3DJoes.com Kickstarter is Now LIVE

3DJoes.com Kickstarter

The staff at JBL are big fans of the website 3DJoes.com.  (Let’s not forget its sister site Vintage3DJoes.com!)
Running a website is a labor of love and, for the most part, it’s a strictly not-for-profit endeavor.  All of those costs that go into keeping a site up and running are typically absorbed by the site owner unless he or she happens to generate some ad revenue.  Or, if you’re very very clever like Carson Mataxis, you can sell some truly AWESOME posters to help offset the costs.

Unfortunately, to produce such high quality posters also costs money– which is where the 3DJoes.com Kickstarter comes in.  Here’s the announcement from Carson:

For two years I’ve been building 3DJoes.com, the ultimate G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero archive! 3DJoes is the only interactive, three dimensional museum of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero nostalgia. Best of all, it’s ad-free.

To help pay for the site, I’ve created three awesome posters (check them out here). I’ve taken a HUGE gamble each time I’ve printed one of these posters. The last couple posters have gone on a credit card and they have each taken over four months to break even. I simply cannot put another poster on credit, but that won’t stop me!

I’m ready to make three more, and I need your help! Each poster costs $3,000 to produce. SO, I’ve set the goal at $3,300 (to cover Amazon and KS fees) and hope to at least produce one of the following posters. If we hit the first stretch goal ($6,600), we’ll make two, and if we hit the second stretch goal ($9,900), we’ll make all three!

As always, I’m impressed with the level of detail that Carson puts into restoring each image to optimum quality.  If you’ve seen his previous work, you’ll know that the final product is the best possible version of each piece of art.  Now, imagine that level of meticulous detail applied to the vehicle artwork, or the 1986 – 1987 Joes, or even smaller pieces like post cards of the “To The Rescue” or “Yo Joe!” posters.  Or, if artwork isn’t necessarily your cup-o-Joe you can walk away with a fantastic embroidered hat– just for supporting a truly terrific fan resource.

Even better– top-tier supporters can walk away with some of their items autographed by two of the minds behind the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero era — Larry Hama and Kirk Bozigian!

With 42 days to go, the project already has 42 backers and has raised $2,816.00 of its modest $3,300.00 goal.  Let’s push that over the top and ensure that 3DJoes.com can keep on spinning!  The deadline to contribute is September 3, 2014 at 8:01pm CST.

Show what support you can and let ’em know that the fan community supports 3DJoes.com!

3DJoes.com Kickstarter Project

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

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

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 update: 1983 and swivel arm G.I. Joe figures added!

3DJoes.com

3DJoes.com is back with more G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero figures added to their already impressive archives!  The latest addition encompasses one of my favorite years of the classic Generation 1 Joes: 1983!  Featuring Gung-Ho, Duke, Doc, as well as as the 1982 “fixed” figures that we re-released with the now signature “swivel arm battle grip.”

If you liked the 1982 update you’ll LOVE the 1983 additions!

Check out www.3DJoes.com today!

Check out some more preview images below!

3DJoes.com – a whole new way to view your G.I. Joe figures…

3DJoes.com

I first got involved in the online G.I. Joe community back in the late 1990’s and eventually became a site admin back in late 2003/2004.  Since then I’ve seen all manner of G.I. Joe sites come and go– review sites, dio-story sites, forums, fanfic, “Release the DiC Series on DVD” sites, etc.  However, I received a tweet yesterday that led me to something that took me completely by surprise.

http://www.3DJoes.com

Imagine being able to look up any G.I. Joe figure or vehicle– and then rotate that piece of plastic goodness 360 degrees to examine every detail.  That’s the concept behind 3DJoes.com.  Currently only displaying the 1982 line-up, the sight offers an unprecedented way to view your favorite Gen 1 ARAH figures in all their 3.75″ glory.  It’s such a fantastic idea it makes me wonder why no one had ever thought of it before.

Seriously– go check it out.  It’s a sight that promises to get a great deal of use from this particular admin– especially when the later 90’s era Joes are uploaded.

JBL: The site, reviews, and a promise…

It’s been 4 years since JBL showed real signs of life as an active participant in the fan community.  However, things are changing around here and I thought I’d offer up an explanation of what happened and what the site will be going forward.  (Knock on wood.)

Those of you who’ve known me for a long time know that I’m actually not the most social of individuals.  It’s just one of those things– I tend to keep drama and things to myself rather than dump it other people.  After all, we’ve all got our own problems, right?  As recent as four years ago, JBL bordered on a full-time job for me.  I was compiling the Daily News five nights a week, monitoring the forums, and writing reviews of everything from classic Generation 1 A Real American Hero figures from the 80’s to Generation 3 25th Anniversary figures.   What started as a hobby had developed into a site and from there developed in something that was slowly taking over my waking hours.   It was a labor of love– an outlet for a passion dedicated to a group of characters that inspired me all throughout the 80’s.  That was when “real life” began to intrude.  My energies were split in too many directions and I had things outside of Joe that required more and more of my attention.  Aging parents, changing jobs, and health issues both personal and family-wise… all became more immediate than a site dedicated to “little plastic men.”  As such, the site suffered as I stepped away more and more.

As they say at the beginning of every episode of Supernatural, that was “Then:”… Let’s talk about “Now:”.

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Introducing YoJoe v 2.0 – the original Joe archive site just got better!

YoJoe.com figure archive

If you’re like most Joe fans, YoJoe.com is domain that you visit fairly often.  It’s the original and most comprehensive database of G.I. Joe-related materials on the internet with every figure, vehicle, and accessory cataloged and photographed for reference.  Sometimes it was a bit cumbersome to navigate but that was just part of the YoJoe experience.  After all, the site’s basic format has been unchanged since the late 90’s.

However, the staff over at YJ wasn’t content to just sit on their collective status quo.  Enter: YoJoe 2.0!

Introducing YoJoe! 2.0

Concise, Streamlined Pics and Information

Archive updates have been pretty quiet around here over the last few months, but it’s been busy behind the scenes. Today we’re excited to announce the beta rollout of a brand new version of YoJoe.
The first part of the rollout is the 3 3/4″ Action Figure Archives. It’s a totally new index layout that lets you navigate by text-link or thumbnail, with fewer page loads to get to the figures you want to see and a lot more information all together in one place.

Figure version lists are easier to navigate and all relevant pictures are on the same page. Filecard images? Card backs? All Geared Up pics? You no longer have to navigate away from the archive entry to view them.

And this is only the start. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll continue to overhaul the other sections of the site, until every corner of YoJoe is up to date. Faster loading pages, clean and sleek layouts, and better images.

We’ve already added in new figure entries for you to look at. Take a look at the new archives and let us know what you think. Remember, this is a beta. If you like it, let us know. If you see a problem or a mistake or ways to improve it, let us know. If you have better pics, send ‘em in. You’ll get full photo credit if we use them.

Welcome to YoJoe! 2.0

Congrats guys!  The cleaner navigation and instant access to figure thumbnails is a HUGE improvement!  I can only imagine how many hours of blood sweat and tears went into this but the hard work has paid off.  The site looks great and will continue to be my default online reference until the last o-ring in my collection snaps!