool ECO Force vintage figures, new style Outback and Clutch figures, and a cool zombie storyline all woven together to create some really fun toys. What happens when Shattered Glass gets injected into that?
Pete Sinclair with the Collectors Club was quick to say that Transformers fans were negative about Shattered Glass at first, but seem to have come around…but Transformers also has a myriad of other mainstream toy lines to collect. If Transformers fans don’t like Shattered Glass, they can always just buy retail (or third party for that matter). If G.I. Joe fans don’t like Shattered Glass, and the Club is devoting significant resources to Shattered Glass, those G.I. Joe fans are simply out of luck.
I realize that Hasbro and the Collectors Club have done a number of updates and hundreds of new toys under the G.I. Joe banner over the past several years, but they are still just scratching the surface. There are still many more different paths the brand could take. I just don’t believe, at this point, that Shattered Glass is among them.
What are your thoughts? If you feel strongly one way or another, I strongly suggest you contact the Collectors Club. Get them on Twitter, on Facebook, or on their forums at GIJoeClub.com. Share your concerns (if you have them). The vote at the Convention seemed pretty clear to my eyes that the Club was preparing to move forward on this. If you have strong feelings, please express them. The Club needs to know one way or the other.
by generalsjoes | Apr 12, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2014, Show and Convention Coverage
Along with the great information about FSS 3.0, the Collectors Club also showed us some great behind the scenes information about the design and execution of the 2014 G.I. Joe Convention set. Included in this presentation was several slides with deco work on the convention exclusive figures, and even some great original Hasbro concepts for figures like Outback and the Steel Brigade Zombie.
Check out some great images at the YoJoe Photo Gallery, but also some of my hackneyed smart phone shots below!
by generalsjoes | Apr 12, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2014, Show and Convention Coverage
The big news of the G.I. Joe Convention has hit the web, and we now know the line up for the third rendition of the Figure Subscription Service! Not only that, but the Collectors Club also let us know what the 2015 Incentive figure will be as well as information about another new incentive vehicle!
The list of FSS 3.0 figures is below, and a gallery of images will follow the list:
- Alpine v2 (Spy Troops) – Newly sculpted Boss Fight Studios head!
- Bombstrike – Another new sculpted head by Boss Fight Studios
- Psyche Out – Vintage colors (based on Night Force Con set)
- Repeater – Vintage colors (based on Night Force Con set)
- Hit & Run (Concept Case) – I have nothing to say here. Speechless (in a good way)!
- Musktrat – Vintage colors with a newly designed swamp skimmer by Boss Fight Studios!
- Spearhead – Vintage colors (based on Night Force Con set)
- Big Ben – Newly sculpted head from Boss Fight Studios!
- Crimson Guard Immortal – New head, based on the concept case version
- Slice – New head sculpt from Boss Fight Studios
- Night Creeper Leader
- Vypra (!!!!)
So yeah… I’m pretty ecstatic about this line up. It is really phenomenal. Brian from the Collectors Club did say that all of these Night Force figures won’t necessarily be straight repaints, there will possibly be different gear or parts adjustments.
Also they mentioned they will be revisiting the 13th figure concept and making something more desirable for FSS 3.0 based on fan feedback. So folks complaining about the 13th figure, time to put your money where your mouth is and subscribe! Check out the images below for some artwork ideas about what they’re planning!
Now, if anyone follows my dio-story, they know both Hit & Run play a very central role in my story, so getting them both in the third FSS is absolutely spectacular to me. I am floating above the keyboard here… 🙂
by generalsjoes | Apr 11, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2014, Show and Convention Coverage
First and foremost, I must apologize. I know I’m typically right on top of this stuff, but I took some volunteer shifts with the Collectors Club this year, and as such, haven’t had as much time to report on what’s been revealed so far.
Pretty much what I stated in my post from yesterday morning has held true, including Clutch, the VTOL aircraft, and the Septic HISS. The Collectors Club also surprised us by releasing a separate 4 x 4 Zombie Hunter VAMP, which had not been revealed in the program the night before. So there were some very nice offerings this year, and at this point, my favorite extra is probably a mix between Clutch and the Steel Brigade pilot, who are both some really nice, modern builds, and I love that the pilot has some homage to the 2005 Steel Brigade Convention set.
Phil over at YoJoe has been doing an awesome job flooding the YoJoe Image Gallery with photos of the exclusives, so check out the photos over on YoJoe.com for the latest info!
by generalsjoes | Apr 10, 2014 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2014, Show and Convention Coverage
Yes, I realize this is likely old news, but I wanted to get it out there anyway. Many folks were wondering what head sculpt would be underneath Repulsor’s helmet, and it looks like the answer is 25th Anniversary Red Star! With the black hair I think the head works more than well enough for a unique character.
Also revealed is the Attendee Exclusive ECO Striker, which awesomely uses the G.I. Joe: Retaliation AWE Striker tooling. I’m thrilled about this! Yes, it’s still the AWE Striker, but at least it’s got some fresher parts than the standard release AWE Striker we’ve gotten countless times over the years, and the large launcher on top much better resembles the water squirter from back in the day.
Check out the AWE Striker below.
