I know there is mixed reactions about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and even myself, an unabashed fanboy, can find severe faults with it. That being said, a lot of the technology designs and concept work was flat out incredible, and seemed to fit very well within a G.I. Joe vs. Cobra science fiction aesthetic. Perhaps some pushed the boundaries a little bit, but there were still things to love about other elements.
Starbuck dug up some great concept work from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra designer Christopher Ross, and you can check it out at his website right here. Included is some preliminary work for the Accelerator Suits as well as the nanomite rocket launchers, Scarlett’s crossbow…and well, a metric ton of stuff, honestly. One really interesting piece was something called “The Warrior” which has elements from the Accelerator Suit, but beyond that is pretty unrecognizable as a used concept.
I’ve mirrored some of the images below, but definitely check out Christopher Ross’ website for more details. Big thanks to Starbuck for digging this up.
First and foremost, big thanks to Glumby who so kindly gave me access to this very rare and highly sought after pre-production piece! As we all know there isn’t enough G.I. Joe: Retaliation product for me to push forward on these daily reviews for the next 24 days, so I’m getting a little creative here.
Initially I had asked for the figure so I could do a comparison shot for my FSS Jinx review, but since I had it… again, thanks to Glumby for the assist!
You can check out the review in my Pursuit of Cobra Review Page (in the “pre-production section) or at the direct link below:
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the gift that keeps on giving. Even if you didn’t like the game a whole lot, it has offered a wealth of great concept art to enjoy. Friend of the site notpicard has come across another slate of concept art from Darran Hurlbut, which features some characters and some environments seen in the game. Big thanks to him for passing the info along.
Come on, I don’t need to put a spoiler warning up there do I? These figures were shipped a few weeks ago, and I’m figuring by this point everyone knows what the second installment of the FSS was. Continuing on my week-long review frenzy, the latest two G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club Figure Subscription Service figures have been added to the review archive!
UD Replicas is a company that specializes in custom leather motorcycle wear using film properties as an inspiration. They can be actual wearable items, or collectibles, designed to reflect your favorite properties straight from the motion picture screen. Carrying massive licenses like Avengers and Batman, UD Replicas will also be doing product from both G.I. Joe: Retaliation and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Items include Cobra Commander’s bad ass leather jacket, the Baroness’ trench coat, and a cool battle vest from the sequel film.
Check out a few of the mirrored images and embedded video below, and thanks to HissTank.com and UDReplicas.com for the info.
You would think after three years we’d seen almost every canceled Rise of Cobra figure that was out there, but as usual, Gyre-Viper proves that thinking incorrect. We’d heard rumors about these figures several times over the years, with the most solid information coming from package artist Mike Thompson, but for the first time ever, we are seeing plastic evidence of canceled Rise of Cobra figures Dr. Mindbender, Zap, and Budo. Gyre-Viper also tosses in some more great images of Nano-B.A.T. while he’s at it, and to further prove the theory about these figures’ histories, Nano B.A.T. seems to come as part of the package with the other three figures.
Check out the very nice gallery of images at JoeDeClassified.com. Dr. Mindbender is a very interesting looking addition, with the 25th Anniversary head sculpt and some great purple gloves as homage to the original. Budo is mostly a Resolute Training Storm Shadow with what looks like the Hard Master head and the belt/ceremonial skirt from the Valor Vs. Venom Slice. Zap is obviously the most straight-forward update.
Rumors have persisted that these are part of a canceled second series of Wal-Mart Exclusive 2-packs, and Mike Thompson believed that was the case as well. Check out a few of the mirrored images below, and look at all these great pictures at JoeDeClassified.com. A huge thanks as always to Gyre-Viper for the pictures.
Coil Con is over and Gary has some editing time again, so here is episode 66 of What’s on Joe Mind, the foremost G.I. Joe podcast on the ‘net! The guys give a little run down of what’s been going on in our pesky “real lives” to delay episode releases, and we also have the immense pleasure to speak with Hasbro designers Andrew and Trina about the work they’ve done for Hasbro in general and on the G.I. Joe brand specifically. Some awesome insight about the modern Joes design philosophy and the infamous Dollar Store figures! Hit up our Podbean page or check out the Embedded players below. Show notes as always are after the jump.
Not content to merely represent the hidden world of G.I. Joe at the official G.I. Joe Convention on an annual basis, this year, the guys from JoeDeclassified will be going north of the border! Yes, apparently their parole has been lifted and homeland security is letting them leave the country.
Not only will JoeDeclassified have a great booth at the Canadian JoeCon, but for the first time ever, they will be holding a seminar at the show discussing many of the hidden gems of the G.I. Joe universe. Secrets will be revealed from the past 30 years, both in the booth and at the seminar. There will be items shown in the panel that are not on display at the booth, and there will be items in the booth that will not be seen at the seminar, so going to both will be the best way to see everything that JoeDeclassified has to offer.
Many people have personally sent Gyre-Viper select pieces from their collections and the oldest 3 3/4″ prototype known to be in existence will be present at the show. This is a must see. These are all items that will be publicly unveiled at some point, but for the immediate future, the Canadian JoeCon is the only way to see all of this in living color. History may be getting re-written 30 years after the fact, make sure you are present to hear and see all about it!
Below I have mirrored some images, which will serve as “teasers” for product being shown at Canadian JoeCon. Don’t miss out! For all of the latest info, keep checking CanadianJoeCon.com and a huge thanks to Mike for inviting JoeDeclassified to take part. Obviously big thanks also go to JoeDeClassified.com themselves to keep up to date on all these great pieces of history throughout the G.I. Joe line.
We’ve been getting flooded with some very cool Oktober Guard themed reveals over the past week or two, but many folks have been clamoring for more information about who the Oktober Guard will be facing off against.
Well, the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club revealed that today with the Iron Grenadiers! We get a great revelation of the Iron Grenadier trooper himself and also some details about the story line itself. For folks who don’t recognize the figure itself, it was originally planned as part of 5 Pack of Iron Grenadier figures from the Rise of Cobra/Pursuit of Cobra line, but never got released. The image for that original 5-Pack can be seen at this post on GeneralsJoes. I’ve also mirrored that image below:
As for the story itself… check out those details below:
“By popular demand, the 2012 convention set stories and enemy factions are revealed…
OKTOBER GUARD Box Set: The 1990s brought us many captivating Cold War stories but this one was kept Top Secret for over two decades! Recently declassified documents revealed the original Oktober Guard (G.I. Joe’s Russian and Warsaw Pact equivalent) team’s “Special Mission” in Siberia to rescue their captured General from the ruthless Iron Grenadiers in OPERATION: BEAR TRAP!”
Okay…now THAT is bad ass. They give themselves an “out” for the dead Oktober Guard members by talking about declassified documents. And they’re also talking about their “captured General”… hmmm… could we see a modern version of General Mayhem from the 2005 set? Or maybe…dare I hope… Voltar?! Of course I misread this, and it’s the Oktober Guard general who is being rescued. Not sure what the angle is there…
Wow. The possibilities are endless! I cannot wait to hear and see more! Check out the Iron Grenadier figure below, and keep your eyes on GIJoeCon.com for the latest intel!
Every Joe fan’s favorite package artist Mike Thompson had a stretch where he was posting several awesome pieces of his Joe art on an almost weekly basis. Working as a package artist through the Rise of Cobra and into the Pursuit of Cobra era, Mike’s excellent blog, Mike T Artworks showcased his excellent renditions of characters like Spirit, City Strike Scarlett, and Whiteout.
He’s taken a break from posting G.I. Joe related art, most likely because he’s either shown most of it already, or is still waiting for them to be cleared by Hasbro to post…but today that changed! During our interview of Mike Thompson on the What’s on Joe Mind podcast we were lucky enough to see some of his other pieces, and now he has posted them via his Twitter page.
These head shots were to be used on some canceled Wal-Mart 2-Packs featuring Nano-B.A.T., Zap, Budo, and Dr. Mindbender. Check out these excellent images below. Also make sure you keep your eyes on MikeTArtworks.com which is his main site featuring some fantastic work that he’s done over the years. He has some amazing talent, even if you’re checking out some non-G.I. Joe work, I think you’ll appreciate what he does. He’s obviously a geek at heart!
To hear straight from the source about the process for producing this incredible artwork, hit up the embedded player below to listen to our interview with Mr. Thompson. It’s enlightening to say the least!
