G.I. Joe Collectors Club "Operation Bear Trap" 2012 Convention Exclusive
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The Extras
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Extras Images

Along with the figures, the Collectors' Club also offered some vehicles and a paradrop figure at the Convention in New Orleans, and Page Three is here to cover those vehicles and also showcase the hundreds of other photographs taken for the review.

Are you ready?

Soviet Convoy Truck

The Convoy Truck represents the second time in three years that the G.I. Joe Collectors' Club has gone to the Indiana Jones well for a vehicle choice, and I think it is just about as successful an endeavor as the Red Shadows Staff car was in 2010. In other words, it shows some creativity, and it does fit the theme, but the end result is a bit unexciting for those of us who fully enjoy the G.I. Joe military universe as it stands.

Yes, to a certain degree plain jane realistic vehicles have their place in the G.I. Joe and Cobra universe, but when I think about a $100 convention vehicle, I want something that's going to blow me away, I don't want a generic Convoy Truck that can best be used as background fodder in a display. If I'm paying $100 I want something front and center that blows me away, not a fairly plain looking green truck with wood grain truck bed. Sure, the truck comes with various different canopy tops, but none of them really gels with the rest of the truck and seem like just add ons more than anything else.

Quality-wise the Truck is nice. It feels sturdy, the wheels roll really nicely, it's not a bad vehicle by any means, but within the confines of a Convention set, I just don't feel like it was the right choice for the price. This truck was just recently on clearance in various places for $12 - $15 and I don't think the extra canopy tops rationalizes the extreme uptick in pricing structure.

I mentioned a bit about the canopy tops, and I will say they are very nice. The color contrast is dramatic and the choices make sense with Oktober Guard, Iron Grenadiers, and Cobra. They are really cool additions and add some flexibility to the truck, but still in my mind don't make up for the price.

As I've said, the truck is not bad in and of itself. It's got opening doors, sturdy plastic, and it does fit the theme of the story, but ultimately even within a story that takes place in the 80's, for that extensive price I just expect something to knock my socks off.

GRADE:

Oktober Guard Attack Helicopter

I want to love this helicopter...I really do. I was a guy who defended the original Dragonhawk helicopter from the Rise of Cobra, just because even at its small size it still worked as a smaller one-person attack aircraft. But that opinion was formed based on the fact that I bought the vehicle at retail for twelve dollars.

Just looking at this vehicle, it exudes coolness. The distinct paint scheme instantly makes you think of the venerable Soviet HIND-D helicopter, which was the trademark air combat vehicle of the Oktober Guard. The paint apps are great, the tooling looks awesome, and I really love the paint tampos with the numbers and the red marks throughout. All of the spring-loaded functions of the vehicle are still intact, and construction is nice and solid. This feels like an authentic Hasbro produced vehicle.

But the problem comes about when you start placing figures around it and the size issues become evident. Again, not a huge deal (to me) on a retail vehicle, but as a $75 Convention exclusive? That is dramatically too expensive, in my opinion. In the Club's defense, I totally understand that tooling is expensive and the production costs on these vehicles is bordering on cost prohibitive...so perhaps it's time for the Club to move on and rethink their stance on vehicles for Convention exclusives.

I still remember back a number of years ago when we got an absolutely amazing HISS II repaint for $35... sure the Moray Hydrofoil was $75, but it felt like it was worth it. I think costs are just climbing too high too fast for the Collectors' Club to use resources on vehicles. Now perhaps I'm alone in this, I'll be eager to hear other thoughts...I've long established that I am primarily a figure and character person. I would much rather see the club give us another multi-pack rather than spending money on Rise of Cobra repaints that were barely worth $15 at retail, and certainly not $75 - 80 as exclusives.

It's a shame to think this way, because I think a vehicle like this Attack Helicopter has some serious potential. The paint scheme absolutely rocks. It really kicks ass. But the vehicle it's on just doesn't seem to be worth the big bucks.

GRADE:

Soviet Motorcycle

The freebie Convention attendee exclusive gets a little more love from me, simply because it's an add-on item that didn't require an extra investment. Using the Rise of Cobra Snarler motorcycle as a template, with a nice new Soviet era paint scheme, this small vehicle is a fantastic addition to the Convention set. It has a removable sidecar, the trusty spring-loaded launcher and a great industrial green paint scheme.

Like the larger vehicles, it seems like the Collectors' Club is going to start running out of ideas or resources for these attendee exclusives, and like the Convoy Truck, this is the second time in three years we've gotten a motorcycle as the attendee exclusive, but the inclusion does make sense.

I was a big fan of the Snarler, and I really dig this small vehicle. Good addition on this one, for sure.

GRADE:

Cobra Stealth Paratrooper

This one surprised the heck out of me, I gotta be honest. The Collectors' Club reported pretty late in the game that they would be clamoring to try and get a parachute figure together, since the screening for the G.I. Joe: Retaliation film was no longer happening. A lot of folks on my site and elsewhere said that the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Cobra Trooper would be a logical choice, and I thought that was kinda nutty.

The Club has notoriously been unable to gain access to newer tooling, so I really didn't think that the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trooper was even an option. Perhaps in this case, though, the film delay worked in our favor and since Hasbro didn't need the tooling, the Club was able to whip something up on short notice, and they actually did a really nice job. Sure, the figure is fairly plain, just being purely black with the yellow goggles and a simple Cobra logo on his chest. It isn't the most creative paint scheme, but the colors suit the base figure really well, even with the lack of double-joint knees or ankle joints.

But perhaps the best thing about this figure is something that might not have been intentional... if you take the gear from the standard retail release of the G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trooper, you suddenly get a fantastic compliment to the GIJCC Air-Viper from 2003:

That almost has to be on purpose, doesn't it? Obviously Hasbro doesn't use old Convention toys as color templates, so the shade of blue is purely coincidence, but the way the colors balance off of each other really works nicely. Perhaps if given more time, the Club would have purposefully used more blue throughout and done a proper compliment, but even as such, this is a cool looking figure.

The Stealth ParaTrooper comes with most of the same accessories as the retail release, with the exception of the grenade ammo webgear. He has a great black parachute pack, the same blue parachute that the original comes with, and a helmet, grenade launcher, and pistol. Seeing him all equipped looks really cool, even in such a monochrome color scheme.

I wouldn't have thought this figure would work as well as it does with such a glaring lack of color, but surprisingly it works remarkably well. I find myself really loving the dark color scheme, and think he's a great supplement to the standard release Trooper. The happy coincidence that blends this figure with the older Air-Viper is just the cherry on top.

GRADE:

Vehicles and Paradrop Figure - The Consensus

As if folks couldn't tell by the reviews above, I felt pretty underwhelmed by the vehicle releases for the 2012 Convention. There was just nothing there that really blew me away, and for $175.00 combined, I expect vehicles to blow me away. All I can help thinking is that imagine if the Club could take the vehicle budget and give us even more figures. How great would that be? As Hasbro continuously moves away from vehicles at retail, and as old tooling has been widely destroyed, I really think the Collectors' Club is getting really limited to what tooling they have access to, which serves nobody well.

Costs are rising, production hassles are rising, and I don't think collectors should be shouldering the expense for getting these vehicles produced, when I think most of us would rather see more characters and figures released than vehicles we don't necessarily care a whole lot about. Perhaps I'm overstating it, and perhaps others disagree, but this is how I'm seeing it currently. I would love it if 2013 or 2014 saw a focus return primarily on figures and move away from vehicles more and more, both to save my wallet and to provide more figures for the collection.

All in all, though, in spite of having the issues I have with the vehicles, I have to say this entire Convention set was a huge win. The Oktober Guard figures rocked, the Iron Grenadiers were, by and large, amazing, and the vehicles remain a relatively insignificant downside. especially for someone like me who really focuses primarily on the figures as it is.

A big kudos to the Collectors' Club for pulling this all together and for once again hitting us with a fantastic Convention Set, I'm already salivating for 2013!

Page Three
The Extras
Page Five
Extras Images

Page Three
The Extras
Page Five
Extras Images