Before you get too excited… these don’t appear to have any new footage, and in fact I believe are just official postings of TV spots we’ve seen before, but I’ll take any excuse I can to post links to G.I. Joe: Retaliation footage! Plus, hey, you can watch them in 1080P!
We have 35 short days to go… the countdown has begun! Check out the latest TV Spots at the GIJoeMovie YouTube Channel, and I’ve embedded the most recent two below.
Only 35 short days until G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Twitziller has provided Reason #35 that the film is going to be great! He picks a big one for this Friday, and one that I think many other G.I. Joe fans will agree with.
#35:
Ah, the HISS Tank… if there is a more timeless, iconic vehicle that represents the Cobra organization, I don’t know what it is. Classic vehicle design in the 80’s was a craft and an art form unto itself, and that was never more evident than with the HISS Tank. The unique sloped armor, those angled treads…it had a distinctive shape and style that was rarely replicated. Like the X-Wing and Millenium Falcon for Star Wars, it became a visual representation of the entire Cobra structure. So many early G.I. Joe Marvel issues focused on this singular vehicle, from the hand-to-hand fight with Hawk and Destro, to the Baroness’ injury…the HISS Tank almost became a character of its own. While many cutting edge vehicles made appearances in the Rise of Cobra, none of them had that unique Cobra aesthetic (no, not even the Night Raven really) but the scene of HISS Tanks slowly rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue immediately created a sense of dread… awesome dread.
Another great choice. Be sure to read back through the list on GeneralsJoes, follow Twitziller on Twitter to continue the discussion, and check out the last batch of images below.
The Cobra Urban specialist “Alley-Viper” has quickly become one of the default Cobra Troopers that Hasbro goes to when a new assortment is being considered. The funny thing is, the first version of the modern era Alley-Viper did not appear until 2009, but in the past four years since then, we’ve gotten three more. From 25th Anniversary to G.I. Joe: Resolute, Pursuit of Cobra, and even a Pursuit of Cobra vehicle driver there is now a veritable army of potential Alley-Vipers to choose from.
So how does the G.I. Joe: Retaliation version stack up? Check it out on the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Review Page, or the direct link below.
There seems to be a ton of G.I. Joe related news going around these days, so the need to branch out into non-G.I. Joe news isn’t really there. However, I wanted to talk a little bit about a project called the Outer Space Men. These toys are faithful recreations of a classic toyline that have an incredible vintage aesthetic.
Originally appearing in 1968, the Outer Space Men figures are an icon in the world of space-themed action figures, and deservedly so. What I wanted to let you know about is a very special occasion. Legendary toy inventor Mel Birnkrant is working to produce a second series entitled “Cosmic Creators”. In the G.I. Joe world, this would almost be like Ron Rudat, Bill Merklein or Kirk Bozigian coming back to G.I. Joe for a special edition line of vintage themed G.I. Joe toys. This is a huge deal.
I think endeavors like this are terrific, and definitely something I want to talk about. The scope and reach of toy design and toy production goes so deep into our country’s history, both in terms of culture and manufacturing, and I felt like I wanted to talk about these for just a few minutes. Take a look at OuterSpaceMen.com and appreciate the gorgeous vintage themed toys from the good old days, and from today. I think you’ll be glad you did.
We’ve been talking about it for months, and finally, yesterday the new G.I. Joe #1 debuted at comic shops across the nation. With a drastic new direction, there was bound to be some polar opposite reactions. My own opinion was pretty positive, and the reaction throughout the comic buying populace (G.I. Joe fandom aside) seems to be good.
Writer of the new title, Fred VanLente made the rounds to a few different places today, including Multiversity Comics where he spoke with Chad Bowers about the make up of the team and expectations for the title going forward. Some awesome character-based filecards are woven throughout the article as well.
By far the biggest draw to me, though, was his visit with Chris Sims over at Comics Alliance. VanLente has a long interview with established G.I. Joe fan sims, and actually debuts some images from the upcoming second issue of G.I. Joe! As much as I was positive about the first issue, the little preview we see over at Comics Alliance gets me even more excited. Without spoiling too much, the character appearances in Issue #2 are very exciting, and not only that, but the way they look is just as exciting. They are certainly using some inspiration from very cool sources.
Find enclosed our latest news and new product update. Remember that
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We are pleased to announce the pre-order availability of wave 3 of
the GI JOE: Retaliation 3.75″ figures. New figures in this assortment
include Cyber Ninja, Dark Ninja Warrior, Lady Jaye, Joe Colton, and
Alley-Viper.
As usual, we have the latest GI JOE comic books for your reading pleasure.
GI JOE main series, Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow, COBRA, and A Real American
Hero. Back issues are also available for most titles dating back to the
Devil’s Due run. We also have all of the trade paperbacks from the classic
Marvel run penned by Larry Hama.
The following message comes courtesy of site sponsor KokomoToys:
We have a limited supply of the Gi Joe Retaliation Wave 3 figures available now for Pre-Order on the website. They are scheduled to be released the last week of March.
Also, we will have special store hours during this years Gi-Joe Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. We are about an hour from the hotel and plan to announce hours in the next few weeks that will give all attendees the chance to check out the shop. Also, look for coupons to the shop at that time.
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For folks who are into the MicroForce stuff and the Kre-O stuff, you should check out their eBay store as well… lots of singles available for sale!
I hope everyone is enjoying these, because we’ve still got 35 left to go!
As we lead up to the release of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film, Twitziller continues to count down the reasons why the film is going to be fun. Next in line!
#36:
Again, I feel like Twitziller and I are on the same page here. High tech equipment has always been one of the hallmarks of G.I. Joe vs. Cobra, and while we certainly got our fair share of that in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the stuff we’re getting in the second film seems much more in line with our plastic universe over the past three decades. Motorcycles that turn into rockets… I mean come on!
Between that bike, Cobra Commander’s personal gunship, the Water Moccasin, and of course the immortal HISS Tanks, these Hollywood renditions of our plastic toys seem much more lifelike and much more like our ten year old imagination made “flesh”.
Check out previous entries below, and you can see the full list on GeneralsJoes right here.
I’m trying… I’m really trying not to get too far into the Kre-O world. The fact that I don’t have any Toys “R” Us stores within a 65 mile radius makes it pretty easy, but seeing great video reviews of them makes it hard all over again. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would pick up some of the blind bag sets, but I had no intention of investing lots of cash in the build sets. I don’t really have time to build these things, I don’t have the display space, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do with this huge box of BTR pieces have had taking up valuable space in my life for the past 10 years!
But… dammit, Pixel Dan. This review pretty much sold me on picking up the Battle Platform set if for nothing else than the Duke, Roadblock, Cobra Commander, and 2 Cobra Trooper Kre-Ons. They look like a whole lot of fun, and I know my daughter will also really be into them. You can also check out a high res gallery to compliment the review on Toy News International.
Check out the video below and join me on the dark side.
Thanks to artist Antonio Fuso for letting me know that he is currently selling some of his original art (including some of his terrific work on the IDW Cobra title). This artwork can be viewed on his Tumblr page right here. Over the past few years, the G.I. Joe: Cobra title has been one of the most unique, engaging, and entertaining comics I’ve read in a very long time, and much of that is due to the atmosphere and vision that Fuso brings to the table with his very unique artistic style.
Check out his Tumblr page for more details and to see if there’s something you like.
