Tag Archives: Exclusive

Coil Con 2012: Meet Zilant – Coil Guerilla Fighter

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You’ve got to love the ingenuity of the G.I. Joe fandom.  Not merely content to attend the annual G.I. Joe Collector’s Convention and purchase the “official” exclusives at both JoeCon and the San Diego Comic Con, this fandom started producing its own exclusive figures.  For three years now a group of die-hard Joe fans based out of Indianapolis have run their own “Coil Con“– with exhibitors, special guests, and even an exclusive figure.

Held on September 8, 2012, Coil Con features specials guests including James Kavanaugh (author- RAHC Guide), Robert Atkins (artist – G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes), Gary “Gyre-Viper” Head (archivist, podcaster – Joe SpecOps podcast), and Gary Godsoe (podcaster – What’s On Joe Mind).  However, since you can’t take any of them home with you– let’s talk about who you CAN bring back.

Meet Zilant— the Coil Guerilla Fighter!

coil con 2012 zilant

Coil Con 2012 exclusive: Zilant, Cobra Guerilla Fighter

Here’s the official description:

A legendary creature from Russian and Tatar myth, the zilant is a fearsome winged snake. Sometimes helpful, sometimes destructive, they are known for fiercely protecting their homes from incursion.

Zilant was born in a small town in the Eastern European nation of Tatahkstan where he grew up sharing his father’s passion for building and flying ultralight aircraft. After Tatahkstan chose to remain independent following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Zilant joined his nation’s fledgling armed forces, committing himself to keeping his land free from occupying forces. When Tatahkstan was later ravaged by heavy fighting between G.I. Joe and Cobra, Zilant was able to escape the carnage in one of his father’s aircraft. Driven by a desire to rid his homeland of outside oppression, he joined the COIL and used their resources to raise a homegrown force to repel both foreign armies. He combined it with his knowledge of light aircraft to become an authority in the development and use of ultralight aircraft, gliders and windsuits as a method of covertly inserting special ops troops.

Recently, there’s been a new force intent on invading his homeland, so Zilant is taking action once again. He thought that he had faced and defeated his enemies, but is this new man his ultimate enemy?

In one fell swoop we’ve got a background for both the name and the character!  Hand-crafted by customizer (and now figure designer) extraordinaire Jay Hunger, these figures are sure to appeal to Joe fans seeking to add more “flavor” to their collections.    The only place to snag this figure is at Coil Con 2012 so mark your calendars for September 8, 2012 and head to Coil Con to snag your Zilant while supplies last!

For more information, check out: http://www.coilcon.com

One fan’s thoughts on the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service

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You may or may not have read the announcement of the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service going live soon.  If you haven’t, I’ll give you a minute to do so.

Okay, all better?

Good– let’s talk about this.

It’s been an interesting year for toy fans and subscriptions.  Mattel recently concluded their “subscription drive” over at MattyCollector.com for three of their product lines.  The DC Universe Classics line went through– but only barely due to the efforts of SaveDCUC.com, the Masters of the Universe Classics snaked by with a last minute surge and the Watchmen sub… well that never seemed to be in question.

With two of these lines, price was a REAL point of contention.  A 6″ Masters of the Universe Classics figure had previously sold for $20.00 and was increased to $25.00 per unit for subscribers and $28.00 for non-subscribers on day-of-sale IF any were available.  This created quite an uproar in the MoTU fandom as the had previously been plagued by poor customer service from Digital River and QC issues in the form of reversed joints, breakage, and sloppy paint apps.  However, the argument from brand manager Scott Neitlich was that these were “high quality collector figures” with unique tooling that was found nowhere else.  This was the only way to get 100% original tooled figures like the forthcoming Ram-Man etc.

So, if a 6″ figure with all NEW tooling costs $25.00 and fans clamored at the blow to their wallets, where does that place the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service?

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G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service is “imminent”

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The ad campaign for HALO 3 began with a quote:

“There are those who said this day would never come.  What do they say now?”

Apparently the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club is saying the same thing as the following announcement regarding the long-delayed Figure Subscription Service was posted this afternoon:

A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE
G.I. JOE COLLECTORS’ CLUB. Re: FSS

The launch of the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club Figure Subscription Service is imminent; we will notify you the link when we make the service active. While we are loading the final details, here are some things to remember:

1. You must be a member of the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club to take advantage of the Figure Subscription Se

rvice.2. There is NO reason to rush the site or be in a hurry as this is a build to order system. We will build as many as you order, so we cannot run out. YOU CAN ORDER AS MANY AS YOU WANT, there is no limit.

3. What you do need to be concerned about is the closing date of the subscription service, which ENDS on September 4th at midnight.

4. You can either pay In Full or by Installment. There will be 3 installments. When you subscribe and choose pay by Installment, you will be billed for the first two months’ shipments. Then sometime during the second month, you will be billed for the 3rd and 4th months’ shipments and sometime during the 4th month you will be billed for the final 2 months’ shipments.

5. Your free surprise 13th figure will come with your final shipment during the 6th month.

6. The figures will be shipped in random order. All members receive the same figures each month. The figure pairings will not be preannounced. So if you don’t mind, when you get your shipment each month, PLEASE do not go online and tell what you received. We want each shipment to be a surprise for as many members as possible.

7. The cost is $294 if Paid In Full (plus shipping) or three Installments of $98 (plus shipping). Please note that there is a $3 online processing fee for each billing. We take Visa, Discover or MasterCard. Unfortunately we cannot accept Money Orders or Checks for this offer.

8. If you pick a shipping service that does not include insurance or if you don’t pick the insurance, we do not have any responsibility for replacement of lost or damaged or misdirected orders.

9. If you move or need to change your credit card during the program, you can log into your account and change it there. This will change all of your future FSS billings and shipments. We will also be sending you reminders to check your address and cc before each billing/shipment goes out. We are not responsible for shipments that are lost due to incorrect shipping information on file.

10. We are waiting on the final schedule from China so we don’t know exactly when the first figures will ship. We hope it will be by Christmas. We will announce this as soon as we get the final schedule.

11. Some of the figures (single figures) MAY be available in the Club Store after the subscriber’s figures ship. These will be at a price of $32 per figure. There is no guarantee of availability of any of the figures in the club store. If you want to ensure getting these limited edition figures, you need to subscribe to the service.

So, a few points:
  • The price-per-figure appears to be $24.50 + SHIPPING!
  • Non-subscribers can order figures at the Club Store AFTER members’ figures ship at a cost of $32.00 IF any are available
  • Once started– the subscription service sign-up will be open through September 4, 2012.

I’ll post my thoughts in a subsequent post but that’s the OFFICIAL news from the Club.

In case you’ve forgotten what they look like– here are the 12 figures in the sub.   More information available at http://www.gijoeclub.com .

Dice
Desert Grunt
Nano-BAT
Quarrel
Topside
firstfiverevealfweb
figsubpackaging
ironclaw
jinxfweb
tntfweb
383009_10150402870317679_7647037678_8122753_467447345_n
01_cover_girl
02_topside
barrelrollfweb
surefirefweb
covergirl2web
bigboafweb
374880_10150393321892679_7647037678_8090462_1507278753_n
nanobatartweb
03_iron_klaw
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G.I. Joe Collector’s Club: Store launch, take 2. Noon today.

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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 to reopen TODAY!

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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/

footloose
man-of-evil
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Alexx Shorts: Dollar General Cobra Commander

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Dollar General exclusive Cobra Commander action figure

He’s got a SWORD!  Come on man!  LET’S GO!

(It’s Cobra Commander after all…)

SDCC: G.I. Joe exclusive Kim Arashikage (standard version) reviewed!

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2012 SDCC Jinx

As the theme song from the dreadful series “Enterprise” starts out: “It’s been a long time…”  (Nearly four years since I’ve penned a figure review to be exact.)

This year’s San Diego Comic Con exclusive has landed– on her feet as a ninja should!  Lucky attendees of the SDCC were able to snag an updated version of Kim Arashikage (aka “Jinx” to her friends and teammates) at the HasbroToyShop.com booth.  Released in two different versions, Jinx features Generation 3 tooling and articulation– and even a movie-accurate head sculpt on her variant version.  However, she’s also proven to be a true ninja– elusive to acquire on HTS.com! 

So, is this figure worthwhile?  Check out the 2012 SDCC Kim Arashikage review and see what this Joe fan thinks!

Also– note that Jinx isn’t linked anywhere but on the main page of JBL currently.  As part of a return to the review-writing world I’ve got a few maintenance issues to take care of in terms of the site organization.  Look for a new “exclusives” index to be launched soon as well as a section dedicated to the G.I. Joe Retaliation line!

SDCC: Items up at HTS now! (Joe already out of stock.)

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In what is becoming a bit of a tradition, Joe fans have been hitting HasbroToyShop.com since the SDCC ended on Sunday, eagerly hitting F5 to refresh their screens in the hope of getting a chance to snag the sought-after exclusives.

It would seem that the inventory is now showing up online– however, the Joe items are already “sold out” for now.

Here are a few direct links for those who are going to brave server crashes and other techno-gremlins:

Alexx Shorts: Dollar General exclusive Cobra Trooper

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Did you see a blue Trooper and want him painted black?  Well you’re in luck!

Alexx Shorts: Dollar General exclusive Shipwreck

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Dollar General exclusive Shipwreck figure

Don’t I do nice things for you?  Here, read about Shipwreck.  Go on.  SHOO.