The written reviews are on their way! We stand at about 90% complete and hope to launch very early next week.
While you wait, Chris from The Full Force and I worked together to get some video reviews done to take a quick peek at the 2016 G.I. Joe Convention boxed set! These videos have been broken up into two parts, one looking at the Sky Patrol members, with the other digging into the COBRA A.D.D.E.R.S.!
Head on over to my YouTube channel to check them out, or they are also embedded below. Full written reviews are on the horizon, expect them very soon!
I know most of the attention at JoeCon focuses on the Hasbro booth and Club exclusives, but the truth is there is a ton of stuff that goes on at JoeCon beyond just the fancy new toys.
Phil from YoJoe.com went above and beyond this year as he always does taking images, organizing them and posting them in the always awesome YoJoe Photo Galleries. Custom and Diorama contest photos, Cosplay, and yes plenty of images of new toys, too.
Check out the YoJoe Photo Gallery, there’s some awesome stuff to look at there.
With the 2016 G.I. Joe Convention now over, Hasbro has released some official press images for upcoming product, which provides a nice clear look at how these figures are expected to look once we get them in our greedy little mitts in November.
Like the Black Vulture, the COBRA Flying Scorpion was based off a Brazil only Sky Patrol release, and like the Vulture, it’s a match that seems to work only too well. While the name “Flying Scorpion” doesn’t necessarily mix with Air Devils the way the Vultures work together, the color scheme here is a surprisingly effective match for the Air Commandos that he leads.
Just like the original figure did, this version of the Flying Scorpion re-uses Cesspool’s head, only this time it’s the modern Club version, which continues to be terrific even a couple of years later. The red shirt is a great match for the Air Devil troopers, as is the silver webgear for those silver pouches. While the gray pants don’t match precisely, they are covered with enough black pouches and trim to darken the overall colors and
blend him in with his fellow air soldiers.
One item of note is that his torso looks to be from the 30th Anniversary Lifeline, though in order for the COBRA Officer webgear to fit on it, the extraneous holsters and such have been removed, leaving small cavities in the torso. With the webgear on, these are not even visible, but if you plan on taking the webgear off, that’s something you should be aware of. Beyond the Lifeline torso and Cesspool head, the figure is Retaliation Ultimate
Duke, which are some really nicely sculpted parts and fairly well articulated. I continue to struggle somewhat with the rocker ankles on these legs, and it can be very difficult to get them in the poses you want, but they do look pretty darn nice.
The figure itself comes together really well with the sculpting and paint deco, looking like a great update to the original and also meshing nicely with the other Air Devils.
Accessories
The COBRA Flying Scorpion comes with the awesome jetpack just like Black Vulture, only his is colored to match him, and has the unique Air Devil themed COBRA logos. The removable COBRA Officer webgear works surprisingly well for the Recoil torso and covers up those pesky holes in his torso nicely, also contrasting well with the red. He comes with the great pistol that slides into the leg holster and Sci-Fi’s helmet which works well to match the Cesspool helmet of old. Finishing off the accessories is a simple AK-47.
Flying Scorpion is terrific. The Cesspool head is magnificent and in the different skin tone looks like a completely different character. The parts combination works flawlessly and the accessories are exceptionally well chosen. The pair of former Brazil exclusives both hit the ball way out of their respective parks and I couldn’t be happier with these two updates.
To check out a video review of the COBRA ADDERS half of the Convention set, watch below!
Cobra Flying Scorpion
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
4.5
Summary
Just like the Black Vulture, this feels like a match made in heaven. A character pulled from the Brazilian exclusives line, fantastic modern parts and a great color scheme, which even blends this character logically with the Air Devils he leads. Terrific accessories, and just a high quality, well put together JoeCon figure.
While package pickup was late last night, the first official day of the 2016 G.I. Joe Convention is today! Already we’ve seen the parachute drop and panels by Adam Riches and James Kavanaugh, Jr., and some great updates are over at the G.I. Joe Discussion Group on Facebook. Dave Tree’s Action Man panel is hot on their heels.
Hot ticket item for the Con this year appears to be the carded Pythona, which was apparently sold without limits and burned through very quickly in the Club store.
G.I. Joe Con attendees will be getting their first sneak preview at the sales floor today at 2:00pm Mountain time, which includes the Hasbro booth, but don’t be alarmed if there isn’t much to look at there yet. Generally Hasbro puts out most (if not all) of their new product AFTER their panel, which happens tomorrow morning at 11:00am Mountain time.
It does look like someone got an advanced sneak peek at the Hasbro booth, and so far they’re just showing the SDCC set (priced at $99.99) but as I said, we can anticipate seeing much more than that tomorrow after their panel.
