by generalsjoes | Apr 16, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
So with big thanks to Gyre Viper and JoeDeClassified, we got a very nice look at some potential upcoming figures to be released this year. With much of the focus being placed on the G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie line, this figure assortment (which contains some very old school classic deco’s) sort of came out of left field and has many fans scratching their heads.
Well, looking to find some answers, I asked around a little bit to see what I could find.
A reliable source tells me that these figures are themed as a low price-point assortment, mostly targeted for Dollar Stores. The idea of the assortment was to take some of the well known core characters and get them into retail outlets, but to do it in interesting ways, and ways that existing tooling would allow.
With the idea of paint applications, apparently some decisions had to be made for cost purposes, and even though a figure like Cobra Commander looks to be somewhat bland, he has the same paint apps as anyone else, they’re just applied differently. As far as paint applications go, too, each paint app adds cost to the overall product, so to keep pricing low, the number of different paint applications also had to be kept low. While the price has yet to be revealed, we can expect to see these priced lower than the mainline items.
Release dates are uncertain, but we should expect to see these hit Dollar Stores this summer.
Obviously at this point, these details could be subject to change, but I consider this information to be extremely reliable. Again, to see some images of these figures, check out JoeDeClassified.com.
If nothing else this assortment brings a certain enlightenment to me. Ever since its release, I’ve always hated the Ninja Force Storm Shadow. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but it’s clear to me now. I think the design and the limited articulation of the original figure significantly impacted my overall opinion of the uniform itself. Seeing this similar design on a much better base figure really gives new light to the look of the figure in a way I didn’t appreciate back in the 90’s. It’s amazing that after 15 or so years, taking old school deco’s and applying them to newer figures can still bring things to light after all this time.
A great looking assortment, and great news about them potentially hitting discount and dollar stores. Hopefully there’s more still to come!
by generalsjoes | Apr 16, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys
Wait, what?
Over on JoeDeclassified, Gyre-Viper has blown the lid off of some potential upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation figures! But these aren’t your typical Retaliation figures, boys and girls…these have a very strong vintage feel and some awesome looking old school deco’s! Are these some sort of exclusive? Just some random love letter to the fans?
I’m not sure, but whatever they are, they are incredible.
Some of the images are mirrored below, but you absolutely must hit up JoeDeClassified.com to see the full details and all of these incredible images.
Wow!
no images were found
by generalsjoes | Apr 16, 2012 | 30th Anniversary, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Podcasts, Pursuit of COBRA
Believe it or not, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As cool as the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation Crimson Guard and Night-Viper are…and as neat as it is that they were once rumored to be 30th Anniversary figures, the JDSO crew dives into many more mysteries, both modern and vintage!
Patrick “notpicard” Stewart reviews the G.I. Joe: Retaliation figures, they talk about the awesome ARBCO Playset, and solve the long-standing mystery of what the hell is on Low Light’s leg??!
Of course any episode of JDSO is always complimented by some awesome images, so be sure to check out the thread on JoeDeClassified to soak in all of these great pictures. I’ve mirrored a a handful of them below, but you need to check out DeClass to see the rest. Some great, GREAT stuff.
Hit up the Podbean site to have a listen!
no images were found
by generalsjoes | Apr 16, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys
One benefactor of the recent Meijer’s early G.I. Joe: Retaliation figure release was Jay over at Carded Heroes, and we’re all getting the benefit of it. He’s posted a very nice review of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Zartan.
As a big fan of G.I. Joe: Renegades I obviously love the aesthetic of this figure, and while the light piping looks pretty weird on some of those disguise heads, I think the effect is still neat. Check out the review right here, I mirrored just a couple of images below. Check Carded Heroes for the rest.
no images were found
by generalsjoes | Apr 15, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
Ahh, excellent! One good thing about spending all day “off the radar” packing for the big move is that when I get back online, there’s usually some cool news to talk about. Today, it involves a handful of images from G.I. Joe: Retaliation that have hit the web from StarkIndustries.ru.
Once again, it’s unknown where they are getting these images from, but the pictures are pretty damn nice anyway. Some great action shots! Check out the mirrored images below.
no images were found
by generalsjoes | Apr 14, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: Renegades, G.I. Joe: The Movie, IDW, Podcasts, What's on Joe Mind
It’s the golden episode of the web’s longest running G.I. Joe podcast, What’s on Joe Mind! Join us as we celebrate the occasion with former G.I. Joe comic writer Brandon Jerwa, with Marvel Comics Director of Communications Arune Singh, and featuring some very surprising (and most welcome) call-in congratulations!
The first 30 seconds of the show is about the most geeked-out moment I have ever experienced in the history of G.I. Joe collecting. It’s a “can’t miss” experience!
For G.I. Joe fans, you’re going to want to hear about Brandon Jerwa’s new project “Shooters” that he is working on with Eric Trautman and artist Steve Lieber. It’s a tight, emotional, military-themed graphic novel that I haven’t been able to put down! Hear all about it on the show.
As always, hit up our Podbean Page, or check it out via the embedded player below. As always the full blown show notes are after the jump.
(more…)
by generalsjoes | Apr 14, 2012 | Comics and Cartoons, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, IDW
So the recent news about IDW streamlining their G.I. Joe releases caused me to check these solicitations with a little trepidation, but turns out if they are scaling things back at all, it’s not happening until after July. The solicitations at least still show our normal compliment of G.I. Joe related titles.
To see the full lowdown click the Read The Rest of this Entry link below.
(more…)
by generalsjoes | Apr 14, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, Pursuit of COBRA
Every Joe fan’s favorite package artist Mike Thompson had a stretch where he was posting several awesome pieces of his Joe art on an almost weekly basis. Working as a package artist through the Rise of Cobra and into the Pursuit of Cobra era, Mike’s excellent blog, Mike T Artworks showcased his excellent renditions of characters like Spirit, City Strike Scarlett, and Whiteout.
He’s taken a break from posting G.I. Joe related art, most likely because he’s either shown most of it already, or is still waiting for them to be cleared by Hasbro to post…but today that changed! During our interview of Mike Thompson on the What’s on Joe Mind podcast we were lucky enough to see some of his other pieces, and now he has posted them via his Twitter page.
These head shots were to be used on some canceled Wal-Mart 2-Packs featuring Nano-B.A.T., Zap, Budo, and Dr. Mindbender. Check out these excellent images below. Also make sure you keep your eyes on MikeTArtworks.com which is his main site featuring some fantastic work that he’s done over the years. He has some amazing talent, even if you’re checking out some non-G.I. Joe work, I think you’ll appreciate what he does. He’s obviously a geek at heart!
no images were found
To hear straight from the source about the process for producing this incredible artwork, hit up the embedded player below to listen to our interview with Mr. Thompson. It’s enlightening to say the least!
by generalsjoes | Apr 13, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys
Now, it’s all focused on a single retail outlet, Meijer’s, and all sightings seem to be in the Indiana and Kentucky areas, but we’ve got some more evidence of figures being found in the wild.
First and foremost, long time friend of GeneralsJoes and one of the admins of JoeBattleLines, Scott “MadMac” found a Wave 1 Roadblock and was kind enough to take some pictures. He also took some initiative and swapped out Roadblock’s hands with the 7-Pack Red Dog. The results are quite nice! Check out the images below.
no images were found
Also, fellow co-host of the What’s on Joe Mind podcast Gary discovered them at his local Meijer’s as well…so guess we’ll have some good stuff to talk about next week! Check out the image for proof below.
Those of you with local Meijer’s stores, gas up those cars and get driving! I’ll just sit back with my bears and wait for those pesky e-tailers.
by generalsjoes | Apr 13, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Comics, IDW
Since yesterday the G.I. Joe fandom has been buzzing about the rumor that IDW is “streamlining” their G.I. Joe comic releases, and one Twitter use ComixAce even mentioned the fact that they would be trimming down to a single title.
Obviously lots of concern was immediately voiced, specifically about G.I. Joe: Cobra, which many fans consider the best of the current running comics, to say nothing about its ties to G.I. Joe. Cobra writer Mike Costa has evidently heard the concern, and voiced some reassurances via his Twitter page:
“Everyone’s concern has really been a huge compliment to me, but I want to assuage your fears: I am not leaving the Joe franchise”
What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Seems pretty unlikely that the Cobra title would remain the only G.I. Joe themed comic that IDW does, so my first guess is that this issue has been somewhat overblown.
While there is no doubt that some streamlining is likely taking place, my guess is that it’s not as serious as some folks are making it out to be. Time will tell, and hopefully we’ll get some sort of formal announcement at C2E2.
UPDATE – Thanks to Troynos from the ComixVerse who reached out to John Barber and got even better clarification about IDW’s statements. Check them out here, and also quoted below.
“I think Dirk (Wood, IDW’s VP Of Marketing) was actually talking in vaguer terms than any concrete plan; the basic gist is that we’re aware that (in general terms) there are a lot of groups of titles from a lot of publishers where there are a LOT of titles (like Avengers or X-Men or whatever). We’re aware of overburdening the market with a lot of anything–Joe, Turtles, X-Men, anything, no matter how popular–can have an overall negative effect on sales. Plus, I’ve got to admit that the GI JOE trade paperback numbering and the several-times renumbering of series like Cobra over the years is pretty confusing… and we’re trying to not be confusing going forward. What exactly that means, we’re not sure (other than I don’t want to have a GI JOE: COBRA: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 and a GI JOE: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 book and have them be different books…). But it’s not really any paring back on anything. It was more about assuring retailers we’re not going to flood the market with confusing material. We had a month or two with the movie-tie-in series plus some specials where there was a TON of Joe comics out the same month; we’ll try to spread the wealth more over a longer period of time.
So there’s still going to be plenty of GI Joe; D&D has never had more than one ongoing and a limited series; Magic’s never been more than one series at a time.”
Big props to Troy for reaching out and getting clarification. Glad to hear this was misinterpreted.
