Yo Joe! Magazine

By Matt Johnson

(continued from page 1)

So what else is going on with the G.I. Joe brand? There were some questions regarding the lack of commercials for G.I. Joe, however Hasbro pointed out that their marketing push is actually about as strong as it’s ever been for G.I. Joe, however their target for marketing being kids, most of the commercials are on stations like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network (during the day… not Adult Swim for all of us who stay up nights), so many of us don’t see them. Season 2 of the Sigma 6 cartoon is on the way this fall, and per the preview they showed us, the animation looks awesome and even better than Season 1. Beyond that, Hasbro invested in doing some research on the show, and they’re working on strengthening the storyline and the dialogue to make it more universally appealing to the older fans as well as the kids. Many fans were irritated by the schedule changes and the inability for Season 1 of the show to adhere to a schedule (several people saw the same episode over and over, while missing new ones due to station schedule changes), and Hasbro, while limited in their control over this, is doing what they can. In addition,

Paramount has a DVD release of the first 5 episodes of Sigma 6 season one reworked and re-voice-overed coming out in “movie” format this fall, so keep your eyes open for that. On the topic of film, since it comes up every single year, it had to come up again this year: what’s the status on the live action G.I. Joe movie? The good news is that it’s still in the works. While that doesn’t mean it’s really gone anywhere necessarily, it also doesn’t mean it’s dead, which is a good thing. Hasbro isn’t really at liberty to discuss it though, so details are sparse. Similarly, the question arose about the reallllllly sweet G.I. Joe video game that was talked about last year. The good news here is that while there’s no real progress on it, Hasbro has apparently re-acquired the rights to handle it themselves.

Last but far from least, the question arose regarding the fact that G.I. Joe’s 3 3/4” line celebrates its 25^th anniversary next year, so is anything special planned? Absolutely no details were shared, however the answer was “YES”. Gotta attend the 2007 con to get the story on that.

After the Hasbro Round Table, the next big event was the VERY special guest at the convention this year, Sgt. Slaughter himself. The first real-life G.I. Joe really wowed people with stories about how he got involved with Hasbro to become a G.I. Joe figure, and about how it affected his wrestling career and his life. He answered several questions, and closed to a well deserved standing ovation. Later in the day a line formed out the door for autographs and pictures with the wrestling champion, who is the feature for the new convention exclusive figure (www.yojoe.com/action/06/sgtslaughter5.shtml) with a re-release of his Renegades. Not being one to ever be starstruck by celebrities, I have to say meeting him was VERY impressive.

Beyond these seminars, the convention was in full swing. Vendors and fans alike took in booth after booth of hard to find collectibles and toys. YoJoe.com’s booth featured the VERY limited edition G.I. Joe: Declassified issue 1 (available for sale at YoJoe.com) featuring the hand-signed signature of writer Larry Hama on the YoJoe.com exclusive cover, and they’re going FAST.

As far as other con exclusives, the 2006 convention figure set can be seen at www.yojoe.com/action/06 as well as on the Master Collector website, but in addition the new Operation Flaming M.O.T.H. II: Desert Theater set was debuted featuring repaints of Range Viper (www.yojoe.com/action/06/rangeviper3.shtml) and Flak Viper (www.yojoe.com/action/06/flakviper3.shtml). Very cool!

So what does tomorrow (Friday) have in store? Devil’s Due (G.I. Joe comics) has a round table, the Hasbro round table (part deux) will take place, as will the Real American Hero Concepts and Prototypes seminar by David Lane. Sgt. Slaughter will make another appearance and near the end of the day Brian Savage will host the Master Collector round table. Stay tuned.

Report from the front-lines (part 2)

Report from the front-lines
(part 2)