To all of the G.I. Joe fans around the world, the staff of JBL would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and blessed New Year! 2012 has been a year of challenges for the brand with the film delayed and merchandise absent from stores, but 2013 promises to be a strong year with a revamp of the comics and a brand-spanking new film hitting just in time for a certain admin’s birthday. Plus, JBL will be back on schedule next year– having survived a fairly disastrous year of house-hunting and moving.
I look forward to returning with reviews, news, and more random G.I. Joe insanity in the new year and hope that JBL will always find a place in your internet browser favorites.
And let’s hope Scarlet doesn’t find out about Duke and Cover Girl!
If you’re a fan of 1:18 scale action figures, the odds are that you’ve heard of Marauder-Gun Runners. Makers of THE FINEST 1:18 scale accessories that the G.I. Joe and Star Wars fandoms have ever seen, MGR has produced 6 incredibly detailed waves of pistols, knives, grenades, figure stands, and more for action figure collections of all themes!
For series 7, Marauder Gun-Runners needs your help! Check out this post from their Facebook page:
Hey Folks!
We hope to get going on the next series soon. We have received LOTS of suggestions and below are the most requested items. To demonstrate our gratitude for your support, you will have an even larger role in the items you let us “gun-run” for you! The next series will have 10 to 12 items (the “larger” deluxe items will result in fewer overall items since they take up a larger percentage of resources). There are around 50 items, so this
process might take several stages to trim down the list to a more managable quantity of the most desired items (the “poll” feature on facebook only allows 10 items, so we couldn’t set up a poll for all the items). For this next release the original most often requested items, facebook feedback, final production costs and additiional collector input will go into deciding the final item selection. Here are the top candidates (NOT ranked in any particular order of popularity):
One positive aspect about being part of an online community is giving a shout-out to your buddies. In this case, my good friend Mike Breaux of TheBreauxShow.com has hit a milestone– his 200th published online video. To celebrate, he’s decided to “get back in shape” with the help of a very special personal trainer.
If you’ve not checked out TheBreauxShow, you really should. Featuring (near) weekly episodes, the series highlights toy reviews, news, and my favorite– “This Week in Geektastic History” segments. So, if you’re looking for something to watch during a break or at home, check out the BreauxShow.com and follow @TheBreauxShow on Twitter.
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?
