by generalsjoes | Jun 3, 2016 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, JoeCon 2016, Show and Convention Coverage
As the arrival of the 2016 G.I. Joe Convention draws nearer (2 weeks away… is it possible?!?) the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has released the schedule of events. It has an outline of all the panels and when those panels are happening, so mark those times in your appointment book. As usual, there are some key days/times you should keep in mind:
Wednesday Evening
Golden Ticket holders will be able to pick up their packages Wednesday night, and those packages include the exclusive convention comic! Within the convention comic is usually a rundown of what attendee exclusives are available, so news will be hitting probably around 9:00pm Mountain time!
Thursday Evening
Package pick up for everyone is Thursday, and the official reveals of all of the convention exclusives will happen then! Pictures and details of the extra items should start spreading like wildfire tonight.
Friday
The Club store opens and the sales floor has its sneak preview starting at 2:00pm Mountain! It’s not clear whether or not Hasbro will have anything new to show at first, but it sounds like they will reveal their real good stuff on Saturday after their panel. More on that later.
Friday also has a great assortment of panelists including Adam Riches, James Kavanaugh and Dave Tree talking about IDW, Real American Hero, and Action Man himself.
Saturday
Obviously the big draw on Saturday is the Hasbro panel at 11:00am Mountain (1:00pm Eastern) where Hasbro will reveal 2016 G.I. Joe items! That’s right boys and girls, confirmation that we will see some product this year. This will obviously be a pretty huge draw for fans both at the Convention and sitting at home! After this panel, they will be putting prototype figures in their display booths, so expect a flurry of fans rushing to get pictures of these toys. WATCH YOUR COMPUTER SCREENS.
The Kindle Worlds panel is at 2:00pm moderated by Derryl DePriest, with the Collectors Club roundtable happening at 3:00pm (all times Mountain). The GIJCC round table will no doubt outline what’s left for us to see this year, including FSS 5.0 and perhaps more details on the G.I. Joe/Transformers 5-Pack and perhaps even some surprises. Always a good panel to pay attention to, and considering it’s the last one (ever!) you won’t want to miss it.
Other great panels with Kirk Bozigian, Larry Hama and Gregg Berger are happening this day as well!
Sunday
The most bittersweet day at JoeCon where the tired masses are trying to recover from the craziness in the days previous, all while getting ready to leave for the last time. This will be an emotional day in Loveland, Colorado, but folks have to brave the tears for a few more panels.
JoeDeClassified will do their panel at 10:00am Mountain with the always entertaining Joe Colton during her cosplay panel at 11:00am. You’ll want to check that out, and see if she’s wearing her “Tequila sunglasses”…
Larry Hama will be doing another panel after that, and then bringing up the rear is no other than What’s on Joe Mind themselves, manning the live broadcast for what is literally the last Fun Pub Convention G.I. Joe panel ever. Landmark occasion capped off by the WOJM street team.
Obviously if you want to check out the full schedule you can click here, but for folks stuck at home, these are the high level events that you may want to keep your eyes on.
by generalsjoes | Mar 11, 2016 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club
I think “uncertain” is putting it kindly.
Brian Savage from Fun Publications sent out a pair of emails tonight on the subject of BotCon and JoeCon, each email serving a couple of purposes. There were some updates on the respective conventions in each message, but most importantly, he appeared to take an opportunity to thank the communities and say “good-bye” signaling the first official confirmation that Hasbro appears to be moving away from Fun Publications for their Collectors Club and Convention licensees.
However, sharp eyed readers might have noticed a distinct difference in the two emails.
While the Transformers oriented email contains the following text:
“All memberships will end December 31, 2016. Hasbro looks forward to sharing new plans for the Collector’s Club with you in the future.”
Meanwhile, the G.I. Joe one has the following:
“All memberships will end December 31, 2016.”
Yeah, that’s it.
Nothing about any kind of Hasbro announcement or any sort of indication of future events to celebrate the G.I. Joe brand. Some might say that’s a sign of bad things to come, but I think the G.I. Joe community really needs to take this as an opportunity. We need to show that we really want some kind of G.I. Joe Club or Convention representation. We need to prove to Hasbro that our fandom counts, too, even though we don’t love a billion dollar franchise like Transformers.
The fact is, Hasbro would not exist as a company right now if not for G.I. Joe. Do they owe us something? Of course not. But I feel like they owe the BRAND something, and for once maybe we should look past simply the bottom line and do something for the fans who have supported them for not just years, but decades.
Let Hasbro know how you feel. Write them a letter:
Hasbro, Inc.
1027 Newport Avenue
Pawtucket, RI 02862.
Ping them on Twitter.
Most important thing is to BE RESPECTFUL, but I think it’s pretty clear to me that Hasbro at large doesn’t think G.I. Joe is even worth considering the future of, and that doesn’t sit well with me. Hopefully I’m not alone.
I have hundreds of friends in the G.I. Joe community that I would have never met without JoeCon. This isn’t just about toys, it’s about friends, family, and a little bit of joy in our lives. It’s just one small weekend a year where we ask that G.I. Joe maybe be one of the priorities for a change. I don’t think that’s too much to ask, but we need to convince Hasbro of this fact.
It’s on us. However you can do it, DO IT. It’s evident from that email above that plans don’t appear to be set in stone for 2017 for the G.I. Joe side of the house. We may be able to change some minds. If you’re passionate about it, do something about it. I know I will. Let’s try to come together on this!
by generalsjoes | Feb 27, 2016 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, JoeCon 2016
It’s JoeCon brochure day! The most magical day of the year…
It’s the day when speculation of the upcoming G.I. Joe Convention Set can officially begin, and looking at the brochure, there’s going to be plenty of speculation to go around!
Check out the brochure over at GIJoeCon.com and see that the Sky Patrol convention set has been confirmed! But not just Sky Patrol. The G.I. Joe Collectors Club also mentions the COBRA ADDERS featuring Sky Creeper, Air Devil Troopers and Night Vultures! COBRA Air Commandos! SWEET!
The Air Commandos are some of my favorite obscure 90s G.I. Joe characters, and I am beyond thrilled to see them included here. Not only that, but it also looks like the Club is dipping into the International Sky Patrol figures, Abutre Negro (Black Vulture) and Escorpiao Voador (Flying Scorpion). Looking at the parts for these great international figures, you can see the club could easily repurpose their Cesspool head and other parts.
Plus, just looking at the brochure, it immediately becomes clear that G.I. Joe fans are pretty damn handsome.
So Loveland, Colorado, June 16th-19th. Will I see you there?
Keep watching GIJoeCon.com for the latest details!
by generalsjoes | Feb 15, 2016 | 12" Scale, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club
Please bear with me today as I try and power through some post Toy Fair recap and news reports, both within and outside of the G.I. Joe realm.
First and foremost, for any G.I. Joe fans who are concerned with the recent rumors of the future of the G.I. Joe Collectors Club and JoeCon itself, the folks from the Regular Joes podcast posted an episode discussing this very event.
Anyone who has listened to this podcast before knows that these guys are long time G.I. Joe fans and collectors who really have their fingers on the pulse of things when it comes to the G.I. Joe Collectors Club. I’m not saying this episode has any sort of secret inside information or anything, but Barry, Dave, and Todd certainly know their stuff, and any insight they provide here should be considered quite valuable.
Check out the latest episode of Regular Joes here, and keep tabs with them on Facebook as well.
by generalsjoes | Jan 21, 2016 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, JoeCon 2016
Last year, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club strongly indicated that they would provide a hint to the 2015 G.I. Joe Convention set in the Diamond Solicitation of their convention comic.
Sure enough, in the comic, an ad for the 2015 G.I. Joe Convention appeared, complete with a tiger pattern on the background. As we all know, last year’s set had Tiger Force elements.
Fast forward to this year… the Diamond Solicitation of the JoeCon comic hit shops last week, and there is another G.I. Joe Convention advertisement… but the background is different:
That’s right, it’s the clear blue sky.
Now, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club never stated this year’s comic would contain a hint to the JoeCon set, but if we’re to go by previous years, they could be throwing us a bone here.
Could we be seeing Sky Patrol in 2016?
And if so, who would they be facing off against? The G.I. Joe newsletter has been featuring Action Force pretty heavily, but I’m not sure how Action Force dovetails with Sky Patrol (especially considering they’re both good guys).
Who knows, the whole thing could be a red herring, but it’s certainly going to make for some interesting speculation. Hopefully we’ll hear more details about the 2016 G.I. Joe Con set soon! Keep watching GeneralsJoes and GIJoeClub.co for the latest info.
