Much to many folks’ surprise, Jim Sorenson’s G.I. Joe: Field Manual (Volume 2) hit Amazon this week and has shipped to many folks already.  Jim reached out to us, and we were able to get him on the What’s on Joe Mind podcast last night, so expect another great conversation with Mr. Sorenson to emerge on the Internet very soon!

During our conversation, Jim mentioned several outtakes that didn’t quite make the cut for the second volume, including twisted Mike Irizarry’s favorite…  ”sick kids”.  Yes, for some reason Mike gets a level of joy out of sick kids.  True to his word, Jim went to his blog this morning and immediately posted some outtakes from volume two, including the now infamous “sick kids”.  He provides some excellent background to the outtake, and some great information about Volume 2 as well.

While you’re reading the blog, you should seriously consider hitting up Amazon and picking up the second volume of the G.I. Joe: Field Manual.  There’s tons of Season Two artwork as well as a ton of stuff from the DiC series.  That’s right, you get to marvel at the designs of awesome and obscure 90′s G.I. Joe characters without having to actually watch the cartoon.  It’s the best of all worlds!  Click the banner below to buy Volume Two, and make sure you continue hitting up Disciples of Boltax for information about this book and others.

Yeah, we know this episode was a long time coming, but hopefully it was worth the wait!  I can’t quite describe how excited we were on the podcast when Bill Ratner actually reached out to us and wanted to come back on to discuss the events at JoeCon.  So moved was Mr. Ratner by the reaction of the fans at JoeCon, that he really wanted to come and talk about it, and we could not have been happier to be the conduit for that conversation.  Much less of an interview, and more a great conversation with a voice acting legend, it was a great discussion.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg for this episode.  Along with Bill Ratner, we also had a very unique opportunity to talk to Lanny from the G.I. Joe Collectors Club.  Fresh off of the experiences at JoeCon, and neck-deep in the Figure Subscription Service 2.0 reveals, we get some terrific design insight and some very honest discussion about Lanny’s collecting background, experience, and his work with the Collectors Club.  It was a terrific talk, to be sure.

Along with both of these great guests, we’re also joined by Kevin Watts, who comes on to talk about the New Jersey Collectors Convention and their 2013 Salvo exclusive!  Yes, this episode truly has it all.  Check it out on Podbean, or via the embedded players below.  Don’t forget to click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the show notes.

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So, the cool guys at the Cold Slither Podcast Tweeted out a link to one of my old articles covering the history of Roadblock for folks who needed to bone up on their G.I. Joe history before catching G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

That kicked a reminder at me that maybe I should get that post back up on top since G.I. Joe: Retaliation has officially opened and there might be people wondering just who this Roadblock dude is.  You can see the original post right here, but I’ve also reposted it at the Read the Rest of the Story link below.

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All it took were a few words, and you could instantly recognize the voice from our youth.  Mary MacDonald-Lewis joined us for a fantastic action-packed interview, bringing some of her classy Sunbow Lady Jaye style to the show.  We talk about her experiences with the animated series, her real life relationship with Bill “Flint” Ratner, and whether or not she thinks Adrianne Palicki can fill her shoes.

Also joining us on this episode is Carson from the epic G.I. Joe site, 3DJoes!  He talks technology and what drew him to build his site and where he thinks it might go in the future.  Along with this we cover news, and get fired up about G.I. Joe: Retaliation!  Come join us on Podbean, or use the embedded players below.  As always click the “Read the Rest of the Story” link for the show notes.

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In a clear sign that these discount store G.I. Joe figure repaints are likely on the way to retail stores, eBay seller viperkingdom has posted them all up on eBay.  This second wave is full of some great homages to the classic Joes…some obvious, some not so much:

• Cobra Commander
• Cobra Trooper
• Storm Shadow (No Longer Available)
• Snake Eyes
• Shipwreck
• Duke

Now most folks have identified some of the clear inspiration for these figures.  Cobra Commander is based on his comic deco, while Storm Shadow uses T’Ginzu from Ninja Force as his base.  Duke’s interesting uniform color pulls inspiration from the animated Sunbow Breaker.

Shipwreck looks like a great OG13 base, and Snake Eyes looks to be based on the unheralded and extremely underrated Toys “R” Us Heavy Assault Set 6-Pack version from the new sculpt era.  But perhaps the most interesting here (and maybe the most overlooked) is the Cobra Trooper.

Many folks have identified the Cobra Trooper as having a comic inspiration, with the light blue and tan.  But it goes beyond that, at least from my view.  I’m sure folks remember those animated commercials way back in the day.  Well, the Cobra Troopers in those animated commercials look exactly like these figures, all the way to the blue mask.  It’s a very obscure and really neat homage for Joe fans who are interested in that type of thing.

I’ve mirrored the original gallery of images courtesy of Gyre-Viper from JoeDeClassified, and I’ve also included some low res images from those old school commercials.  I think the inspiration is clear.  Very cool stuff.

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And below some very low resolution screen shots of those animated Cobra Troopers…notice the blue masks, blue gloves, and yellow straps?  Pretty cool.

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And in the true Spirit of Christmas, join us while we talk about female body parts for a couple of hours…

In all seriousness, this was a homecoming of sorts as we all got back together to do a real live episode for the first time in well over a month, and we had a ton of news to cover!  If that’s not all, the rest of the crew (alongside YoJoe guru Terry Dizard) spoke with Bill Ratner, the voice of Flint in the Sunbow animated series.

Make sure you don’t miss me and Chuck throwing down about Michael Bay and the Transformers franchise…  it’s one for the ages!

Check out the latest episode on our Podbean page, or via the embedded players below.  Show notes are after the jump.

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So did you think 2012 was a slow year for G.I. Joe?  While the fine folks behind the What’s on Joe Mind Podcast did drop down their recording schedule a bit to accommodate a slow trickle of Joe news, there were still many exciting G.I. Joe events to talk about.

From animated voice actors to movie news and toy reports, What’s on Joe Mind covered the gamut of G.I. Joe news and events for the year.

Even with a much slower recording schedule in the back half of 2012, it was tough to pick out 12 isolated episodes, but with Gary and Mike’s help, somehow I made due.

Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the full list!

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I’ve been talking it up for a long time, and now is your chance to own it!  By Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster, the G.I. Joe Field Manual is a look into the background of the Sunbow animated series that most of us have never seen before.  Storyboards, details, artwork, all sorts of excellent tidbits from the 80′s animated series that brought most of us into this hobby to begin with.

Do not miss your chance to own this piece of history.  Click the banner below to buy the Field Manual at the awesome price of $10.74.  Worth every penny.

Hey, here’s a pleasant surprise.  I was looking for the previews for new comics hitting Wednesday this week, and look at that!  Jim Sorenson’s highly anticipated G.I. Joe: Field Manual has a preview!  According to Amazon.com this book will hit September 11th, and I am really looking forward to checking it out.

Amazon is having an amazing sale on the book right now, too.  Only $10.74, so pre-order that baby using the image link below.

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G.I. Joe: Field Manual

Jim Sorenson & Bill Forster  (w) • Various (a) • Bill Forster (c)

Relive your favorite memories of the classic G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon with the G.I. Joe Field Manual, Volume One—an amazing archive of beautiful animation models. From Roadblock to Zartan, from the Skystriker to the H.I.S.S. Tank, from the Weather Dominator to the U.S.S. Flagg, all of your favorite characters, vehicles, and world conquering devices are present in this amazing volume. Thrill to never-before-published production artwork and behind-the-scenes designs that made the classic 80′s Joe cartoon so memorable.

TPB • BW • $19.99 • 208 pages • 8.5” x 11” • ISBN 978-1-61377-350-5

Bullet points:

• Compiled and presented by the team behind Transformers: The Ark
• With over a thousand images from the first sixty five episodes of G.I. Joe and a new foreword from lead designer and comic-book legend Russ Heath.

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Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow #16

Chuck Dixon (w) • Robert Atkins (a) • Andrea Di Vito (c)

SERPENT’S SHADOW concludes here in the lair of the COBRA Commander! Snake Eyes, Storm shadow and the murderous Rika must free themselves from a trap set by the Commander in the only way they know how—KILL their way out! Will Snake Eyes show his hand and reveal his betrayal of the Arashikage or play this round out to the end?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Lee Ferguson & Sal Buscema cover!

Bullet Points:

• Non-stop ninja and commando action!
• Featuring the key villain from G.I. JOE: RETALIATION!

Jim Sorenson’s fun looking Sunbow themed book the G.I. Joe Field Manual must be on the way, as Amazon.com has just posted a great preview of the book!  There is an extensive preview posted for the art book, simply check out the Amazon.com listing and click on “look inside”.

While you’re there, pre-order that thang!  Looks like a very cool and very fun book, it’ll be on my “to buy” list for sure.  Click the link below to check it out.