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The Full Force Podcast interviews yours truly, plus some actually interesting guests, too…

When good friend Chris asked if I wanted to go on the Full Force podcast to discuss my latest non-G.I. Joe novel, The Fog of Dreams, I was pretty ecstatic.  For all of the work I put into developing the book, I’ve found precious few chances to talk about it, and it was an absolute blast.

I talked about the writing process, character building, and of course couldn’t help but dip into the G.I. Joe universe and also speak about my Kindle Worlds projects.  Thankfully, this episode of The Full Force actually has some credible people on as well, as they speak with Paddy Lennon and Brian Hickey of Total Retaliation fame, as well as caster/customizer extraordinaire RagingSpoon and Nichole.

It’s an action packed episode, so join Chris, Dave Tree, and Eddie Inman for a fantastic packed episode.  Then after you listen, please consider hopping over to Amazon.com and picking up The Fog of Dreams so you can see what the talk is all about.  It’s only $2.99 for Amazon Kindle and has a lot of appeal for G.I. Joe fans.

Take it away Full Force!

Review for Total Retaliation – a book by Paddy Lennon and Brian Hickey

In many ways the G.I. Joe: Retaliation action figure line is a testament to the timeless greatness of the G.I. Joe brand at large. I know in many areas of the fandom the hate flows freely in regards to the G.I. Joe: Retaliation toys, but truth be told, I think we all have a lot to be thankful for, especially when looking around the toy aisles and seeing what other film properties were dealing with in their licensed action figures.

Yes, the vehicle drivers got cost cut to five points of articulation, but by and large, from start to finish, the G.I. Joe: Retaliation line provided a wealth of terrific figures from all different era’s of G.I. Joe’s 30 year history and we should all be thankful.

There are two fans who are especially thankful. So thankful in fact, that they went through some great trouble to assemble a book focusing on the greatness of G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

Check out the full review after the jump!

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Total Retaliation book to debut at Roll Out Roll Call 2014!

For folks who haven’t been following along on Facebook, a couple of enterprising G.I. Joe fans have been working on a great guide for the G.I. Joe: Retaliation toyline entitled “Total Retaliation“. The book will focus on the toys with the G.I. Joe: Retaliation theme. As we all know, there were some fantastic action figures and vehicles under the Retaliation banner, pulling from all era’s and generations of G.I. Joe. Total Retaliation features figures, file cards, and some incredible looking diorama shots.

Over on their Facebook Page, the Total Retaliation creators have been posting a ton of fantastic “in progress” shots featuring their page layouts, diorama snippets and other great tidbits of information.

We’ve just learned that the Total Retaliation book will debut at Roll Out Roll Call in Southampton, England on October 11th and 12th! Featuring an exclusive cover and some great incentives, this will be our first opportunity to purchase a physical copy of the Total Retaliation book. I’d imagine they’ll go on sale shortly thereafter.

Keep up with the latest news on Total Retaliation on their Facebook Page, and make sure you’re staying up to date with Roll Out Roll Call, too, as they celebrate 50 years of G.I. Joe and 30 years of Transformers on October 11th and 12th at the Jury’s Inn in Southampton, UK! All of those details can be found right here. Check out some of the great images from Total Retaliation below.

Channing Tatum confirms that he requested “out” of G.I. Joe sequel

When it was first leaked that Duke might pay the ultimate price in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, there was much speculation that this was on the request of Channing Tatum himself. His star had risen dramatically since he appeared in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and the prevailing thought was that he didn’t want to be tied down to the second film. However, throughout all the interviews leading up to the film’s debut, he seemed to debunk that thought and said that Duke’s death just made sense within the context of the story.

Many had their doubts.

Turns out those doubts were spot on, as Channing Tatum spoke with Entertainment Weekly to promote 22 Jump Street and confirmed his own distaste for doing sequels in general:

Tatum_Confirms_Request

This movie comes pretty quick on the heels of the first one. Do you both avoid sequels?

Tatum: I try not to do them. I did not want to be in the sequel for G.I. Joe.

You die almost immediately in it.

Hill: He’s like, “just kill me in the first five minutes”.

Tatum: “Go on without me, I’m good.”

While I have my own internal commentary for an actor that would determine the fate of a childhood cartoon hero to many merely because he doesn’t want to play the role, I think Paramount could have worked around the issue themselves with some creative re-casting.

All that being said, it is interesting to see the truth finally revealed. That would confirm that a Duke resurrection for G.I. Joe 3 (at least with Tatum in the role) isn’t happening. Thanks to Andrew Hall of the G.I. Joe Discussion Group on Facebook for the heads up.

Hot Toys G.I. Joe: Retaliation Roadblock is incoming!

Anyone who pre-ordered the Hot Toys 12″ G.I. Joe: Retaliation Roadblock figure has likely already gotten their shipping notice, but if you haven’t for some reason, expect it soon!  Mine is slated to arrive on Thursday, and I’m pretty fired up for it.

Meanwhile, HotToys.com has posted a plethora of new images of the upcoming figure, and even a YouTube video showing how to change his uniform!  Anyone who has messed with these intricate 12″ figures before knows the challenge involved in doing that, so check it out, it might be helpful.

You can still order your very own G.I. Joe: Retaliation Roadblock from Sideshow Collectibles!  Click the banner below to order, and then check out the mirrored images and embedded video below.

Roadblock GI JOE Retaliation Sixth Scale Figure (Hot Toys)