JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Other Toy Lines => Joe Defender => Topic started by: efranks on March 5, 2010, 08:13 PM
-
Anyone here going to the GI Joe con in Rhode Island this year? I'm going! It'll be the first one I've been able to attend.
When I lived in York, PA I thought I was going to have the chance to go when it was in DC in 1999, but the weekend landed on August 1st and my job wouldn't let me off that weekend since it was our monthly billing cycle.
Anyway, sent in my registration yesterday and booked a room. I'm getting the 12" Return to Spy Island set but this was the second time I was tempted to get the 3.75" set (the other being the 2008 set).
I'm psyched because it's close, but the final thing that sold me was the Hasbro tour that's being offered on Friday which, hopefully, I didn't wait too long to register for. They're doing 500 people for the tour but 100 of those will get in by lottery, according to the website, while the others are on a first come basis.
E...
-
I hoping to go but I'm not sure yet. Probably going to wait until the last minute to send in my registration fax like last year.
I'm up in the air because I'm driving to the Canadian Joecon in August and not sure if I want to make 2 long trips. After going to Hamilton last year I don't want to miss the one in Toronto this year.
I've been to every US Joecon since 2005 because once you go to one you are hooked. It's fun to hang out with other fans, buy toys and travel. The seminars are one of my favorite things. Seeing and asking questions of Larry Hama and the 80s creators is the best.
-
Hope everyone going to the convention has fun. Unfortunately I won't make it this year. Not enough funds to make the long journey but if it was closer I would go for sure even without much money.
-
I can't be the only one from the JD forums going, can I? Anyone else?
E...
-
I should have gone last year when it was in Kansas City. RI is too faraway, especailly when I'm going to Vegas the week after. There needs to be a Joe or Star Wars con in Vegas sometime.
-
I'm afraid you are the only one going.
It is the same weekend as my Son's Birthday so I did not even try.
Alyosha is out for different reasons.
Next year if the location is convenient and I can make it, I may host a "Joe Defender" dinner or lunch of some sort.
-
Well, that kind of sucks.
I plan on posting photos and updates throughout the weekend. I'm leaving Saturday night, but I'm taking the Hasbro tour on Friday and I'm planning on attending the Hasbro Q&A on Saturday so there should be some cool things to see.
E...
-
I'm leaving for Joe Con in about 45 minutes. There is already some news about the exclusive souvenirs that was posted last night but only photos of one item, the Z-Force Silver Mirage motorcycle that was a freebie with the 3.75" package.
I'll be posting updates to my site when I have a few minutes. Here's a direct link: GI Joe coverage (http://www.imperialholocron.com/gijoe/index.html)
E...
-
First photos up. (http://www.imperialholocron.com/gijoe/thursdaycheckin.html)
They're all from registration and the con store plus the exclusives. I'll have more detail posted later but tomorrow morning is the big day with the Hassenfeld talk and Hasbro tour.
E...
Edit - fixed broken link.
-
Nice pics Eric....looking forward to more. :)
-
I posted another update (http://www.imperialholocron.com/gijoe/index.html) with some photos of the souvenirs and the boxed set that I bought.
I got the 12" exclusive and registered as one of the first 100 so I also got one of the 1:6 "leather" convention jackets. The freebie with the 12" set is a black robot shark like the one included in the box. The 12" souvenir figure is a Henchman. He's a vintage style figure with blone flocked foreign head (If you have any of the club membership figs, he's like that) and Kung Fu hands. He has a full outfit including weapons and makes a really cool addition to the Spy Island set.
I also bought the Q-Force set with Agent Natalie Poole and Lt. Dolphin. I thought they looked like a cool set in the display cabinet but after I got them out I'm cooling on Natalie, who was the main reason I bought the set. She uses a Mortal Combat mold and the underside of her hair isn't painted (head is cast in flesh tone). It just doesn't make a great figure. Dolphin is fine, though. I'd like to get the 3-pack and the Car as they're all really nice items, but the price is kind of higher than what I want to pay. I've already dropped a lot of cash and the sales floor isn't even open yet.
Anyway, I also picked up last year's para drop figure, Crimson Guard, and an exclusive 40th Soldier, which was really cheap, only $20.
There were a lot of people buying a lot of stuff tonight. I was kind of surprised even though I have read reports in previous years about the amount of stuff people have picked up on registration night. If I had unlimited funds I probably would have bought both con packages and all the souvenirs, and there are still a few other club items I'd pick up duplicates of.
If anyone want specific photos of something, LMK, and I'll take them if I can.
E...
-
Great pics from the floor! Thanks for sharing them. :) Wish I was there.
-
Can you pleas post a picture of the Red Shadows T-Shirt at the Club Store?
-
I'll see what I can do about a photo of that and the AT t-shirt. They weren't really in a position to be photographed last night and neither were in the display cabinet for some reason.
E...
-
New Spirit!
(http://www.imperialholocron.com/gijoe/hasbrobooth/spirit-01.jpg)
This should be announced during the Q&A today along with a new Quick Kick and an Arctic figure. There may also be a Low Light on the way based on some pre-production stuff we saw at Hasbro on Friday.
New images from Hasbro's booth are up on my website. I have some photos from Hasbro and info from the Hassenfeld panel but I'm running short of time to get that posted tonight. It's like 1810 as far as Internet connection goes here...and ******* expensive. If freaking McDonalds can give it away this hotel should....
Anyway, no photo yet of that con shirt...it sold out on Preview night but I haven't actually seen one yet.
E...
-
Details and and photos (http://www.imperialholocron.com/gijoe/index.html) from the Hasbro panel are now up.
TRU exclusive Spirit and Quick Kick. Low-Light is excellent, articulated so he can shoot prone. Ton of accessories, all break down and fit in one of his two backpacks.
GI Joe: Renegads is the new cartoon. Some details posted but no photos allowed of the teaser art or recording of the Q&A.
E...
-
thanks E your rock!
Hasbro is really hitting a homerun with these! I can see one of each in my future...
And I thought I would be scaling back to just SW and MU! :D
-
Indeed man, great coverage. Lots of good stuff. :) And Spirit that isn't a stereotype? Very nice.
-
That Low Light looks freaking awesome, as does the new Snake Eyes. How can they keep making him cooler every time?
-
I posted photos of the new figs from the display case (http://www.imperialholocron.com/gijoe/hasbrobooth2.html). Believe me, the Snake Eyes, Low-Light and Destro are insanely awesome.
The Spirit figure is probably one of my new favorites along with Low-Light. Just from a geek perspective, I think Sprit makes a good counterpoint to the Shadow Tracker coming out. They have similar accessories and are both just cool. I'm not sure if the Shadow Tracker has been in the new IDW comic yet but as awesome as the silent Marvel issue was, with Snake Eyes, I think IDW could duplicate that with a Spirit vs ST book.
Low-Light is also a favorite. I was talking to the guy that sculpted him (forgetting his name) and he was originally trying to sculpt the rifle so that you could actually have Low-Ligh looking as if he were inserting the bullet into the breach of the gun. But he couldn't get it done on that scale. And speaking of bullets, if you check the second shot of LL's accessories, he comes with one loose bullet along with a box of them, radio, spotter scope and GPS, UZI and two backpacks. The rifle breaks down and fits in the rifle case and I believe the other accessories all fit in the second backpack, at least that's how the panel made it sound. Plus, as I mentioned, prone shooting position is possible.
Snake Eyes has tow heads, commando and visor, two rifles, silenced pistol, knife, sword and the classic explosive satchel. Dude is loaded.
The Cobra Shock Trooper is the Pit Commando for the Cobra team. He has a ****-ton of accessories, ballistic shield, breaching equipment (sledge hammer) and a few weapons, gas mask and a helmet.
Quick Kick as the classic Kung Fu Grip logo on his gi and he has body scars which were showing some love to Bruce Lee. his boxing gloves are sort of MMA gloves, and removable. The vest comes off so you can see his scarred torso.
The Skydive figure is a new character and takes one of the ROC Ripcord bodies that was cancelled and has a new head.
Destro is huge. He has this huge shoulder armor and badass armor and he has a steady gun, actually two of them. One is a gatling gun and the other looks like the gun from Aliens. Plus he comes with a briefcase of money. I think the panel said that in scale it's about $3 mil or something.
Oh, and if Quick Kick is in honor of Bruce Lee then Spirit is in honor of Billy from Predator. It's almost like the Hasbro team is looking for a license for the Aliens and Predator franchise...believe me, I'd own it all if they ever were able to do Colonial Marines or the Predator commando team.
I have lot of photos of the custom dios and figures but I won't be able to upload them till I get home. I also have some video of the dios and all the info from the Hasbro tour.
E...
-
awesome coverage thanks again E! Destro and his cash is so freaking awesome!
-
I'm getting a post together with some details on the Hasbro tour, as well as the photos. Unfortunately they didn't let us take pictures in the Model Shop or in the unreleased toy presentation. I forget the names of a couple of the new characters that didn't get released but they had a moc up of the VTOL plane from the ROC film that was insanely cool. Shootting missiles, a retractable zip line, opening panels and rotating engines. It's a shame that didn't come out as a counter to the Night Raven.
The model shop showed off some heads and accessories that were created with the new rapid prototype printers. They had some Iron Man helmets that were awesome looking, tons of detail. They showed us an old-school wood pattern for a train engine and some unproduced designs from ROC including that VTOL plane and a huge offroad vehicle for the 12" line. Was the name of that plane the Tornado maybe? I'm forgetting and I didn't get a chance to write anything down, we only had about 10 minutes at each stop on the tour.
The Hasbro toy store was fun. They had a lot of 25th figures but nothing rare...they were only $1 and change each, though. Comic packs for $3.99, 12" ARAH $5.98 and the SDCC 12" Baroness for $19.99. I bought one of each of those. I didn't buy any single carded figs. They also had a deal on the plastic figure cases...I saw a LOT of guys buying those but I forget the price. I don't know if they had a lot more, but after my group went through we had cleaned them out of a lot of Baroness figs and cases.
They had a lot of Nerf for good prices also and I saw several people carrying around the new battle ax and older swords. The only SW product I saw were RC Republic Gunships for $19.99. Lots of board games as well.
I did finally see some guys walking around on Saturday that had on black shirts with the Red Shadows skull and crossbones logo and I think that was the con shirt, but I never did get a photo. Hopefully one will show up, maybe on the Con home page. I didn't ask if the store sold out of the exclusive souvenirs but I wouldn't be surprisded if they did. The store did huge business all day from what I saw. I goofed on one point, I didn't visit their "let's make a deal" sale. I did see guys going through huge bins of parts that appeared to be from previous 12" con sets and exclusives. I'm not sure what I'd have bought from that but there might have been something cool. The Club had the 3.75" Adventure Team figs on display, they look great. Unfortunately the final product is sitting in a shipping container in China waiting to get on a ship...estimate is June or July now for them to get to us. I forgot to ask about the 12" accessory set for the club figure this year...seems like I saw one in the store but I'd have to check the order form on that.
I ended up with a few items from the floor including two parts to finish off a Snow Cat...only $3 for a windshield wiper and top missile launcher. There were several guys with huge bins of parts that I looked through but I didn't find the other pieces I needed for my WHALE or Rolling Thunder. I picked up a vintage Green Beret uniform in good shape, snagged a hat and shoulder holster from Cotswold to go with them and a 12" Walmart AT Joe complete (except for his shoulder holster and pistol) for $5. I picked up an assortment of guns from Maurader John...the M4 is excellent! I also got some AK-74s, a set of pistols, another rifle that I'm forgetting the name of, a Stormtrooper blaster (Sterling) to check out, Aliens pulse rifle and an MP-5....I think that's it..NO! And a combat shotgun! I'm going to outfit a couple of my 25th guys that I didn't like their weapons. And all that was only $11 which is insane. Now that I've seen them I'll probably order from him again.
What I didn't find on the floor was one loose figure (didn't see it carded either for that matter) I was after, an Agent Courtney Krieger from the comic pack. I really didn't look at much vintage 3.75" stuff but after my day was pretty much over I thought of a couple more things that I could have tried to find cheap...nothing HTF, just a few army builders. I skipped the floor quite a bit on Saturday for panels and to pack out of my room. I probably could have skipped the Club roundtable and spent another hour on the floor but I'd spent enough cash...which I'm dreading totalling up.
One thing I thought was interesting/funny/kind of scary; I walked buy a booth which had 4 or 5 huge cases on their table of loose vintage figures in small clear plastic coffins. They appeard to be complete and of various prices. There was a box sitting off to the side and a guy just standing there pointing "I need one of those, one of these, that guy, this one over here, him, um, this guy, that one over here...and in the next case..." and he went on and on and the owner of the store just was pulling them out and putting them in the box. The buyer wasn't inspecting or looking at prices or anything. I don't know if he'd already checked around and this was his deal or what. But it was interesting to watch...never seen something like that before, not even at a SW con.
Oh, one thing I did think of but missed out on was a Cotswold figure. They had several flocked heads in various colors and styles and some bodies to assemble them on. I finally stopped late on Saturday to pick out the flocked head I wanted; an African-American head with gray hair and a goatee which looked excellent...but they were sold out of AA bodies. I may order one eventually but the price was cheap and there was no shipping. Plus with Cots there's a minimum order amount so I'll have to work up to it at some point.
If I can think of anything else I'll post it. If you guys have any questions, LMK and I'll try to answer them for you.
E...
-
Thanks for the coverage.
Saw a picture of the AT shirt and front of the Shadows shirt over at the Joecon site (http://www.gijoecon.com/ri2010/joecon10live.cfm). The one with crossbones on the front and the Joecon10 logo was it apparently.
What was the Alan Hassenfeld presentation all about? I haven't heard anyone mention anything about that.
I sure hodp they have next year's con in the Midwest.
-
E,
That gun with Destro is indeed the steady-MG from Aliens, as I have the 1:18 scale Hot Toys figures, and that looks almost 100% identical to that badass piece of hardware. That tracker guy, with the dreds and mask, actually looks like a human predator. Freaky.
I can't find a good pic of the Hot Toys 1:18 Aliens figures to post to show the gun, but it's almost 100% identical, if not the exact gun. I cannot see how they could whip that up and put it in with a figure though. That just strikes me very odd. It's very distinctive and I'd think if they didn't have some kind of license they could face a dispute.
-
Finally, Low-Light! He was always one of my favorites growing up and he's been at the top of my wish list for the 25th style.
I didn't buy any of the movie characters like Duke, Ripcord, Scarlett, etc., but did pick up some of the "off-screen" characters like Bench Press, Night Adder, Ice Viper, Pit Commando, etc. that fit in pretty well with the 25th line. Looks like I'll be continuing that with the Shock Trooper, Sky Dive and Shadow Tracker.
Even before reading the replies in this thread, I thought the new Spirit looked like Billy from Predator. That's awesome and I'll be picking him up for that reason alone.
-
Thanks for all the great coverage/pics E....some of that stuff does look pretty nifty. I'd like to pick up Low Light as well, and some of those other figures (Snake Eyes, Spirit, Quick Kick, Destro) look pretty nifty too. I'm pretty much always up for another Snake Eyes, and like it was mentioned, they always seem to manage to make him pretty cool every time they release another one. I've pretty much decided I should stop with the Joe stuff unless the 25th line resumes, but a lot of this stuff is starting to "fit in" with that, so it gets tougher to draw that line. Kind of psyched that we'll have a new Joe cartoon on for the first time in awhile (aside from the Resolute shorts). It sounds like it has potential to be kind of cool, unlike that Sigma Six nonsense from a few years ago ;).
-
It's funny that the Shadow Tracker mask looking like a Predator mask is mentioned, a guy I was talking to at the con mentioned the same thing, and I agree. I was also talking to another person that thought the mask looked updated from that shown at SDCC. I'm not sure on that. I have some higher res photos that I'll be posting later and I'll see if I can find a good shot from last year to compare it to.
One thing to mention, I know some of us were wondering about this before, but it looked to me like the Snow Job figure will have all the accessories he was advertised with. I think that question came up after Toy Fair when some photos of him didn't have all that extra stuff shown. He was being shown in the display case with them and the carded figure also had them.
As for the Hassenfeld presentation, he talked a lot about the early days of the company and how the original line came about. Alan lead overseas production back in the 60's. He had some stories about how, at one point, Hasbro actually sold the license for GI Joe to Palitoy while they recovered from some financial difficulties and then later bought it back. He also told how he had to spend a night in jail because he bought fabric on the black market in order to make a production deadline.
I didn't take notes, which I probably should have. It was definitely a fun talk, though.
E...
-
completely agree on the Shadow Tracker looking like a black dude with a Predator mask on - even his dreads look like Predators "dreads".
In regards to Snow Job and his accessories I hope you are right - but this whole Zartan and Destro being shown on the old cards and Zartan shown off now, this time around, again with his old ROC head, accessories, and paint apps, which was different than what was shown at the TF slide show presentation (different head/paint apps) - that all still baffles me.
???
again, not going to lose sleep over it - just confused.
-
We didn't see a carded POC Zartan anywhere but there were two Snow Job figures we saw, one was in the case and one was at Hasbro in near the original artwork display and both had all the accessories. So I'm pretty confident that Snow Job will be complete. Not sure on Zartan.
I don't think we saw a carded Destro either, not with the new packaging anyway. Just what was in the case at the show.
E...
-
I have seen some shots of both of them still carded on the old cards over at Hisstank in this (http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-news-rumors/75414-hasbro-tour-pictures-joecon-2010-a.html) thread
edit: and yeah, I went back and saw the carded pics of Snowjob - so that is very good!
-
Lowlight is all kinds of ass kicking goodness. I cannot fathom them doing a loose .50 cal round for the Barret though. I mean, that's one dinky assed accessory. Kudos if they do though, as I'm all about picking that figure up right now and I don't even collect GI Joe.
Honestly I'm all about picking up a lot of that stuff. :-\ I even want that Snake Eyes really bad, as I don't own a SE for my TV stand, and now that's looking like the ultimate.
Lowlight though, wow... what a great figure.
I just hope these come with all the accessories Hasbro's implied they would.
-
Really diggin a lot of the new stuff. Thanks for all the great pics/coverage Eric! Looks like I'm back on board - for the most part. :)
-
I was pretty surprised about that .50 cal round also, Jesse, but they talked about it in the Q&A and it was on display if you check the accessory photo that I posted.
Other than Duke with his new backpack weapon, I don't think I saw a new figure that I won't buy. Hasbro took their game up. One thing they mentioned is that Joe always had top articulation and they felt they'd fallen behind so they stepped it up. I think some of the articulation that the SW team manged to get on the new CW Clones maybe sparked a rivalry and the Joe team wanted to get back on top.
I also think that with Maurader John on the scene the team has stepped up their game also. I mean, that .20mm gun that the Jungle Viper is coming with? I've never even heard of it before so big props to the Hasbro team for discovering that piece of weaponry.
I have most of my update about the Hassenfeld presentation and the Hasbro tour written up and I'll get it posted when I get home tomorrow. I have some cool photos of original artwork, protos and turnarounds of new product, some more carded photos (that other show of Snow Job for example) and some info on the cancelled product that I just have to verify. I also have some shots of the Club exclusive AT figs and some excellent Joe Customs figures that blew me away. Oh, and all the diorama stuff as well.
E...
-
Oh I believe you E, totally... I just cannot fathom them including it. I want that figure so much though now. I may buy 2 even because of the customizing parts it comes with. That's just simply one of the most badass action figures I've ever seen, period.
I want a lot of those figures really... I'm sure I'll nab some GIJ's this year, unfortunately. :'( I won't be going overboard, but I'll be getting some.
-
Okay, another large update finally posted. Info and pictures of the Hasbro Tour from Friday. I also cleaned up some stuff and uploaded some higher res photos and a close-up detail shot of Low-Light's accessories.
I still have to process two videos and the custom figs/diorama photos I took (119 pictures!). I'll get to that later today (Wed) and have them posted.
2010 GI Joe Con Coverage (http://www.imperialholocron.com/gijoe/index.html)
E...
-
I just got the photos posted from the custom diorama showcase. Also have two videos up, one of the diorama from the Hasbro tour and one from a diorama at the con. A couple other pictures are up also of some Joe Customs items that I thought were cool.
I have one final update to post tonight and then I'll be done with the Joe coverage.
E...
-
The club store has 2010 Joecon souvenirs in stock. I bought an orange Flint and the comic for now. They have about 15 orange Flints, 100 2pks, 125 3pks, 40 henchmen. I'm so tempted to buy that Henchman. I'll probably buy the 3pk but not yet.
-
I'm kind of shocked they had so many 2 and 3 packs left. I thought for sure they'd sell out. I don't recall souvenirs not selling out before but maybe I'm forgetting some.
I'm not surprised there are so few Henchman figures left, though. I'm debating ordering another one.
E...
-
Just bought one Henchman figure. My Air Adventurer needed someone to attack his base camp.
They are now down to 4 remaining.
-
The Henchman is sold out now. I thought about another but really I would just like the outfit and accessories more than the whole figure. I picked him up at the show and think it's a great addition to the set and my collection in general. I'm not surprised he went quick online, though. There are a lot of 12" fans looking for new product.
I am surprised on the 3.75" souvenirs though. Anyone have a thought on why those didn't sell out at the show? Not popular enough or people didn't like the designs?
E...
-
I'm not sure why the souvenirs didn't sell out. Maybe the economy, fewer attendees and a lot less speculators buying? In the long run the 2pk and 3pk may not be worth much more than purchase price.
I'll probably pick up the 3pk before it sells out and skip the 2pk.
Gaucho is my favorite of those 5 souvenir figures. Dolphin looks ok but that head is way to small and narrow. I have no interest in Natalie and I'm guessing that most people don't know her Action Man 1990s history; including me. Jammer suffers from the small head too but it goes well with Gaucho. Lifeline is my second favorite souvenir figure.
I didn't order the boxed set because all I really want from that set is Black Major, Interrorgator and a lot of the Red Shadow troops. These I'm going to buy as I find them cheap and that may take a while.
-
They added about 70 orange Flint figures to the store. They must have found another box of them.
-
It's funny you mention Natalie, she's the reason I DID buy the 2-pack. I thought she also looked like a good figure but after I got her opened I kind of changed my mind. She's too thick, for lack of a better term. I also thought that both figures in the 2-pack felt kind of flimsly, especially in the elbows. I was afraid of breaking them. Dolphin had paint on his arms that caused the swivel to be stuck at first. I was afraid of breaking his arms while I was trying to loosen them up but got it done and they seem okay.
Last year there were a lot of people hyped up for the Red Shadows when the clues were being revealed, and it seemed like, online at least, there was some disappointment when it turned out that they weren't the set. Maybe the club overestimated that fan reaction from last year when putting together this set and picking the souvenirs for it?
It seems like the crowds are sort of still split 50/50 on O-ring vs 25th/ME style but maybe these would have done better in the new style instead of O-Ring. I think I'd have liked the 2-pack a little better had they not been O-Ring.
E...
-
The club posted a cool Spy Island video. Now I may have to buy the Spy Island con set someday to go with the Henchman I ordered.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow4hur_IEjw&feature=player_embedded
-
They showed that during the movie fest on Friday night. It's really well done.
E...
-
Two of the films that were shown during the film fest on Friday night at the con are now online.
The first is 40 Years of Adventure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DPsVVbrv9E)
The second is Dr. Jones: Toy Therapist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBt_eABWA8w)
E...
-
Received my 12" Henchman and it looks cool on shelf. I wish the logo on the suit wasn't just a sticker. It's already coming loose and over time dust will make it worse. The same thing is true with the other Club AT logos which are just stickers.
Finally caved on the con 3pk but I went the ebay route and got it for 58 shipped which a lot cheaper than club pricing with shipping.
-
I never really responded to this earlier, but thanks for the great coverage of the Con efranks! Some of the stuff on the way (particularly next year), looks great. Can't wait for Low Light, and the Snake Eyes looks really cool as well. I hope we continue to see some more of the 25th type figured sprinkled in the line from now on. I'm really hoping for some of the others like Sci Fi (always one of my favorites), Lifeline, and some of the others from that "era" of Joes.
-
I was hoping to get a Dial-Tone figure, not the female kitbash from the TRU set but classic version. Lifeline would be a cool figure to do as well.
It was kind of interesting to me what figures Hasbro picked for the 25th/ME line and what ones they left out. Like, no Lifeline or Dial-Tone but they did the red suited Cobra diver, for example. Plus all the dozens of repaints that were kind of unnecessary since Hasbro was already re-using parts to get new figures anyway.
E...