by generalsjoes | Oct 14, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie, Pursuit of COBRA
We got a very light glimpse of this third wave of Target Exclusive vehicles during JoeCon a couple of months ago, but the images were shoddy at best and impossible to see at worst. The sounds and overall look of the packs seemed like winners over all, but I was reserving judgement until we saw some actually legible images.
Well, thanks to HissTank, we’ve got some images now, and I am SOLD. Capt. Ace w/ the Glider leaves me totally cold, but the other three sets all have some very nice redeeming factors, especially if these hit at the same price point as past Target exclusive vehicles. This is what we’ve got to look forward to:
- Cobra Flight Pod w/ Elite-Viper; Damn! Elite Viper looks GREAT with the red armor and the red camouflage pants. I love this look…really love it. The crimson Trubble Bubble is iffy, but the figure more than makes up for it. Very impressed with this.
- RAM w/ Sandstorm; Hell yeah. I love the RAM, and seeing it in desert paint scheme is pretty cool, but again, it’s all about the figure. He looks like your basic Reactive Armor Joe with the Resolute Duke helmet and some desert camouflage pants, but I think the look is still great. The fact that the Pursuit of Cobra Zartan supposedly comes with a Sandstorm costume only furthers the “legacy” of this new character as well.
- Cobra Twin Battle Gun w/ Range-Viper; WOW. I love the Whirlwind, and it looks bad ass in these Cobra colors…but what makes this set is the Range-Viper! My favorite figure from the Defense of Cobra Island was awesome enough, even in bright blue and yellow. Seeing it in muted grays and blacks is only more bad ass than it was before. Gorgeous. I cannot wait to get this set in hand.
- Glider w/ Capt. Ace; Ehhh… no thanks. Basically a Slipstream repaint in strange urban camouflage with the same Glider we’ve seen several times already. This one is a definite miss, but it’s the only one in this assortment that I’m not crazy about.
For mirrored images check below. Very excited for this wave!
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by generalsjoes | Aug 30, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Toys, Pursuit of COBRA
Notorious pre-production and prototype fanatic Gyre-Viper over at HissTank.com got his hands on some very early test shots for the upcoming Pursuit of COBRA Zartan and Ripcord (Desert Battle) figures. These figures are slated as early 2010 releases, but could see retail release during the holidays of 2009. And yeah, these images only serve to cement my excitement for the upcoming new direction of G.I. Joe.
While the anniversary was great for what it was, G.I. Joe needs a fresh take and a new “mythology” in my mind. I love and appreciate everything that was in the Real American Hero history, but at this point it’s gotta be considered history. Too many things just don’t translate into cool toys these days if you’re so married to how things were designed twenty-five years ago. Hasbro is taking the core of the Real American Hero mythos and really changing a lot of the elements to make it more 21st Century with a heavy injection of Metal Gear Solid, Ghost in the Shell, and other very cool semi-futuristic influences. The result is toy perfection. I really love these figures, and even without paint apps or much detail, these test shots only further that opinion.
Check out the thread on HissTank here, and mirrored images below.
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I love the Reactive Armor uniform below Ripcord’s flight suit, and the detail on his backpack and vest is just insane. I love how the Joe stuff looks a bit less streamlined here, and kind of more “cobbled together” as far as the technology goes. It’s crazy.
Zartan looks very “sorcerer” like and truly looks Aboriginal and mysterious, which is a great look, too.
I cannot WAIT for 2010. Awesome stuff in the wings, for sure.
by generalsjoes | Aug 16, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, JoeCon 2009, Pursuit of COBRA, Show and Convention Coverage
Still playing a bit of catch up today and yesterday with JoeCon intel as I was on the road for a lot of the excitement, then ended up at work until after midnight with a Firewall/Switch issue. When it rains, it pours…
Anyway, a spontaneous Hasbro round table was held yesterday in conjunction with the Rise of COBRA panel, and they showcased a lot of images of upcoming 2010 exclusive items, mostly available at Toys “R” Us and Target stores. They also talked about some “zipcord” figure/vehicle sets intended for the kids’ market, but those vehicles will come with fully functional Pursuit of COBRA action figures in them. They are listed as follows:
Rip Attack Zipcord Vehicles
- JetStorm Cycle w/ Snake Eyes
- Tiger Snake w/ Street-Viper
Target Exclusives
- RAM w/ Sandstorm (the Joe that Zartan kills and disguises himself as!)
- Trouble Bubble w/ Elite-Viper
- Glider w/ Ace
- Twin Battle Gun w/ Range-Viper (a darker colored Range-Viper from the 7-Pack? SOLD!)
Toys “R” Us Exclusives
- Single Pack Doc (Arctic Threat)
- Single Pack Shipwreck (Arctic Threat)
- Sting Raider w/ Copperhead and Swamp-Viper (Swamp-Viper is an AVAC in green)
And in perhaps, some of the best news of the panel, Hasbro revealed they are retooling the Sigma 6 2.5″ Iron Hammer mechs to fit the full sized figures! Hell yeah!
Images are mirrored below, courtesy of JoeBattleLines.com.
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The panel also discussed Shadow Tracker, who is a COBRA tracker who refuses to use guns, and only uses melee weapons. He was conceived of to work with Jungle-Vipers, who are all macked out on nanomites, and use advanced technology to pin down their targets, then Shadow Tracker goes in to finish them off. A very cool team, and an absolutely bad ass looking figure.
by generalsjoes | Aug 15, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie, JoeCon 2009, Pursuit of COBRA, Show and Convention Coverage
Another busy household day today, so coverage is a bit late, but I’ll be making up for it tonight, hopefully… 😉 For now, just wanted to report that JoeBattleLines has posted some more VERY nice images from the Hasbro display floor. These new images include:
- COBRA Commander (Mail Away)
- Duke (in Training Gear from the Rise of COBRA)
- Shadow Tracker (new COBRA Native American jungle expert and tracker…BTW, he’s made from 100% pure kickass.)
- Snow Job (or mainly his weapons)
- Storm Shadow (Jungle Assault)
- Zartan (Desert Battle)
I’ll be collecting a bunch more information from the Hasbro round table today and getting something comprehensive up, probably late tonight. Another late night!
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by generalsjoes | Aug 14, 2009 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Collectors Club, G.I. Joe Convention, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: The Movie, JoeCon 2009, Pursuit of COBRA, Show and Convention Coverage
With more thanks than I can fit into a single post, MadMac41, Fred, Gary, and the guys at JBL have worked tirelessly today to keep me in the loop, deal with my harassing phone calls, and even put me on speaker phone so I could listen in on the Hasbro 2010 panel. A better group of guys isn’t out there on the web today. Of course, the guys at The Terror Drome are giving them a run for their money with their awesome “Cover it Love” coverage of all of the roundtables, and hundreds of awesome images that they’ve posted throughout the day as well. For this post, I’ve utilized images from both of those mentioned sources, with permission.
This is the first year since 2002 that I haven’t made the trip to the Con, and while nothing can possibly take the place of hitting the bar with my buddies after a day filled with Joe goodies, at least this time around I can live vicariously through the great pictures and information gathered by fans onsite who give up their valuable time to keep the rest of us informed. Check out all the gory details after the “jump”.
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