Category Archives: News

The latest news regarding the G.I. Joe brand is found here.

Flashback: 90’s Street Fighter 2 G.I. Joe Commercial

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g.i. joe street fighter honda

The 90’s were an interesting time for G.I. Joe.  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with their bright neon colors were dominating store shelves and ninjas were EVERYWHERE in popular culture.  Video games were more popular than ever and a certain band of Real American Heroes didn’t seem to have the luster that they once did.

So, what was a toy line to do?  Well, as the saying goes:  if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!

G.I. Joe did what it did best and adapted– becoming more ninja-centric and much more neon.  The brand even co-opted Street Fighter II and tried to portray it as a “sister line”.  Results were mixed at best; you know you’re in trouble when the new-comers are beating up one of the main characters in your lineup.

Take a look at this 90’s gem that features live-action portrayals of both the Joes and the cast of Street Fighter II.

New G.I. Joe carded artwork poster available from 3DJoes.com!

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3DJoes.com 1982 - 1985 card art poster project.

3DJoes.com 1982 – 1985 card art poster project.

Here at JBL, we’re suckers for good G.I. Joe artwork and the website 3DJoes.com.  So, imagine the utter glee that was experienced by one admin in particular when the following announcement went up on 3DJoes regarding their recent carded artwork poster project!

Carded 3DJoes” posters are here!

The first “Carded 3DJoes” poster is here! It features every single carded figure from 1982-1985. That’s 49 unforgettable Joes and Cobras on one 24″x36″ poster!Paper details: All 3DJoes posters are printed on 65 lb. sterling premium gloss paper stock. According to my printer, 65 pound paper is the thickest you can use and still roll them without creasing or damaging. It wont easily crease, pinch, or wrinkle. These posters are definitely frame worthy, but the paper is thick enough that if you just want to tack them up, that will work too.

Printing details: We use a four color printing process (CMYK), not digital. Four color prints are much higher quality than digital laser prints. To see behind the scenes at the printer, check out my “3DJoes of the 80s” album on Facebook.

Cost: All 3DJoes posters are an even $20 a piece, plus an estimated $9 for shipping. Comic/Collectibles dealers: please contact me for bulk purchase discounts. Orders of 20 or more are half off!

Why: Proceeds will help pay the $80/month that I’m paying to Arqball for their pro subscription. More info on that here: Pricing » Arqball Spin Blog  Fan response has been great and visitors enjoyed 47,000 spins last month, so hopefully I’ll sell plenty of posters!

Wow!  1982 – 1985 were considered by many to be the peak years of the original A Real American Hero toy line.  These were the years that introduced fans to most of the line’s core characters from Snake Eyes to Cobra Commander to Firefly to Shipwreck to the Dreadnoks!  49 nine of your favorite characters stunningly reproduced on heavy card stock in a gorgeous 24 x 36 image?  This promotion already had me at “poster” but the fact that this is also helping to offset site maintenance costs for 3DJoes.com just makes it a complete no-brainer!Seriously– we’re moving into third quarter now and that means holiday shopping has begun.  (Or, at least, you might want to think about getting started.)  What better gift for the Joe fan in your life than one of these posters hanging proudly on the wall of their office/den/Joe room!

Check out the “Carded Joes 82 – 85” page over at 3DJoes.com for ordering information!

Cobra 1st Legion is on the move at local events!

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The Cobra 1st Legion is on the move once again!  These dedicated cosplayers have wowed the fandom in the past not only with their amazing costumes but also with the high-quality photo shoots they’ve produced at locations such as Alcatraz Island!  However, this 200 member strong group isn’t just content to show off their uniforms– they’re also focused on increasing positive awareness of the G.I. Joe brand and focused on giving back to their communities!

The Legion has several events coming up in the near future– both entertainment and community driven!  You’ll be able to spot their members at the following:

For more information on the Legion, visit their Facebook page Cobra 1st Legion  or Cobra1stLegion.com and find out more about this dynamic group of individuals spreading the word about our favorite Real American Heroes!

Cobra 1st Legion

JBL experiencing some site issues

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G.I. Joe Mainframe

All,

It would seem our WordPress installation has, to use a “technical term”, gone a bit wonky.

As such, I’ve revert the site back to the default theme and have contacted our web host’s support staff.

Until this is resolved, updates might be a bit sporadic.  In the interim, please check back for updates or check our feeds on both Facebook and Twitter.

Sorry for any inconvenience…  we WILL be back!

3DJoes.com wants your input on carded artwork poster!

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3DJoes logo

At JBL, we’re big fans of the innovative website 3DJoes.com!  No other site on the web allows visitors to watch a seamless rotating image of classic ARAH-era figures.  Sure, it’s one thing to look at different static images showing front/back/side/etc but it’s another to see the entire figure in such a fluid manner.  Well, the folks at 3DJoes.com are developing another poster concept to help offset the costs of running the site and they need your help in deciding on the final form the project will take.

Here’s the official word from 3DJoes.com:

“The G.I. Joe Yearbook: A Visual Index of Carded Figures” page has been really popular, and several folks have recommended I make a poster of it. So, I started working on the first one tonight, featuring the 1982-1985 single carded figures. I figured this would be a good first group since they all featured the 2D G.I. Joe logo.

As I started designing the poster I realized they could all fit on one poster (without including the Tomax & Xamot two pack), or they could be split up over two posters (and the twins could be included). I’m torn over which I prefer. My gut is print them all on one poster, but I want to see what the rest of the community thinks before making a decision.

Please go vote either on HissTank.com or OG13 and let me know which option you’d rather buy!

http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-toys-vintage-discussion/373372-carded-3djoes-poster-s-i-need-your-input.html

https://www.og13.com/forums/showthread.php?8433-Carded-3DJoes-poster%28s%29-I-need-your-input!

Check out the two mirrored image options below and then head on over and make your voice heard as to which piece of wall art you’d rather display in your Joe room!

Option 1:

3djoes-option-1-jpg

Option 2:

3djoes-option-2a-jpg 3djoes-option-2b-jpg

NJCC giveaway Mirage revealed! Limited availability on August 18, 2013!

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The New Jersey Collector’s (NJCC) returns to Cherry Hill this Sunday and they’ve got a full slate of giveaways/door prizes including another awesome fan-produced figure: Mega-Marine Mirage!

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The figure you’re looking at is completely fan-produced– courtesy of the talents of guys like Kevin Watts, raginspoon,CobraStickers.com, and the casting master, nova. An update to the original 1993 Mega-Marine figure, Mirage takes a 20 year old figure design and brings it firmly forward into the 21st century with style!

Here’s the word from the convention organizers, quoted from HissTank.com:

We are now just a few days away from the August 18th Summer NJCC, here is full gallery 40+ images of NJCC Mirage!

Mirage was introduced in 1993 as part of the Mega Marines subline of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero! Make sure to check back to see the full figure with card art and sticker sheet.

New Jersey Collectors Con Summer Show Date August 18th 2013!

Holiday Inn Cherry Hill – New Jersey
2175 West Marlton Pike (Rt. 70), Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
Sunday, August 18th, 2013

The door prize announcements will start at 9AM and conclude at 3:30PM with our last door prize announcement.

9AM TRANSFORMERS CONSTRUCT-A-BOTS BUNDLE
10AM MARVEL LEGENDS SDCC 2013 THUNDERBOLTS SET
10AM SDCC GOLD PIMP DADDY DESTRO
11AM G.I. JOE vs TRANSFORMERS SDCC 2013 BOX SET
12AM MY LITTLE PONY SDCC EXCLUSIVE DJ PON-3
1PM BLACK SERIES BOBA FETT & HAN SOLO IN CARBONITE SDCC 2013 BOX SET
2PM MARVEL UNIVERSE DEADPOOL CORPS SDCC 2013 SET
3PM FORTRESS MAXIMUS ENCORE 23
3PM SDCC GOLD PIMP DADDY DESTRO
3:30PM TRANFORMERS SDCC 2013 METROPLEX BOX SET
3:30PM PX-01 GENESIS

I’ll be honest here– this figure is a knock-out in my opinion.  It’s a modern update of a classic design that is still immediately recognizable as Mirage!  The overall parts combo works to produce a figure that shows that fan-produced customs can meet if not exceed the quality of Hasbro-produced pieces at times.  My only regret with this figure is that I have no way to attend the con this weekend and therefore won’t be able to snag one.  For those of you who are lucky enough to do so, appreciate him for the 1:18 piece of plastic awesome that he is!

This is just proof that when the “A-Team” of nova, raginspoon, cobrastickers, and Kevin Watts come together on a project good things will happen.

Check out some pics of this amazing figure below:

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Pardon our dust… we’re remodeling!

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G.I. Joe Mainframe

Pardon our dust– JBL is undergoing some renovations!

The site has had its current look for several years now and it’s time for a facelift in terms of both form and function.  More and more folks out there are using mobile devices (phones and tablets) to search the web and it’s high time the site was optimized to work with that.  So, JoeBattlelines will be undergoing some “adjustments” as the site is further optimized for a true multi-platform experience.

Of course, new form updates also mean new content updates as well.  After a long and quasi-arduous process, the SDCC set for 2013 has arrived at JBL HQ and, thanks to the good folks at Kokomo Toys G.I. Joe Retaliation wave 3 should be enroute within the next week.  That means that some new reviews will actually be posted fairly soon.

Your patience is appreciated while Mainframe and his tech crew test some new functional layouts.

JBL Reviews the G.I. Joe Retaliation Extended Action Cut Blu-Ray

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G.I. Joe Retaliation Extended Action Cut

Yesterday was a great day for the Joe Community– the release of the G.I. Joe Retaliation on Blu-Ray and DVD.  True, the film had been available digitally for two weeks but this was the first chance for fans to be able to run out and purchase a tangible copy of the film for their home library.  As with most major home media releases, there were a bevy of different retailer exclusives from steelbook cases to bonus feature discs of interviews.   (Most of these are broken down excellently by Justin over at YoJoe.com in his DVD/Blu-Ray Buyer’s Guide.)

However, only one version really caught my attention– the Extended Action Cut offered by Best Buy which promised more action and about 15 minutes of footage that wasn’t shown in theatres.  So, in the midst of the rain I ran out over my lunch hour and snagged a copy and, after what seemed like an eternity at the office, sat down to watch it last night.

How was it?  Read JBL Reviews the G.I. Joe Retaliation Extended Action Cut Blu-Ray and find out this Joe fan’s opinion.

SDCC 2013: Jon M Chu discussed G.I. Joe 3!

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SDCC 2013 is winding down and G.I. Joe news has been a bit scarce.  However, the folks at CraveOnline decided to go straight to the source and talked to Jon M. Chu at the Hasbro booth about G.I. Joe 3!

Once again– I like what I’m hearing!  The fact that he’s open to bringing back characters from the first film that were noticeably absent in G.I. Joe: Retaliation is fantastic!  It’s very clear after reading all of the Retaliation interviews that director Jon M. Chu is a Joe fan from “way back” but that his hands were somewhat tied by having to acknowledge the events of Rise of Cobra.  However, that didn’t stop him from taking a pre-existing script and turning it into a action tour-de-force worthy of the Joes we all know and love.  Now, with more creative control and a self-professed love of the Marvel Comics series I can only speculate just what lies in store for the third film in the series.

Bringing back Scarlet because she has “more stories to tell”?  YO JOE!!!

A big thanks to the folks at CraveOnline for posting the interview!

G.I. Joe Retaliation meets DiC in this video mash-up!

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g.i. joe retaliation flag

I make no bones about the fact that I loved G.I. Joe Retaliation.  The film dropped in theatres a few days before my “milestone” birthday and complete washed away the bad taste that was left by G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  This was how a G.I. Joe SHOULD have been done and it succeeded in spite of the fact that it had to acknowledge the missteps of its predecessor.  Months later, my review of Retaliation still stands and I cannot wait to  snag the film when it hits Blu-Ray and DVD later this month.

I’ve also made it known that when it comes to G.I. Joe animation I’m a fan of Sunbow over DiC.  (As is MOST of the fandom.)  However, sometimes in life you stumble across a combination that is so different that it just works.  Much like the whole “you got your peanut butter on my chocolate…” ads from years ago, I saw this on Facebook earlier today and thought “Hey, you got your DiC on my Retaliation!”  Yet, the combination really really works.   So, while you’re waiting for Retaliation end up legally in your video collection in just 18 days, check out this awesome video mash-up!

G.I. Joe Retaliation hits stores on July 30, 2013!