Transformers the Movie 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray is coming!

Shout Factory will release a Transformers 30th Anniversary Blu-ray and DVD on September 13, 2016!

Transformers 30th anniversary blu-ray

Transformers: The Movie debuted on August 8, 1986 and changed the franchise forever.  In addition to thrusting the timeline forward from the 1980’s to 2005, it was the film that (spoiler alert) killed off the franchise’s core heroic character Optimus Prime!

Featuring a star-studded cast that included Judd Nelson, Eric Idle, Leonard Nimoy, and Orson Welles in his final role as the planet-eating titan Unicron, Transformers: The Movie was to be the first of a series of Hasbro/Sunbow films to hit theatres around the world.  However, poor box office receipts of this and the My Little Pony film, caused Hasbro to shift the release of G.I. Joe: The Movie to home video instead.

In the intervening years, the film has garnered true cult status and has become a favorite of Hasbro, Transformers, and Sunbow fans around the globe!  Plus, who can forget the soundtrack which featured song’s like Stan Bush’s “You’ve Got the Touch” and Weird Al Yankovic’s “Dare to be Stupid”?

This marks the first new region 1 release of the film since 2006’s 20th Anniversary edition and the first time the film has ever been offered on Blu-Ray. This also marks the first time that the film will be available in digital format. No word on what additional special features will be included at this time.

The new 30th Anniversary editions are currently up for pre-order at Amazon.com:

You can check out the official listing for Transformers: The Movie on ShoutFactory.com.

JoeDeclassified.com’s Ultimate G.I. Joe Custom Contest!

JoeDeclassified

The folks over at JoeDeclassified.com have launched “The Ultimate Custom Contest” with a bevy of prizes that are hard to beat!

Check out the official announcement:

Joe Declassified and Joe Customs have joined together to bring you the ultimate custom contest! Here at Declassified, you know we love the history of the G.I. Joe brand and we love the production process – which leads to your chance to recreate unproduced Joe toys in order to win some pretty swell prizes.

Custom contest rules:

1. Customs may be figures or vehicles.
2. Any customs created for any prior contest, or that have been shown prior on the web are automatically disqualified. Customizers should submit a photo with their entry that shows their construction materials with any dated item (magazine, etc) created after the contest start date.
3. Customs must be of an unfinished Hasbro product (Rocky, for example). Anything that ever existed in any state of design is eligible. Please see the references at the bottom for further inspiration.
4. All entries are due no later than 15April2013.
5. All prize-winning customs become property of Joe Declassified, and will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to help support future Declassified endeavors. If contest winners do not wish to participate in the fundraising process, we will select the next highest rated customs to take their place.
6. No more than 3 custom entries per individual.
7. Entries MUST include real name, any online screen names, city and state of origin. All entry photos should be submitted to damnedmp@gmail.com. Please include no more than 10 photos per entry. Any questions or clarifications of contest rules should be sent to the same email address.
8. All judges and Joe Declassified staff are automatically disbarred from entry.

The Prizes:

1st prize: Carded wave 14 Storm Shadow

picsay 1358302861 175x300 The JoeDeclassified/JoeCustoms Ultimate Custom Contest!
2nd prize: all 13 Club FSS figures (these will ship to the winner after all 13 have been released)

gijoe collectors club figure subscription service 12 figures 223x300 The JoeDeclassified/JoeCustoms Ultimate Custom Contest!

3rd prize: Set of white and red SDCC Jinxes

sdcc jinx 01 300x236 The JoeDeclassified/JoeCustoms Ultimate Custom Contest!

4th-6th prizes: Red SDCC Jinx

Judging:

Judging will be on a rating system among several categories. Points assigned by each judge individually will be averaged to determine a winner.
Judges will include:

  • Joe Declassified Staff
  • Joe Customs Staff
  • Chris Chung – Admin of Joesightings.com
  • Fred Meyer – Owner/Admin of Joe Battlelines.com
  • Fran O’Boyle – Owner/Admin of Hisstank.com
  • Justin Bell – Owner/Admin of GeneralsJoes.com
  • Terry Dizard – Admin of YoJoe.com
  • John Warden of Hasbro

Judging categories are:

  • Faithfulness – How accurately the custom reflects whatever existing source material is available. Difficulty – Customs accomplished through minor parts swapping vs. those that require parts fabrication.
  • Obscurity – The lesser known the concept, the better -bonus points for revealing unknown sourece material.
  • Part usage – How creative the customizers parts choices are. Paint – Painting execution and detailing.
  • Buyability/Playability – How much does the finished product look like something likely to sell, as well as durability to play.
  • Overall execution

References:

The sites listed below all include some preproduction material, but are by no means intended as an all-inclusive list.

Joe Declassified forums
Joe Intel Preprodution Archives
Joe Declassified SpecOps podcasts
YoJoe.com’s preproduction archiv
A Real American Hero Book
The 788th Armored Division

Additionally, not only do we have big prizes and big name judges, but true to Declassified form we also have some big reveals to accompany the custom contest. Over the next few weeks, in conjunction with Joe Customs, we will be revealing some previously unseen G.I.Joe 80’s history in the form of concept art images and sculpts. These concepts can be used for your customs for this contest as they are all unproduced material. See the sneak peak images below, and get ready for more to come. Keep an eye both at JoeDeclassified and JoeCustoms over the next few weeks for more inspiration and history!

Good luck!

Start preparing the parts bins and dust off those painting skills– this is going to be one contest to win!

Reminder: G.I. Joe Concept Case poll first round ends Monday at GeneralsJoes.com!

Just a quick reminder– the “Concept Case” poll over at GeneralsJoes.com ends Monday!  If you’re dying to see some of those G.I. Joe figures released, make your voice heard BEFORE Monday July 23, 2012.  To vote, just click the image link below.

On the subject of electioneering, some GUNG-HO fans of a certain Innuit mercenary have put together a short video tribute for their top candidate.   Check out their campaign efforts over at VoteKwinn2012.com and watch the video below:

 

Lastly, let’s not forget the greatest Marine in the whole of G.I. Joe history– the ragin’ Cajun: GUNG-HO!  Don’t let this be his only original Generation 3 version!  (I don’t count the too-short Walmart Resolute version.)

25th Anniversary Gung-Ho

UPDATE ME!!!!

Tell Hasbro what you want from the G.I. Joe Concept Case from Joe Con 2012!

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:

 

Joe Con 2012: Day 1 – unproduced G.I. Joe 30th Anniversary figures…

Joe Con 2012 coverage continues with a look at several unproduced G.I. Joe figures.

Much like the Renegades images– this set just makes me a bit sad.  Some of the figures shown are ones that I was looking forward to since the 30th anniversary line-up was announced.  Sadly, they’re now falling into the category of unproduced G.I. Joe figures that are headed into the concept case of obscurity.

Three of the most anticipated but now unproduced G.I. Joe figures for this fan?

  • Kwinn
  • Flint
  • Lady Jaye

Even the much-lamented Data Viper is a figure that piqued my curiosity.  However, as of now, none of these figures are slated to see release– save for hopefully Kwinn.

Check out Photonut’s Day 1 unproduced G.I. Joe images below:

 

Introducing YoJoe v 2.0 – the original Joe archive site just got better!

YoJoe.com figure archive

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!

Joecon 2012: Brekhov revealed!

Even with Botcon in full swing, the Collector’s Club manages to drop a surprise on Joe fans today.

Feast your eyes on Colonel Ivan Nikolevich Brekhov, commander of the Oktober Guard and hero of the USSR!  The good colonel has been without a new figure since G.I. Joe comic pack #6 and the club seems to rely heavily on the Rise of Cobra Destro figure to bring him to life.  Of all of the figures shown thus far, this one seems to be the most “off model” and yet still manages to capture the essence of the plucky Soviet soldier.  I don’t think I can recall ever seeing the good Colonel with his collar fastened and the tie is at odds with his often “rumpled” appearance.  Brekhov always struck me as a soldier who cared more about results than a spit-and-polish appearance.  Still, it’s good to see him released in updated plastic form.

I wonder what his beloved aunt Ludmilla thinks of this?

With three down in terms of reveals, can Stormavik and Horrorshow be far behind?  Will Dragonsky make an appearance?

Keep your eyes on the 3 3/4″ Set Previews Page for more details!