Taking a little break from the Wave 4 content as I wait for the USPS to catch up with my review speed, we’re taking a step back into Wave 3 now!  According to most online retailers, we should be expecting Wave 3 to hit within the next couple of weeks, so keep those fingers on the order buttons, or even better yet, pre-order while there is still some available!

Initially when G.I. Joe: Renegades hit the airwaves, the fandom was in an uproar, begging and pleading for Hasbro not to release figures in the animated style of the show.  Well, Hasbro listened, and now we have some Renegades flair infused with a distinct Pursuit of Cobra core.  The results?  So far, pretty darn good.

To check out my reviews of the G.I. Joe: Renegades Ripcord and Scarlett you can hit up the 30th Anniversary Review Page, or just click the links below.

• Ripcord (G.I. Joe: Renegades)
• Scarlett (G.I. Joe: Renegades)

Well, the notorious Gyre Viper is at it again, using his awesome connections to get the fandom some great images of upcoming product.  With the release of Wave 3 on the horizon, he’s posted a bunch of images of these upcoming figures over on JoeDeclassified.com.

He has given me permission to mirror the images on my site as well, but be sure to hit up Joe Declass for some more great insight and conversation.  Holy crap are these some nice looking figures!

Supposedly hitting in November, Wave 3 includes:

• Ripcord (G.I. Joe: Renegades)
• Scarlett (G.I. Joe: Renegades)
• Tunnel Rat (G.I. Joe: Renegades)
• Cobra Trooper (G.I. Joe: Renegades)
• Storm Shadow (G.I. Joe: Renegades)
• Techno Viper

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Of course the big news is that someone overseas officially has pieces from both Wave 3 & 4 in hand, and images have been posted on ACToys.com.  But what is really interesting about the images is what new information is revealed about these upcoming figures, especially compared to previously seen images at various conventions, including NYCC, which just happened a week or two ago.

The G.I. Joe: Renegades figures especially seem to be in a constant state of change.

First and foremost, the images look to be an amalgamation of some items from Wave 3 and some from Wave 4.  Below I will rundown what we see in these images and what might have changed:

Wave 3

Ripcord – Probably the biggest and most disappointing change…  Ripcord is now sporting Renegades Duke’s vest instead of the all new Renegades-authentic vest he had been spotted with in every convention appearance to this point.  I don’t know…something about this really rubs me the wrong way.  Ripcord was shown at NYCC as recently as just over a week ago, and you’re telling me they couldn’t at least show him in a more final version?  Exceedingly disappointed, not only in the move to replace the vest, but in the total lack of forethought to at least broadcast this change ahead of time.  Not cool, Hasbro.

Scarlett – Yes, as I suspected (and many agreed) it certainly looks like she has lost the City Strike Scarlett gear.  Big bummer.  All we can hope at this point is maybe the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club will find a way to get that stuff in our hand.  The figure itself still looks amazing, but really disappointed in those accessories vanishing.

Tunnel Rat – Well, T Rat at least looks mostly the same, which is actually somewhat frustrating in and of itself.  I would much rather he not have that funky motorized bomb disposal thing if it meant Scarlett got her City Strike gear.  Was anyone clamoring for that thing?  Regardless, Tunnel Rat looks to be pretty much what we’re expecting.

Cobra Trooper – Parts-wise, this figure looks like the same one we’ve seen (thank goodness!) but he does have some minor cosmetic changes.  The coloring seems to be a bit more vibrant and bright, and not quite so subdued, which is a bit disappointing as well.  Sure, I was hoping for a animated aesthetic for Renegades, but since they were going whole hog into the realism, I had grown to really like that pale blue color, which almost looked like actual denim.  This new figure is pretty bright, though it may just be the flash.  I actually like the more well pronounced Cobra symbol, and the shield, to me, isn’t a deal breaker, so I don’t mind that it’s missing.  At least he has the Renegades laser rifle!

Techno-Viper – This guy looks much the same, but we now see his silver Cobra logo in full resolution!  Awesome addition, very glad it’s there.

Wave 4

Airtight – Holy crap this guy looks awesome.  I believe this is the first time we’re seeing him without his helmet, and I really love that hood pulled tight around his head.  A very cool touch, and he looks like he’s fully accessorized.  Totally geeking out over the Renegades artwork for him, too!

Law & Order – Hmm…tough to tell for sure, but I think he might be missing that awesome balaclava extra head.  If so, though, that’s it.  Hot damn this figure is amazing.  Ever since I got ole melon head the first time in 1987 I’ve been pretty luke warm to the character, just because I really didn’t love that head sculpt.  But this guy is awesome.  Great tooling, amazing accessories.  Love it.

Sci Fi – Another figure I hated since he came out in the 80′s.  I don’t have anything against bright colors, but the figure just didn’t seem very interesting to me.  Yeah, that’s changed.  This version looks amazingly cool.  Nicely detailed rifle, backpack…I don’t see the XLMR that was pictured with previously, but not a huge loss.  He’s got the helmets and the important stuff.

So yeah, once again to a small degree the Renegades fan feels like a red-headed stepchild as those Renegades figures are tweaked pretty severely while the 30th Anniversary stuff is left alone.  I certainly understand why Hasbro does it that way, and from a popularity standpoint, it definitely makes sense.  The Renegades fan in me can’t help but feel a little besmirched.

All that being said, even with the changes, these figures are, by and large, spectacular.  I can’t think of a single real stinker in this whole bunch so far, and this series of images doesn’t even include Storm Shadow, Zombie-Viper, or Lifeline, all of which are just as stunning as this group.  Truly astounding how far Hasbro design has come in a very short period of time.

If these are showing up packaged in Asia already, they should be here before we know it.  Can’t wait!

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First of all, spoiler alert?

Maybe?

Tough to say.  Marlon Wayans is a professional comedian, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ad-libbed an interview here or there to get some people to notice, but hey, I still think this bears watching.

Member of the Terror Drome forums Roadblock Recall apparently heard an interview with the Wayans Brothers on local radio today promoting a comedy show, and Marlon was asked about the G.I. Joe series.  His answer may surprise you, and to avoid spoilers you’ll have to click the “Read the Rest of this Story” link below for the details.

Read the rest of this entry »

First of all…  spoilers are ABOUND.

If you have not yet watched G.I. Joe: Renegades and you don’t want to be spoiled, turn away now.  Discussion will be forthcoming about the events in the original 2-parter…

Okay, then.

Read the rest of this entry »

The countdown continues…  as the Hub’s Twitter Page has stated, only 59 days to go until the big debut of The Hub, and already the online home of the new Hasbro and Discovery co-owned channel is putting up some images and details of the upcoming animated series.

Of course, you can find the entry for G.I. Joe: Renegades right here.  Details are below:

“Branded as renegades for crimes they did not commit, a heroic group of young G.I.s is forced to “turn fugitive” as they battle to clear their names, and expose the evil that is Cobra Industries — a seemingly benevolent mega-corporation covertly controlled by a rogues gallery intent on creating a New World Order.”

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A big thanks to SNAKE EYES from HissTank.com for digging up the intel.

Yeah, I’m a little fired up over here.  Can’t wait for G.I. Joe to hit the animated circuit again, and by all accounts, everyone involved has an accomplished resume in the field.  I think the folks who are excited are going to be even more excited, and even some of the folks not so excited are gonna start getting turned around.  Good stuff coming.

Sure, it’s not G.I. Joe: Resolute, but part of me still enjoys the rampant cheesiness and the total “made low budget just for kids” mentality of these Operation: HISS webisodes.  Hasbro’s Monkeybar TV has uploaded two more featurettes to continue the Rise of Cobra storyline.

First and foremost, Episode 6 has been posted, and you can check it out right here.  You can check out some screen shots mirrored below.

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But there’s also a Zartan related profile episode that’s been posted here, with a nice little cameo of everyone’s favorite G.I. Joe Marine near the end.

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Looks like Hasbro is making up for some lost time.  After a few months in limbo, a couple of days ago, we got a short Scarlett spotlight, which was the first Operation: HISS update we’d gotten in quite a while.  Now this morning, it would appear that even though Hasbro hasn’t posted them on their site yet, MonkeybarTV.com has Episodes 4 and 5 posted for the animated series that has gotten quite mixed reviews.

Well, not so mixed.  Pretty much just bad.  But hey!  Look!  It’s Agent Helix!

Seriously, this is obviously made for kids…not much money invested in it…and not a whole lot of emotion either.  But it’s always cool to see Joe characters come to life on screen, and I can’t help but smile seeing Helix running around alongside Snake Eyes in animated form.  Check out the episodes at the links below.  These actually have a nice little helping of action…and yes, it’s quite obvious they’re simply using the video game models to make these, but hey, I guess it’s something, right?

Episode 4

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Episode 5

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Hasbro Toy Shop has just sent notification that they are featuring a brand new “Buy One Get One Free” promotion, and included in that promotion are several G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra products as well as a handful of Hall of Heroes items as well.  Highlights (at least for me) are Accelerator Suit Duke, Reactive Armor Ripcord, “City Strike” Duke, “Paris Pursuit” Baroness, and both versions of the Cobra Para-Viper.

There are plenty of other items as well, you can see them all by clicking here.  Even though many folks have grabbed this stuff already, some of these figures come with some fantastic weaponry, and the army builders are always in season…

I know the last time I talked about the G.I. Joe: Origins 2-parter that introduced the IDW universe’s version of Ripcord, it sparked some debate, mostly because I supported IDW’s decision to try and mesh their universe with the film version of Ripcord, who, for Marvel fans, is a pretty critical character in the G.I. Joe mythos.

However, I still stand by my stance that for a current crop of G.I. Joe fans doesn’t necessarily understand or appreciate Ripcord’s place in history (for better or worse).  So to me, it only makes some sense that a movie that earned 300 million dollars internationally at the box office and probably influenced a lot of people has some bearing on the “fringe” continuities.  I mean, after all, even G.I. Joe: Resolute featured an African American version of Ripcord, and IDW ties in to all of it.

But what really matters to me here is the story, and this was a great conclusion to the story.  Ripcord trapped in the jungle for two weeks, surviving off of bugs and reptiles, still manages to accomplish his mission just in time to be evac’ed by General Hawk and Scarlett, and then gets his introduction to the G.I. Joe team.

But the most important thing here, I think, is the way Beatty is able to write this Ripcord character to kind of cover all bases.  There is a hint of the humorous tone that Marlon Wayans carried in the film, but it’s not as overbearing as it was there.  This version of Ripcord cracks some jokes, and yes, he even casually hits on Scarlett, but the most important component of the two-part story is Ripcord’s ability as a special ops soldier and his resilience in the jungle.  All in all, it was an enjoyable story, and this new Ripcord is able to walk that line between the Rise of Cobra universe, the Resolute universe, and this new IDW storyline.  I’ve mirrored some images below, but the panels do pull from all parts of the story, so beware of minor spoilers.

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