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G.I. Joe Convention coverage from What’s on Joe Mind!

Well, the guys from What’s on Joe Mind were out in force for the 2012 International G.I. Joe Collectors’ Convention in New Orleans over the weekend, and they attacked the Joe fandom with a ton of content over the past few days.

I am outlining some of that content here, but will save the extra special event over the Con weekend for it’s own post.

What’s on Joe Mind Special Edition #15 – Day 2 & 3 of GIJoeCon Coverage

We focused on the day one coverage right here, but What’s on Joe Mind came back for days 2 & 3, recording from the booth of AVAC and noted author James Kavanaugh where we talked about JoeCon so far, specifically focusing on the Attendee exclusives which were revealed and also talking about the now infamous “Concept Case” that Hasbro brought to the show to give Joe fans a peek behind the glass, so to speak.  The swear they didn’t do it to break hearts, that was just a neat side effect.  Check out this episode at Podbean, or via the embedded players below.

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What’s on Joe Mind Special Edition #17 – The G.I. Joe Convention Wrap Up!

Wait a minute…where’s Special Edition #16?  I’ll cover that one separately.

In this quick and to the point special edition, the What’s on Joe Mind crew get back together as the Convention prepares to wrap up, and you can feel the fatigue in our voices.  We’re joined by the guys from Moderately Geeky as well as Terry Dizard and Jim Dolan from YoJoe!  We also speak with John from JoeArmory.com and of course talk about everything we saw, heard, and experienced in New Orleans throughout the weekend.  The main focus is on the information gathered from the Hasbro round tables as well as the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club.  Information on new releases revealed for 2013 as well as next year’s membership figure and FSS Wave 2?!?  Check it all out at Podbean.com or through the players below.

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G.I. Joe Convention 2012 – Names and Identification for Concept Figures

During an exciting round table conversation with Hasbro this morning, the fellas from What’s on Joe Mind and myself got some information about the concept case shown at the G.I. Joe Convention here in New Orleans.

According to G.I. Joe Marketing director Joe Del Regno Hasbro is going to endeavor to list some online polls on GIJoe.Com in order to gauge interest in the figures and concepts shown within the confines of the “vault” here in New Orleans.  While we’re not certain on the timeline for this event, I figured the sooner we start identifying these figures, the better.  Thankfully, Hasbro made the job considerably easier by providing labels today in order to better organize our thoughts and priorities.

Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below to see the run down of figures with their identification.  The photos will all be presented in the same order as the names for easy  ID.

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Much more G.I. Joe Convention wrap up coverage coming… stay tuned!

Just figured I’d throw a quick post up…  I have a TON more stuff to come to wrap up my Convention coverage, such as photos of the awesome diorama, a run down of the names of each of the concept figures shown, updates from the What’s on Joe Mind interview, and just some more little news and details about the show in general.  Many folks know this already, but for folks who don’t, I basically flew back into town yesterday and immediately began moving into a new house.  We don’t even have internet yet, and I will be quite busy unpacking for the next day or two.  So trust me, more stuff IS coming, it just might be another 24 – 48 hours.  When I’m not unpacking I’ll be formatting posts, the SuperPage and getting my review station set back up.

I’m hoping I might be able to get something done tonight, but we will have to see.

Thanks very much for your patience, I hope you enjoyed the coverage of the show so far… MORE IS COMING!

G.I. Joe: Retaliation upcoming new Roadblock and Flint revealed

As I hinted yesterday, there were indeed a pair of figures put out on display, but quickly pulled back from Hasbro, who evidently did not want them revealed as of yet.

Not really certain what the full story is, just that there are evidently upcoming Roadblock and Flint figures that look pretty incredible. No information was revealed on timeline for release or format, but I suspect they will be part of the main single pack line in 2013.

Check out some images below, with big thanks to Kenny on Twitter.

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G.I. Joe Convention 2012 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation Behind The Scenes!

This coverage of the behind-the-scenes look at G.I. Joe: Retaliation hadn’t gone live yet just because there wasn’t really any “breaking news” so to speak, just some awesome glimpses of the production art, weapons, and costumes of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film.

Logan Lubera, a Hasbro representative, spent four months essentially embedded with Paramount, providing consulting, approval, and negotiation every single step of the way. From weapon design to costume design, to action set pieces, Logan had a hand in many of the elements of the Retaliation motion picture.  He actually designed the entire Battle Kata weapons system, initially as something that could be used for role play in the toyline, but it actually ended up being included in the film itself!  This was something Logan was especially proud of.

Throughout the entirety of the film, their main desire was to bring G.I. Joe back down to Earth.  Make it much more gritty and realistic military action film, drawing back the super hero “shiny armor” elements.  Focus much more tightly on quick-paced, character themed action and much less on huge spectacle and special effects.

There are many vehicles injected into the film, more than what we’ve seen in trailers and footage so far, and a lot of character-based nods to the fans as well.  As many folks have suspected, Jinx was given the yellow mountain fighting suit to separate her a bit from the Red Ninjas and also as an homage to Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.

As with many of the panels, you can read all of my aggregated Live Tweets on my Twitter Feed to get more insight and information.

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G.I. Joe Convention 2012 – G.I. Joe Collectors Club Roundtable – Iceberg!

Good morning!  I apologize about the delay in coverage for this as the Convention quickly turned into a whirlwind yesterday afternoon and evening.  The Collectors’ Club roundtable kicked off yesterday afternoon and much was discussed.

Brian apologized for what happened with the credit card system and revealed some details about how the third party software vendor and service provider could have done some things better.  There were programming errors in the web form they provided and no security package installed within the application as there should have been.  He did took full responsibility for what occurred, and informed us that he used a famous security analyst to uncover the issue and ensure that the new software package had all of the required security.

They discussed quite a bit about the package design for the carded Footloose and the Convention exclusive items, breaking down the numerous paint applications required for each figure.  Also discussed was the upcoming Membership Incentive figures.  For 2013, they are as follows:

  • 12″ Comrade of Action – an undercover Adventure Team agent in Russia
  • 4″ Iceberg!  Borrowing elements from the classic version, but attempting a more modern twist.  No figure picture was shown, but details were revealed.

Speaking a bit on the Figure Subscription Service as well, and showing off those figures at the front of the hall.  They are still testing the software platform for the store, and are hoping to get it online and rolled out shortly.  Still aren’t revealing 100% concrete pricing structure yet, as costs have changed in the manufacturing process over the past 8 months.  The figures for the FSS are essentially a “pre-order” where they will solicit the subscription, and then produce figures based on the demand from the orders.

They also announced…  FIGURE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE WAVE 2!

Hoping to get that launched, again, based on demand, after Wave 1 has settled somewhat, and even have three figures lined up for it:

  • Dragonsky
  • Big Bear
  • Night Force Lt. Falcon

A mock up picture was shown of Dragonsky, but not for the other two.  Big Bear will come with his trusty hat and a new head sculpt, while Lt. Falcon will be similar to the canceled 25th Anniversary Night Force version only with the new sculpted head from the Marauders 7-pack.

Again, I know this posting is late, but keep in mind I do a lot of Live Tweeting and up-to-the-minute news updates from my Twitter Feed.  Check out the images from the presentation below.

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Press images from new 2013 product revealed at G.I. Joe Convention 2012

Along with the slideshow and display cases, our old friends at Hunter PR have also provided the official press images for new items revealed at GIJoeCon 2012 including:

  • Ultimate Duke
  • Ultimate Snake Eyes with Timber
  • Ultimate Firefly
  • Cobra Combat Ninja
  • Cobra Night Landing Mission with Cobra Eel
  • Crimson Guard
  • Ninja Showdown Assortment Wave 2
  • Micro Force

Check out the images below and a big thanks to Justin at Hunter PR for being a great liaison to Hasbro and getting this stuff accessible.

Some points of confusion I’ve seen… yes the “Cobra Combat Ninja” was meant to be a movie accurate Cobra Trooper.  They only called him that because there is already a “Cobra Trooper” in the line.  I can’t think of a single reason to complain.  He’ll still be a Retaliation Cobra Trooper in my eyes.  Also, yes, there was apparently a Roadblock and Flint put out on display that were not supposed to be there.  They were quickly removed, but images have cropped up already.  I am looking into seeing if it’s okay if I post those.  If so, they will go up as well.

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G.I. Joe Convention 2012 Day 3 – 2013 Product in the display case

Good afternoon!

Just wanted to post a  quick burst of images of these new 2013 offerings in the display case and also correct myself.  The 2013 Night Landing does NOT come with the Sigma Suit canceled figure.  🙁

It uses some recycled parts from the Sunbow Snake Eyes, but the slideshow played tricks on me.  The set does come with the accessories from that figure, however, which is almost as cool.

Almost.

Also, the Red Ninja you see pictured below was not in the Slideshow, but somehow ended up in the case.  I asked John Warden about it, and he thinks release should be around the same time as Firefly in Wave 3.  Enjoy the images, more comprehensive coverage still to come.

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G.I. Joe Convention Day 3 – the 2013 Product Slideshow!

I’m between seminars at the moment, but wanted to at least get the slideshow images posted from the 2013 Product demonstration.  Many of these items will be in the display and I will get those images posted throughout the day as well, but wanted to get this AWESOME stuff up first.  Highlights:

  • Micro Force Quarter-Sized collectible figures in blind bags.  Over 80 figures to collect and trade.  Foot holes are compatible with normal vehicle foot pegs for display!
  • Alpha sized Night Landing vehicle with Cobra Eel.  Cobra Eel figure is the canceled Rise of Cobra Ripcord which is extremely detailed, highly accessorized and uses the figure design that was sculpted to resemble the Sigma 6 Sigma Suits
  • Night Viper is moved up to Wave 3
  • Very movie accurate “Ultimate Firefly” with mini-HISS in Wave 3
  • Very movie accurate “Cobra Trooper” (Cobra Combat Ninja) in Wave 3
  • Movie accurate “Ultimate Duke” (with Data-Viper Predator Drone) in Wave 3
  • Comic accurate/toy accurate Snake Eyes ’85 w/ Timber totally newly tooled in Wave 4
  • Crimson Guard in Wave 5 with customizable label sheet

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More details as they emerge!  Follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Tweets and posts from the SyFy panel and the GIJCC panel later today.

G.I. Joe Convention Coverage Day 2 – “The Concept Shelf”

I think most fans seem to be having the same sentiment in regards to the concept shelf, and the same feeling of mixed emotions.  While I personally love to see pre-production items, unproduced items, and things in various stages of design and production, having a full blown glass case of figures that are currently not due for release is a real blow to the gut.

That’s not to say I don’t want to see them and I want Hasbro to not show this stuff…I absolutely love it and eat this up, but it does fill me with some serious mixed emotions.  Obviously the G.I. Joe: Renegades shelf hit me hard with very nice, crisp pre-production Coyote and Flint’s Jeep concepts.  Scrap Iron was a beauty as well.  But for many folks, it was likely the 30th Anniversary shelf that was particularly devastating.

An awesome Flint update with his classic look, accompanied by Lady Jaye.  Beachhead, HEAT-Viper, Snow Serpent, Laser-Viper, Tele-Viper…and Hit & Run.  Oh good God that  Hit & Run.  This figure is something I’ve been dreaming about with the character for years.  It reeked of Hit & Run perfection…but apparently it is not to be.  Twist that knife a little deeper, Hasbro.

In all seriousness, I cannot stop commending the Hasbro designers for what they’re able to do.  This case was loaded with a ton of great looking figures that were by and large cobbled together from existing parts, and the fact that they could get updated designs to come out as strong and flawless as they did without doing too much new tooling is quite simply astounding.  Applause, Hasbro designers…  now, how do we convince the bean counters to let this stuff get to retail?

Check out some images below, as organized as I can make them.  I will refine this all into a SuperPage at some point very soon, but for now, let’s just get the images up there.

G.I. Joe: Renegades

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G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary and the Pursuit of Cobra

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G.I. Joe: Legend of the Arashikage Ninja

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G.I. Joe: Zombie Attack

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G.I. Joe Vehicle Concepts

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Items of note… the guy with the hockey mask is a “Dreadnok Trooper”.  The Howler and the Diver were both shown in Providence.  The diver figure has the familiar “Sigma 6” ports on his uniform, so that wounds me like a gunshot.  The bearded guy behind the Dreadnok Trooper is an unreleased PoC Clutch.

In talking with John Warden and Derryl, they were certain to point out that these are all definitely concepts and not to expect release on anything shown here, however, they were very interested to hear in our favorites.  They strongly encouraged communication with Hasbro to express our interest in some of these offerings.

I plan on rolling out some polls and top ten lists perhaps next week once Con hysteria slows down to try and form up some sort of consistent message that can hopefully be relayed about how much we want to see some of these items released.  I would imagine stuff like the G.I. Joe: Renegades items are pretty much off the table, just because of the nature of the brand at this point, but I would imagine there might be other possibilities if we can express our opinions intelligently and constructively.

As I said, I will get this better organized in a SuperPage format going forward, but I wanted to at least get the images out there, I know they are spreading like wildfire already as it is.  Interesting note in my opinion was that all of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation product shown had shelf tags leading up to 4/12/2013, but nothing beyond.  That shows to me there is still a lot planned for next year, so it will be interesting to see what ends up being revealed tomorrow at the Hasbro seminar.

Fingers crossed!

More coverage to come, I promise.  Sorry for the delay on this stuff.  Crazy day as you can imagine.