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!

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

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Fred Meyer

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:

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Joe Con 2012: Day 1 G.I. Joe Retaliation pics!

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Fred Meyer

Photonut is a MACHINE down at the con this year– cranking out images far faster than a certain “at home admin” can post them. However, he came through with some great pics of the Day 1 Retaliation offerings from the Hasbro case.

Stay tuned for his post-Hasbro panel images later today. The next wave of figures will hit store shelves February 2013!

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Joe Con 2012: Parachute drop pics

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Fred Meyer

More images from Photonut– this time of the parachute drop and the Cobra Stealth Paratrooper figures! It’s always a great way to start the convention– taking small plastic figures and chucking them off of a roof. (I can recall the last time I was at a Joe Con in NOLA. I swung my arm back to pitch the figures and came away with a hand full of parachutes. Those poor poor Nullifiers…)

Enjoy these lastest images from “on the scene” and stay tuned for more images at JBL!