My “one review per day” promise continues full steam ahead…and today I bring you a review for the excellent Adventure Team Commander, offered from the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club.  Using modern era sculpting with a newly tooled head, this is a great 4″ representation of the 12″ iconic Adventure Team leader.  I love the way the Club is combining the Adventure Team and Real American Hero universes.

Anyway, I’ve linked the review in with the Exclusives and the GIJCC Section, or you can just check it out directly right here.

The GeneralsJoes July Review-A-Rama continues on strong thanks to Hasbro’s Public Relations team…  A nice surprise package in the mail late last week provided me with the two San Diego ComicCon Exclusive Sgt. Slaughters that are hitting lucky collectors this weekend at ComicCon.

I’ve reviewed them both and for lack of a better place, linked the review on the Pursuit of Cobra page.  You can, of course, also check it out here.

Another day, another review…but maybe this one’s cheating, I dunno.

I wrote up a review for the Canadian G.I. Joe Collectors’ Newsletter about a month ago on the JoeCustoms Convention Exclusive Lt. Stone figure.  I’d always planned to get the review up on the site as well, just hadn’t gotten to it yet…  until now.

Produced for JoeCon on a yearly basis, some enterprising folks from JoeCustoms.com have taken it upon themselves to do up some custom figures, but you have to be at the convention in person to pick them up.  Of course, being the crazed Sigma 6 fan that I am, I was ecstatic to hear that Lt. Stone was getting the Real American Hero treatment this time around.

Check out the review in the Exclusives section, or just hit it up right here.

And if you want a chance to own one of these special figures in person, or just get to know the cool guys who make ‘em, make JoeCustoms.com a regular hang out.  Trust me, you’ll learn something new every day.  Sometimes things you never even wanted to know.

Hey, I said the Review-A-Rama would post a review a day…I never specified weekends off!  So yes, it’s Saturday, and yes, there is another review posted for your viewing pleasure.

Gyre-Viper very kindly took the reigns during yesterday’s update with his awesome introspective with Bill Merklein, but today, we’re back to the more familiar formula.  Check out the Rise of Cobra Review page, or just peek at the review itself right here.

So when I kicked off this nearly month-long review fest, I posted a public plea for any guest reviewers who wanted to pitch in…and someone has stepped up in a big way.

Although not a traditional review necessarily, Gyre-Viper took this opportunity to do something very cool.  Through his time as a Joe fan, he’s made some connections, and one of those connections was with Bill Merklein.  Bill Merklein is probably not a name most folks know, but believe me, you absolutely know his work.  This is the man who sculpted somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 2-ups of some of the most treasured figures and characters in the vintage G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line up.

Probably one of his most infamous works, though, was a sculpt that he did for Rocky Balboa, another planned mail away exclusive that never came to pass.

Well, just for GeneralsJoes, Gyre-Viper called up Bill Merklein and spoke with him about his experience with Hasbro, and specifically his experience with the Rocky Balboa project, and he has decided to share this with the audience here.  A very, very cool move, and one that I’m happy to be able to spread the word about.

Sometimes I don’t feel like there is enough appreciation of the “time gone by” and the history of G.I. Joe or the people involved.  It is so awesome to get a behind the scenes look like this, and I really want to thank Gyre-Viper for making it happen.  Click the “Read the Rest of this Entry” link below to check it all out, YouTube links and all.  Just as a note, the YouTube videos are audio only, but still crammed with very cool information.

I could listen to this over and over…a huge thanks to Gyre-Viper and especially to Bill Merklein for not only taking the time here, but for lending his awesome talents to sculpting and designing some legendary toys that have created a devoted following nearly three decades later.

Read the rest of this entry »

The GeneralsJoes July review-a-thon continues today with the third vehicle in the nearly unreleased G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Alpha Wave 3 vehicles.  Check out the review page to see my thoughts on the Tiger Claw w/ Leatherneck!

The July “Review-A-Rama” continues!  You didn’t think G.I. Joe: Origins #17 was the only review I was going to do today, did you? 

I covered the Rise of Cobra Lavapod yesterday, and today I bring you a review for the Desert Rockslide w/ Dusty!  I was not a huge fan of the Rockslide in Wave 1, but for some reason I am really liking this set a lot more than I thought I would.  I’m not a big desert environment fan, I’m not a big Rockslide fan, yet I find some appeal in this one.  Maybe it’s just in comparison with the Lavapod…  whatever the reason, check out all of my thoughts right here!

Now we’re getting somewhere.  As the G.I. Joe titles have somewhat plodded along over the past 18 months, fans were wondering just where we were headed.  Chuck Dixon seemed to be having a tough time getting his feet under him and figuring out a concrete direction or what the end goal of this whole adventure is.

But over the past few months, things have kind of started falling into place.  Over in the main book things really picked up steam as Cobra became a more focal part of the G.I. Joe universe.  The whole conspiracy theory concept with Dataframe and Snake Eyes got the ball rolling, and now G.I. Joe is making an active push towards uncovering the Cobra mystery.  Characters are starting to come into focus and the layers are at least starting to be pulled back somewhat.

Meanwhile, in the G.I. Joe: Origins book, we’re getting some neat looks into the past of various members of G.I. Joe and Cobra…and with Issues #16 – 18 I think IDW had their work cut out for them.  Zartan is both an icon and a mystery when it comes to his backstory.  Is he superhuman?  Is it all technology?  A genetic disorder, or a mixture of all of the above?  Which angle would IDW take and how would they explore his abilities and talents?

The answer?  They’ve woven an interesting, captivating, and awesome backstory for the Cobra Master of Disguise that I have already fallen in love with.  In Issue #16, they gave us Zartan’s background as an emotionless mercenary who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.  They tied Zartan into Cobra, and then, right as things were getting going, he was disintegrated.  Or was he?

Issue #17 picks up right where last issue left off…and to avoid any spoilers, I’ll continue the review after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

When our Joe fan brethren to the North discovered the elusive third wave of Rise of Cobra Alpha vehicles, I’m sure emails started flying…luckily, my long time buddy Ed hooked me up real quick, and about 10 days after I was certain I’d never see Alpha Wave 3, I had a full set of them sitting in my grubby hands.  So, of course, I’m gonna review ‘em.

The first of four reviews are being posted today on the Rise of Cobra Review Page…  check it out right here!

I made my displeasure known that I was not able to get my hands on a PoC Alley-Viper during that short window that pre-orders were actually open at HasbroToyShop and BigBadToyStore, and my buddy Gyre-Viper was listening.  Not a couple of weeks later, a crispy new packaged Alley-Viper was waiting in my mailbox.  After having a somewhat crappy summer vacation, this was the perfect pick-me-up, and I figured it was a perfect way to kick off the GeneralsJoes July Review-A-Rama!

A big thanks as always to Gyre-Viper who helps support the Joe brand, and is an even better buddy than he is a Joe fan.  Thanks, man.

Check out the slightly revamped Pursuit of Cobra Review Page, or just hit up the review itself right here.