3DJoes.com is back with more G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero figures added to their already impressive archives! The latest addition encompasses one of my favorite years of the classic Generation 1 Joes: 1983! Featuring Gung-Ho, Duke, Doc, as well as as the 1982 “fixed” figures that we re-released with the now signature “swivel arm battle grip.”
If you liked the 1982 update you’ll LOVE the 1983 additions!
Check out www.3DJoes.com today!
Check out some more preview images below!
I first got involved in the online G.I. Joe community back in the late 1990’s and eventually became a site admin back in late 2003/2004. Since then I’ve seen all manner of G.I. Joe sites come and go– review sites, dio-story sites, forums, fanfic, “Release the DiC Series on DVD” sites, etc. However, I received a tweet yesterday that led me to something that took me completely by surprise.
Imagine being able to look up any G.I. Joe figure or vehicle– and then rotate that piece of plastic goodness 360 degrees to examine every detail. That’s the concept behind 3DJoes.com. Currently only displaying the 1982 line-up, the sight offers an unprecedented way to view your favorite Gen 1 ARAH figures in all their 3.75″ glory. It’s such a fantastic idea it makes me wonder why no one had ever thought of it before.
Seriously– go check it out. It’s a sight that promises to get a great deal of use from this particular admin– especially when the later 90’s era Joes are uploaded.
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:
http://joedeclassified.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=579
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!
The past few years at Joe Con fans have been treated to a case full of “what might have been”– figures and vehicles that made it to the design phase but never saw production. The Hasbro team is typically quite patient with the cries of heart-broken fans screaming “Why didn’t you make that awesome Ice Cream Soldier v2?!!” and always tell individuals that if there is enough demand for a particular item it might get made.
One admin was so GUNG-HO about the project that he has taken matters into his own hands and decided to give Hasbro a vehicle for feedback.
Over at GeneralsJoes.com, Justin has launched a Survey Monkey survey that will allow fans to submit their feedback on what was shown as well as allow users to submit their own options. (GUNG-HO!) Love the zombie theme? Let Hasbro know! Want to fill your shelves with Arashikage ninjas? Take the survey! Want to see a NEW version of the greatest marine in the G.I. Joe team Gung-Ho that doesn’t share a headsculpt with Leatherneck? Let Hasbro know and take the survey!
Just click the image below and get started! I know you’re all GUNG-HO about this! (See what I did there? It’s called “subliminal advertising”…)
Here are some galleries to refresh your mind a bit…
30th Anniversary:
Renegades:
Vault Other:
Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it– I’m jealous! Jay over at CardedHeroes.com has had the good fortune to review one of the most-anticipated figures in recent Joe memory: the Inuit Mercenary Kwinn!
This figure has been in “development hell” for some time now. Originally slated to come out in the 30th Anniversary line, Kwinn’s fate is that of other figures such as the infamous Data-Viper– pushed back due to the movie line. However, with the movie now being pushed back to March, Kwinn’s fate is even more uncertain. Hasbro has stated that this figure will come out eventually and rumors have swirled of a NYCC exclusive but nothing official has ever been announced.
Regardless– thanks to a loan from Gary of “What’s on Joe Mind“, Jay was able to get his mitts on Kwinn and produce a review that makes me wish the figure were in my grabby little hands now.
Check out Jay’s review of Kwinn over at CardedHeroes.com!
Once upon a time, if a person wanted to voice their opinion about a topic to the general public and and not do so in “real time”, he or she submitted a “Letter to the Editor”. The author could write up their opinions and position and have it posted for all to see. Along came technology and this concept evolved: businesses and institutions use social media to better communicate with their clients, fan clubs have forums and message boards, and groups of fans are able to come together in the form of online communities. All of this breeds a climate where ideas can be freely exchanged and both praise and criticism can be shared. It’s the “Letter to the Editor v3.0”.
No one can dispute the fact that 2012 has been a year of blunders and missteps for the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club. Pretty much anything that could go wrong with the Club’s various endeavors has and the organization has been left scrambling to communicate details and a positive message. However, it would seem that the issues might go back further than that. Presented below is an item that dropped in my inbox today– an editorial from a long-time member of the Collector’s Club who has had enough. It is presented in its entirety– with only the author’s identity removed at his/her request.
The GI Joe Collector’s Club needs to be immediately disbanded: One betrayed former collector’s 11 year long rant
I’m done. DONE. I have enjoyed collecting both 12″ and 33/4″ GI Joe figures for over 20 years now. I’ve enjoyed it with my children. I’ve enjoyed showing that what Daddy wore when he was in the service, while they were fascinated with characters like Snake Eyes and Destro. But now, thanks solely to the GI Joe Collector’s Club, an organization who exists only to cater to people like me, I am so disgusted with the hobby as a whole, I am walking away.
Over the last 10 years, the GIJCC has become increasingly greedy, arrogant, mismanaged and unapologetic to the people it professes to serve. I blame it on the dollar signs I saw in the eyes of Brian Savage (the Club owner, directer, patriarch, resident Kool-Aid mixer, der Fuhrer, etc) when he got the OK from Hasbro to take over the Transformers Collector’s Club several years ago. The Transformers brand is a worldwide seller, with many more members with much, much deeper pockets. The GIJCC has been a small, family run club for many years, so giving them a cash cow like Botcon was bound to turn them into the money grubbing, greed-mongering, carpet-bagging bridge trolls they have become. But as I have watched their slow decline, I held out hope that the core tenets of my precious GI Joe fan club would remain unchanged in the face of it’s more lucrative younger brother, that they would still put on a family friendly event that we could afford, still put out product I can be proud to display and play with, and still make me and my children happy. As of today, I have had enough. Continue reading
Nothing moves as quickly as a fandom angered. The crew of What’s On Joe Mind reacted with lighting speed yesterday and recorded an “emergency podcast” to discuss the news of the last minute change in release date for G.I. Joe: Retaliation that was announced late yesterday afternoon.
Here’s the official synopsis:
It is the news NO ONE wanted to read. It was the news NO ONE wanted to believe. Regardless what no one wanted, it is the new reality of the motion picture dedicated to our favorite hobby. Instead of being released June 29, 2012, the movie that we’ve waited so long for and seemed only a few weeks away got moved to March 2013. Join WOJM co-hosts Chuck, Justin, Mike and Gary along with special guests Arune Singh from Marvel Comics and Brian Truitt from USA Today as we have a roundtable discussion with a number of community leaders about what this move means to the line and its future. While disbelief and frustration are the theme of the night, the cast looks hard toward what if any silver lining can be found and attempt to predict what the next 9 months will bring. Its a raw, unedited recording of a roundtable of fans picking up the pieces from the day. May 23, 2012 is the start of a new reality for GI Joe. Hear what the gang has to say…
You can listen to the podcast below:
The guys at What’s On Joe Mind have been going at it for over a year now! Covering a full slate of topics from figures to voice actor interviews to convention news, this is the longest running Joe podcast on the web. (Even if they never post their updates here!)
Check out the synopsis of episode #54, including a surprise bit by a hack website admin.
This week we step back into the shadowy depths of the fandom to find the person responsible for the very cool, but very outlawed fan made video game, GI Joe: The Attack on Cobra Island. A crack team of WOJM investigative reporters, seasoned by watching 20/20 tracked down the lead designer of the game, known to us as Lord Skiff (aka Range Viper). Skiff, or Skiffer as Mike likes to call him, agreed to a clandestine interview. TO protect his privacy, Skiff asked that we disguise his voice. He’s an every day collector and fan just like you and me. Find out what he has to say about his game, the C&D issued by Hasbro’s lawyers and its foggy future. Rounding out the first half of the program, our buddy and admin of JoeBattlelines.com, Fred Meyer (aka Leo T. Dragon) gives an indepth review and historical lession of the 2002 JoeCon Crimson Strike Team set. Following halftime we were joined by Michael (aka Counterpunch) co-host of the Seibertron.com Twincast Podcast to discuss the atmosphere at BotCon and some of the differences and similarities of the opposing fandoms. You’d be surprised at what we discover. After our good byes with Counterpunch, we dip into the mailbag for some JoeCon related questions. In the news, Chuck GUSHES about the new YoJoe.com layout. The rest of us admit, it is AWESOME! THe GIJCC unveils Stormavik and the first figure of the opposing faction – you get our reactions. All this and a ton more, PLUS we debut our new ORIGINAL theme music by composer Mat Howlett!! The countdown to JoeCon 2012 continues! Join the fun, won’t you?
Apparently they’ll let anyone contribute!
Check it out below:
If you’re like most Joe fans, YoJoe.com is domain that you visit fairly often. It’s the original and most comprehensive database of G.I. Joe-related materials on the internet with every figure, vehicle, and accessory cataloged and photographed for reference. Sometimes it was a bit cumbersome to navigate but that was just part of the YoJoe experience. After all, the site’s basic format has been unchanged since the late 90’s.
However, the staff over at YJ wasn’t content to just sit on their collective status quo. Enter: YoJoe 2.0!
Introducing YoJoe! 2.0
Concise, Streamlined Pics and Information
Archive updates have been pretty quiet around here over the last few months, but it’s been busy behind the scenes. Today we’re excited to announce the beta rollout of a brand new version of YoJoe.
The first part of the rollout is the 3 3/4″ Action Figure Archives. It’s a totally new index layout that lets you navigate by text-link or thumbnail, with fewer page loads to get to the figures you want to see and a lot more information all together in one place.Figure version lists are easier to navigate and all relevant pictures are on the same page. Filecard images? Card backs? All Geared Up pics? You no longer have to navigate away from the archive entry to view them.
And this is only the start. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll continue to overhaul the other sections of the site, until every corner of YoJoe is up to date. Faster loading pages, clean and sleek layouts, and better images.
We’ve already added in new figure entries for you to look at. Take a look at the new archives and let us know what you think. Remember, this is a beta. If you like it, let us know. If you see a problem or a mistake or ways to improve it, let us know. If you have better pics, send ‘em in. You’ll get full photo credit if we use them.
Welcome to YoJoe! 2.0
Congrats guys! The cleaner navigation and instant access to figure thumbnails is a HUGE improvement! I can only imagine how many hours of blood sweat and tears went into this but the hard work has paid off. The site looks great and will continue to be my default online reference until the last o-ring in my collection snaps!
I have a confession to make– like a lot of GI Joe fans, I’m a bit of a closet Transformers fan. Granted, my favorite era of Transformers was “Beast Wars” which may or may not hinder my “bot cred” but I’m also a fan of early G1 as well. There’s something oddly classic about those first few series of Autobots and Decepticons that utterly transports me back on the nostalgia train to the early 80’s. So, you can imagine my shock/delight/utter joy when I first saw this image on the web the other day:
Insanely talented customizer, friend of JBL, and all around great guy Pierre Kalenzaga (aka “Airmax” from RTM) recently unveiled one of the most AWESOME custom mash-ups I’ve ever seen. Taking the classic G1 Soundwave design and transposing it into 1:18 scale GIJoe form, he’s created a masterpiece of custom work. Even better– he made 5 of them!! (At this time TWO of them might still be available for sale.)
Here’s Pierre’s original comments on the figure (which includes custom Lazerbeak and features a real working lenticular on the chest):
To all my toy friends – just wrapped up this custom project. Five custom carded GI Joe scale Soundwave figures with Laserbeak drones. Four of them are for sale ($80). If you’re interested, please drop me a line. Spread the word :0)
You can check out more of Airmax’s work at his personal website AirmaxAnimated.com!
I simply cannot love this custom design enough!!
