Okay, I’ve got Mysterious Stranger on the floor of the convention center in San Diego interrogating Hasbro staffers, and he relays this information to me via his Twitter account.  His info was also verified by Tweets from Entertainment News International, and A Real American Hero.com.

Essentially, what it comes down to, is Kwinn is NOT canceled.  Hasbro chose to showcase him at JoeCon (and in Canada) because they knew he was a fan favorite and those two locations would be a good place to debut him.

He WILL STILL BE RELEASED just not until a later, unannounced wave.  We currently have no idea when and where that wave will hit, but that’s the word from Hasbro.

Considering the movie sequel is on the horizon, I’m not entirely sure where they plan on fitting this mystery wave in, but I guess time will (hopefully) tell.  Tweets from A Real American Hero.com also seem to indicate that Data-Viper is not necessarily canceled, and that Hasbro has every intention of trying to get him into a future assortment as well, they just cannot confirm where or when.

Last, but not least, the figure placards proclaiming a “Spring, 2012″ release date are apparently misprints.  Mysterious Stranger thought the correct time frame was November/December, 2011, but he told me not to quote him on that.

Still bummed that we’re not seeing much of anything new at all (so far) but at least there is some positive news compared to the doom and gloom we were feeling a bit earlier.

Without getting all alarmist, but as more and more images were flooding the ‘net last night from the SDCC Preview night, frequent GeneralsJoes visitor and big friend of the site kennywr22 noted on Twitter that Kwinn was conspicuously absent.

Kwinn, the figure that many of us have been waiting nearly 30 years for…the figure that was supposedly Derryl DePriest’s love letter to the Joe fans.  Just a mistake?  Or is something more to it?  We’ve got the word out, and Mysterious Stranger, who is representing GeneralsJoes in San Diego will be attempting to get the intel, as will the guys from A Real American Hero.Com will be trying to do what they can to figure it out as well.

Until we get more news about that, here are a bunch more image galleries that were posted in the wee hours of the night and morning (at least here in the Eastern Time Zone).  As always, I am mirroring a small segment of the pictures and encouraging everyone to go to the source for the full slate of images:

USS Flagg Display (Courtesy of Fighting 118th)

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Hasbro Booth (Courtesy of Cool Toy Review)

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Hasbro Booth (Courtesy of Fighting 118th)

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Hasbro Booth (Courtesy of A Real American Hero.com)

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Big thanks as always to the folks from Fighting 118th, A Real American Hero.com, and Cool Toy Review for getting such great pictures and spreading the Joe love.  Hopefully we’ll get even more stuff going tonight.

I think we all had some idea that G.I. Joe wouldn’t have a strong showing at SDCC, and if Preview Night is any indication, that will be the case this year.  That’s not to say that there is nothing cool to see, however.  G.I. Joe was a pretty heavy presence throughout a chunk of Preview Night, just not much stuff that hasn’t already been revealed.

With big thanks to HissTank.com for providing some swift on-the-spot photographs, there are some great Sideshow Collectibles images as well as a very cool diorama of a vintage USS Flagg littered with Pursuit of Cobra figures.

Check out the original threads over on HissTank.com, and I’ve also mirrored some images below:

USS Flagg Diorama (Courtesy of HissTank and JoeArmory.com)

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Hasbro Booth (Courtesy of HissTank)

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Sideshow Collectibles 12″, Premium Format, and Statues (Courtesy of HissTank)

Some items of note to talk about:

• Hasbro is using a vintage USS Flagg as a display piece.  No it does not mean they are considering re-releasing or releasing a Flagg.  Sorry.
• Many of the 30th Anniversary and Renegades figures are now sporting “Spring, 2012″ release dates on the placards.  Grrr.  Generally a “Spring” release date means anywhere from the holidays of the previous year through Easter.  Makes me a bit concerned to see how they’re going to get this all out before the big migration to sequel movie product.  Time will tell.
• There doesn’t appear to be any new product (at least not yet).  I wouldn’t sweat this.  It is still Preview Night.  Something tells me there are still some new items to see throughout the weekend, hopefully starting tomorrow.  Hasbro keeps talking about these mysterious “7-Packs” during their Q & A sessions…I’m still holding out some hope for those.  Not to mention the GIJCC, who I’m hoping uses this as an opportunity to reveal some juicy details about their subscription service.
• Damn it all, those Sideshow figures and environments look awesome.

In spite of Gary’s unreasonable superstition, What’s on Joe Mind Episode 13 has now been posted online!  We welcome a guest contributor from Fwooshcast, Craig, and take some time to talk to Terry Dizard, admin of YoJoe.com.

We also discuss the latest round of Sideshow announcements, Episode 25 of G.I. Joe: Renegades and attempt to have an intervention for Chuck, who has clearly lost his mind.

All of this and more on What’s on Joe Mind!  Check it out as usual on our Podbean page, subscribe through iTunes, or listen to the embedded player below.

A big thanks to BCYOJOE of HissTank.com for digging up this intel from the mammoth amount of SDCC events and appearances…  apparently there will be a panel about costume design in Hollywood, and among the crew in that panel will be several folks involved with costume design for the G.I. Joe movie sequel.

Over on the ComicCon website, they announced the panel for Saturday July 23rd from 5:00pm – 6:00pm.  Check out the full details below:

5:00-6:00 Costume Designers & Costume Illustrators— Meet the men and women who are the costume designers and costume illustrators on this year’s blockbuster films. Moderator Susan Nininger (member of Costume Designers Guild, Local 892; costume designer, The Bodyguard) talks to panelists and costume designers Julie Weiss (Twelve Monkeys, The Ring), Joseph Porro (Stargate, Ultra Violet), Wendy Chuck (Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Twilight), and costume illustrators Christian Cordella (G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes, Captain America: The Last Avenger), Constantine Sekeres (G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes, Superman: Man of Steel, Thor, Green Lantern), Phillip Boutte (Superman: Man of Steel, Twilight Saga), and Brian Valenzuela (Super 8, Mission Impossible 4). Room 23ABC

This year there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of G.I. Joe at SDCC, but this is certainly something to keep an eye open for.

SDCC is upon us!  In just a few short days, the chaos of the pop culture phenomenon that is SDCC will descend upon geeks everywhere, and I plan on covering it to the fullest.

Hasbro has also passed along an official press release outlining their plans for San Diego, and you can read the full release after the jump.

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With a single email, Brian Savage at the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club will likely throw the fandom into a frenzy.  In past years, even with SDCC fever hitting the fandom, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has generally been able to offer some of the exclusives through their site.  Not so this year.  We just received the following email from the Collectors’ Club:

“We have been getting a lot of questions about the Hasbro exclusives for this year’s Comic-Con and we want to let you know that we will not be able to get any of the exclusives this year.

If you are interested in these items, you will either need to attend Comic-Con or check Hasbro Toy Shop to see if there are any left after the show.

Have a good summer!

Brian”

Have a good summer?  HAVE A GOOD SUMMER?!  My summer would be much #$@#! better if I knew I could get a #$@#$ Zarana!!

Ahem.

In all seriousness, while I don’t anticipate Zarana being as hard to get in the long run as Sgt. Slaughter, I know this news will upset the apple cart a little bit within the fandom.  Let’s just hope that Hasbro has the forethought to manufacture enough supply for the demand, especially since they’re apparently restricting the outlets through which they can be sold.

I’m strapping on my flak vest.

Thanks to the fine bearded triumvirate at Hunter PR we have some very nice shiny new press images for the upcoming SDCC Exclusives.  Between the Starscream themed Skystriker and the twin Zarana’s this looks like a crazy cool year for exclusive items out of San Diego.

Check out the images below, and brace yourselves for SDCC, coming in 2 short weeks!

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And by who else but Gyre-Viper?  His new product keeps on flooding in, and hot on the heels of Wave 5, we now get a great look at the two different versions of the SDCC Exclusive Zarana figure!

Stunning.  Truly stunning.  I don’t use that term very often when it comes to 4″ plastic, but I am astounded at how nicely detailed and constructed this figure is.  They took some truly ludicrous design elements from the 80′s and were really able to weave them into a 21st Century aesthetic, and the end result is just amazing.  I can’t wait to get my hands on these.  Yes, they are SDCC Exclusives and will be a bit tougher to get, but I anticipate being able to get these for a decent price either on HTS or once the initial fury dies down.

Check out the thread on JoeDeclassified, and check out a series of images mirrored below.

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Man… Toy Fair day can be such a blur that sometimes you miss the important details.  I got some shots of Zarana, for sure, but a huge thanks to Augie Pires for passing along these shots that his brother took on site at the show yesterday, including a shot of the Zarana variant’s back.  Her “Cold Slither” band t-shirt has the town names on it.

So, so cool.  I need these figures.  Both of them.  If they can’t make SDCC, I seriously hope Hasbro finds a way to include BOTH of them in the regular assortments.  I hated the Zarana figure as a kid, these are two Zarana I can be proud of.

Well, if a toy of a girl with a torn shirt and exposed midrif is something anyone can be proud of, anyway…  Thanks again to Augie for passing these along, and to Anibal for taking the pics!  You guys rock.

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