It’s Con Set pick up day! That means a first look at all of the various Convention exclusives (aside from the boxed set items). Several different folks on the G.I. Joe Discussion Facebook page have posted images from the pick up line, and the extra exclusives are as follows:
G.I. Joe Glider 2 Pack w/ Cloudburst and Skymate ($75.00)
COBRA Heli-Viper 3 Pack ($85.00)
Sky Patrol JUMP 6 Pack ($55.00)
COBRA JUMP 6 Pack ($55.00)
Sky Patrol Sky Sweeper ($68.00)
COBRA Hydra w/ Aero-Viper ($85.00)
Sky Patrol Skystriker ($160.00)
Paradrop Freefall figure (loose $35.00 and carded $45.00)
Pythona Carded ($38.00)
Free Attendee Air Raid
The Skystriker and Sky Sweeper are in the familiar Sky Patrol metallic colors, while the majority of the other items are reminiscent of their vintage look and feel. Interestingly the Aero-Viper is very similar to the version released during the Rise of Cobra line, but with some different parts to remove the Neo-Viper-esque ties. Check out all of the images below.
If there’s any advantage to not making the trip to Loveland this year (and really, this is about the only advantage I can think of) it’s that I can at least try and sit back and offer some coverage of the JoeCon excitement. With this being only the third Convention I haven’t been able to attend in thirteen years, you’ll have to excuse me if I’m a bit melancholy and a little unaccustomed to the coverage from this perspective.
Today is Wednesday, which means it’s Golden Ticket pickup! There will be no special attendee exclusives revealed today, HOWEVER Golden Ticket holders will be getting their Convention Comic, and within the pages of that convention comic should be the details about the rest of the convention exclusives!
Golden Ticket pickup is at 8:30pm mountain time tonight, which should be around 10:30pm eastern. It’ll be here before you know it.
Check out my post from last year to see how this tends to look, and while we won’t get a specific idea of many of the individual characters or how they look, the list of exclusives will shed some light.
Even though I’m not in Colorado, I do have some “boots on the ground” and will endeavor to get the information relayed as fast as humanly possible… although I would much rather be in Loveland enjoying my favorite weekend of the year, there are still plenty of exciting things to come over the next several days, I hope you’ll join me in this year’s JoeCon coverage!
I know, I know… it’s about damn time! Yes, yes it is. But, the way I look at it is we waited over 30 friggen years for a Billy figure, what’s another couple of weeks to get the review done?
But it is done! I’ve got full blown text reviews as well as YouTube video reviews all polished off for both Billy and the Interrogator, two characters that are very near and dear to me, and two characters I was greatly looking forward to. One of them mostly meets my expectations, while the other falls a little short.
It only makes sense that within the furious whirlwind of G.I. Joe news over the past week, Pythona’s arrival would make its way in there somewhere.
Over on HissTank a G.I. Joe Collectors Club member from Florida reveals that his 2016 incentive Pythona arrived in his mailbox. Keep your eyes out, everyone! Between this, possible ComicCon reveals, and JoeCon about 10 days away, business is about to pick up!
This feels like it should be a momentous occasion, and in truth it is. As rumors swirl around us about what the future holds for G.I. Joe, and as the years have marched on, that long list of figures that needed to be done slowly dwindles.
In the early 2000’s we finally got our Oktober Guard (then again from the Club a handful of years ago). Several years later, again courtesy of the Collectors Club, we got our Dr. Venom. Another couple of years after that, Kwinn finally appeared in the Retaliation line of all places. Now this year the Club hands us both Pythona and Billy, all while standing on the precipice of their own final surge with the Hasbro license. Something about it seems almost poetic.
Ever since his first appearance in G.I. Joe #10, curiosity has surrounded the character of Billy. Though we didn’t find out he was COBRA Commander’s son until Destro pointed it out in issue #38 (I believe…). Shortly thereafter, Billy was taken in by Storm Shadow shortly before being caught in a rocket attack and gravely wounded. He managed to escape with a lost eye and leg and rejoined Storm Shadow, becoming immersed in the Arashikage culture and greatly evolving his ninja prowess. Devil’s Due took the ball and ran with it where Billy was concerned, bringing him on to act as a foil between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and that’s where this version of Billy comes in.
I’m really happy that the Collectors Club elected to go with this more combat ready version of COBRA Commander’s son rather than a boy scout or another iteration of the ’84 Storm Shadow. This is how he appeared in the Devil’s Due comic, and this is really where his training came to play, in my mind. His appearances in this guise in Devil’s Due were some highlights of that run, and I’ll remember that Mike Zeck penciled 21st issue very fondly.
The Club made some interesting choices with this figure. His head is a new sculpt, because it pretty much had to be, though doesn’t appear to be Boss Fight’s work. Most of the figure is based off the Rise of COBRA Snake Eyes, which is okay, I suppose, and that figure actually ends up being sculpted a bit smaller than more modern figures, so it makes sense for a younger operative. I will say the arms and torso don’t blend together especially well, and the shoulders look very “ball” like compared to some smoother flowing parts.
Speaking of his arms they’re the short sleeves that we saw with many figures throughout the Retaliation era, I believe, rounding off the t-shirt look. Colors here are very straight forward, with a simple black for the t-shirt and olive drab for the pants. They are plain colors, but match the comic look, so I can’t complain too heavily. Overall, it’s an effective design that is relatively comic accurate and blends nicely with other PoC era figures as well.
Accessories
They didn’t load Billy up with too much gear, giving him a submachine gun, sword, grappling hook, and the same sheath/strap that the original Snake Eyes had, which holds his sword (though just barely). Billy doesn’t need a whole lot of gear, and the weapons he comes with here do make some kind of sense.
Fans have been waiting for Billy for a very long time, and I’m glad that the Collectors Club was able to get this figure out to folks before losing their relationship with Hasbro. As I said above, it seems almost poetic that as the Club is forced to halt this product, they’re checking off a bunch of desires that the fans have been asking for. It makes me pretty excited to see what might be planned for the real last hurrah of FSS 5.0.
Check out the video review here:
FSS 4.0 Billy
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4
Summary
While not a perfect figure, the combination a newly sculpted head and decently chosen parts to form a more diminutive figure results in a nice version of Cobra Commander’s son that should fit well into anyone’s collection. Yes, overall the figure doesn’t really “wow” me, but it’s a very solid figure of a character in very high demand that the Club executed relatively well. It’s the version of the character I wanted, it has some really great articulation, and I find myself with few overall complaints.
