Cobra Invasion Team Firefly review

g.i. joe retaliation firefly

G.I. Joe Retaliation Cobra Invasion Team Firefly has been reviewed!

Joe Con week is usually a pretty busy time for JBL– especially when the admin is actually attending the event this year.  However, there is still plenty to talk about in the world of G.I. Joe as this latest review by Otto Phillips proves!

Firefly has been called the “Boba Fett” of the G.I. Joe world– a skilled mercenary who maintains an air of mystery and works for the highest bidder.  He’s long been a fan favorite and yet Hasbro seemed to have trouble finding the perfect update to the character for ARAH Generation 3.   The 25th Anniversary version was decent and the first Retaliation version was different but it took a three pack to get the Cobra Saboteur “just right”…

Check out Otto’s review in the G.I. Joe Retaliation Index and find out just how well he feels this version of Firefly holds up compared to the original!

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

16 days until G.I. Joe Retaliation – bring on FIREFLY!

Twitziller continues the countdown to G.I. Joe Retaliation‘s US release as we near the two week mark with Firefly!

He’s the premiere Saboteur of Cobra.  Depending on your “continuity of preference” he’s a burned pyro-maniac that talks to fire, the “Faceless Master” of the Arashikage clan, or an ex-Joe who went over to the other side.  Either way, Firefly is kind of the “Boba Fett” of the G.I. Joe mythos– mysterious, masked, and extremely deadly.  With so much creative liberty taken with the characterizations of the Cobra cast in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra it will be interesting to see how the incredibly talented Ray Stevenson portrays this mercenary saboteur on the big screen.  Early synopsis information and interviews seem to indicate that Firefly will be closer to his Sigma 6 portrayal than the classic Marvel version.  Either way, it’ll be good to see him on the big screen on March 28, 2013!

Check out the rest of Twitziller’s series below as the countdown continues!

While you’re at it, you can peruse JBL’s own review of the first G.I. Joe Retaliation Firefly action figure!

JBL Review: G.I. Joe Retaliation Firefly!

G.I. Joe Retaliation Firefly

When G.I. Joe Retaliation hits theatres in just shy of two months, fans will see the return of Duke, Snake Eyes, as well as the introduction of several new faces for the Joes in the form of Flint, Lady Jaye, and Roadblock.  Cobra, on the other hand, only sees one familiar character make his cinematic debut: the mercenary Firefly!  A long time favorite of fans, the Cobra Saboteur is brought to life by actor Ray Stevenson– recently seen in other genre films like Thor and Punisher: War Zone.

The good folks at Hasbro included Firefly, complete with actor likeness, in Wave 2 of the G.I. Joe Retaliation toy line which is just now hitting toy shelves.  So, is this new incarnation of Firefly, complete with Blast Board, worth adding to any Joe collection?  Check out the review at the G.I. Joe Retaliation Review Index and find out one Joe fan’s opinion!

On a side note, I’ve finally got most of my photo set-up put back together post-move so expect more reviews of Retaliation figures in the coming days!

Fanfilm: G.I. Joe: Initiate episode 1 debuts online!

GI Joe Initiate

There’s been a lot of buzz about G.I. Joe: Initiate these past few months.  Created by Joe fan and film veteran actor Frederic Doss, the film is a labor of love showcasing a more gritty and realistic take on our favorite Real American Heroes.  This weekend at Coil Con III, episode one made it’s “live debut”.  Thanks to the power of the internet, it’s also available on YouTube!

So far it’s a pretty dark story.  Fans will thrill to see what appears to be a very IDW-inspired Major Bludd and what appears to be Chuckles interrogating Beach Head!  (Our favorite deodorant-adverse ranger is played by the film’s co-writer and director!)  Other Joes making an appearance included Low Light, Recondo, Stalker, and Mercer.  Cobra is equally represented with cameos by Firefly and the Crimson Twins: Tomax and Xamot!  The whole adventure really hits me with the type of vibe that G.I. Joe: Reloaded was going for a number of years ago– a more “real world” darker take on the Joes.  With just under 7 minutes available so far it’s hard to tell to infer too much of the story but so far I’m intrigued.    As of now, I’m giving it a full-on “Yo JOE!”

To follow more of G.I. Joe: Initiate, hit ’em up on either the official website GIJoeInitiate.com or on their Facebook page!

Zed takes on “The Many Faces of Firefly” in a mega-review

The Many Faces of Firefly

The Many Faces of Firely @ ZedsJoeSite.com

It’s been forever since I’ve written a review for JBL.  However, that hasn’t stopped me from still reading reviews of Joe products both old and new.   As such, I’ve been LOVING the “Many Faces Of…” series that Zed has been posting over at ZedsJoeSite.com.  Sure, I may not always agree with his ratings but I still enjoy seeing such a comprehensive look at the many versions of a single character that Hasbro has inundated fans and collectors since the relaunch of G.I. Joe back in 2000.

It seemed a no-brainer that both Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow would be featured given the fact that they seem to have a new version released every third Thursday of the month.  However, I was extremely pleased to see that Zed takes on Cobra’s premiere saboteur in his latest installment!

Check out The Many Faces of Firefly over at Zed’s site!