I’ve heard a lot of folks ask if the membership fee for the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club is worth it, and while I strongly believe it is, other folks aren’t so sure. Well, here’s a chance to see if the magazine will help change your mind!
GIJoeClub.com has posted the latest issue of their magazine up for a free preview. Click the cover and see what all the fuss is about. Make sure you come back here and lavish praise for the Hunters and the Hunted. :shifty:
As an added bonus, the cover image features a sneak peek at the upcoming Adventure Team figures…or one of them at least. Looks like Wild Bill’s tooling is going to get some use with these figures. Check out the mirrored image below.
Hasbro has provided us with final press photos of the soon-to-be-released SDCC exclusive version of Sgt. Slaughter! Like the Gold Headed Destro and Cobra Commander, there will be two different versions of the exclusive. The Primary Release, which is the one decoed like the mailaway (with the USA on his shirt) and a Variant Release, which is the one decoed like the TTT driver with the camouflage pants.
These are expected to also be available via HasbroToyShop as previous SDCC exclusives have been. Check out the press images in some nice high-res glory below. I know this figure has sparked a lot of frustrations throughout the fandom, and I can see their perspective. Everyone is used to the cartoon-infused mega muscular Sgt. Slaughter, while in real life he was never built like that. From my own perspective, I think a more natural physique was a great choice. Sure, he looks more human, but he also looks more like the character who sparked the kids of the 80’s to jump into the G.I. Joe universe. Sculpting someone all musclebound and ripped up takes a certain skill, sure, but in my mind it almost takes more skill to make a fairly normal person, but still maintain a certain level of detail and quality. I think they definitely did that here. I’m really looking forward to adding this figure to my collection. In fact, it’s really sparked a renewed interest in my head with the Anniversary line, and made me really hope that Hasbro dips back into that well in 2010 and 2011 to fill in some of those holes, especially in 1986.
In what was one of the most unexpected turns in recent G.I. Joe animation news, Shout! Factory has revealed that the much maligned Sunbow production of G.I. Joe: The Movie will see release in High Definition Blu-Ray Disc format!
While there are plenty of things to not like about the movie, I still think it was a lot of fun for what it was, and greatly look forward to seeing it again in great quality. The information comes from the Twitter Feed of Shout! Factory rep Brian Ward.
In celebration, embedded below are some of the great parts from G.I. Joe: The Movie…the rest are posted after the jump.
Making their worldwide debut at the G.I. Joe Convention in April, the 3 3/4″ Adventure Team is promising to make a splash with Joe collectors of every era. So far we haven’t heard a whole lot about the specifics of the sets, but there is finally some information to share, and even a look at all the card art for the terrific looking figures! Straight from GIJoeClub.com:
“The Adventure Team is almost here! The GIJCC will initially be offering THREE different 3 3/4-inch Adventure Team figure sets, all utilizing 25th Anniversary sculpts! Each figure comes packaged with a special accessory (vehicle, etc.) inside an “AT Mission Crate” package. Once you open the “AT Mission Crate”, you’ll find each figure on its own individual blister card. The first three sets are: ATAir Adventurer & Helicopter; AT Land Adventurer & 6-wheel ATV; Dr. “Venom” & AT Commander with giant man-eating plant. And now, we are thrilled to preview all FOUR Adventure Team backing cards! Click the thumbnail to see the full preview.”
Out of all of the Toy Fair news, the thing that caught many long time Joefan’s eye was the news of a Sgt. Slaughter SDCC exclusive. While Hasbro did tell us he would have all new tooling, we didn’t have anything else to go on…until now!
GeekWeek has posted some very nice images of the upcoming SDCC Sgt. Slaughter, and he’s looking pretty sharp. Included are both versions, the standard release (with the Mail Away deco) and the variant release, with the TTT driver deco. The main release will come with a championship belt! The more military variant release will come with a machine gun and pistol.
Very cool looking figure and an awesome tribute to ole Sarge. Check out the mirrored images below.
Okay, I’m a fringe Marvel Universe fan at best. The last time I read comics on a regular basis was the 90’s and while I survived Rob Liefield’s path of destruction through the medium as we know it, I did sorta lose track during the Spider-Man clone fiasco, and haven’t really looked back. Sure, I poked my head in on the Ultimate universe, the death of Captain America, and am sort of checking out Siege here and there, but that’s really about it.
Thankfully, for those unusual folks like me, there are the movies and the cartoons to keep me engaged. While most toy geeks lament the fact that the movies and animated series aren’t faithful to the comic roots, those funky nerds like me who don’t really care about the stories and care more about the core characters are able to be kept in the loop without having to worry about the past four pesky decades of continuity. The first Iron Man movie, to me, was the best in class for this recent outcropping of comics flicks (yes, I even rate it above The Dark Knight, heresy on the internetz, I know), and the sequel looks like it will be more of the same.
Even better, the toys for the sequel look to match the quality of Paramount’s tour de force as well. I’m sure the initial toys were probably just dandy as well, but they were six inches tall, which doesn’t fit into my current collection philosophy, which is the smaller the better because I have no space to store crap. Amazingly enough, Hasbro looks to have taken the detail from the six inch figures and squished them down into a 3 3/4″ scale…these figures are smaller, but damn do they look freaking amazing.
PopEater.com has revealed a nice batch of these figures, accurate to the film, and while most of them look totally bad ass, the one I’m really focusing my love on is Samuel “Nick Fury” Jackson in some 3 3/4″ glory. Sure, we’ve all got enough Mace Windu’s to choke a stable of horses, but this Jackson actually uses some G.I. Joe parts! And he has a bad ass trench coat.
It’s pretty much the best 3 3/4″ figure ever made…
TeeFury.com, well known for their 24 hour limited edition specialty t-shirts has posted a shirt featuring Cobra Commander! Retailing for a very reasonable $9.00, check it out at TeeFury.com! If you want it, grab it now, it’s only available for 24 hours. I’ve also mirrored some images of the design below…
So I haven’t really jumped all over the Past and Present idea…I mean, I absolutely love the concept, but there’s only so much Hasbro can do with it, and honestly, I didn’t think they started off very strongly with the Rockslide 2-pack. I’ve already got two Rise of Cobra Rockslides, and I’ve got plenty of vintage Snow Jobs and Battle Bears, with no real desire to drop money for more.
Thankfully, GeneralsJoes contributor Mysterious Stranger doesn’t agree, he picked up a set, and was awesome enough to submit a review! You can check it out on the Rise of Cobra Reviews Page, or just hit it directly right here.
Store exclusives are not typically shown at Toy Fair, so it wasn’t really a surprise that we didn’t see much there, but there were questions asked, and by the sounds of the answers, vintage fans may have something to really look forward to throughout 2010.
First and foremost, the SDCC Exclusive Sgt. Slaughter! No images were shown, but comments from the Hasbro rep confirmed that he would contain all new tooling, and the mail away deco (with the USA on his shirt and plain green outfit) would be the primary release, while the version that piloted the TTT (with the black tank top and camouflage pants) would be the “variant”. It was not specifically stated how rare it would be, but they did assure us that we shouldn’t be worried about another Gold-Headed Destro.
But that’s not all for the vintage fans… according to Hasbro reps, a lot of the store exclusives through 2010 will call back to the past, and will have some strong 25th Anniversary influences. They understand and appreciate the rich history and culture of G.I. Joe, and plan to pay tribute to that by giving us some great vintage homages sprinkled throughout some store exclusives in 2010. In fact, I mentioned two names specifically, Low Light and Dial Tone, and while the Hasbro rep would not confirm anything, he did smirk in a way that makes me think that they know what many collectors are looking for, and are hoping to take advantage of a non-movie year to deliver something in several different styles from several different eras, if you catch my drift.
Now it’s a non movie year, so of course, we won’t see a ton of product exclusive on store shelves, but it sounds like what we do see will make the old schoolers pretty happy. More information at JoeCon, I’m sure.
The TRU Exclusives are indeed hitting hot and heavy over the past few weeks, and the Terror Drome is staying right on top of it, with three reviews posted for Arctic Threat Doc, Arctic Threat Shipwreck, and the Sting Raider w/ Copperhead and Swamp-Viper. I will be posting my own review (courtesy of Mysterious Stranger) later today of the Sting Raider, but here are some mirrored images for the excellent reviews I linked above.
