The main events of JoeCon 2013 are winding down with today’s G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Round Table meeting. As usual, Lanny, Brian, David, and Pete broke down the design work that went into this year’s convention sets– including all of the various elements that made up the first-ever Kre-O exclusives. However, that’s not all that was discussed.
David Lane broke down the roster for the forthcoming Figure Subscription Service round 2. Sign-up should start sometime in April and run until early May– encompassing “two pay periods” but for less than 30 days. As far as the roster is concerned, David stated that the selections were based on the feedback received in the convention surveys; the more requested a figure, the better the likelihood it will receive consideration. When asked about Pythona and other Sunbow characters, the answer came back that they have appeared in the survey results but never in large enough numbers to warrant inclusion. (Somehow, Sure Fire gained enough of a following, however.)
The 2013 roster includes:
- Widescope
- Dragonsky
- Night Force Falcon (with new equipment)
- Bombadier (UK)
- Tiger Force Tripwire (Brazil)
- Tiger Force Shipwreck (Brazil)
- Admiral Keel Haul
- Tool Booth
- Cesspool
- Skullbuster
- Cobra Desert Scorpion
- Big Bear
The next FSS could ship as soon as August 2013, leaving fans with only a one month gap between FSS 1 and 2.
Other tidbits from the panel include the goal of opening con registration six months before the event and having a more regular schedule for the event itself. Working with Kre-O figures proved to be a brand new challenge and may or may not happen again. Due to logistical issues with the height of the parachute drop, the paratrooper figure was changed to a Kreon to prove more practical at a lower height. Some of the Night Force convention figures also feature a glow-in-the-dark series of paint apps but not all.
Here are the slides from the presentation which include a few mock-ups of figures from FSS. These are merely digital creations at this time and are NOT physical prototypes.
” (Somehow, Sure Fire gained enough of a following, however.)”
I wonder how David “Sure Fire” Lane gained a following too…
Actually, what Lane said was that the parts don’t exist to make Pythona (or many other Sunbow-specific characters) properly, so they get booted from consideration despite popularity. The response was “we want to be able to do them RIGHT”, not “we want to do something indulgent for ourselves”.