I promised myself I wouldn’t post about this episode…  the ridicule… the insult…  the depravity performed upon my favorite character in the G.I. Joe mythology was almost too painful to revisit here on my website.  But for the good of the listeners, I decided to be the bigger man.

Unfortunately a 103 degree fever and gut-punching flu bug kept me from participating in this episode, but that didn’t stop the boys and guest Ed Lydon from piling on poor Hit &  Run.  I’ll remember this, fellas.  As an aside, there is a terrific interview (that I did participate in) with Andrew Kishino, the voice of Storm Shadow from G.I. Joe: Renegades!  That almost makes it all worthwhile.

Listen to the latest episode via our Podbean page, or the embedded players below, and as always show notes are after the jump.

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I’ve been down and out with the flu for a few days and unfortunately have been lax with posting this, but as registration looms, seems like I should get it up in people’s faces so they can get well versed on what to expect from the G.I. Joe Convention.

For the past two years, we’ve recorded special editions based on the Convention Brochure, and the one we recorded last year was one of our most listened to episodes ever, so it was a no brainer to do it again…evidently people found it useful.

Check it out over on our Podbean Page, or via the embedded players below.

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SHOW NOTES

WAIT!  Listen to this first before registering for JoeCon.  Our JoeCon vet hosts (Chuck has still yet to leave his house), Mike, Justin and Gary offer up their combined 23 years of experience to help you plan your trip.  Never been to Indianapolis?  Thinking about a Pre-Con tour?  What happens package pickup night?  When can I get the convention exclusives?  And the biggest question of all, HOW MUCH IS ALL OF THIS?  If you have a question or concern, listen to this first and we probably cover it for you.  If you didn’t hear an answer to your question, email the program, whatsonjoemind@gmail.com and the team will run down an answer for you.  Don’t do anything JoeCon related until you hear this first!  See you in Indy – site of the most recent Patriots Super Bowl loss!!

• GIJoeCon FAQ
• GIJoeCon.com

Well, hopefully, anyway.  The latest communication from the G.I. Joe Collectors Club comes in the form of an email received last night, which indicates that today could be the day we’ve all been waiting for.

“Hello all,

Barring any unforseen issues we will start registration on Friday, February 1.

If you can’t log in, check your log in at gijoeclub.com/shop. If you have expired, you will not
be able to receive member pricing.

If you are registering with another member, you will need their log in and password to receive
member pricing.

If you complete your order with non-member pricing, we CANNOT adjust your pricing. Please
understand what you are ordering and confirm the pricing before you check out.

Please take a look at the souvenir T-shirts, Hat and Beanie that you can add to your order at the end.
You will find pictures under the exclusives tab. The Night Force shirt and both hats glow in the dark.

If you have not read the brochure, please do so before you register as you have 8 minutes to complete
your registration before the system puts your items back into stock. You cannot hold them in your
cart longer than that amount of time, however you can start over.

Sets are limited and we cut the 12″ sets down by 1/3rd so they are really limited this year.

We do reserve the right to limit any member’s quantities if we deem them excessive.

Attending and Non-attending can both register Friday.

I’ll send out an email when the link is live.

Thanks for your patience, see you in Indy!

Brian“

So I hope everyone is camping over at GIJoeCon.com as the Golden Tickets and Con Sets should be selling out quickly.  Next stop, Indianapolis!

So not only do we get Lady Jaye in attendance, but looks like Flint will be joining her in Indianapolis for the 2013 G.I. Joe Convention!  Bill Ratner voiced Flint back in the Sunbow animated series, and has gone on to do a wealth of other voice work and production work in entertainment over the past several years.

It will be quite exciting having both of these G.I. Joe legends join us in Indy this April.

If you want to hear more from Mr. Ratner, be sure to check out What’s on Joe Mind Episode 70 where we spent about an hour talking to him.  You can hit up the embedded player below as well.  Make sure you continue to check GIJoeCon.com for the latest and greatest JoeCon intel!

Depending on your perspective, Facebook can be a source of frustration and potential information leaks, but for others it’s a great interface directly with designers and a look behind the scenes of the action figure production process.  The Facebook page of 2DToys currently shows off a trio of unpainted head sculpts for the upcoming 2013 G.I. Joe Convention figures.  Those three heads are Repeater, Psyche Out, and Crimson Asp.  It’s amazing to see the level of detail here in such a small scale, and it provides a nice close up look of these before we actually get them in hand.

Check out the 2DToys Facebook page, and I’ve also mirrored the images below.

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I think many of us were expecting the SAW Viper to be the last reveal, but the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club surprised us,showcasing the last two members of the Cobra Demolition Team!  Not just the SAW Viper trooper that will come three deep, but also the new Crimson Asp character.

Interestingly enough, “Crimson” Asp isn’t all that Crimson, but she is clearly aligned with Letal and the Frag-Vipers based on the uniform color and the nice grenade launcher she sports.  With a mixture of 25th Anniversary Baroness, Scarlett, and Resolute Scarlett (not to mention a new head sculpt) the Crimson Asp looks like a very interesting addition to the South American Cobra hierarchy.

Meanwhile the SAW Vipers heavily borrow from City Strike Destro and Iron Grenadier, using what appears to be the upper body, the arms, and the body armor.  The awesome thing about the body armor is they fill in the holes with knives (and sheaths) and a radio instead of the shoulder armor and gun rig.  Very nice touch.  The DTC helmet is a bit of a surprise (and it’s likely the unreleased Law & Order balaclava head sculpt underneath) and the color scheme is just a touch monotone,  but still a very cool combination.

The Cobras are plenty colorful, which is awesome in my eyes, and this set is shaping up VERY nicely.  Bring on Repeater, Spearhead, and HIT & FREAKING RUN.  Check out GIJoeCon.com or the mirrored images below.

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The Night Force love continues here at GeneralsJoes and over at GIJoeCon.com!  Following up their first Night Force reveal with Charbroil yesterday, we have Muskrat and Psyche Out unleashed on us today.  With some terrific parts, excellent call outs to the originals, and some awesome Toys “R” Us Exclusive accurate paint deco, both Muskrat and Psyche Out are awesome characters and look terrific in their new Night Force battle togs.

I grow more impressed every day…and if this stays like this, when I finally see Hit & Run?  Yeesh.  If I don’t post about it, call the authorities, I might just be passed out and convulsing next to my computer.

Check out the images at GIJoeCon.com and also mirrored below.

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And this just might be a figure that is better than his previous version.  Far, far better.

Charbroil was always somewhat of a second rate Blowtorch in my opinion, and even though his Night Force version did add some nice credibility to the character (I really hated the brown, yellow, and silver look) he still wasn’t really high on my list of knock out characters.  Of course, appearing in the same assortment as Hit & Run, one might expect he got a little overshadowed.

The Collectors Club has revealed their version of Night Force Charbroil now, and it is pretty nice.  Using what appears to be the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Joe Trooper body from neck to toe (which I have ZERO issues with, as demonstrated by my Best Toys of 2012 article), he’s got a newly tooled helmet and backpack and even without a ton of detail work, the figure looks really nice.  Love the combination of gray and blue here.

Check out the latest update at GIJoeCon.com, and I’ve mirrored the image below.

Well what do you know?

The brochure has just barely hit mailboxes, and we have our first look at the 2013 G.I. Joe Convention Exclusives.  And…well… wow.  So far, so friggen GOOD.

GIJoeCon.com has fired up their Convention Exclusives section and we now have a look at Cobra Mortal, Cobra Letal, and the Frag-Viper!  All I can say is hoooooly wow.  They NAILED that Frag-Viper.  Absolutely nailed it.  The most amazing thing that I can see is that apparently the Collectors’ Club is getting access to some state of the art tooling here!

Check out that Frag-Viper and Letal.  Eagle-eyed collectors will not that they use the body of the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation Wave 4 “Ultimate” Snake Eyes!  The texture on the chest, and the body suit itself is a dead give away.  Wow…this is pretty unprecedented for the Club to have access to this tooling so quickly.  Kudos to them and to Hasbro for making this happen.

In another nice touch, while the Club is revisiting the Cobra Mortal character, they elected to go with the only recently revealed “White Mortal” an extremely rare collectible that makes for one heck of a nice homage.

Take a peek at these incredible images on GIJoeCon.com, and I’ve mirrored them below as well.

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Keep your eyes peeled here and at GIJoeCon.com for more reveals throughout the week!

We’ve been waiting patiently…and here we go!  The Convention Brochure for the 2013 G.I. Joe Convention is now online!  And with the announcement of the Brochure, we now know some of the characters in the G.I. Joe “Nocturnal Fire” Convention Set.

And…  oh wow.  Ohhhh boy.  This is…  yeah.  I’m smiling right now.  Check out the snippet from the brochure below:

“Nocturnal Fire

G.I. JOE: Night Force is a covert unit specializing in nighttime
surveillance and defensive operations. Each team member has
been selected for their enhanced skills, sophisticated hardware
and advanced technology to surprise and vanquish any enemy!

This fan favorite and highly requested team contains several
of the classic Night Force members and some new additions
available for the first time in the modern era 25A style.

Our special edition Nocturnal Fire squad includes: Charbroil, Hit
& Run, Muskrat, Psyche-Out, Repeater and Spearhead with Max
(NEW Bobcat).

The Cobra Demolitions Team is ready to take on any obstacle
that gets in their path of destruction. Led by the mysterious Cobra
Mortal, he employs Cobra Letal and the deadly saboteur Crimson
Asp (NEW female character). Their specialized troopers include:
Cobra Frag-Vipers x 3, Cobra S.A.W.-Vipers x 3.”

Did everyone see that?  Did they see that?!?  HIT & RUN!!!  Woo hoo!!!!  By and large, I love what the Club does figure-design wise, and they’re doing my favorite G.I. Joe figure ever?  Sign me UP and let the speculation begin…  could this possibly be the Concept Case 30th Anniversary Hit & Run we were all drooling over last year?  Or was all of that drool mine?

Repeater??  Psyche Out!?  Muskrat and Charbroil?  Awwww, hell yeah…  these are all awesome characters, and yeah, while I’m sure many fans are hoping to get them in “normal” uniforms eventually, most of them look pretty boss in their Night Force togs as well.  Good stuff.  Not to mention a brand new Crimson ASP female character, Frag-Vipers AND SAW Vipers!?  Cobra Letal is the logical choice to lead the Frag-Viper team as well.  As for Cobra Mortal, interesting choice.  Let’s see how they pretty him up for the modern era.

Hit up GIJoeCon.com to keep up with the latest intel and the Convention Brochure with full details can be found right here.

I’m gonna be smiling for the next 2 months.  Bring on April!