So on Day 3 of JoeCon, I finally stopped bawling my eyes out over all those gorgeous Tiger Force repaints – seriously, did you see that Tomahawk repaint? My favorite vehicle in my favorite deco? For $168? Why? Fun Pub? Why?! Sorry, it’s still too soon!
Anyway, there was some cool stuff shown at JoeCon that I’ll be able to afford thanks to two Con panels which I’ll recap out of order, starting with the Collector’s Club panel. I haven’t had a chance to review a lot of the FSS figures, but I’ve happily subscribed the first three offerings and have a ton of great figures as a result. I was curious to see who the Club would announce for 4.0!
Okay, first of all, two more Tiger Force repaints? Twistin’ the knife, GIJCC. Twistin’ the knife. Outback does have a cool shirt though.
My Joe love runs pretty vintage so I’m drawn to the classics – we’ve got Barricade, Bullhorn, Nunchuk, & Pathfinder! Those are all sweet. And that last Law & Order we got? Now in Classics Colors! That’s five wins right there. The other five: the White Night Creeper, Jammer, Interrogator, Inferno BAT, and Billy Commander? They’re some great choices, but I’m not sure how many of those I’d keep. And then there is the mysterious 13th figure… We still don’t know this years, but I’m curious – the Club offered a Tiger Force Frostbite at the Con and now we’ve got Tiger Force Sneak Peek in this sub. We kinda need regular versions of those guys. Will either of them be our surprise figure?
They also announced a handful of other club exclusives (via HissTank). The big thing for me was Pythona! Sadly, I think she’s still waiting for a vintage figure, so that kinda stings. We’ll of course need all those other Cobra-La guys in modern style, won’t we? Too cool. There’s also a new vehicle next year, the Dreadnok Ground Assault 4×4 with Heartwrencher getting her first figure.
The 12″ figure is pretty cool too, an updated Mike Powers Atomic Man! He’s not glow-in-the-dark with a hazmat suit, but he’s close! And that wasn’t all. We already knew about the Marissa Fairborne figure that’s package with Afterburner, or at least a bike in his deco, but they announced their second Joe/TF figure too and it’s pretty cool. Remember Old Snake from that one TF episode? Where Magnus, Hot Rod, & crew were turned into humans by this old terrorist voiced by Chris Latta? He’s finally getting a figure! (not counting his first 53). He’ll come with Transformers Stealth Drone in a B.A.T. deco! Pretty sweet.
Now that was just the club! Hasbro also had some fun stuff to announce. Yes, Virginia, G.I. Joe isn’t dead at retail… Exclusive to TRU, we’ve got five new two-packs, four new three-packs, and some snazzy vehicles. I’m easily most excited about Gung Ho, but that Red Crocodile is a close second! Notable third place to a Night Force Hit & Run and – that Blue Bazooka? That’s kinda Night Force, right? Also, cool is a sort of reissue of one of the rarest sets in the modern era, the fifth DVD Battles Pack including Alpine!
Some great stuff…why now after I sold my collection. The show stealer for me has got to be the Tiger Force Tomahawk. Loved the Tiger Force vehicles but I never had any so I made a custom Tiger Force Night Attack Chopper a couple years back. http://www.joecustoms.com/customs/customs_specific_item.php?kind=vehicle&id=968
The hell with all of that. NEW MIKE POWER! Holy crap, I may have to finally join the club. I don’t really care if they stuck a micro LED in his right eye, just the fact that they gave him a proportional head and addressed the ‘but he’s only got one mechanical leg, how can he run fast without ripping himself apart?’ issue makes me need this.
PYTHONA?! OLD SNAKE & SOUNDWAVE?!!
Gotta get me some of those!
Just as I was planning to sell off loads of my modern G.I. Joe stuff, too . . . .
Wish I had a closer Toys R Us. Know I would buy some of these indeed. The transfan in me sees that Scythe as a possible new Ramjet/Thrust deco if do a crossover line. Yeah still dreaming for that. Gotta say enjoyed all the reveals and await to see that Pythona proto.
Aw, snap! Iron Grenadier/Steel Brigade 2-pack? Sign me up!
I think I just Cobra-Lalalalala’d my pants!
ok, where did I see a white shirt Bazooka with blue 14? it was definitely NOT an off color pic of the two-tone blue, because that 14 was darker than the two-toner. also, they’re using his real name now? sigh….
wish the green tank set was TRU, too. :/
I was hoping for the announcement of 6″ers, but maybe SDCC??
I can imagine the shortlist is: Snake-Eyes, Storm Shadow, Shipwreck, CC, Destro, Cobra Trooper/Viper, and a female every fourth wave, starting with Cover Girl. >_>
BAF: MASS device. LOL more seriously, SNAKE armor using Mandroid/Monger base.
I’d buy a 6″ Cobra Commander (helmeted), but that would be it.
Okay, maybe a Cobra Trooper of some sort. To hang with my other 6″-scale goons, so they can hang out and bitch about their bosses after work.
I have a rich internal fantasy life.
HALO figures make good BATs and other armored characters like Barbecue and such that are tertiary at best. so hiding them in back rows, you don’t notice they’re smaller, esp if you use spice rack risers.
I truly enjoyed myself at this year’s JoeCon despite the travel hassles getting there (Springfield’s airport looks more like a bus station, only cleaner). Exclusive items were rather neat, even if their price points were a bit shocking ($168 for the Tiger Hawk Helicopter, for example). Mark Weber, the new G.I. Joe brand manager is a very down-to-earth kind of guy and he was asking fans questions all weekend long. In particular, he was asking what characters people would like to see going forward.
If you’re interested in answering that question, the G.I. Joe Discussion group on Facebook is compiling Top 10 lists that will be passed along to Hasbro. All they ask is that you use the YoJoe.com classifications (version 1, version 2, etc.) if there’s a particular version you’d like to see.
J. Lee: You should be able to order all of these (except the SDCC set) through TRU.com, but you’ll definitely be able to pre-order through Big Bad Toy Store soon.
Brainlock: No 6-inch figures this year. It’s not totally off the table, but it definitely won’t be happening this year. The only reveal at SDCC this year will be whatever Kre-O sets are coming.
where was the con at this year, Illinois? I could’ve driven to that one. I only recently got around to following…Hisstank? on FB, and they made mention of it once or twice, so I thought it was next month or later. NOPE! still out of the loop on a lot of stuff, but I’m not really buying any 1/18 the last few years.
Interrogator was a 1991 Cobra figure, so not sure why he’s not getting the love here. Other than Pathfinder, I don’t think any other figure in this sub is more deserving of the slot. Especially with this sub being painfully light on villains. He’s way more deserving than of the most notorious pegwarmers of the ’90s, Barricade.