G.I. Joe Convention Coverage Continues - Saturday,
June 28 in review!
Wow, Saturday was full of new toy announcements.
Hasbro Marketing: 2009 Sneak Peak and 2008 exclusives
This started out with a short clip showcasing a new GI Joe cartoon, GI Joe
Resolute. This is an animation style new to GI Joe - instead of lasers there
were bullets with great muzzle flash and shell casings flying everywhere! This
is a lot more brutal than any other Joe cartoon, but not gory. Bullets do hit
their mark here & people actually die. Several Cobra Troopers had Duke &
Roadblock in a tight spot, they were radioing for help when Snake Eyes dropped
from a tree & did his thing, the action was awesome. At the end, Duke did manage
to take out the last one as Roadblock stood there with a look of awe, "Ah, a
ninja? I didn't know we had a ninja..." This is the only cartoon that I've ever
seen get a standing ovation. The cartoon will be released in several 5 and 10
minute segments in '09, ending up to be about an hour long. We were also given a
peek at several other characters, weapons, and scenes that will be a part of it,
but what seemed to cause the most talk was the way the Flag was updated - it has
dual decks and a round tower, way more impressive than I can describe. Some of
the team working on it referred to it as the USS Kick@$$, and that seemed pretty
accurate.
The toy preview was also full of goodies. First off, the Crimson Guard 5 pack
and the Firefly vs. Greenshirts packs that were rumored to be cancelled are
definitely still on. The next 3 TRU exclusives were the Air Command Set which
will include Skyduster, Wild Bill and Ace. Next is the Naval Commander Set and
will include Cutter, Torpedo & Deep Six. The final set shown for this series was
an Iron Grenadier Command, including a silver head Destro and 2 IG's - one in
black and red, the other in black and purple. These sets should be available
around October - November. The final TЯU exclusives shown were 12" figures of
Rock-n-Roll, Wet Suit, and Wild Bill who will make up a land, sea, & air set.
Next they unveiled 2 online only exclusives that will be available this fall,
the Arctic Assault Squad of seven figures, and the Desert Assault Squad of six
figs. Then came the big announcement they mentioned on Friday - a Rattler with
Wild Weasel and a Conquest with Slipstream. These vehicles will come with
filecards like the pilots rather than the regular blueprints. Next was "The
Ultimate Battle Pack", including a Hiss, a motorized Mobat, Cobra Commander's
personal Trouble Bubble and eight figures. This Target exclusive should be
available this fall. They also announced a 12" WalMart exclusive 5 pack
featuring the original figures from 1964 and an extra accessory pack for each of
them. The Hall of Heroes was next. This series is based on from their online
poll - 80,000 votes were cast! The line up is to include Snake Eyes, Zartan,
Flint, Crimson Guard, Viper, Beachhead, Storm Shadow, BAT, Firefly, & Snake Eyes
with Timber. Their final announcement was on a Joe line of Mighty Mugs due out
next spring. We saw previews of Destro and Snake Eyes.
The afternoon was just as exciting. Many things were announced at the GIJCC
Roundtable. They jumped right in with what was probably one of the most asked
questions they were getting - the cancelled DTC wave 4 line. All the figures
will be available in two waves later this year. There have been several color
and paint app changes made to these figs, but the molds are the same.
Additionally, Copperhead has been added to the wave with a Python Patrol paint
scheme to match the Viper & TeleViper two pack from a couple years ago. Next was
the announcement that the Adventure Team figures were to be released in 3 3/4"
versions - with Dr. Venom as their adversary. Yep - we're finally getting Doc
Venom! It was mentioned that a vehicle is very likely, but no decision has been
made yet. The GIJCC will be going to a quarterly drop schedule with a comic
similar to what is available at the con to coincide with the current club
exclusives. Finally, the '09 club exclusive figure will be Undertow in a paint
scheme to match the 2005 Destro con set. A little quick Q & A, earlier this year
it was rumored that a Rage would be a part of the con - unfortunately the wheels
were not available. Also, the vehicle for the MOTH set is not completely
scrapped, but it is on hold indefinitely.
Finally, Saturday evening was the con dinner and costume contest. There weren't
as many costumes as I'd hoped to see, but there were some that were very good.
It was a great way to wrap up the day.
Pictures can be found at the YoJoe Gallery:
3 3/4"
12"
Diorama
Customs
Also check out the gallery for the Convention
Yo Joe from Dallas!
06/30/08
For a great selection of G.I. Joe and military-themed action figures and collectibles,
check out fine retailers SmallJoes.com, Guru-Planet.com, MonkeyDepot.com, BriansToys.com, ToyRocket.com, BigBadToyStore.com,
ToyWiz.com
and StatueToys.com.
For a great selection of pop culture and G.I. Joe apparel, check out TShirtGurus.com
and 80sTees.com.
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