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!

Nah.  I’m nothing if not forgiving, so I’ll play nice and post the latest update for the What’s on Joe Mind podcast.  This episode the guys are joined by Sunbow voice actor Neil Ross, who voiced the indelible Shipwreck, one of the most popular characters in the G.I. Joe mythology!

They also tackle all the latest news and information, and talk about the GIJCC 2012 Convention Set in its entirety. I’m jealous that I didn’t get the chance to share my .02.  Ah, well, maybe I’ll make them revisit it tomorrow night.

Check out the latest episode on our Podbean page, or via the embedded player below, and don’t forget to hit the jump for our show notes.

FLASH EMBED:

HTML5 EMBED:

SHOW NOTES

What happens when Justin misses a show?  Well, we tend to have awesome interviews with voice actors.  So when Justin told us he would be missing this week’s show, we knew our interview would be a blast!  Joining us this week is Neil Ross, or otherwise known as the Sunbow voice of Shipwreck!  We talk to Neil for an hour about his many works – past and present.  Right before halftime, Shogi Scott reviews many of the souviner JoeCon exclusives from 2010.  In the second half, we start off with the mailbag and answer another JoeCon question, talk about Sideshow and our thoughts on the Operation Bear Trap set, and we get a text message from Chuck’s sister Barbra.  In the news we talk about the final reveals of the 2012 3.75″ JoeCon set, once again we mention that the JoeCon Brochure is out, local Filipino GI Joe  collector group, TS118 will be setting up displays and dioramas in the lobby of many movie theaters in the Philippines to help promote the hobby to new fans.  Retaliation and “Dollar Store” figures are the topic of discussion in our wrap up segment.  A few of the guys got their hands on early stuff, so hear what the guys thought of the new movie toys.  Its an exciting time to be a fan!  Sit back, and enjoy this double-nickle edition of WOJM!

Neil Ross

• NeilRoss.com
• IMDB
• WikiPedia

News and Intel

• GIJoeCon.com Convention Exclusive Oktober Guard vs. Iron Grenadiers
• GIJoeCon Convention Brochure
• G.I. Joe fans in the Philippines celebrating the premier of G.I. Joe: Retaliation
• 2010 “Vacation in the Shadows” Convention Set (which Shogi Reviewed)

The decision makes sense with Jinx being a big part of G.I. Joe: Retaliation and with a desire to fill in some gaps in the old school roster.  Well, old friend Gyre-Viper has gotten his hands on one of these excellent looking Jinx figures, and we’ve got some great in hand pictures at JoeDeclassified.com.  He was also kind enough to supply an exclusive image to GeneralsJoes featuring the card back and file card.  Excellent!

I’ve mirrored a chunk of the images here, but you should hit up JoeDeclassified.com to see the full selection.  Some great details revealed!

[View with PicLens]

The Cobra Viper looks a lot like the Viper we all know and love, but with a distinctly Sideshow Collectibles twist.  Thjey seem to be bringing a lot of very cool elements together. Now we just have to see how the game plays!  Check out the SyFy G.I. Joe: Special Ops website, and also check out the mirrored images below.

[View with PicLens]