What happens when there’s “too much geek AWESOME” in the pipeline?

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Fred Meyer

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 4 new exclusive comic packs, a new X-Factor 5 pack, and new cases of 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 Earth s, 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?

One fan’s thoughts on the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Fred Meyer

You may or may not have read the announcement of the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service going live soon. If you haven’t, I’ll give you a minute to do so.

Okay, all better?

Good– let’s talk about this.

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?

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G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service is “imminent”

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Fred Meyer

The ad campaign for HALO 3 began with a quote:

“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 .

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G.I. Joe Collector’s Club: Store launch, take 2. Noon today.

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Fred Meyer

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.

In all seriousness, I do with the GIJCC well in trying to get the site back up and running after their internet security debacle earlier this year. However, let’s hope that they’re not putting the cart before the horse with this announcement… again. After all, if NASA can send a rover the site of an SUV to Mars and safely lower it to the ground from a jet-powered flight back via sky crane, surely the club can get their store working again, right?

Here’s the direct link to the store: https://www.toyarama.com/store/g-i-joe-club-memberships-c1.php?template_package=gijoe

G.I. Joe Collector’s Club: Store now NOT going up today…

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Fred Meyer

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”…

G.I. Joe Collector’s Club store to reopen TODAY!

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Fred Meyer

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!

EDIT: Here’s the link to the new store at the “Toyarama” domain: https://www.toyarama.com/store/

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Collector’s Club: Update on the GIJCC store– more products coming soon-ish

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Fred Meyer

Members of the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club received the following email from Brian Savage last night regarding the fate of the Club store. It seems that the process of upgrades is moving forward– but just not at the pace the GIJCC had hoped. It’s safe to assume that the Figure Subscription Service enrollment will be one of the first new items offered.

This quick update is going out to all members of both clubs.

It will still be a couple more weeks (we don’t know exactly how long as we are waiting on the host to finish their work) until our dedicated store server is online.

Once it is ready to go, we will let you know that products in the store have be made active and you will be able to order items from the clubs again.

We do not anticipate that all items will be available in the club stores on opening day so please have patience as we finish the migration from the old e-commerce site to this one.

In addition, to try and avoid a denial of service issue (because of the volume) we will only bring one set of products online at a time.

We will email you when we are going to bring the products online. We are anticipating being ready to go the week of July 23rd, but that could change.

Thanks to both groups for your patience and the two great conventions this year!

Brian

Joe Con 2012: Collector’s Club announces Figure Subscription Service, Round 2

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Fred Meyer

Not much in the way of news out of the Collector’s Club Roundtable held yesterday afternoon save for one key piece: a SECOND Figure Subscription Service has been announced. Only four figures so far have been revealed but those are:

Dragonsky (necessary to complete your Yearbook #2 team)
Iceberg
Night Force Falcon
Big Bear (another Oktober Guard!)

Still no word as to when the FIRST round of Figure Subscription Service will launch as the club is still working “bugs out of the system.”

My only comments are: So THAT’S where Dragonsky’s gone to!

Joe Con 2012: Hasbro’s G.I. Joe press images

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Fred Meyer

While I wasn’t able to attend the Con in person this year, JBL has had a lot of help from “on the scene” photographer Photonut! However, he’s also got some help– Justin from Hunter PR has sent along these “official images” of items revealed at the 2012 Hasbro Convention presentation.

One of the biggest surprises are the PVC mini-figs know as “Micro Force”– featuring 80+ blind-packaged collectible figures. That’s right– tiny G.I. Joe figures that are perfect to adorn any computer desk. (You can see where I’m going with this already.)

In terms of G.I. Joe Retaliation movie items, here’s what you’ll see in the images below. (I’m borrowing some details from over at GeneralsJoes.com. (Justin’s done a great job covering things as usual!)

Micro Force Quarter-Sized collectible figures in blind bags. Over 80 figures to collect and trade. Foot holes are compatible with normal vehicle foot pegs for display!
Alpha sized Night Landing vehicle with Cobra Eel. Cobra Eel figure is the canceled Rise of Cobra Ripcord which is extremely detailed, highly accessorized and uses the figure design that was sculpted to resemble the Sigma 6 Sigma Suits
Night Viper is moved up to Wave 3
Combat Ninja is intended to be “movie accurate” Cobra Trooper
Very movie accurate “Ultimate Firefly” with mini-HISS in Wave 3
Very movie accurate “Cobra Trooper” (Cobra Combat Ninja) in Wave 3
Movie accurate “Ultimate Duke” (with Data-Viper Predator Drone) in Wave 3
Comic accurate/toy accurate Snake Eyes ’85 w/ Timber totally newly tooled in Wave 4
Crimson Guard in Wave 5 with customizable label sheet

You can check out all of the images in the gallery below. A big thanks to Hunter PR for making these available to fans everywhere!

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Joe Con 2012: Pics of the convention diorama!

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Fred Meyer

This is easily one of my favorite parts of the entire Joe Con experience. Seriously– I LOVE the con diorama and every year that I’m fortunate enough to attend I snap far more pictures than I should of it. There’s just something about seeing all of the figures that you’re anticipating purchasing in action– battling Cobra and keeping the toy shelf safe for democracy.

Here are Photonut’s excellent pics of the 2012 multi-setting Con diorama!