While I unfortunately missed the last recording, I listened to the interview and it was hilarious, I can imagine he’s going to be a terrific guest at the Convention as well.  Keep up to date with all of the latest and greatest G.I. Joe convention news and events at GIJoeCon.com!

The Collectors’ Club did reveal the full image of the set, and that image can be seen at GIJoeCon.com and also mirrored below, and it gives me an opportunity to talk about this set as a whole, instead of piecemeal.

Now, pretty much all of my responses have been positive throughout all the single figure reveals, so I can’t help but maintain that positive opinion when looking at the set in its entirety.  The portion of the set that really strikes me, though, is the Iron Grenadier side of the house.  Seeing the individual figure reveals kind of put a tight focus on the figures as stand outs themselves, and you don’t realize how cohesively they do all fit together.  Even with Voltar’s somewhat purple coloring on his armor, it ties in pretty nicely to some of the red components on the Iron Grenadier Troopers themselves.  While I’m still not 100% sold on the Iron Grenadier Troopers, I do love the Heavy Weapons guys and the Elites, and I think the red is the great unifying color that ties them all together nicely.  Various shades of gray are prevalent throughout, which only further ties the figures together.

For the Oktober Guard, I know there was some concern about Horror Show and his green uniform standing out among his teammates, but I don’t see that issue at all.  Beyond Horror Show, every member of the Oktober Guard here meshes together almost to perfection.  Iron Bear, Daina, and Schrage all work flawlessly, while Brekhov and Stormavik balance with each other as well.  Even the brown figures have those hints of dark green to match the webgear of the other two, and Horror Show’s jacket.  A definite unifying theme that works really well.

As a whole, I think this set is terrific.  I have voiced my concerns with the Iron Grenadier Troopers, and I maintain those…it’s probably the canceled Iron Grenadier Troopers that keep this set from being pretty much one of the best Convention Sets ever.  But that award still goes to the 2005 MARS Attacks set, and I doubt that will ever be surpassed.

That being said, this figure set is still extremely strong, very well done, and remarkably impressive for the operation that the Club is.  A ton of new tooling, a great array of unreleased characters and fan wishes, and unlike many folks out there, I welcome the infusion of “new blood” like Iron Bear.  Great stuff, and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for New Orleans to come and more Con goodies to be revealed!

Very interesting how they’re really pushing this “Cobra as Elite Military Force” angle.  These images have all been very reminiscent of special ops, which is a neat twist.  Of course, with the Facebook page being a Cobra page, this positive reflection does make some sense.  Check out the Cobra Special Forces Facebook page, or hit up the mirrored image below.

Okay, I realize it’s most likely because I’ve been in the process of packing and moving and being sheltered in my in-laws, but why am I not seeing or hearing more discussion about this?  Along with the Oktober Guard vs. Iron Grenadiers set from the 2012 G.I. Joe Convention, the collectors’ club also revealed their 12″ Adventure Team set in totality…

…and wow!

It certainly looks like the folks from the GIJCC are starting to make that final leap to tie in the Real American Hero continuity with the 12″ and Adventure Team continuity.  And I LOVES it.  Well, I would love it if I had the extra greenbacks to spend on it, but as it stands, I’ll simply love it from afar.

Many folks will remember that back in 2010, the Collectors’ Club added a 12″ Henchman to their convention set, which caused a mighty stir among both the Real American Hero and the 12″ crowd.  This Henchman was obviously an operative from MARS and represented the first “bad guy” to really be showcased in the old school 12″ scale.  Last year, the story was built upon a little bit more, and this year, the Collectors’ Club seems to be jumping in feet first, continuing their Adventure Team story, and once again showing off a MARS bad guy, with a distinctly familiar look to him!

Tell me that’s not Cobra.  Tell me the Collectors’ Club isn’t starting to connect even more dots between MARS and Cobra, and isn’t merging the 12″ universe with the Real American Hero one even further.  That is truly awesome stuff right there.

Another very cool aspect of the set is the whole mummy bandage “bio wrap” concept.  One of the great storylines from the old Adventure Team figure line involved a Mummy, and by making this interesting “Bio-Wrap” suit, the Collectors’ Club is paying great tribute to the old Mummy concept, yet still maintaining a somewhat realistic twist to it.  You can actually dress the MARS Trooper there in the Bio Wrap suit to simulate a mummy.

This set is pretty awesome.  So, obviously, as a Real American Hero fan, you can’t just check out the 3 3/4″ Convention Set on GIJoeCon.com, now you have to check out the 12″ set as well, as they ramp it up year after year, and now with Con Sets from 2010, 2011, and 2012, and with the Incentive Man of Evil figure, the Collectors’ Club has started establishing a terrific continuity that the 12″ universe hasn’t necessarily had.  I think it’s great.

New Orleans can’t get here soon enough!

We have had a lot of good feedback regarding our ongoing 1982-1994 section, we have added a few more items this week including loose Palitoy SAS Hunter, Blades, Red Shadows Escape Armour among others:

http://www.allthecoolstuff.co.uk/Action-Man/-Action-Force/-GI-Joe/Action-Force/-International-Heroes/-GI-Joe-1982-1994__c-p-0-0-107-111.aspx

There is still a lot still to list and we ship worldwide, so please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything specific you are looking for?

Just a reminder on GI-Joe Retaliation pre-orders. We are close to the official launch of the new toys and we have wave 2 available for pre-order allowing for easy ordering for UK and European collectors:

http://www.allthecoolstuff.co.uk/Action-Man/-Action-Force/-GI-Joe/Pre-Order__c-p-0-0-107-114.aspx

As always, keep checking back for more new updates, both new releases and vintage lines,

All the best,

Dave.

All The Cool Stuff

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