The Mighty Kwinn!

After only 31 years, Hasbro finally released a Kwinn figure in his khakis, and now he is mine!  

With GI Joe's presence in the toy aisle wasting away to almost nothing, I bit the bullet and ordered a full case from Entertainment Earth, and I'm glad it did.  The full case of 12 Wave 3.5 figures was $114.99 and had free shipping, so not only did it save me the hassle of trying to find these figures at retail, I got them for less than they would have run me at the store to boot!  So if you haven't ordered these babies online already, do it now, you won;t be sorry!

I would love to stay here and go on and on about how cool these figures are, but I still have an entire case of these figures to open up and play with, so if you will excuse me, I have some liberating to do!

 

Random Hasbro Tour Photos from 2010

A while back I posted some photos of GI Joe box art from the 2010 GI Joe Convention in Providence (You can see them here).  I have more shots from the Hasbro tour, mostly from the GI Joe product they had on display.  Since it was one of the few places along the tour we could take pictures, this is where the majority of the pictures are from.

 You know you're in the right place when you see a sign like this!  Welcome to the Headquarters of Hasbro.

 One of the first displays to greet us.  I knew it was all vintage equipment the second I laid eyes on the Action Sailor's wetsuit that was in the process of dry rotting off his body.

A display of the first GI Joe: A Real American Hero figures from 1982, although I don't recall that Action Pilot being one of the original members of the team....

 A life size Iron Man In advance of Iron Man 2. A glimpse of things to come, this statue is only slightly less articulated than the Iron Man 3 figures that were released this year.

Many collectors stood here for a long time, gazing into this awesome collection of boxed GI Joe figures and accessories.

 Not to be outdone was this case of incredible Adventure Team goodness.  

 Also on display were almost every GI Joe RAH from 1982 to 1994.  This was the case with the first figures from 1982 to 1986.  Take a minute to study the figures and there color schemes, as we now go to the last couple of cases....

Wow, what a difference.  To get a better idea of why GI Joe went neon, read Toy Wars by G. Wayne Miller, it's an excellent history of Hasbro, and a must read for any GI Joe fan.

 There you go, a look at the 2010 Hasbro tour, if you ever have t opportunity to visit, do it, and don't forget to ask there where the Flubber is buried!

I Finally Took That Big Step, With a Little Step!

After years of talking about it, I finally bit the bullet and opened an eBay store.  I have been on eBay since 1999, but I decided I want to try to make this a full-time thing, and this is the first step towards accomplishing this.  Right now, there's just a few Marvel Hardcover trades on there, but I am steadily building my inventory of comics, action figures, and other unusual things, so check it out!  

Here are just a couple of things for sale right now!

More Joe Photography n Stuff

It's amazing how much stuff I am finding while going through my computer's backup file.  This time around it's more GI Joe photos I have taken for the GI Joe Collectors Convention and other various contests.

 This is one of the preliminary pictures I took for an entry at the 2009 Convention.  I was trying to really make it appear the the guy with the parachute was really high up, as evidenced by the Air Adventurer way off in the background.

 And here's another 2009 preliminary shot.  The Action Marines were the same ones from my 2007 convention photo, just in a different environment, which is actually about ten feet away from where the picture about it was taken.

Now its on to 2010 and two D-Day paratroopers from the 17th Airborne Division.  These two were from the GI Joe Millennium Salute series, which you can tell by their "Lobster Claw" hands.  This was taken at a railroad bridge that was converted into a bike trail.

 

 "The Search for the Yeti" was my favorite new Adventure Team set, mainly because of the awesome Yeti figure.  This shot sees the Yeti emerging from his bone littered cave to confront the Super Articulated Land Adventurer, dressed in his Arctic Adventurer outfit. Yeah, I really like that Yeti.....

This Christmas shot was done for a contest the GIJCC ran on their forums (Remember those?) a few years ago.  The two things that make it stand out are the Eagle Eye Action Man scoping out the presents, and the Yeti playing the part of the Abominable Snow Monster, with the Arctic Adventurer doing his best Yukon Cornelius impression.

Joecon 2002 Flashback

In preparing the 2010 Hasbro Box Art review I came across the pictures I took at the 2002 GI Joe Collectors Convention in Norfolk, Virginia.  That Joecon was the first one I ever went to, and it is notable for being the first convention to feature a 3 3/4" attendee set: the Crimson Strike Team (I got the other one the 12" Battle of Leyte Gulf set).  Here are some pictures I took of the event, check them out and see how they compare to this years convention in Indianapolis.

 The Parachute Drop on Friday morning, the figure was a Paratrooper Dusty figure.

The Paratrooper Dusty figure.  His parachute is not shown because he lost his on the way down and I caught him in an empty shoebox I had with me.

The 12" "Battle of Leyte Gulf" set.  Being into 12 inch figures at the time, this is the set I got, instead of......

The 3 3/4" "Crimson Strike Team" set, with the attendee exclusive Crimson HISS Tank.  You almost need a second mortgage to afford this set now.

Part of the Hasbro display, compare this to their display from this year, a folding table and glass case.

The other half of the Hasbro display, the Yeti vs. the US Army.

Hasbro display case, featuring the first appearance of everyone's favorite: molded on T-shirts!  yay

 My custom figure entry "Dark Skies Over Roswell" Adventure Team set, complete with hand-sculpted alien.  For some reason this never made it in with the other entries in the GIJCC convention coverage.

 One of the large diorama entries, I included this to show how there is a definite lack of entries in this scale at the convention these days.

 The USS Wisconsin, as part of the tour we got to go onboard and take a tour of this huge warship from World War II.

 The Nautica, where the convention awards dinner was held, this photo was taken from the deck of the Wisconsin.

My convention haul, as I was just getting back into 3 3/4" figures, all of my purchases were either Funskool or T-Crotch figures, I wised up after I got back.  

That's it for the look back, I'll see what pictures I have from the other conventions I attended, next up: 2005 in Minneapolis!

GI Joe Box Art from the 2010 Hasbro Tour

As part of the 2010 GI Joe Collector's Convention in Providence, Rhode Island, attendees had a once in a lifetime chance to take a tour of Hasbro Headquarters in Pawtucket.  One of my favorite parts of the tour was seeing the original painted art for the boxes and cards, words cannot express how neat they were in person.  It was a shame that in many cases the original paintings were repainted to reflect new color schemes and factions.  GI Joe set the standard for box art, and I hope they go back to showcasing each individual figure with their own paintings, instead of the generic Retaliation art we have now.  Take a minute and enjoy this look back.

The Dragonfly, repainted as the Tiger Force Tiger Fly

 The JUMP, with Silver Pads Grand Slam

 The Bridge Layer

Cobra Trooper, repainted as a Python Patrol Officer

Shockwave, repainted in Night Force colors

Destro's Dominator

 

Stuff From My Collection: Part 1

In almost 40 years of being a Geek I've managed to acquire a few things that might be considered cool/rare/valuable/interesting, so I decided: what fun is having these treasures if no one else can see them?  So what that I am kicking off the first installment of "Stuff From My Collection".

This installment covers the card art for an Iron Man Power Blast foil chase card, from the 1994 Marvel Universe Trading Card Set.  This set was produced by Fleer, and the Power Blast set featured art by Marvel artist Tom Morgan.

 

The Iron Man Power Blast Foil Card

I got the original art for this card directly from Tom Morgan, who I came across in Artists' Alley at the 1995 Wizard World Convention in Chicago.  He had several pieces of original art from the MU set, and since the art for my favorite Marvel character, Cyclops, was gone, I settled on the Iron Man card.  Tony Stark's armored alter ego was going for $35, a steal compared to the $60 the Carnage card was going for (Especially nowadays).  After I paid Mr. Morgan for the art, he personalized  the border the art was mounted on.  Looking back, I am so glad I chose 'ol Shellhead.

 The Original Card Art

Original art is something I really enjoy collecting, especially offbeat things like this, I just wish I had more time/money to get more things like this!