We’ve heard and seen plenty about the Jurassic Park AWE Strikers in the past months, with no real sign or indication that they will ever see release. Hasbro in a recent Q & A actually mentioned that the line was canceled.
Canceled or not, we still see some indications that perhaps a release is pending, and the newest indication are some images of packaging mock ups by HissTank member Gyre-Viper. Along with these Jurassic Park mock ups, we also get a glimpse of the Alpha class HISS Scout vehicle. We have heard absolutely nothing lately about the release of these vehicles, and it seems pretty curious that we would already see these figures hitting with no word about the vehicles.
Curious…
Anyway, check out the mirrored images at the HissTank thread, or below.
You know, something has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle, at least on my end, regarding the animated goodness that is to come later on this evening. I’ve already gone over how much I’m looking forward to G.I. Joe: Renegades, and of course, I’ve talked about Avengers, and even Young Justice.
But what about this whole Transformers: Prime thing?
Since the days of Beast Wars, I’ve been loving the animated universes of the Transformers (well… besides the whole Armada/Energon/Whatever fiasco) and you would think this next generation of Transformers animated coolness would have me excited. But it’s kind of gotten lost in the shuffle. I think part of me has kind of been looking forward to it, but with all of the Renegades furor, I hadn’t really thought about it a whole lot.
Well, the guys over at Seibertron have thought about it, and even received early screeners for it, and posted a review.
Okay, I’m officially excited.
Certainly the discerning folks at Seibertron.com are more well versed in Transformers lore than I am, and probably are harsher judges of how a new animated universe fits into the whole mythology, but they seem pretty enamored with it already. They claim it takes the best parts of Beast Wars and the best parts of the live action films and blends them all together into a very serious, “aggressive” story…and I really like the sounds of that.
So yes, most of my giddy impatience tomorrow will be waiting for 5:00pm and the debut of G.I. Joe: Renegades, but I will be honest and say a healthy portion of the excitement is also now reserved for Transformers: Prime. Two cool looking reinventions of the 80’s corner stones of after school animated greatness. Could we be on the verge of another golden age of boys action animation? Certainly seems possible. Even as the father of two girls, I’m all for it.
A big thanks to the MSGiJoe CollectorsClub for letting me know that Ron Rudat has posted a wealth of new images for SK Omega on his Facebook page. Some full color pictures of cast members we know already, and a ton of black and white drawings for characters apparently in the works. Ron Rudat is one of the artists working on this line, and seems to be taking up right where he left off as the artist on G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero back in the day.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m getting a very 80’s and 90’s old school G.I. Joe vibe off this stuff and I LOVE it. Can’t wait to see some actual toy images. Check out the mirrored images below.
IMAGES WERE EARLY CONCEPTS – REMOVED AT REQUEST OF IMAGE OWNER
One of the coolest things about the vintage G.I. Joe line was not only the great action figures, but also the presentation. The toys were complimented by fantastic artwork, and it is awesome to see some great art out there for SK Omega. Granted, this isn’t production art, a lot of it is just used in the design process, but regardless, there is some really cool looking artwork showing up on DeviantArt promoting this upcoming toy line. If the toys themselves are even close to as cool as these pieces of artwork then we could be in for a real treat when these toys hit.
Along with these images, over on HissTank.com Gyre-Viper revealed some information from the folks behind the scenes at SK Omega as well.
“Since a lot of you have been inquiring about the status of the line… and pleading for news (and images) regarding prototypes etc… I’ve been asked by the SK Omega guys to fill you in on a couple things (not much; be patient) that should at least answer some questions (concerns?).
First of all, … the line is moving forward, and quite wonderfully. Control art is complete for most of the vehicles (i.e. the helicopter) and the HIVE play set is actually pretty much done. They’re keeping a lid on a lot of what’s going on for obvious reasons but you can expect to see some 3D reveals in the near future (although for some of you that’s not soon enough heheheh).
Basically, this line is going to happen.
On a personal note:
I know it’s hard to reserve judgment on a product ‘skeletoned’ on a decades-old, basically extinct format.. but these guys grew up with GI JOE the same way you did. They’ve got Ron Rudat and Guy Cassaday and a chunk of other super talented artists in their arsenal… and they’re living the ultimate fan/collector dream. They’re just doing what they love and they hope others will enjoy the results.
Anyways… I’ll fill you in on more, whence permitted.”
Check out some of the mirrored images below… they have been culled from various DeviantArt pages linked below:
Coinciding with JoeCon this year, I posted a ton of news regarding an upcoming new toyline from Molten Monkey International entitled SDK Omega. A 3 3/4″ action figure line featuring traditional o-ring style articulation, there are big things in the wings for the line, but things have been pretty quiet for a while now.
Well, a DeviantArt page uncovered by HissTank has provided a little more juice, and I’ve mirrored some images below. I’m dying to hear more about this line, hopefully we’ll start to get more intel as Toy Fair draws closer. Check out the DeviantArt page right here.
The San Diego ComicCon has moved into a whole new stratosphere in recent years. Initially merely a large comic convention, it somehow migrated to a Geek Mecca where Hollywood, Comics, and Toy Companies collide to give us glimpses at what cool new things are on the horizon for our nerd pleasure. It is pretty astounding to see just what it has become.
Of course as part of the allure of ComicCon, there are the SDCC Exclusives…toys that are launched at SDCC and for sale initially only at SDCC. This has always created a conflict between the “haves” and the “have nots” which has sometimes generated some hostility not just in the fandom, but directed back at the manufacturers. But Hasbro seems to have found a balance. By offering the items through SDCC, but also at HasbroToyShop, they seem to be able to please everyone, and in recent years there hasn’t been an obvious shortage of opportunities to get what you want.
This is not the case with Mattel, who year after year generates mountains of frustration among their fans with a strange voucher pre-order system that doesn’t even guarantee you a figure if you travel all the way to ComicCon. Not to mention when they post items for sale after the fact, MattyCollector.com gets so hammered that nobody can access the retail store. In general, it seems like a mammoth cluster… you get the idea.
Now not only does Hasbro seem to have the system at least somewhat ironed out, but the numbers of cool exclusives they are getting out there is amazing. Now, most of this is probably because they’re far and away the #1 Boys Toys brand in the market, but it really is incredible just how many cool toys they can get into collectors’ hands through SDCC. Anyone reading this right now already knows about Sgt. Slaughter:
no images were found
I mean, look at this figure! Sure there are complaints about the lack of musculature and the placement of the torso joint/USA logo (which I can certainly appreciate) but there is a metric ton of new tooling, great accessories, and even new points of articulation. Any long time fan who has been clamoring for Slaughter is gonna be loving this.
And while I haven’t been keeping up with the Marvel stuff as much as I’d like to, I can’t help but drool at what Hasbro has there as well:
no images were found
Before I go on…let me say one thing. Yes that is a TWO FOOT FREAKING TALL CARDED ACTION FIGURE. How awesome is that? Not to mention the bad ass WW II Captain America and an impressive Thor figure to tie into the upcoming movie as well.
Hell, even Star Wars has my interest this year!
no images were found
Bet you thought Darth Maul was dead, eh? Hell, I’m an uber-geek and even I thought Darth Maul was dead. What the hell is this? It’s Darth frikken Maul with cyborg horse legs. ROCK.
So yeah…for G.I. Joe fans or for toy fans, Hasbro has got it going on this year. Maybe one day I’ll make it to SDCC…but until then I’ll sit back and enjoy it vicariously through the hundreds of thousands of others. Can’t wait to hear what’s on the horizon!
