Last week Gizmodo posted a very cool video about the design and construction of Transformers, but I didn’t post it, just because…well, it was Transformers.  However, today, they’ve followed up that video with another video, this time a peek into Hasbro’s model shop.

This is where some of the magic happens, folks.  Figure sculpting, paint, construction…a lot of that happens in the Model Shop.  For folks who went on tour at Hasbro in 2010 during JoeCon, we got a very quick walk through and it was some of the most interesting stuff we saw in the entire process.  The way industrial design, artistic flair, and electronics all merge together into one fascinating department of toy magic.  Pretty awesome.

There are many steps before a toy gets to this point, from concept work, input drawings, etc…  but the Model Shop is awesome in its own right as well.  Check out the video on Gizmodo, or embedded below.  Watch for a Storm Shadow cameo!

And for good measure, here’s last week’s Transformers video as well, now that some of my butt hurt has worn off:

Man, consider me impressed.

Last year when I launched the concept case surveys for the 2012 JoeCon, I was impressed by the turn out… within the first week I’d gotten about 600 responders, and kept the survey open an additional week so I could capture around 1400 all told throughout the period of… three weeks I think?

Well at this point the 2013 Concept Case survey has been up for about 3 days and there are already over 700 responses!  You guys ROCK.

If you haven’t participated yet, please do so!  Please note, this survey is completely and totally unofficial and not endorsed by Hasbro, but as mentioned at the Hasbro seminar at JoeCon, they are looking for any feedback they can get.  YOUR VOTE MATTERS.

Check out the Concept Case Survey right here and let your voice be heard!

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Granted this one is a lot more low key than the infamous Concept Case survey that  GeneralsJoes helped lead last year, but with some more new concept figures being shown in Indianapolis last weekend, it seemed like a good idea to kick another one of these off.

There were only a handful of new figures shown, and those figures will be the focus of this round of surveys.  However, depending on the results of this one, expect another round at some point to take the winners of the 2012 survey and the winners of this survey for a more all encompassing look at every concept figure shown thus far.

You can hit up the Survey at the SurveyMonkey page itself, or embedded below.  This one should be a quickie.

Okay, hear me out on this one.

I know the rumbling through the online community has been somewhat negative in light of Hasbro’s lack of new product to be shown at the 2013 G.I. Joe Convention in Indianapolis this past weekend.  In fact, not only were people bothered by a lack of new product, when Hasbro showed some more concept items, some fans got visibly upset, thinking that this was just a “tease” for items that would likely not be offered.

Let me once again put on my “Hasbro Apologist” hat and tell everyone…  don’t be so quick to be discouraged.  I think there are some simple explanations for why Hasbro presence was down this year, and I think there are some reasons to be looking forward to the year ahead for G.I. Joe fans.  Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for more.

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Judging be reactions in the Twittersphere and elsewhere, the Hasbro reveal of additional concept case items yesterday was met with mixed reaction to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, nobody was arguing that the figures weren’t nice, but there seemed to be some heat about whether or not Hasbro should continue to reveal these items considering there were no official releases announced this weekend.

Going by what the Hasbro reps were saying, though, they felt like they deserved to show G.I. Joe fans a little something, even if it wasn’t actual product. What they showed was a mind-blowing assortment of newly sculpted items that appears to be similar to what we saw at the Concept Case last year.

Previous releases were in the case as well, including Flint, Lady Jaye, Beachhead, and others, but what really knocked Joe fan socks off were none other than Gung Ho, Leatherneck, and ’88 Storm Shadow, Rock n Roll, and Destro. The most impressive thing about the figure grouping was that both Destro and Gung Ho were physically larger and far more imposing than the figures next to them. Obviously built off a larger framework, the intricate detail and the astoundingly accurate Destro head sculpt (looking back at the original card art) gave us a really fascinating insight into the mind set of the designers.

This was not a move meant to frustrate the fandom by any means. It was something meant to excite and interest fans, and reassure us that even though no new retail offerings might be in the pipeline, work always continues to innovate and inject the G.I. Joe mythology with something exciting.

It’s important to understand these items are not in any stage of final production, and there is not much likelihood of these figures being released in the immediate future, but I for one am fascinated by these early looks at G.I. Joe product, and will certainly be hanging on every word of Hasbro representatives going forward to see if these figures can expect release in the coming years.

Check out the YoJoe Photo Gallery below, and big thanks to notpicard from YoJoe for being right there with a camera when I could not be and snagging those pics for the YoJoe Gallery.  Also a huge thanks to Fred from JoeBattleLinesand JoeCanuck friend Jon S. for supplying some fantastic images themselves that are mirrored nicely below.

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So the first day of the convention has completely spiraled out of our control and it’s now after 5:00pm before I’m getting anything posted.  How does this happen?!

First and foremost, I do want to let people know that I have been getting pictures of the 2013 Convention Exclusives…just the quick cheesy hotel room shots that I kind of hate doing, but I do it anyway because, HEY I have a compulsion.

You can find those images on the YoJoe.Com JoeCon 2013 Gallery section.

The big news shaking out from the first day of the convention is, of course, the lack of new product being shown in the Hasbro booth.  There have been rumors floating around the sales floor that there may be no new product shown from Hasbro this entire weekend.  How is this possible?

To be honest, I’m not sure.  We’ve got a ton of momentum from the #1 movie in the world, G.I. Joe: Retaliation…we are on the precipice of a huge new influx of movie accurate product starting in early summer, and it would seem to be the perfect jumping off point for Hasbro to thrust G.I. Joe into the spotlight for the holiday season (not to mention an inevitable DVD release).

There is still a good chance that we might see new product in the slideshow presentation tomorrow, there are just no samples ready for display.  It’s also possible that Hasbro will put out new product tomorrow after their presentation, but as I mentioned, the rumors floating around the sales floor are that this is not going to happen.  I prefer to wait until I hear something more official, but I feel it necessary to at least brace the readers for that eventuality.

I will, of course, heartily encourage everyone to follow me on Twitter, as that is where my most fluid, current content gets streamed straight from the seminars.  That will never be more true than it is tomorrow, so if you want to have the latest info as quickly as possible, Twitter is your best bet.  It’s far easier for me to pump information out that way then try to jump on my laptop in between seminars to recap.  That will happen as well, of course, but just as a heads up.  The Hasbro seminar happens at 11:00am Eastern time.

Also please remember that the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club is having their seminar tomorrow, which means some possible information about the Figure Subscription Service, Volume Two!  That is certainly something to get excited for as well, and I’ll be covering that starting at 4:00pm Eastern.

Doomsun sends word to me that he has posted an interview of former Hasbro artist Andrei Koribanics on his site Leaky Suit Brigade.  Mr. Koribanics was apparently an artist who worked alongside Ron Rudat and Bill Merklein back in the heyday of G.I. Joe production, from 1983 – 1985.

He’s got some very cool stories to tell and it’s always awesome to hear from some of the architects of your childhood.

Check out the interview over on the Leaky Suit Brigade and thanks to Doomsun for the information.

“JOE”rassic Park… ya like that?  Yeah, I gotta give Chuck from What’s on Joe Mind credit for that one.  He claims that was his invention.  If someone saw it somewhere else, it’s not my fault!

According to gijoefrank from the Terror Drome forums, he found these at retail in a Southern California Toys “R” Us and supplied a nice assortment of images as proof as well.  It’s amazing to me that we just heard confirmation of these two days ago and already retail sightings have begun.  Pretty cool.

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When the news about Disney and Lucasfilm exploded all over my Internets last week, I contemplated writing something up about it, just because any major corporate changeover with Lucasfilm could have a potential impact for Hasbro, being one of Lucas’ largest licensees.  Ultimately I didn’t write anything up, but with the sudden unfounded rumors today about a potential purchase of Hasbro by Disney (yes JUST A RUMOR.  Do not freak out yet!) I figured perhaps I should talk about it a little bit.

I’ve seen a lot of commentary about this subject, obviously, with two corporate giants that are pretty near and dear to many of our geek hearts, but most of the focus of these comments is how Disney’s influence will directly impact Lucasfilm itself.

The larger question would seem, as far as toy fans are concerned, is how will this change impact Hasbro as one of Lucasfilm’s primary licensees and the major manufacturer of all Star Wars related action figures?  I’ve seen many folks concerned that this could spell doom and gloom for Hasbro, or that Disney’s previous contracts with Mattel would more or less guarantee a shift from Hasbro to their competitor, which could (hypothetically) spell doom and gloom for the Rhode Island toy maker.

I believe in the short term, this Disney move actually helps Hasbro.  And helps them quite a bit.

How so?  Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for my thoughts.

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Hasbro has made it pretty clear throughout the year that they have no intention of setting up a booth at the New York Comic Con.  They seem pretty adamant that SDCC is where they want to make their convention presence known, but I think some folks were holding out hope that perhaps something would turn around and Hasbro just might show up in New York City next week.

Well, Jay from Marvelous News has reached out to Hasbro, and they confirmed that while they are doing seminars for Transformers and My Little Pony, there will not be a Hasbro booth at the show, there will be no special exclusives, and no product shown during the Convention itself.

But don’t despair yet, Joe fans.

Jay also reports (and I can confirm, as I also received notification of this) that even though Hasbro will not have a booth at NYCC, there will be an event prior to the show revealing some previously unseen product for Transformers, Kre-O, Star Wars, Marvel, and…  yes… G.I. Joe.  This event will be the evening of October 10th, which is next Wednesday.

Should we expect to see a lot of new stuff?  No, probably not, but just the fact that we might see some previously unrevealed G.I. Joe items is reason enough to celebrate and look forward to next week.

Unfortunately I will be in Las Vegas for business, so I cannot make the show myself, but I will live vicariously through Jay, and through the other sites that will likely be covering the event.  Can’t wait to see what shows up!  Check out the post on Marvelous News for a little more detail.