2013 SDCC G.I. Joe vs. Transformers set now in stock at HasbroToyShop.com

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Fred Meyer

There’s no need for a lot of verbiage here! This year’s SDCC G.I. Joe vs. Transformers set is finally available!

UPDATE: 10/16/2013 AS OF NOW THE SET APPEARS TO BE SOLD OUT!

Now that the lawsuit between Hasbro & Harmony Gold has been settled it would seem that the flood gates have been opened for the 2013 SDCC G.I. Joe vs. Transformers set featuring Jetfire, Hound, Blaster, Bludgeon, Baroness, Ravage, and more! (Okay, there’s that Snake Eyes repaint but who REALLY needs Snake Eyes v 10,203 anymore? It’s a solid set and the “epic conclusion” to the series that began three years ago with Cobra Commander & Starscream and then evolved to Destro & Shockwave in 2012.

Got get it at HasbroToyShop.com:

http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com/gi-joe-transformers-jetfire-vehicle?BR=496&ID=32166

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Marauder Gun Runners offers painted Series 6 gear!

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Fred Meyer

DISCLAIMER: There will be little-to-no objectivity shown in this post. If you’re looking for objective journalism, try a real news site! We love Marauder Gun-Runners here at JBL!

Just when you thought Marauder Gun Runners couldn’t make their products any better, something like this occurs! MGR is now offering a factory-painted set of their incredible Series 6 weapons! That’s right– you can deck out your favorite 1:18 action figures with gear that has been molded in gun-metal gray and then painted with either desert or forest colors. It’s an amazing set of 33 painted weapons and accessories for only $24.99!

Think of the possibilities:

Didn’t like the rifle that came with the FSS Barrel Roll? Easy– swap it out with the painted M200!
Need to jazz up the FSS Grunt figure? Toss in the AA20 automatic shotgun!
Want to clear out a nest of Zombie Vipers? Give Outback that painted combat flamethrower and light ’em up!

Check out JBL’s review of the original Series 6 and keep your eyes peeled for an updated gallery of the painted set in the next few days! (Also, check out the rest of JBL’s Marauder Gun Runners Review Index!)

You can place your order for this incredible set HERE!

FSS 2.0: Carded Cesspool Revealed!

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Fred Meyer

It’s been awfully quiet on the G.I. Joe toy news front lately. However, the good folks over at the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club decided to spice things up a bit with a bit of an unveiling today. Over on their Facebook page they unveiled a carded sample of one of the figures from FSS 2.0— the Cobra CEO: CESSPOOL!

Cesspool, not to be confused with the uber-awesome Merc With a Mouth Deadpool, was Cobra’s analogy to the 1989 movie version of the Joker. Disfigured in a chemical accident, he was one part brilliant businessman and two parts chemically-induced nutjob. Granted, good old Cesspool was used only sparingly in both the DiC series and in the Marvel Comics run but, by all appearances, this figure does a SOLID job of capturing the classic ARAH figure and bringing him forward into the Generation 3 era. Based on the body of the Techno-Viper and featuring an AMAZING headsculpt from Boss Fight Studio, this was one of the figures that immediately convinced me to sign up for the second round of the FSS.

One cool detail that I noticed when ~~drooling over~~ looking at the image above is that Cesspool’s right eye is now completely “dead”. LOVE IT! I’m not entirely sold on the card art which seems just a bit too jolly even with the giant scar but I also have ZERO intention of leaving this figure sealed. (GASP! I know! I’m not a real collector!) Going just on the figure alone this one looks to be a good addition to the Cobra shelf.

No ETA on when FSS 2.0 will start shipping but this just ramps up the excitement a bit. So while you’re waiting for him to arrive, check out JBL’s Review of the 1991 Cesspool figure!

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Flashback: 90’s Street Fighter 2 G.I. Joe Commercial

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Fred Meyer

The 90’s were an interesting time for G.I. Joe. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with their bright neon colors were dominating store shelves and ninjas were EVERYWHERE in popular culture. Video games were more popular than ever and a certain band of Real American Heroes didn’t seem to have the luster that they once did.

So, what was a toy line to do? Well, as the saying goes: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!

G.I. Joe did what it did best and adapted– becoming more ninja-centric and much more neon. The brand even co-opted Street Fighter II and tried to portray it as a “sister line”. Results were mixed at best; you know you’re in trouble when the new-comers are beating up one of the main characters in your lineup.

Take a look at this 90’s gem that features live-action portrayals of both the Joes and the cast of Street Fighter II.

New G.I. Joe carded artwork poster available from 3DJoes.com!

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Fred Meyer

3DJoes.com 1982 – 1985 card art poster project.

Here at JBL, we’re suckers for good G.I. Joe artwork and the website 3DJoes.com. So, imagine the utter glee that was experienced by one admin in particular when the following announcement went up on 3DJoes regarding their recent carded artwork poster project!

Carded 3DJoes” posters are here!

The first “Carded 3DJoes” poster is here! It features every single carded figure from 1982-1985. That’s 49 unforgettable Joes and Cobras on one 24″x36″ poster!Paper details: All 3DJoes posters are printed on 65 lb. sterling premium gloss paper stock. According to my printer, 65 pound paper is the thickest you can use and still roll them without creasing or damaging. It wont easily crease, pinch, or wrinkle. These posters are definitely frame worthy, but the paper is thick enough that if you just want to tack them up, that will work too.

Printing details: We use a four color printing process (CMYK), not digital. Four color prints are much higher quality than digital laser prints. To see behind the scenes at the printer, check out my “3DJoes of the 80s” album on Facebook.

Cost: All 3DJoes posters are an even $20 a piece, plus an estimated $9 for shipping. Comic/Collectibles dealers: please contact me for bulk purchase discounts. Orders of 20 or more are half off!

Why: Proceeds will help pay the $80/month that I’m paying to Arqball for their pro subscription. More info on that here: Pricing » Arqball Spin Blog Fan response has been great and visitors enjoyed 47,000 spins last month, so hopefully I’ll sell plenty of posters!

Wow! 1982 – 1985 were considered by many to be the peak years of the original A Real American Hero toy line. These were the years that introduced fans to most of the line’s core characters from Snake Eyes to Cobra Commander to Firefly to Shipwreck to the Dreadnoks! 49 nine of your favorite characters stunningly reproduced on heavy card stock in a gorgeous 24 x 36 image? This promotion already had me at “poster” but the fact that this is also helping to offset site maintenance costs for 3DJoes.com just makes it a complete no-brainer!Seriously– we’re moving into third quarter now and that means holiday shopping has begun. (Or, at least, you might want to think about getting started.) What better gift for the Joe fan in your life than one of these posters hanging proudly on the wall of their office/den/Joe room!

Check out the “Carded Joes 82 – 85” page over at 3DJoes.com for ordering information!

: 3DJoes.com unveils second poster project.

: 3DJoes.com 1982 – 1985 card art poster project.

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

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Fred Meyer

“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!

3DJoes.com wants your input on carded artwork poster!

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Fred Meyer

At JBL, we’re big fans of the innovative website 3DJoes.com! No other site on the web allows visitors to watch a seamless rotating image of classic ARAH-era figures. Sure, it’s one thing to look at different static images showing front/back/side/etc but it’s another to see the entire figure in such a fluid manner. Well, the folks at 3DJoes.com are developing another poster concept to help offset the costs of running the site and they need your help in deciding on the final form the project will take.

Here’s the official word from 3DJoes.com:

“The G.I. Joe Yearbook: A Visual Index of Carded Figures” page has been really popular, and several folks have recommended I make a poster of it. So, I started working on the first one tonight, featuring the 1982-1985 single carded figures. I figured this would be a good first group since they all featured the 2D G.I. Joe logo.

As I started designing the poster I realized they could all fit on one poster (without including the Tomax & Xamot two pack), or they could be split up over two posters (and the twins could be included). I’m torn over which I prefer. My gut is print them all on one poster, but I want to see what the rest of the community thinks before making a decision.

Please go vote either on HissTank.com or OG13 and let me know which option you’d rather buy!

http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-toys-vintage-discussion/373372-carded-3djoes-poster-s-i-need-your-input.html

https://www.og13.com/forums/showthread.php?8433-Carded-3DJoes-poster%28s%29-I-need-your-input!

Check out the two mirrored image options below and then head on over and make your voice heard as to which piece of wall art you’d rather display in your Joe room!

Option 1:

Option 2:

NJCC giveaway Mirage revealed! Limited availability on August 18, 2013!

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Fred Meyer

The New Jersey Collector’s (NJCC) returns to Cherry Hill this Sunday and they’ve got a full slate of giveaways/door prizes including another awesome fan-produced figure: Mega-Marine Mirage!

The figure you’re looking at is completely fan-produced– courtesy of the talents of guys like Kevin Watts, raginspoon,CobraStickers.com, and the casting master, nova. An update to the original 1993 Mega-Marine figure, Mirage takes a 20 year old figure design and brings it firmly forward into the 21st century with style!

Here’s the word from the convention organizers, quoted from HissTank.com:

We are now just a few days away from the August 18th Summer NJCC, here is full gallery 40+ images of NJCC Mirage!

Mirage was introduced in 1993 as part of the Mega Marines subline of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero! Make sure to check back to see the full figure with card art and sticker sheet.

New Jersey Collectors Con Summer Show Date August 18th 2013!

Holiday Inn Cherry Hill – New Jersey
2175 West Marlton Pike (Rt. 70), Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
Sunday, August 18th, 2013

The door prize announcements will start at 9AM and conclude at 3:30PM with our last door prize announcement.

9AM TRANSFORMERS CONSTRUCT-A-BOTS BUNDLE
10AM MARVEL LEGENDS SDCC 2013 THUNDERBOLTS SET
10AM SDCC GOLD PIMP DADDY DESTRO
11AM G.I. JOE vs TRANSFORMERS SDCC 2013 BOX SET
12AM MY LITTLE PONY SDCC EXCLUSIVE DJ PON-3
1PM BLACK SERIES BOBA FETT & HAN SOLO IN CARBONITE SDCC 2013 BOX SET
2PM MARVEL UNIVERSE DEADPOOL CORPS SDCC 2013 SET
3PM FORTRESS MAXIMUS ENCORE 23
3PM SDCC GOLD PIMP DADDY DESTRO
3:30PM TRANFORMERS SDCC 2013 METROPLEX BOX SET
3:30PM PX-01 GENESIS

I’ll be honest here– this figure is a knock-out in my opinion. It’s a modern update of a classic design that is still immediately recognizable as Mirage! The overall parts combo works to produce a figure that shows that fan-produced customs can meet if not exceed the quality of Hasbro-produced pieces at times. My only regret with this figure is that I have no way to attend the con this weekend and therefore won’t be able to snag one. For those of you who are lucky enough to do so, appreciate him for the 1:18 piece of plastic awesome that he is!

This is just proof that when the “A-Team” of nova, raginspoon, cobrastickers, and Kevin Watts come together on a project good things will happen.

Check out some pics of this amazing figure below:

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SDCC 2013: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers set revealed!

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Fred Meyer

The 2013 San Diego Comic Con exclusive G.I. Joe vs. Transformers set has been announced via USA Today and trust me, this SDCC set is a doozy!

Listing at only $99 and available at the HasbroToyShop.com booth, this year’s set includes the following:

Jetfire (modified Skystriker)
Hound (modified 25th Anniversary VAMP)
Snake Eyes
Baroness (new head sculpt!)
Ravage (with leash)
Blaster (with 3 cassettes)
Bludgeon (based on the forthcoming Budo body!)

Just looking at this list it’s easy to see that Hasbro is going for broke with what is billed as the “epic conclusion” to their series of G.I. Joe vs. Transformers exclusives. With two larger vehicles, three figures, and a slew of new accessories it’s easily the most impressive piece in the series. (Last year’s Shockwave HISS w/ Destro and Constructi-BAT was no slouch, however.) For the cost, this set is a STEAL!

For me, one of the high points of the entire set is the Baroness and Ravage which hearkens back to the cancelled statue that was based on early artwork from Dreamwave’s G.I. Joe vs. Transformers crossover comic series. The new Baroness head is awesome and, well, Ravage has been one of my favorite Transformers since G1 debuted! Plus, the VAMP has been and always will be my favorite G.I. Joe vehicle– throwing in Jetfire just makes this set PURE WIN to me. The use of the forthcoming Budo body to produce Bludgeon is just the icing on the cake. (Nice work by John Warden and the guys in Pawtucket on this one!)

Check out Brian Truitt’s article on USAToday.com for some great quotes from both John and Derryl DePriest about this set and start making plans now to snag this one– I have the feeling that Hasbro could never produce enough to meet the demand this time!

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G.I. Joe FSS 2.0: Keel-Haul and Big Bear revealed!

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Fred Meyer

With the deadline to sign-up for the G.I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service 2.0 approaching in 12 days, the final two mock-ups have been revealed!

Big Bear:

First, there was the Joe Con 2012 Operation Bear Trap set. Next, came the reveal of Dragonsky as part of the FSS 2.0 service. Finally, the latest member of the Oktober Guard has been unveiled! Big Bear has never been a huge presence in my mind when it comes to the Oktober Guard and yet I’m happy to see his inclusion in this round of the FSS. After all, you can never have too many people fighting “For the peace-loving people of the Warsaw Pact Nations!” It’s also nice to see elements of the body of the cancelled Alpine Mech Pilot seeing some use. Plus, this head would make for a great Marko Ramius from “The Hunt for Red October.”

Keel-Haul:

I don’t know why but I’ve always had a soft-spot for the character of Keel-Haul. (Or “The Admiral” as I referred to him.) With his aviator jacket, cocked cap, and Burt Reynolds moustache he was a bit of a retired bad-@$$ in my Joeverse. After reading his filecard, the Admiral was one of the Joes that saw field action rather than spending his days resigned to the wheelhouse on the USS Flagg. When it comes to his FSS version, I’m liking what I’m seeing– although the inclusion of the flag is a bit puzzling. However, I’ll say this– there’s never a bad reason for a Joe to hold up the Stars and Stripes respectfully– or in this case the flag of the Flagg itself!

Check out all of the other released mock-ups below. If you’re inclined to sign-up, check out the FSS 2.0 page at GIJoeClub.com and place your order before the deadline!

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JoeBattleLines

G.I. Joe news, action figure reviews, and discussion

Tag Archives: Toys

2013 SDCC G.I. Joe vs. Transformers set now in stock at HasbroToyShop.com

Marauder Gun Runners offers painted Series 6 gear!

FSS 2.0: Carded Cesspool Revealed!

Flashback: 90’s Street Fighter 2 G.I. Joe Commercial

New G.I. Joe carded artwork poster available from 3DJoes.com!

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

3DJoes.com wants your input on carded artwork poster!

NJCC giveaway Mirage revealed! Limited availability on August 18, 2013!

SDCC 2013: G.I. Joe vs. Transformers set revealed!

G.I. Joe FSS 2.0: Keel-Haul and Big Bear revealed!

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