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Kick Ass Customs – Mysterious Stranger’s Rise of Sigma 6!

This is Mysterious Stranger’s second time in the Kick Ass Customs feature, and I think most folks will understand why this particular project appeals to me so much.  I really love the similarities between Sigma 6 and the Rise of Cobra, and Stranger brings them all together quite well here.  Not only that, but he comes up with a very cool story as well.

For the full skinny, check out his post on JoeBattleLines, and I’ve also mirrored the images below.

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JoeCustoms.com Spooks Customs Auction for Charity!

Anyone who’s been following The Fwoosh or the latest Fwoosh CustomCon has no doubt noticed the excellent Spooks and Fury Force entries that JoeCustoms submitted.  Well, now we find out the end result!  The JoeCustoms (and JoeCanuck) crew have all worked together and will be auctioning these amazing custom boxed sets off, then will give 100% of the proceeds to charity!  A great way to celebrate the holiday season.  Check out all of the details below.

JoeCustoms.com is auctioning off their CustomCon entries for charity, the eBay link is right here.  They will be donating 100% of the proceeds to the Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Child Life Services program.  This program provides toys, games, and activities, as well as, in hospital schooling for the patients.  Check out the details of that great cause here.

If you missed CustomCon on TheFwoosh, here are the entries below:

Spooks is an excellent comic series written by Larry Hama for Devils’ Due, so there are obvious connections to the Joe fan in all of us.  Fury Force was reportedly the initial “pitch” that G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was pulled from when the comic first got off the ground.  Some great pieces and awesome parts of history that will certainly appeal to Joe fans of all ages.

G.I. Joe: Review Podcast Episode 31 posted!

G.I.Joe Review Episode 031

(29:41) The guys review G.I. Joe: Special Missions #2.

You can direct download Episode 031 here.

We’re on iTunes. Our direct link is here, but for non-iTunes users, our rss feed is here.

Our email address is: GIJoeReview@gmail.com

You will be able to find our archives at: http://gijoereview.libsyn.com/

Discuss this episode at http://gijoereview.army4one.com

If you like the show:

(1) Leave us a positive review on iTunes.

(2) Vote and leave some comments for us on PodCast Alley at: http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=49736

Enjoy!

G.I. Joe #155 1/2…it doesn’t end there!

To go along with the announcement that Free Comic Day from IDW would involve G.I. Joe #155 1/2, Chris Ryall’s RyallTime blog reveals that it’s just the beginning…

“Diamond recently released information on the Gold-level sponsors for Free Comic Book Day in May 2010. Our book for that level is G.I. JOE 155-1/2, an all-new story that picks up where the old Marvel series (which stopped at issue 155) ended. The book leads into a new REAL AMERICAN HERO series that starts with issue #156. The online cover image wasn’t the final version, though–that one is pictured right here, with art by Augustin Padilla, who’s doing the interiors on this new book. The inimitable Larry Hama scripts, of course.”

Very cool news for the Marvel fans out there.  It’ll be interesting to see how everything gets juggled, but it’ll be cool to see where this thing goes.

Desert Battle Zartan images online at the Terror Drome

Like many Joefans stateside, the guys over at The Terror Drome have gotten their hands on another pre-production Pursuit of Cobra item, this time around it’s the Desert Battle Zartan w/ his Sandstorm disguise.  It’s so funny that this version of Zartan is fairly simple and straight forward, yet ends up being so successful.  For a long time Hasbro has done some very complicated things with the master of disguise, but really failed to capture the essence of the character.  However, this version really seems to capture him well, and ties him into the movie continuity fairly seamlessly.  The disguise is great, the figure itself looks awesome, and he’s got some incredible accessories to boot.  A really nice figure all around.  I hope to have my own review posted shortly, but for now check out the gallery of images I’ve mirrored below.

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IDW announces 2010 Free Comic Book Day comic – Marvel fans rejoice!

IDW_GI_Joe_Large_02In a move that is certain to make many Joe fans smile, Newsrama has broken the news about the 2010 Free Comic Book Day comics, and among the bevy of listings, is IDW’s G.I. Joe offering…and it looks to be a great one!

G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO #155½

This is what you really want! Larry Hama continues his original and ground-breaking G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero saga with the VERY NEXT ISSUE (but, you know, 15 years later).

Good stuff!  Thanks to Jeff  Bohn as always for having his ear to the ground.

Great Googly Moogly! Upcoming Pursuit of Cobra vehicles will blow your mind!

You know, I just got my G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club newsletter in the mail and was going to sit down and lavish some praise upon the upcoming Pursuit of Cobra HISS Tank, while at the same time lamenting the fact that I can’t show images for copyright purposes…and then the already immortal Gyre-Viper over at HissTank.com goes and not only blasts a ton of HISS pics, but also got his mitts on something nobody has laid eyes on before!  It looks to be a Bravo sized miltary type Jeep for the G.I. Joe side, quite possibly to go up against the HISS in the initial wave of Bravo vehicles for the Pursuit of Cobra line.

When I saw these images, two words came immediately to mind, but I try and keep my site somewhat family friendly, so I won’t repeat them here.  Needless to say, I’m impressed.  Back when this new blog format site fired up, I opined that there could be some really great stuff coming on the vehicle front for G.I. Joe…and while my math was a little bit off, I’m pleased to see that what I hypothosized is finally coming to pass.  From first glance, you can immediately see the strong influence of the Sigma 6 2.5″ vehicle “style” only finally done up in the crowd-pleasing 3 3/4″ scale.  The modular weapons, the sleek, aerodynamic armor plating, the intricate pseudo-futuristic detailing.  These are vehicles worthy of the G.I. Joe name, and for a guy who’s not really into vehicles all that much, I am giddy looking at these images.  Good Lord these look cool.  Many images are mirrored below.

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Also, a few notes about the HISS, courtesy of the always informative G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club newsletter:

  • There are three modes, high-speed, stealth, and moving turret attack mode
  • Pressing a button will cause the HISS to “spring up” like a cobra
  • Moving treads and the top cannon rotates 360 degrees
  • Handgrips under the chassis for Joes to grab onto (inspired by the Pyramid of Darkness cartoon)
  • Two opening cockpits, one in front and one that flips down in the back
  • Cockpit is opaque, not clear, HISS driver uses cameras to see
  • Both cannons rotate independently, but also have a feature that spins them both simultaneously
  • Customizable sticker sheets to create a fleet of HISS Tanks with unique identifiers

There is also some terrific concept art and design images, but you’ll have to get your hands on the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club newsletter for that.  To join the club, click here!

Reviews and scores of images of Wave 3 Alpha Vehicles

The third wave of Rise of Cobra Alpha Vehicles created quite the firestorm when it was leaked that the assortment was potentially cancelled.  In fact, I’d argue word of their cancellation generated much more buzz than the actual figures and vehicles themselves ever did.

Well, after all of the hulabaloo (yes, I just used the word hulabaloo…) it now appears that the assortment will see release after all, just after a short delay.  In fact, word is the Philippines have already seen the vehicle packs appear on store shelves.  As further proof of this, JoeCustoms member chrysophylax has posted some very nice images along with some reviews over at JoeCustoms.com.  Reviews are up for the Tiger Claw w/ Leatherneck, the Polar Shark Sub w/ Ice Storm, and the Lavapod driver, Volcano Viper.  I’ve also mirrored the great images below.

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The more I see the Volcano Viper the cooler he becomes…I really love the detail on that helmet.  Holy crap that’s coolness.  The Polar Shark Sub is pretty awesome, too.  Definitely the strongest Alpha wave yet, glad it’s being released.

Interesting pre-production images revealed… legit or not?

Over on HissTank.com, they report that some images have appeared of upcoming Rise of Cobra releases, including a very mysterious Firefly/Elite-Viper hybrid that doesn’t fit anything we’ve heard of before.  Tough to tell if it’s actually legitimate or not, but it is interesting to see it.  The coloring is a bit lighter than the version released with the Gunship, and with that Elite Viper head, it could really belong anywhere…be interesting to see where this goes.

As for the other pictures, Ice Storm is still a pretty neat looking figure to me, and unlike many Joe fans apparently, I actually really like the red camouflaged Elite-Viper slated to come with the Trubble Bubble, too.  Check out the images below.

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Official Images of upcoming Rise of Cobra “Rip Attack” vehicles

We’ve seen enough of these images to really know what we’re getting with these sets, but the fact that we now have official pictures to show probably means these are on the verge of release.  And as usual, these two vehicles add a sense of conflict…  I love the Elite-Viper, but would have loved something NEW with the Elite-Viper…however, the Cobra vehicle is far superior to the G.I. Joe one.  On the flip side, though, this strange amalgamation of Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes and the Commando Snake Eyes from Rise of Cobra at least offers some new elements, even if the end result is a bulkier version of the same figure.  Bulk is exactly what that figure needed, though, so maybe this is a good thing?

Check out the images below.

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