We’re one shipment away from the end of G.I. Joe FSS 3 and that means it’s time for two more figure reviews. This month it’s the unusual pairing of G.I. Joe team member Bombstrike with the affiliate of Cobra – the Night Creeper Leader!
Do this blind-folded ninja master and forward air controller go together like chocolate and peanut butter? Or is this pairing more of a case of oil and water? Even more importantly, do Chris and Fred agree on anything when it comes to these two penultimate figures from G.I. Joe FSS 3?
Thanks to Alyosha of BrokenArrowToys.com, images of the latest G.I. Joe FSS 3 shipments have been posted on Facebook. Having glanced at the pictures, I can safely say that this is most definitely a “glass half empty/glass half full month” with this shipment containing one of the most anticipated and one of the least desired figures from the entire series.
Want to know more? Keep reading, Joe fan! If you don’t want to be spoiled then stop right there! Continue reading →
According to the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club, the first installments of Figure Subscription Service 3.0 should be shipping in the very near future! Check out this email from the Club that dropped in member mailboxes yesterday:
Happy New Year!
Yesterday we unloaded the container for the FSS 3.0 figures. We are working on getting out the first wave to you this week. You should receive the first wave by Jan 23rd. The second wave will go out the last week of the month. This will get us caught up from all of the shipping and port delays.
For those of you on the subscription billing, we have set the two billing dates: February 2nd and March 16th. Please make sure your CC is good standing before those dates. You can change your information in thesystem so you don’t miss out! If you are planning on moving before the end of May, you can update your shipping information at the same link above.
Thanks for your support and we hope you enjoy your new figures!
Regardless of who it is, subscribers should keep their Eagle Eyes turned toward their mailboxes over the next few weeks as two new Joe figures are on the way!
Today is the day– the final day to sign-up for the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club FSS 3.0. In order to provide that final incentive, the Club released the following “group shot” yesterday.
Yes, it’s just a composite image of the previews shown thus far but it provides the only real “at a glance” look at what subscribers will receive over the forthcoming months.
It’s an interesting roster– with many Nocturnal Fire alumni, three Cobra-affiliated ninjas, a member of Action Force, and the final member of the Stall family whose saga played out in the file cards of the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra era.
As an addition teaser, the Club showcased hard resin prototypes of three of the unique headsculpts from the line that were designed by the insanely talented Boss Fight Studio team. Seen below are the sculpts for Bombstrike, Big Ben, and the Crimson Guard Immortal.
It’s not a cheap subscription– with the subscription running $315.00 if paid in full with additional charges for both shipping and credit card processing. (Or paid in three installments of $105.00 each.) However, if you really want to obtain these figures and don’t want to have to deal with the hassle of tracking them down individually the subscription is the way to go– and the only way to guarantee receipt of the “mysterious 13th figure”.
And the FSS 3.0 reveals from the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club keep on coming. This time, it’s the Night Creeper Leader.
Interesting…
It’s obvious that this figure is from the “Neon 90’s” with his purple and gold color scheme. This deco is clearly inspired by the Night Creeper Leader v2 from 1994 rather than the more familiar 1993 tiger stripe version. (I may be in the minority but I’m actually a bit sad we’re not getting that version. A ninja clan leader in tiger-stripe pants is a man who isn’t afraid of anything.) Who knew that the Aleph was a graduate of Louisiana State University?
The web gear is from the G.I. Joe Retaliation 3-pack version of Snake Eyes which works pretty well and I like the tattoo on the right arm.
The biggest downside that I see to this that the body and head right now look a bit odd with so little color other than the flesh tone. Maybe some sinister black eyebrows would help.
The G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service 3.0 is now LIVE! That’s right– as of now you can sign-up to receive all thirteen figures in this year’s line-up including:
The sign-up period for the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club FSS 3.0 ends July 1, 2014 and the figures are slated to ship in October! Follow this link to sign-up today!
In recent years the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club roundtable panel has become one of the most anticipated G.I. Joe Convention events. The reason for this has been the announcement of the year’s forthcoming Figure Subscription Service line-up. At a time when the G.I. Joe brand is essentially absent from retail shelves, this “members only” service is the only avenue for many collectors to acquire new G.I. Joe figures.
This year JBL was unable to attend the G.I. Joe Convention in Dallas but fortunately good friend of the site Justin Bell of GeneralsJoes.com was on hand and live-tweeted the entire panel. I’m mirroring his images below with some thoughts on each character in the announced line-up.
First off, here’s the announced line-up for FSS 3.0:
Alpine v2
Big Ben
Bombstrike
Crimson Guard Immortal
Hit & Run
Muskrat
Night Creeper Leader
Psyche-Out
Repeater (original colors)
Slice
Spearhead (& Max)
Vypra
It’s a decent line-up that filled with characters that are sure to get fans excited. Granted, one quarter of the series will consist of repaints from the Nocturnal Fire 2013 convention set but that set had some of the best convention figures produced yet. Plus, given the oft-repeated mantra of how expensive everything is for the GIJCC, this level of cost-saving makes some logical sense. So, let’s break down the figures and some possible construction options.
Alpine v2:
Dipping back into the well of Valor vs. Venom, Alpine v2 will be seeing new life in the FSS. Construction for this one is a no-brainer; given the shorts and short sleeves this will most likely be built on a G.I. Joe Retaliation Kwinn body with the hard-to-find 25th Anniversary Alpine head plopped on top. It’s a relatively easy parts combination that requires next to no new tooling– although I’m surprised the Club went with the v2 “McDonald’s color scheme” as opposed to the Tiger Force Alpine that followed a few waves later.
Big Ben:
Big Ben is one of those Joes that came after “my era” of G.I. Joe. He’s one of the cast who was featured more in the DiC episodes and so slipped complete beyond my notice. However, he’s got a basic enough uniform that the club should be able to replicate his body design with ease, possibly topping it off with the 25th Anniversary Rock-n-Roll ammunition belts. It was confirmed at the panel that he will be getting a new head sculpt as seen in the sketches in the slide.
Bombstrike:
I’ve made no secret of my love for the new character that were introduced in the G.I. Joe vs. Cobra era and Bombstrike is no exception! Part of the “Stahl Family” storyline, she’s a welcome addition to my Joe collection! For constructions I’d be surprised if the lower body wasn’t based on the Rise of Cobra Cover Girl. The upper torso will either have to be be newly-tooled or the design altered as no female t-shirt torso exists. I could, however, see the GIJCC using the Renegades Scarlett body as well. A SOLID addition to the line-up!
Crimson Guard Immortal:
Okay, this is one that I didn’t see coming in any way but that’s not a bad thing! For this, I’d almost expect the Club to utilize the base body of the recent Retaliation Crimson Guard. For the padded chest armor, it all depends on how closely the Club wants to adhere to the original design as a myriad of body armor choices exist. While I have never had particularly strong feelings about the Crimson Guard Immortal this is an interesting entry in the line-up!
Hit & Run:
Justin would kill me for saying this but I’ve never been a huge fan of Hit & Run. I don’t dislike him but I’ve never really had any strong attachment to him. However, a lot of fans do and last year’s Nocturnal Fire version seems to have fallen short with many of them. So, at risk of duplicating the 2009 25th Anniversary Hit & Run the GIJCC is diving in with another attempt replicate the v1 design– this time based on the Concept Case version that was shown at Joe Con a few years ago. I have to admit, if he’s more poseable than the 25th version I’ll be quite pleased– even though it means I’ll now have 3 different generation 3 versions of Hit & Run and still not one functional version of Gung-Ho!
Muskrat:
YES! I’ve been a fan of the original Muskrat for years now and last year’s Nocturnal Fire version was a fantastic update! For this figure I pretty much a straight repaint of the 2013 Joe Con version but it looks like his boogie board will be added to the figure’s kit. Usually repaints like the FSS Tiger Force Shipwreck do nothing for me but in this case I’m very much looking forward to a more classic color scheme on Muskrat.
Night Creeper Leader:
There’s a quote from the TV series Firefly regarding mercenary Jayne Cobb’s bright orange stocking cap that applies here:
“A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he’s not afraid of anything.”
Yep, that’s exactly how I feel about the bright orange tiger-striped ’93 Night Creeper Leader shown above. There’s something about a blind-folded martial artist in that outfit that is just visually striking! How can you go wrong with that color palate? (It’s certainly better than the “Minnesota Vikings” ’94 version.) I can’t wait to get this version because, well, he’s Grrr-EAT! (Yes, I went there.)
Psyche-Out:
Last year’s Noctural Fire convention set featured a stellar roster of both characters and figures but in the opinion of this Joe fan Psyche-Out was one of the best of the bunch. The GIJCC managed to recreate a vintage character in a plausibly updated fashion and took a character whose first version could be viewed as “kind of doofy” and made him a star of the set. I expect this figure to be a straight repaint of the 2013 convention version with no real changes to the character’s accessories.
Repeater:
For many fans, Repeater was one of the star’s of the 2013 Nocturnal Fire set! The updated convention version of the character was based on the G.I. Joe Retaliation Ultimate Roadblock body and added significant height and girth to the figure when compared to the original 1988 version. As with many of the Nocturnal Fire pieces, I don’t expect the Club to do anything new other than to re-release the Joe Con version with a more vintage color scheme.
Slice:
Well, it was bound to happen as the first FSS contained Dice. These two go together like peanut butter & chocolate or Batman and Robin. A very simple recipe for this figure exists, especially given the original Dice’s color scheme. The club has merely to take the Dollar General Storm Shadow figure and mold in primarily in red with only a black paint application. It’s a very simple recipe when the Dice mask has been previously tooled and released for years now. (It was initially released with the Temple Guardian Snake Eyes figure.)
Spearhead (& Max):
I reviewed the vintage Spearhead (& Max) figure years ago and was very excited to get an updated Night Force version of him last year as part of the Nocturnal Fire set. In fact, he was one of my favorite pieces in the entire set! As with the other Nocturnal Fire alumni, I expect a straight repaint with no real changes to the figure or the figure’s accessories. Yes, it’s a cost-saving step for the Club but anymore that is to be expected.
Vypra:
The original Vypra was a straight repaint of Jinx in darker colors– so I think it’s a safe best to assume that we’ll see the same here. The most logical choice would be to use the body from the SDCC Jinx as it most directly resembles the vintage figure. Perhaps we’ll see the kit from the FSS version of Jinx used again here?
So there you have it– one fan’s take on both the roster and the parts construction for the forthcoming G.I. Joe Collector’s Club FSS 3.0! As of now I’ve not seen any details on when the sign-up period would begin. Given the fact that no prototypes (digital or otherwise) were shown it’s probably quite likely that the FSS sign-up won’t be for a few more months with the service to start shipping in late Fall 2014.
One thing to note– apparently the Club is aware of some of the dissatisfaction that subscribers had with the “13th Figure” this year.
A big thanks to Justin Bell of GeneralsJoes.com for live-tweeting the entire panel yesterday!
So, what are your thoughts? Are you in for FSS 3.0? Is this an easy pass? Feel free to leave your comments below or over at the discussion thread in the JBL forums!
