Notpicard keeps the 25th Anniversary unreleased goodness coming, giving us some great pictures of not only the already seen Python Patrol Tele-Viper, but also rounding off the full compliment of Python Patrol figures with the Trooper as well! Like the Tiger Force Roadblock, the Python Trooper is one we hadn’t seen a sniff of before now, and hadn’t even gotten any rumors about either. It seems interesting that all of these subteam remnants are leaking out there, perhaps they were originally planned as some sort of series of exclusives. Obviously the Tiger Force Roadblock was slated as part of Wave 15 (at least that’s the hypothesis based on silhouettes), but it does seem interesting that two Python Patrol figures not seen anywhere have suddenly shown up around the same time as the Roadblock.
Curiouser and curiouser…
Anyway, check out the original thread on JoeIntel, or you can check out the images below that they’ve graciously allowed me to mirror. You know…I’ve spent my fair time sorta slamming the Anniversary concept, or at least complaining about it’s repetetive nature in comparison to the Rise of COBRA and Pursuit of COBRA, at least from my own perspective. But you know, even though I much prefer the new over the rehashed, I can’t help but get a silly smile on my face when I see those Python Patrol guys in a group shot down there. That looks pretty bad ass, and in a way, I’m sorry those never made it to retail.
Granted, I’ll take the Pursuit of COBRA awesomeness over garish neon repaints of already-flawed tooling any day of the week, but those figures would still look pretty neat on display.
notpicard, the lucky Joefan who got his hands on an unreleased Training Snake Eyes figure has come through again with another gem, this one quite possibly more desirable than the last. Through sources known only to him, he was able to get a full paint sample test shot of the unreleased Tiger Force Roadblock! This long rumored figure was originally thought to come as a single pack in Wave 15 (judging by silhouettes on the back of Wave 14 carded samples).
Until now, however, no actual samples had ever been seen. Well, thanks to notpicard and the guys at JoeIntel, we can now get our first glimpse at this figure…check out the thread here, or the images I’ve been allowed to mirror below!
One has to wonder that if he managed to get this figure, what else is out there in unreleased form? Some of the rumored Python Patrol figures perhaps? I, for one, look forward to the revelations!
The latest G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club newsletter is hitting mailboxes, and reports are coming in that the first assortment of Pursuit of COBRA figures is shown in full color glory inside! Due to copyright reasons the GIJCC images will not be mirrored here, however I’ve linked the figures below to pictures gathered from JoeCon 2009:
It’s not exactly clear what assortments are what, or when these will be released, though I’d imagine we’ll see them before years end, which rocks my world! Of course, don’t forget to hit up the Pursuit of COBRA SuperPage for the lowdown on everything…
One of the coolest things I saw from JoeCon photos in August had to have been this item. An Alpha Class vehicle that was a bad ass motorcycle that also turns into a suit of killer robot power armor?!? I mean, come on. How can that go wrong?
Well, Gyre-Viper from HissTank.com got his hands on a test shot, and early reports aren’t real encouraging. Sounds like the parts and pieces aren’t real sturdy and he wasn’t all that impressed. Of course keep in mind his is a test shot, and there’s a distinct possibility things will be a whole lot sturdier in final form.
I actually really like the figure, too. I thought Wraith was a pretty nice Anniversary figure (fragile arm cables aside) that got an undeservedly bad rap. The Wraith armor fits in seamlessly with the Rise and Pursuit of COBRA theme, so this looks pretty neat to me. The new head sculpt sells it, too.
Anyway, Gyre-Viper was cool enough to snap a ton of pics of his new acquisition, which I’m mirroring below. I’ll judge for sure once I get it in hand. It certainly looks pretty awesome, I think, but I’m a guy who likes playing with his toys, so we’ll have to see where it goes from there.
It takes a lot of guts to emulate a timeless comic like Watchmen, especially when it comes to the fifth issue, but the guys at IDW, Mike Costa specifically, sought out to do just that when telling the tale of Tomax and Xamot in the G.I. Joe: COBRA Special, which was officially released yesterday (though I reviewed an advanced copy over a week ago). A few sites across the web have done reviews of this issue, and the results have been glowing. Check out some links below.
The guys at G.I. Joe Review have posted their latest episode of the G.I. Joe Review Podcast, including an interview with Herb Trimpe! Plus the guys review G.I. Joe #50 including the preview of Special Missions.
You can listen to the latest episode via the integrated MP3 player now:
All of the pertinent info (subscription links, discussion links, etc…) can be found below:
I’ve been a bit behind posting some news updates as I had to go through a marathon 25 hour laptop upgrade project for work over the past two days, but hopefully I’ll start catching up. First order of business is that for longtime Joe fans who are in love with the vintage look, Sideshow Collectibles continues to put out exceedingly impressive product. In the past two weeks, reports have come of the COBRA Trooper shipping to folks who ordered it, and just yesterday a poster at HissTank reported that Storm Shadow arrived!
These items are pricey, but they are fantastic, in my humble opinion. I’ve only had a chance to pick up Snake Eyes so far, but if he is any indication of the quality of these items, vintage fans are going to have a pretty sweet display shelf of 12″ greatness coming forward. In a recent Q & A, Sideshow even confirmed that they have a Battle Helmet version of COBRA’s notorious Commander in the works! Anyway, if you’ve missed out on any of this stuff, you haven’t necessarily missed the boat. Both items are currently sold out, but Sideshow’s wait list has given collectors some great second chances in the past. Click the banners below to get on the list for the COBRA Trooper and the Storm Shadow!
To go along with recent reports of the Toys “R” Us Exclusive Attack on the Pit multipack, reports are coming in that Target has gotten in on the act, with recent shipments of the “Rescue Mission” 4-Pack hitting retail. According to a Target employee on HissTank.com, initial release schedules were for October 11th, but apparently some stores are getting an early hit.
While it doesn’t pack as much punch as the Attack on the Pit set does, I’m starting to warm up to the Rescue Mission set as well. I really love the spandex Duke to go along with the Ripcord from TRU’s set, and that Resolute Snake Eyes is the coolness no matter how he’s used. I’m actually really looking forward to getting that figure in hand, too, I think he’ll look pretty bad ass in all black with the Paris Pursuit head sculpt.
Two Neo-Vipers round off the boxed set, which are all well and good, too. While this set clocks in at $19.99 ($5 cheaper than the Attack on the Pit) I don’t think it quite offers as much bang for your buck. The Toys “R” Us set comes with 5 figures instead of 4, plus the Molepod! Quite a bonus for five more dollars. Check out the image below.
To go along with this, several HissTank members are reporting that the Toys “R” Us Exclusive Bench Press and Snow Serpent have also been spotted at retail stores as well.
In celebration of the various anniversaries and birthdays of some of the top toy brands in the world, the Toy Industry Foundation has launched several benefit auctions to support children in need. These auctions will be sold through eBay at givingworks.ebay.com (search for Toy Industry Foundation). In celebration of G.I. Joe’s 45th Anniversary, an exclusive golf bag and movie poster signed by the director, producer, and cast of G.I. Joe: The Rise of COBRA.
For the full Press Release, click the “Read the rest of this entry” link below. Let’s step up, G.I. Joe fans, this is for a great cause!
