G.I. Joe FSS 3 Crimson Guard Immortal Review

FSS 3 Crimson Guard Immortal

The FSS 3 Crimson Guard Immortal has been reviewed!

Whew!  With that, the FSS 3 reviews are done!  As part of the final shipment, the Crimson Guard Immortal was one of the most anticipated figures in the entire FSS.  Originally shown at the 2012 Joe Con as part of the imfamous first “Concept Case reveals”, this figure has been on the fandom’s radar for some time.  When it was announced in 2014 as part of the FSS 3, fans were both surprised and excited for the opportunity to finally get their hands on this “elite of the elite” trooper.

Was the Crimson Guard Immortal worth the wait?  Did Fred and Chris agree on this one?  Is the review full of bad Highlander puns?  Will I stop with the questions and just get to the point already?

Check out the review either by clicking on the picture above or jumping over to the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Review Index.  Afterwards, leave your own thoughts about this figure in the comments below.

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

“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

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

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!