You’ve got to love the ingenuity of the G.I. Joe fandom. Not merely content to attend the annual G.I. Joe Collector’s Convention and purchase the “official” exclusives at both JoeCon and the San Diego Comic Con, this fandom started producing its own exclusive figures. For three years now a group of die-hard Joe fans based out of Indianapolis have run their own “Coil Con“– with exhibitors, special guests, and even an exclusive figure.
Held on September 8, 2012, Coil Con features specials guests including James Kavanaugh (author- RAHC Guide), Robert Atkins (artist – G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes), Gary “Gyre-Viper” Head (archivist, podcaster –Joe SpecOps podcast), and Gary Godsoe (podcaster – What’s On Joe Mind). However, since you can’t take any of them home with you– let’s talk about who you CAN bring back.
Meet Zilant— the Coil Guerilla Fighter!
Coil Con 2012 exclusive: Zilant, Cobra Guerilla Fighter
Here’s the official description:
A legendary creature from Russian and Tatar myth, the zilant is a fearsome winged snake. Sometimes helpful, sometimes destructive, they are known for fiercely protecting their homes from incursion.
Zilant was born in a small town in the Eastern European nation of Tatahkstan where he grew up sharing his father’s passion for building and flying ultralight aircraft. After Tatahkstan chose to remain independent following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Zilant joined his nation’s fledgling armed forces, committing himself to keeping his land free from occupying forces. When Tatahkstan was later ravaged by heavy fighting between G.I. Joe and Cobra, Zilant was able to escape the carnage in one of his father’s aircraft. Driven by a desire to rid his homeland of outside oppression, he joined the COIL and used their resources to raise a homegrown force to repel both foreign armies. He combined it with his knowledge of light aircraft to become an authority in the development and use of ultralight aircraft, gliders and windsuits as a method of covertly inserting special ops troops.
Recently, there’s been a new force intent on invading his homeland, so Zilant is taking action once again. He thought that he had faced and defeated his enemies, but is this new man his ultimate enemy?
In one fell swoop we’ve got a background for both the name and the character! Hand-crafted by customizer (and now figure designer) extraordinaire Jay Hunger, these figures are sure to appeal to Joe fans seeking to add more “flavor” to their collections. The only place to snag this figure is at Coil Con 2012 so mark your calendars for September 8, 2012 and head to Coil Con to snag your Zilant while supplies last!
Have you seen my wallet? After a few of the announcements in the “genre world” this weekend, it’s probably hiding under the couch in fear. Simply put– there are too many “geek products” hitting in the next few months for my mind and budget to comfortably process. Here’s a quick rundown:
1) The G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service. Yes, I wrote an editorial about this on Friday and have caught some flak as a result. For just under $300 + shipping, hard-core Joe fans can snag 12 exclusive paid figures and 1 free bonus figure that will only be available through the FSS. Places like BigBadToyStore.com have listed preorders for the figures at a logical markup which might be more cost effective for fans in the long run who aren’t interested in all 12 known figures and don’t want to have to take time to sell off the others on Ebay. Regardless, collectors are looking at $300+ easily for this set of items.
2) Star Trek The Original Series Soundtrack Collection. This is something I never thought I’d see released. The INSANE folks over at Lalaland Records are releasing a 15 CD set of EVERY note of music to appear in the classic 1960’s original Star Trek series. Yes, that’s right– every single note. However they’re also including the unused-by-recorded season 3 episode soundtracks as well! As a music and soundtrack nut, this is HUGE. Lalaland just got me for their incredible release of both Batman: The Animated Series vol 2 and The expanded score to The Phantom and now they throw this down? You are evil evil people. This will easily be $300.00 but well worth it for the HOURS of music.
3) Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 1 Blu-Ray collection. Not nearly as bad but Marvel Studios is dropping their 10 disc set of Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe including Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain American: The First Avenger, and (what may be the greatest comic movie ever made) The Avengers. Not only that but the set boasts new cool deco artwork for the DVD cases and a replica of the Cosmic Cube in one awesome box. Yeah… Amazon’s got it for around $140.00 but still it’ll add up.
4) IDW’s Complete G.I. Joe Collection. What happens when the current G.I. Joe comic publisher decides to release the entire Marvel Comic series in prestige edition hardcover format? This does— $50.00 300 page volumes that collect Larry Hama’s now LEGENDARY run on the series into one definitive format. Add in the mix that Joe scholar Mark Bellomo is point man on the project and these are sure to be the stuff of comic collector dreams. The irony is that I just got my copy of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero vol 15 in the mail last week! Now it’s time to start all over again.
5) HALO 4: Legendary Edition. Hey! What does a video game have to do with G.I. Joe? Isn’t this a G.I. Joe website? Yes it is– now sit down and read! For many video game fans, HALO 4 quite possibly the most anticipated game release this year. (Call of Duty Black Ops 2 will give it a run for its money at retail.) The HALO saga is a rich story– filled with ancient races, timeless mystery, and more FPS action than fans can shake a joystick at! 343 Industry’s first installment of the new trilogy drops in November and the top edition of the game is going to set you back a cool $99.oo! It’s not as bad as previous Legendary editions but it’s still going to add up. However, the Covenant (and apparently the Forerunners) must pay!
6) New Marvel Universe! It’s been a long time since anyone could say that new Marvel Universe figures were hitting stores. Suddenly Toys R Us has 4newexclusivecomic packs, a new X-Factor 5 pack, and new casesof figures are finally hitting retailers! Just snagging individual pieces here and there is going to easily run a Marvel maniac over $150.00 total. (Heck the SDCC Masters of Evil was $30 and I shudder to think what the Super Helicarrier cost some folks.)
7) Regional G.I. Joe exclusives! I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t mention two awesome Joe shows that produce some great non-Hasbro manufactured exclusives. The Canadian Joe Con was this past weekend and fans who weren’t fortunate to be able to truck up north can still snag the 2012 Con set including 5 exclusive figures, 5 file cards, and a slick chromed vehicle for $200.00. These tend to go fast so don’t delay if you were debating adding these “Northern Neighbors” to your Joe collection.
2012 Canadian Joe Con Set
It doesn’t stop there, however… the crew at the Coil Club is rapidly preparing for Coil Con 2012 and has revealed images of Zilant, the exclusive Cobra Guerila fighter! With SLICK colors and a solid design, he’s likely to become a highly sought-after piece in the future.
Coil Con 2012 exclusive: Zilant, Cobra Guerilla Fighter
So, what does all of this mean for my wallet and the wallets of many? Some very hard choices coming up? Figures vs. action figures vs. video games? Heck, I’m not even factoring in two major life-changing purchases that I have to make in the next few months. This also doesn’t take into consideration recent Comic Con exclusive or G.I. Joe Collector’s Convention purchases– all of which add up to some SERIOUS dollars! Or, if you’re a DC/Masters of the Universe/Mattel fan then you’ve just been hit up with Club Infinite Earths, Club Eternia, and Club Black Freighter subscriptions! All-in-all it is both a good and a bad time to be a bit of a geek. Good in that there is a LOT out there right now but bad in the regard that most of my collecting friends and I aren’t independently wealthy!
Now, if only I could find a way to either get PAID to run the site or win the lottery. I’m open to suggestions.
Any other big “geek purchases” that I left out? Anyone?
It’s been an interesting year for toy fans and subscriptions. Mattel recently concluded their “subscription drive” over at MattyCollector.com for three of their product lines. The DC Universe Classics line went through– but only barely due to the efforts of SaveDCUC.com, the Masters of the Universe Classics snaked by with a last minute surge and the Watchmen sub… well that never seemed to be in question.
With two of these lines, price was a REAL point of contention. A 6″ Masters of the Universe Classics figure had previously sold for $20.00 and was increased to $25.00 per unit for subscribers and $28.00 for non-subscribers on day-of-sale IF any were available. This created quite an uproar in the MoTU fandom as the had previously been plagued by poor customer service from Digital River and QC issues in the form of reversed joints, breakage, and sloppy paint apps. However, the argument from brand manager Scott Neitlich was that these were “high quality collector figures” with unique tooling that was found nowhere else. This was the only way to get 100% original tooled figures like the forthcoming Ram-Man etc.
So, if a 6″ figure with all NEW tooling costs $25.00 and fans clamored at the blow to their wallets, where does that place the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service?
“There are those who said this day would never come. What do they say now?”
Apparently the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club is saying the same thing as the following announcement regarding the long-delayed Figure Subscription Service was posted this afternoon:
A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE
G.I. JOE COLLECTORS’ CLUB. Re: FSS
The launch of the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club Figure Subscription Service is imminent; we will notify you the link when we make the service active. While we are loading the final details, here are some things to remember:
1. You must be a member of the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club to take advantage of the Figure Subscription Se
rvice.2. There is NO reason to rush the site or be in a hurry as this is a build to order system. We will build as many as you order, so we cannot run out. YOU CAN ORDER AS MANY AS YOU WANT, there is no limit.
3. What you do need to be concerned about is the closing date of the subscription service, which ENDS on September 4th at midnight.
4. You can either pay In Full or by Installment. There will be 3 installments. When you subscribe and choose pay by Installment, you will be billed for the first two months’ shipments. Then sometime during the second month, you will be billed for the 3rd and 4th months’ shipments and sometime during the 4th month you will be billed for the final 2 months’ shipments.
5. Your free surprise 13th figure will come with your final shipment during the 6th month.
6. The figures will be shipped in random order. All members receive the same figures each month. The figure pairings will not be preannounced. So if you don’t mind, when you get your shipment each month, PLEASE do not go online and tell what you received. We want each shipment to be a surprise for as many members as possible.
7. The cost is $294 if Paid In Full (plus shipping) or three Installments of $98 (plus shipping). Please note that there is a $3 online processing fee for each billing. We take Visa, Discover or MasterCard. Unfortunately we cannot accept Money Orders or Checks for this offer.
8. If you pick a shipping service that does not include insurance or if you don’t pick the insurance, we do not have any responsibility for replacement of lost or damaged or misdirected orders.
9. If you move or need to change your credit card during the program, you can log into your account and change it there. This will change all of your future FSS billings and shipments. We will also be sending you reminders to check your address and cc before each billing/shipment goes out. We are not responsible for shipments that are lost due to incorrect shipping information on file.
10. We are waiting on the final schedule from China so we don’t know exactly when the first figures will ship. We hope it will be by Christmas. We will announce this as soon as we get the final schedule.
11. Some of the figures (single figures) MAY be available in the Club Store after the subscriber’s figures ship. These will be at a price of $32 per figure. There is no guarantee of availability of any of the figures in the club store. If you want to ensure getting these limited edition figures, you need to subscribe to the service.
So, a few points:
The price-per-figure appears to be $24.50 + SHIPPING!
Non-subscribers can order figures at the Club Store AFTER members’ figures ship at a cost of $32.00 IF any are available
Once started– the subscription service sign-up will be open through September 4, 2012.
I’ll post my thoughts in a subsequent post but that’s the OFFICIAL news from the Club.
In case you’ve forgotten what they look like– here are the 12 figures in the sub. More information available at http://www.gijoeclub.com .
Some time I ago I was privileged to be asked to contribute to a G.I. Joe podcast hosted by the now-legendary Gyre-Viper. The Joe Declassified Spec Ops Podcast features some pretty in depth discussion regarding the G.I. Joe toy line and this episode is now slouch. Starting off with the (then) debut of the Dollar General Joes, the conversation delves into some intriguing variations from the classic ARAH (Generation 1) line. The cast was a veritable “who’s who” of the Joe community including members of the “What’s On Joe Mind” crew, PLuv from cornerstone community JoeCustoms.com, “variation king” Patrick Stewart, Gyre-Viper, and JoeDeclassified.com admin Sam “Nomad” Damon. It’s a solid two hour “Joe jam session” that is definitely worth a listen.
Here’s the official synopsis:
The Joe Declassified: SPEC-OPS Team is joined by some very special guests… the mighty pluv of JoeCustoms.com and the one and only Leonardo T Dragon of JoeBattlelines.com//
For this episode we take on a hefty helping of variations and errors from the revered vaults of Pat “notpicard” Stewart. Pat takes us through his categorizing process of what falls into variant and what gets marked an error and how that all fits into his work on YoJoe.com and around the community. We also give the yet to be released discount repaints a quick once over… sort of gathering our thoughts on what they are, what they mean, and what they might be telling us about the future of the brand. And to top it all off… Pat speaks to the functionality of YoJoe.com’s legendary archives… its achievements, criticisms, and everything in between.
You can find the images referenced in the episode here:
As indicated above, there’s an entire gallery of accompanying images found over at the JoeDeclassified forum! (See– there’s homework and supplemental material with this one! I told you it was “in depth”!)
You can listen to the entire 2 hour podcast via the embedded link below or over at the Spec Ops Podbean page!
Okay, let’s try this again: the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club will open their online store around NOON CST today. Really. This time they mean it. The email even says so. Again.
Here’s the email from Brian Savage:
“The issue that caused the problem with Friday’s relaunch of the store software has been corrected. We will go live at noon on Monday, August 6, CDT. We will continue to add our older inventory into the stores each day. We did not want the loading of older inventory to delay the stores’ reopening.
For the Transformers Club members: There is not anything new at this time, we are just updating your store code.
For the Joe Club members:
Once again: note that there are LIMITS on the loose Footloose, carded Footloose and signed carded Footloose membership figures.
You are limited to ONE of each (per membership account) until we see how the demand goes. We can track exactly how many of each are ordered by account. If you place more than one order, we WILL CANCEL all of your orders and charge you a 25% administration fee. Please do not try this as we want as many members as possible to get these figures at the offering price. Quantities are limited.
Thanks for your support!
Brian”
NOTE: Failure to launch the store a second time does not allow members to charge the club at 25% Annoyance Fee.
Sigh… there’s an old adage that says “measure twice, cut once.” There’s another that talks about “putting the cart before the horse.” (I’m going to skip the G.I. Joe mantra of “Knowing is half the battle…”)
Both of these should be engraved onto pieces of granite and hung in the offices of the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club…
Here’s the “latest” email from the Club regarding the store:
This quick update is going out to all members of both clubs.
Also, I forgot to say that we will be turing it on to test the layouts but no products will be available. Please do not try to use it until we give you the go ahead as this will just compound issues.
Thanks for your patience and support,
Brian
Umm… at this point my only response is “Whatever”… Seriously– they couldn’t have done an unannounced test at 2:00am to verify layouts. Instead, an email is sent out “announcing” that the store will go live and that there will be limits placed upon the number of Footloose figures, etc. Now, call me crazy but doesn’t this latest communication seem to be in DIRECT contradiction to the previous email– sent not even 24 hours apart?
Yes, I know– “it’s hard to run a club” and “they have a small staff” but at this point, how about we only ANNOUNCE something AFTER it is ready to launch? It’s called “common sense”…
It’s been a rough year for the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club in terms of their online presence. A major data vulnerability left their membership’s financial information compromised which resulted in the rebuilding of both their website and their online store. While the former has been functional for some time, it is the latter that was the subject of an email sent out to members last night:
This quick update is going out to all members of both clubs.
Both stores are closed until tomorrow at approximately noon CDT when we are planning to bring the G.I. Joe Club Store online. The Transformers Club Store will come back online at the same time.
For the G.I. Joe Club members:
Please note that there are LIMITS on the loose Footloose, carded Footloose and signed carded Footloose membership figures.
You are limited to ONE of each (per membership account) until we see how the demand goes. We can track exactly how many of each are ordered by account. If you place more than one order, we WILL CANCEL all of your orders and charge you a 25% administration fee. Please do not try this as we want as many members as possible to get these figures at the offering price. Quantities are limited.
In addition, we are still adding items to both stores, so it will take approximately another week to get all of our inventory back in the new stores.
Thanks to both groups for your patience and the two great conventions this year!
Brian
That’s right Joe fans– not only is the Club Store going back online but fans JUST might have a chance at snagging a carded Footloose in the process. Now, I’m not psychic in any way but the thought of two different fan clubs both hitting their online store around the same time means that there are likely to be some server issues. Be prepared for some MattyCollector-esque freezes and other hiccups as the club is essentially hit with a DoS attack. Hopefully the new servers are up to task and fans can snag the Footloose they’ve been dreaming of!
It’s good to have the G.I. Joe Club back up to speed!
What? Another new review at JBL? Isn’t this site supposed to be dead?
Another new review has indeed been posted– and this time it’s the G.I. Joe Retaliation G.I. Joe Trooper! (This figure might get the award for using the term “G.I. Joe” more than any other in its title.) Originally released in June in time for the film’s intended release, these figures won’t bee seen again at retail until some time in February. However, the old adage about “absence makes the heart grow fonder”… especially in the case of this addition to the rank and file of the Joe team. Besides, doesn’t that helmet look familar? It’s almost “spartan” in its appearance…
So, is this figure worth a purchase when he returns to shelves in February? Check out the newly built (and currently very empty) G.I. Joe Retaliation Review Index and read the review for yourself!
Also, feel free to sound off as to what you’d like to see covered next? The SDCC Shockwave HISS Tank? The 2012 Collector’s Convention Oktober Guard? More Retaliation figures? Your feedback is very much wanted as JBL gets back up to speed!
