Category Archives: Reviews

G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Desert Scorpion Reviewed!

Posted on by

Cobra Desert ScorpionIt’s been a bit of a dry spell but thanks to the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club, fans have some new Joe figures to get excited about!

The third shipment from the Club’s Figure Subscription Service hit just before the holidays bringing with it both Tollbooth and the Cobra Desert Scorpion.  In cooperation with JoeSightings.com, Chris Chung and I take a look at the second figure from the FSS delivery.  Is he the new hotness or did he leave us cold?  (Get it?  It’s a weather joke!  ‘Cause it’s cold outside and he’s from the desert?  Yeah, I’ll stick to my day job…)

Plus, don’t miss some very special images contributed by the renowned Gyre-Viper of JoeDeclassified.com!

Check out the review in the Collector’s Club Review Index and find out the opinions of two Joe fans!

G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Tollbooth Reviewed!

Posted on by

G.I. Joe Collector's Club Tollbooth

The G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Tollbooth is in the house!  (Or is he building the house?)

Fresh off the Christmas holiday JBL is back with another review from the latest shipment from the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service!  Once again I’m joined by “Esteemed Professor of G.I. Joe-ology” Chris Chung of JoeSightings.com to take a look at this latest release from the club.  Tollbooth was one of the most hotly anticipated figures in FSS 2.0 since his reveal at this year’s Joe Con. Does he live up to the hype or is he about as exciting as a Christmas fruit cake?

Check out the review in the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Review Index and find out two Joe fans’ opinions as we reach the halfway mark of FSS 2.0!

Review: 2012 SDCC Jinx (white variant) Reviewed!

Posted on by

2012 SDCC Jinx variant

I love being able to get caught up on older reviews.  Take, for example, the 2012 SDCC Jinx exclusive figure!  I was able to get the red version posted shortly after the convention but the white one has taken significantly longer.  However, what better way to spend a cold winter day than writing and reading a G.I. Joe figure review!  (Okay, I can think of a few but go with me, okay?)

If you’ve already got the red version, is this figure worth picking up?  Is an unmasked head really warranted?  How does she compare to other SDCC variants offered in the past?

Check out the review at the Exclusives Review Index and find out this Joe fan’s opinions!

Review: Figure Subscription Service Cobra Sniper Black Out!

Posted on by

G.I. Joe Collector's Club Figure Subscription Service Cobra Sniper Black Out

It’s another Figure Subscription Service review– this team featuring Cobra Sniper Black Out!!!

Black Out debuted in 2003 as part of the Spy Troops series of G.I. Joe figures and immediately grabbed the attention of fans because of his compelling file card story.  He was the dark counterpart to the G.I. Joe team’s own Barrel Roll– the “bad brother” who went over the forces of Cobra and was implicated in the disappearance of his own sister.  It’s the kind of plotting that would make for an interesting movie and another shining example of the importance of file cards in the G.I. Joe line.  Thanks to the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club, Black Out was made available to those who signed up for the first Figure Subscription Service as the mystery 13th figure and shipped at the same time as his brother Barrel Roll!

Does the Black Out figure measure up to the standards of the Figure Subscription Service?  Is he up to the task of carrying out his feud with Barrel Roll in collections everywhere? Check out the review in the Collector’s Club Review Index and find out one Joe fan’s opinion!

Review: 2013 G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Iceberg Incentive Figure

Posted on by

G.I. Joe Collector's Club Renewal figure Iceberg

There’s nothing like a cold front to put a Joe fan in the mood for an arctic trooper!  Case in point: my G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Iceberg Renewal Incentive figure arrived last year on the hottest day of the year thus far.  It was June and the mercury was about to escape from the thermometer– so I wasn’t really thinking that it was an idea time to review poor ole Iceberg.

Flash forward a few months and it’s freezing outside!  In other words– it’s PERFECT weather for an Iceberg review!

Was this figure worth the cost of renewing my membership in the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club for an additional year?  DOes Iceberg turn into a killer whale when dipped in water? Check out the review in the Collector’s Club Review Index and find out one Joe fan’s opinion!

Figure Subscription Service Skullbuster Reviewed!

Posted on by

Figure Subscription Service Skullbuster

Another day and another Figure Subscription Service review!  (Hmm… this could be habit forming!)

The purple-clad leader of the Cobra Range Vipers comprised the second half of the most recent FSS shipment and it’s his turn on the review stage.  Sure he’s got an unorthodox color scheme that seems more at home on Eternia but he’s also got the firepower to back up his choice of attire!  We’re now four figure into the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service 2.0 and I have the feeling that the best is yet to come.

How did Skullbuster from the Figure Subscription Service fare in the eyes of two G.I. Joe site admins?  Hit the Collector’s Club Review Index and find out!

Review: Figure Subscription Service Widescope!

Posted on by
G.I. Joe Collector's Club Figure Subscription Service Widescope

Figure Subscription Service Widescope & Lamont

The G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service shipments have been hitting in rapid fire recently!  It was barely month ago shipment #1 dropped an all-Tiger Force deployment in the mailboxes of subscribers and shipment #2 arrived just before the Thanksgiving holiday!

New figures mean new reviews here at JBL and this time I’ve pulled in some help!  Chris “Werecat” Chung has jumped in to help discuss the latest addition to the generation 3 G.I. Joe figure roster: Widescope and his trusty pal Lamont!

What do two reviewers think of this newest SWAT team member from the Figure Subscription Service?  Hit the Collector’s Club Review Index and find out!  Also, check back tomorrow as Chris and I take on the Range Viper Commander better known as Skullbuster!

Review: Figure Subscription Service Tiger Force Shipwreck

Posted on by

G.I. Joe Figure Subscription Service Tiger Force Shipwreck

After a long dry spell it would seem that the floodgates of new G.I. Joe products have been opened!  The G.I. Joe Collector’s Club recently shipped out the first installment of their Figure Subscription Service 2.0 and now the second shipment is on its way!  So, as fans are keeping an impatient surveillance on their mailboxes, JBL takes a look at the second half of the first shipment of FSS 2.0 – Tiger Force Shipwreck!

Can the G.I. Joe team’s salty sailor pull off the Tiger Force color scheme in generation 3 construction?  Check out the Collector’s Club Review Index and find out one Joe fan’s opinion!  (Feel free to leave your own comments below.)

Review: Figure Subscription Service Tiger Force Airtight

Posted on by

Figure Subscription Service Tiger Force Airtight

When it comes to new product, G.I. Joe fans are in the middle of a dry spell.  That last Retaliation wave only contained 3 new figures and is proving as elusive as finding a sasquatch in the middle of New York City.  However, last week the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club shipped the first two figures from their second Figure Subscription Service.  Here’s where I spoil the surprise– it was an all Tiger Force shipment!  I was initially pretty luke-warm about these two figures when they were announced however, sometimes having a figure in hand can make all the difference.

So, how does Airtight hold up? Check out the review of Tiger Force Airtight in the Collector’s Club Review Index here at JBL!  Look for Shipwreck to drop by Monday!

G.I. Joe Retaliation Wave 3.5 reviews are coming…

Posted on by

“The best laid plans of mice and men”… it seems to be a mantra around JBL lately.

I had been planning on getting reviews posted of G.I. Joe Retaliation wave 3.5 shortly after Coil Con IV as I was able to procure a good supply from Kokomo Toys.  However, WordPress issues and work wackiness seemed to be facets of a multi-pronged attack by Cobra to prevent any new content from going live on the site.

Thankfully– the site seems to be functioning normally now and things at the office have died down a bit.  (What?  This ISN’T my day job?!)  So, it’s back to shooting images and getting the reviews ready.   So far wave 3.5 seems to be limited to online stores with limited sighting at retail.  In my area (Central Illinois) the line has been dropped by both Target and Kmart (yes, we still have a few) while Walmart has scaled it back to just a pair of pegs reserved for the figures.  Toys R Us has yet to restock and hopefully won’t just jump to wave 4.

It’s an interesting time to be a Joe collector as the movie’s delay until March seems to have thrown off Hasbro’s entire time frame for product.   The three new figures in wave 4 are going to prove particularly elusive as they’re packed in a case with figures that have been out for months now.  The sole troop builder the Cobra Night Viper is starting to command premium prices on Ebay and many online stores are already sold out.

However, all is not bleak on the western toy front– the GIJCC’s FSS 2 should be shipping before too long giving fans SOMETHING new to add to their collection and Hasbro’s Derryl DePriest promised that Toy Fair 2014 will hold a few surprises for fans.    It gives us all a chance to catch our breath after the onslaught that was G.I. Joe Retaliation– a line that was produced in far more conservative numbers than it’s cinematic predecessor.

So, reviews will continue here in the coming weeks.  I’ve got some back-end work to do on the review page templates to make them “less archaic” but there’s a ton of product sitting in my “to do” pile that is just begging for some attention.  (Plus now that I have Kwinn in hand I really want to review the Club’s Dr. Venom figure!  “The bear is angry with the weasel!”)

So, stay tuned to JBL.  More new content IS indeed coming!

g.i. joe retaliation wave 3.5