Larry Hama has always established that G.I. Joe isn’t necessarily about war, action, ninjas, or gun battle…at its core, it is about the characters.  It is the personality of the characters that keeps them alive and keeps them viable throughout the years.

I would maintain that this remains true in Hollywood as well, and that the translation of these characters into film is equally important for the movie to remain timeless.  After all, we don’t all remember the fantastic Aliens movie because of the gun fights, right?  We remember it because of characters like Hicks, Ripley, and Hudson.  THEY are what made that film, not splattering acid blood all over the place.

So now that things are starting to take shape around G.I. Joe: Retaliation, which characters am I most looking forward to seeing in action?  Let’s break it down after the jump:

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For anyone who has been on the fence about buying a G.I. Joe figure from Sideshow Collectibles, this just might put you over the edge.  Until the end of the month, Sideshow Collectibles is offering a free “mystery figure” to any collector who orders an in stock participating G.I. Joe item.

That’s right…buy any participating in stock G.I. Joe item, and you get a free item included!  Participating items are listed below, I’d love to hear what folks are receiving:

Sixth Scale Figures

Zartan

Rock n Roll

Crimson Guard

Exclusive Crimson Guard

General Hawk

Black Dragon Ninja

Exclusive Black Dragon Ninja

Environments

Pit Command Center

Urban Threat – Condition Red!

Recovery at Serpent Temple

Arashikage Temple

Dioramas

Cobra Commander Diorama

Exclusive Cobra Commander Diorama

Flint Vs. Zartan Diorama

Exclusive Flint Vs. Zartan Diorama

Terms & Conditions  (Click here)

Free G.I. Joe Figure Giveaway Terms And Conditions!

I know there has been an obvious G.I. Joe vacuum at retail, but don’t forget…all is not lost in G.I. Joe toy land.  Those great folks over at Sideshow Collectibles still have tons of G.I. Joe products in stock and ready to ship!

Excellent figures like the Crimson Guard, General Hawk, Cobra Viper, Zartan, Rock n Roll, and many other great dioramas and statues are in stock at Sideshow Collectibles, so satisfy your G.I. Joe itch with some 12″ goodness.

Click the banner below to see what they’ve got in stock and use some of that “mad money” for some really cool conversation pieces for your G.I. Joe collection.

It took over a week, but I’m finally getting caught up with Mysterious Stranger’s excellent guest reviews, and I’m finishing with a good one… the 12″ Zartan!  I am continuously battling myself with this figure… not sure if I’ll be able to resist forever, and these reviews certainly aren’t helping!

Check out the review at the Sideshow Collectibles review section or via the direct link below.

• Sideshow Collectibles 12″ Zartan – A guest review by Mysterious Stranger

Have you been putting off grabbing your favorite Sideshow Collectibles figures for your G.I. Joe collection?  Delay no more!  Throughout the weekend, Sideshow is offering $15 off using the code JUNE17.  Use this chance to grab some awesome 12″ figures and save money while you’re at it.

Check the link below to check out the entire G.I. Joe library, and I’ve also highlighted some products using banners below.

• Sideshow Collectibles – G.I. Joe Category

• G.I. Joe Collectibles Zartan 12-inch Figure

If you’ve been after a particular Sideshow Collectibles piece, but thought they were sold out, REJOICE.  Sideshow Collectibles tells us that they have many G.I. Joe figures and statues back in stock now.

With G.I. Joe: Retaliation apparently out of the picture for 2012, you need something else to spend your G.I. Joe cash on…  Click on the links or banners below to buy!

G.I. Joe Collectibles Zartan 12-inch Figure

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

I know this could be considered grasping at straws, but I honestly think that there’s a valid point here, too.  By now we’ve all seen this new trailer footage a few dozen times (at least) and one of the most striking scenes is the scene where Zartan (disguised as the president) slices his face open, and it heals up behind the blade.  We get a cool blue skin homage that only lasts a couple of seconds.

Well, GeneralsJoes reader ghost man decided he might have seen something…so he did some screen capture comparisons and sent them along.  Check out the image below.

Now, I’ve already been accused of dissecting this film footage way too much on the site by someone, but I thought this was just a fun note to point out.  Take a look at the second-to-last image, and look at Vosloo right next to it.  I’ll be damned if that’s not a close match.  The shape of the jawbone, the narrow smile…even the eyes.  Sure, it may just be a computer generated fabrication, but if nothing else, it indicates that possibly Zartan can change back, and perhaps we’ll see Vosloo somewhere along the way.

A very interesting comparison, and a big thanks to ghost man for sending it along.  Yes, I fully admit I am way too invested in this film and this property, but it’s not like a blockbuster summer film comes along every day.  I will happily take apart every single second of it.

UPDATE – Some folks have been reminding me that IMDB has Arnold Vosloo listed as a cast member.  Please keep in mind that IMDB does allow user-edited content (like WikiPedia) and isn’t always accurate.  After all, as of a couple of weeks ago, they had “Zandar” listed as a character in the film as well.  He very well might be, but for some reason I’m not betting on it.

One benefactor of the recent Meijer’s early G.I. Joe: Retaliation figure release was Jay over at Carded Heroes, and we’re all getting the benefit of it.  He’s posted a very nice review of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Zartan.

As a big fan of G.I. Joe: Renegades I obviously love the aesthetic of this figure, and while the light piping looks pretty weird on some of those disguise heads, I think the effect is still neat.  Check out the review right here, I mirrored just a couple of images below.  Check Carded Heroes for the rest.

[View with PicLens]

Over the past number of days the GIJoe Collectors’ Club has been revealing carded images of upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation figures.  Well, the latest installment is the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Zartan.

It’s an interesting subject because obviously as we’ve seen, the cards themselves are not at all different, it’s more an exploration of how the figures might look from a more final perspective.  The slot in Zartan’s head for the light piping seems to be striking a negative chord with fans, but I don’t mind a whole lot, and I think the idea of glowing eyes is pretty neat.

Check out GIJoeClub.com or the mirrored image below.