by generalsjoes | Feb 29, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Reviews, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: Retaliation Reviews
Again with thanks to Gyre-Viper and his desire to provide discussion points and better detail for community analysis, we have the last two figures in the first G.I. Joe: Retaliation Ninja Showdown 3-Pack!
I will warn everyone up front… brace yourselves for Roadblock. Folks who are excited for the figure may went to temper their feelings a bit before checking out the review. And also please keep in mind that these are early samples. Things could very well change for final release. I tried to cover both of those bases in my review, but also had to give the figure it’s analysis based on how I received it.
Now if that didn’t scare you too much… check out my G.I. Joe: Retaliation Review Page or hit up the links below.
by generalsjoes | Feb 29, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Toys
So I posted the review for the upcoming Ninja Showdown 3-Pack Kamakura yesterday, and received a few questions from HissTank.com members. Questions that I thought should be addressed here as well, because I had to tweak the review a bit and add some images.
There was some concern about the hood, and as I thought about it, I really couldn’t understand why the hood didn’t fit better. Kamakura does have Resolute Storm Shadow’s head, after all. Well, I experimented a bit last night, and it looks like the initial hood issue was probably temperature related. For folks who aren’t aware, my review station is in my garage, which is unheated. Trying to fit the hood on Kamakura was a fruitless endeavor, and the material was very stiff.
Well, I brought everything into the house, and once the hood softened up, it fit MUCH better, so I felt obligated to update some images in the review, and also post some more pictures here. Also, when considering homages to Kamakura, I focused a lot on the Devils’ Due look and his original uniform, but as Shin Densetsu pointed out… Kamakura’s Valor Vs. Venom look is actually not too far removed from what we got. So I tossed a comparison of that up there, too.
Check out the review for some added text and images, and I’ve also mirrored those new images below. Sorry for any confusion!
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by generalsjoes | Feb 28, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Podcasts
I’ve been talking to the guys involved with the SpecOps podcast for a while, and I’ve made several promises to be on the show, but I just haven’t been able to make it happen yet. Shame on me, and I’m especially disappointed that I missed this inaugural episode.
A lot of their conversation focused around the awesome Cobra Island Playset, a concept from the 80’s that unfortunately never came to pass. But the podcast goes way above and beyond that. Tons of great conversation about design with a whole cast full of informed and “in the know” Joe fans. The podcast is a must listen. You can check it out at the JDSO Podbean page, and also the embedded player below.
Make sure you hit up JoeDeclassified.com for the awesome Cobra Island design sketches, too. I’ve mirrored a few of them below, but the rest of there. Awesome stuff.
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by generalsjoes | Feb 28, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe 2, G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Movie
Over at HissTank, BCYOJOE mentions the Hasbro Investor Event, which was held pretty close to Toy Fair this year, and as such, not a whole lot of news emerged. Well, apparently one bit of news did emerge in the form of a new image from G.I. Joe: Retaliation!
This great looking pseudo poster features Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Roadblock. Check it out here, or mirrored below.
EDIT – Source of the image is the Hasbro Investor Day presentation, which can be found at Hasbro.com.
by generalsjoes | Feb 28, 2012 | G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Retaliation Toys, G.I. Joe Reviews, G.I. Joe Toys, G.I. Joe: Retaliation Reviews
Over the span of the next few days, GeneralsJoes will be bringing you an exclusive look at some upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation figures, courtesy of Gyre Viper.
Both Gyre Viper and I thought long and hard about showcasing these images, considering product isn’t due on store shelves for a little while yet, but ultimately a desire to inform the community won out. The G.I. Joe online community has been extremely divisive in regards to Retaliation toys ever since information began leaking out. Concerns about articulation, marketing strategy, and overall figure quality was brought to the forefront.
With an ultimate goal of informing the community and giving these toys closer scrutiny, Gyre Viper decided to bring these figures to light.
There is so much great information that can be gathered here…figure construction, figure quality, articulation enhancements (as well as subtractions) and it just seemed with so much community based indecision over the past month or so, this was a great time to do something for the community. I strongly believe a closer look at these figures shows that even with the disagreement among the fandom, Hasbro has done some terrific things design-wise and execution-wise, and I think Gyre Viper’s decision to showcase these figures for the G.I. Joe community as a whole was a good one. Shifting the discussion from missed articulation to a focus on fantastic new designs and sculpting is a good plan, and I’m hoping these images showcase that. It’s not all peaches and cream, and there are some concerns to be voiced here, but the important thing is being educated and well informed, which is what we are hoping to accomplish here.
Once again, thanks to Gyre Viper for getting these out in the open and giving back to the community. Hopefully these images spurn some good, healthy discussion and discourse and prepare us for more of what’s to come.
I’m starting off slow, with just Kamakura right now, but will ramp up over the next few days, bringing you guys all six figures in the two upcoming 3-Packs. Of course this also means the launch of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Review Page. Click there, or just click the link directly below to check out this exciting first look!
