Couldn’t quite get them all finished up last week, but I managed to wrap up the last three reviews among packing and moving this weekend, and you can check them all out on my G.I. Joe: Retaliation Review Page.

Of course you could also just click the various links below:

• G.I. Joe: Retaliation G.I. Joe Trooper
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation Storm Shadow
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation Zartan

And, of course, do not forget that awesome review sponsor Big Bad Toy Store is loaded up with pre-orders for these figures and future ones as well!  Wave 2 looks especially awesome with movie accurate Roadblock, Snake Eyes, Flint, and Firefly!  Check out the links below.

• G.I. Joe: Retaliation Pre-Orders
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation Wave 2 Battle Kata Roadblock
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation Wave 2 Ninja Duel Snake Eyes
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation Wave 2 Sneak Attack Storm Shadow
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation FULL SET of 5 figures
• G.I. Joe: Retaliation FULL SET of 9 figures

Well, he refers to it, though he admits up front that there is no real clear indication as to exactly how the character survived.  At Soompi.com, several quotes from the Korean actor reveal that Storm Shadow does indeed apparently return from the dead in the sequel, though Lee Byung-Hun admits the way he does it isn’t necessarily clearly explained.

“In the film there is no separate explanation. However, there is a hint as to how ‘Storm Shadow’ resurrects.” The star added, “I really like the role of Storm Shadow. In order to act him out, I studied his character history and he was the most charming character of G.I. Joe. In the film there is a division between the Cobra army and Joes, however Storm Shadow does not really belong to either group. I liked the fact that the character was a lonely fighter.”

So, according to the actor himself, there is no real “separate explanation” but a hint as to how the character resurrects.  Something tells me the hint lies within the clear, water-filled tubes, but I guess we will find out June 29th!

Check out Soompi.com for more details.

And the flood begins!  My comments, emails and text messages have been flying this evening as more folks are reporting sightings of the new discount G.I. Joe figures at Dollar Generals across the country.

UPDATE – Some questions about price… reports are retail of $6.00 per figure.

Everywhere from Tennessee to Oklahoma and St. Louis, but the one common denominator is they’re being found in Dollar General stores specifically.  Big thanks to both Mike from Whats on Joe Mind and GeneralsJoes visitor Dustin for forwarding some images along as proof.  Mike even included his trademark bananas.  Check out the images below, and just as a reminder of what you can expect, make sure you read up on the Dollar Store figures with my exclusive reveal right here.

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It’s four reviews in one!

To say I was excited to receive the Amazon Exclusive G.I. Joe: Renegades 4-Pack in the mail last week would be a massive understatement.  Ever since I heard the animated style tooling was being pushed aside for more “realistic” figures, I’ve had a clamoring to see what these animated figures would have looked like…and now I have that chance!

It’s a somewhat funny dichotomy, though, because honestly I don’t see much “G.I. Joe: Renegades” in the Storm Shadow figure, even in the animated design.  Just read my thoughts below if you’re interested!

• Amazon Exclusive G.I. Joe: Renegades Storm Shadow
• Amazon Exclusive G.I. Joe: Renegades Ninja Viper
• Amazon Exclusive G.I. Joe: Renegades Snake Eyes
• Amazon Exclusive G.I. Joe: Renegades Duke

The reviews are all hosted in the G.I. Joe: Renegades/30th Anniversary Review Page as well.  Next up…  G.I. Joe: Retaliation figures (finally)!  Coming this week.

Oh wow!  Oh WOW!  Look at these figures.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a bit bitter that Hasbro scrapped G.I. Joe: Renegades without hardly even giving it a chance, and a part of my complaint lies within the fact that they ditched the animated aesthetic due to fandom outcry.

Now a big part of me doesn’t blame them one bit.  I don’t have any false ideas that animated style figures would fly off the shelves…I have my doubts.  Hasbro could have potentially shrugged off their long standing fans, and not drawn in any new ones, and the entire line could have gone straight down the crapper.  I’m not sure G.I. Joe as a brand is quite strong enough for Hasbro to totally overhaul the realistic styling and still come out swinging.  So, I don’t blame them, even though the animated figures were items I really wanted to see.

So Amazon.com comes through in a big way, offering a Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow figure that apparently use this discarded tooling to great success.  Keep in mind I don’t yet have these figures in hand, and I will fully admit those hip joints immediately make me scared.  I hate those hips on the Marvel figures, so I really, desperately hope the Joe design team has found a way to make those joints work better than the Marvel folks have been able to.

Aside from that, the angular sculpting of the figures, the articulation…everything else looks very cool, and I’m really digging the animated look.  Part of me hopes we get a more normal Snake Eyes in this format, too.  I don’t have any aspirations that they’ll do an entire Renegades run in this style, but I’ll take what I can get.  Check out the original post by G.I. Joe: Renegades fan edhellman over at HissTank.com, and I’ve mirrored the images below.

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We’ve seen most of the character-themed posters for the United States at this point, but with Lee Byung-Hun such a popular actor over in Korea, it only made sense for him to get a poster that focused on him for that region.

This actually brings up a really good point, in my opinion, with the casting of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  You’ve got Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to appeal to the young movie goers… you’ve got Bruce Willis drawing in the older action movie fans.  And you’ve got Lee Byung-Hun who continues his rampage of popularity in Korea.  That’s a lot of big audiences that this cast is capturing.  Pretty smart moves from a marketing stand point.

Good old stand by Stark Industries came up with the image, you can check it out below.

This poster goes along with a previously released poster, too, originally revealed right here on GeneralsJoes:

Over the past couple of days I’ve mentioned a number of times that it was somewhat unclear where Storm Shadow’s head was going to be in the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film and which side he would be fighting on.

Well, the Korea times interviewed Lee Byung-Hun and he reveals some details behind the motivations of Storm Shadow and what prompted him to return for the sequel to tackle this character.  The most interesting line in the interview is probably the following:

“His character is an independent combatant who fights for neither good nor evil in the story. Lee said that his status as a loner was the role’s biggest attraction and claimed he would not want to play anyone else, even if he were given a chance.”

This quote certainly seems to indicate that Storm Shadow won’t necessarily be devoted to either Cobra or G.I. Joe in the film sequel, and that he will sort of remain on his own side, so to speak.  Interesting…

Thanks to GeneralsJoes commentor Skywarppro for the information!

Looks like a double decker at comic shops this week as Wednesday brings us both the conclusion for the G.I. Joe: Retaliation prequel series and Issue #12 of the ongoing Snake Eyes series which kicks off his new adventures apart from the G.I. Joe team!

Check out the previews for both of these issues below, one sale at comic shops everywhere on Wednesday.

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G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation #4 (of 4)

John Barber (w) • Salvador Navarro (a & c)

The final battle! STORM SHADOW leads his ninja on an attack that threatens to cripple America’s national security! The only men who can stop him are SNAKE EYES and ROADBLOCK—but can they put aside their differences and learn from each other in time? It’s ninja and commando action in the frantic G.I. JOE manner, leading ino the hottest movie of 2012!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Black & white Salvador Navarro cover!

Bullet points:

• Secrets of the new G.I. JOE movie are revealed!
• See ROADBLOCK’s all-new fighting style in action!
• Non-stop G.I. JOE combat!

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Snake Eyes Ongoing #12

Chuck Dixon (w) • Bennie Lobel  (a) • Robert Atkins, Andrew Griffith (c)

COBRA COMMAND AFTERMATH! The most dangerous Joe is presumed K.I.A.—but we know different! SNAKE EYES returns to the HARD MASTER to deliver some shocking news as only the silent JOE can. But someone SNAKE EYES cares deeply about has been harmed and someone else is going to have to pay for that. It’s ninja action in the urban jungle and plenty of new surprises!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Black & White Robert Atkins cover!

Bullet points:

• In the aftermath of COBRA COMMAND, everything changes!
• SNAKE EYES as you’ve never seen him before!
• Ninjas fighting in the streets!

Oh boy.  Gyre-Viper took the world by storm last week when he broke the news about the Dollar Store exclusive figures with a great vintage aesthetic.  Well, he’s about the blow the doors off again on JoeDeclassified.com.

Apparently these Dollar Store exclusive figures won’t just be appearing in one paint scheme…  check out this amazing new gallery below of fully repainted variant figures for the exclusive line!  We’ve got what almost looks like a T’Ginzu repaint Storm Shadow, a dark gray Duke, black Cobra Commander, comic deco Cobra Troopers, a green Shipwreck, and a pseudo Heavy Artillery Snake Eyes (from an old school Toys “R” Us Exclusive set).

Mind.  Blown.

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And hey…look at those last few pictures.  Looks like ole Gyre-Viper has something else in the wings for us.  And if it’s in that stage of completion, I’d say release is almost guaranteed.

Ohhhhh yeeeeeeaah.

It’s official.  This is the week of G.I. Joe.

Well look at that!  Over on HissTank.com Snakefox is reporting that he was able to score a case of the much sought after “Dollar Store” G.I. Joe figures at a local retailer in the  Philippines.

This is great news for Joe fans, as many of us have been drooling over these figures since they were first revealed just a week ago.  Snakefox reports that they are “3-4 dollars cheaper” than regular retail G.I. Joe figures.  Check out the discovery thread right here and look at the mirrored images below.

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