Waiting on a few inches more…

Well I’m seeing all these pictures online of people showing off their new 6″ Joe figures. And I’m over here waiting for mine to arrive. I originally ordered the Limited Snake-Eyes version from Zavvi but they canceled my order without giving a reason. I then canceled my other pre-orders from them and found an online shop in the UK (In Demand Toys), that also did pre-orders. So I ordered Duke, Roadblock, Scarlett and Destro with them. Sadly, they didn’t have the Limited Snake-Eyes version on pre-order. Currently, they’re sticking with a shipping date somewhere in August, so I’m hoping to get them around my birthday.

GI Joe Classified Series 6 pouces Série 1 Hasbro

In the mean time, Hasbro has released the regular version of Snake-Eyes through the Hasbro Pulse site, which doesn’t offer international shipping.

G.I. Joe Classified Series Snake Eyes Action Figure

I did manage to persuade one of my US colleagues to initiate the pre-order for me and then ship it over here once it’s available. I don’t really like doing it this way, but it’s looking like this will be the only way I’ll be getting some stuff from the US over here. There’s so many stuff I’d like to buy, but I don’t feel comfortable asking them to ship stuff to me all the time, so occasionally I dare to ask it, but most of the times I just wait on eBay sales or until someone sells it on Facebook or – and this is a very big stretch – some store over here sells it or ships to here (for a reasonable price).

This being said. I’ll see you back soon for the continuation of the Impel Trading Cards or just another update on the collection.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

 

Some great news

I received word today that the Kickstarter I backed a while ago has hit a new milestone. The Larry Hama action figure has finally been produced and the creator is expecting them soon. Hopefully I’ll be getting the figure before my birthday, would be a great gift.

Below is the full text of the update.


user avatar

Bill Murphy – Creator

May 7, 2020

 

Hey everyone.

Happy to say that production is now complete. The factory is now packing the figures for shipment. They even threw in an extra set of hands with each figure because they wanted to do something nice for the customers given how long it’s taken to get these figures done. The delays were not even their fault but they wanted to do something cause folks have been waiting far too long. 

Here are a couple of images.

We’re working out the shipping logistics now.  Given covid-19 things are a bit messy with the shipping companies, but once we work it out I’ll have a better sense of an eta. 

More soon..

FMF


 

Well it has been a long time, but the team at FMF has kept us all in the loop about the difficult process of the creation of the figure. It will definitely have been worth the wait if you ask me.

See you next time!

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

The Old Switcheroo

It’s that time again kids. Time to switch things up. We’re taking a look at the Impel Trading Card #89 featuring the cover art for the Special Missions comic book #7, The old switcheroo.

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The story begins with a bang when a group of Menshevikistans drive a Cerberus Security truck into the lobby of the Cobra Consulate building in New York City. Another team of insurgents is entering the building through the service entry, pretending to be from a pest control company. The attack catches the Cobra’s off guard and the Sierra-Gordo counter revolutionaries are able to kill several Vipers on their way to the boiler room in the basement of the building. The leaders demand Cobra to pull all it’s armed forces from Sierra Gordo and support their group as new government or they will blow up the Consulate.

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Inside the Cobra Consulate building, The Baroness and Zarana are using the CCTV camera’s to keep track of the intruders. They see them drilling holes in the support columns and putting explosive charges into them. Dr. Mindbender, who is also in the Consulate, has been checking the blueprints and noticed that the revolutionaries could bring down the entire building with half of the explosives they are placing. The Baroness uses the rooftop satellite comms system to apprise Serpentor of the situation. He does not want to be bothered with this trifle matter as he placed The Baroness in charge of the New York operation. She needs to take charge.

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Across the street, Chuckles, Dial-Tone, Psych-Out and Lady Jaye are monitoring the Consulate Building. Listening in on the conversations between the Cobra top members, Psych-Out concludes that The Baroness will perform according to the projected scenario and the Joes can proceed with their own operation.

In the lobby, The Baroness orders an assault on the boiler room. The revolutionaries are able to shoot down the pack of Vipers and as a warning that they do mean business, they blow up the truck that was still in the Consulate’s lobby. The Baroness concludes that they really are dealing with suicidal terrorists and she orders a complete evacuation of the building. Zarana criticizes her decision and both ladies start a discussion which Dr. Mindbender soon puts to an end as the evacuation alarm is sounding. The personal security detail of The Baroness are to stay in the building and she recalls the members that were patrolling on the roof. At that point, Chuckles gives the order to Breaker and Tunnelrat to cut the power to the Consulate from down in the sewer system. The entire building goes dark, both sides inside thinking the other is responsible.

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Using the cover of darkness, the Joes cross the street via powered hang-gliders and land on the roof of the Consulate building. Dial-Tone taps into the main communication line. Meanwhile in the lobby, The Baroness and Zarana are fighting again and downstairs, the Menshevikistans are arguing about actually blowing up the building. Psych-out, who remained across the street, gives the go to proceed with the next phase of the plan, which involves Lady Jaye, a long black wig and glassed… Down in the sewer, Breaker and Tunnelrat fix the power, so the revolutionaries in the boiler room can see a message from The Baroness (or is it?) on the TV telling the Sierra Gordoians are amateurs and calls their bluff.

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In the basement Evita takes the detonator and pushes down the button as upstairs Zarana and The Baroness get into a physical fight. Instead of an explosion that levels the building, riot gas is escaping from the tubes the revolutionaries placed. The gas is blinding both the Cobra’s and the Sierra Gordo Menshevikistans. The Joes can just walk out through the door as they are wearing gas masks. Chuckles and Pshych-out planned out the entire scenario and foresaw every move both sides would make. It was all an elaborate plan to plant a bug in the Cobra Communications System.

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First, let’s get the official stuff out of the way. The script for this story is by Larry Hama, art by Herb Trimpe, letters and coloring by Phil Felix and Bob Sharen.

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Now, let’s get stuck in the story itself. It’s a fun little stand-alone story that planning really is very important. The Joes studied their rivals and came up with a plan that may seem elaborate, but they got the job done without firing a single bullet. It also gives some depth to the rivalry between The Baroness and Zarana. As I said, it’s a small stand-alone story, so it’s quite forgettable, if not for a few highlights. The cover art really is beautiful. The hang-gliders are being used, although they are powered here – and then dumped into the river, cause it was acceptable in the 80’s to just dump your trash in the river, right? Give this story an update to 2020 with some cyber IT stuff and you could get an entertaining action flick out of it.

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No surprise on the back of the card to see Chuckles there. Ok, so it could also have been Psych-Out. We got Chuckles in a floral shirt, not his blue one I might add. In total there have been 5 figure releases for Chuckles since his first appearance in 1987. It took 20 years to get to a second figure, and all he lost were his sleeves, as this figure was part of the Collector’s Club Operation Flaming M.O.T.H. (set 3 out of 4), shipped with Shipwreck. Version 3 came 2 years later as part of the Assault on Cobra Island box set and the sleeves came back. v4 appeared in 2013 and gave him a subdued color scheme, fitting for a member of the Night Force (again a Collector’s Club limited set), packed with Freestyle – a female fighter pilot. Finally, in 2015, Chuckles got another release as part of the 50th anniversary Desert Duel set, sold originally a the Entertainment Earth booth during SDCC. His floral shirt is still dark, but with red highlights now.

I’ll be brief about it, read Cobra – The Last Laugh (Amazon). The. Best. Chuckles. Nuff said. Get to it.

Next time we’ll take on card #90 (out of 200, so we’re nearly halfway) where we will put the spotlight on Low-Light!

Small update

YoJoe people! First of all, I hope everyone and your loved ones are safe. Over here in Belgium, we’re gearing up towards a lockdown. Schools are closed, stores are closed during the weekend (for now) and restaurants & pubs are closed. I have the luck that I can work from home, but some people are facing economical unemployment. The measures are set to last until April, 3 at least. But I believe we’re going to get an extension on that and even more measures to contain the spread of the covid-19 virus.

Life’s been very busy and so the time to spend on the blog has been sparse. I’ve been writing a bit here and there, but not enough to release a new post. I’m hoping that by saving time on my commute, I’ll have some more time in the coming weeks. I have been following the Joe news on the interwebs though and man, are there good times coming. Let’s hope that the pandemic doesn’t throw the planning too much. But with the new 6″ line and the retro line somewhat announced, we’ll be seeing a lot of Joe in the future. On that note, I’ve been able to purchase the 6″ Snake-Eyes figure. The price was steeper than it is across the big sea, but still fairly acceptable and I couldn’t not buy. Now I have to play the waiting game. Currently, the delivery date is somewhere around April, 30.

In the mean time, I have been able to find some smaller additions to the ever-growing collection. And by smaller, I mean smallest. The world’s smallest to be exact. Take a look below and check out tiny Duke, Roadblock and Snake-Eyes.

Too small for you? I thought ahead and got some close ups.

The card art on the back is from the ARAH #1 cover, and even this small, still looks awesome.

As I mentioned before, I have ordered a 6″ Snake-Eyes. I can’t wait for it to arrive, so I can show off all my carded Snake-Eyes figures. I’ll have the World’s Smallest, the 6″ and the Gentle Giant version. It appears I’ll have to find a regular 3 3/4″ version of the guy to have a complete set 😊 Feel free to contact me when you have one to spare.

Until next time, we’ll be taking up the Impel Trading Cards again. For now, stay safe, keep collecting and YoJoe!

A deceptive act

The title of this story is the same as that of an ugly French MPV, it can also refer to techniques to by-pass network security devices or to avoid government mandate through specious means. Here though, it’s one Joe that is showing off his survival skills, his evasive skills and his cunning. It’s time to tackle the Impel Trading Card #88, featuring the cover art for the Special Missions story #6.

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The story starts in the middle of a story really and shows us an injured Snow-Job with Quick Kick and Stalker, all cornered in a Borovian alley. The Borovian military, under the leadership of Colonel Ratnikov, soon realize that there was a 4th man on the team and that he isn’t accounted for. Outback has slipped in the sewer – ordered by Stalker to seek help and report back to the Joes what really happened while the other Joes are sent to rot in a gulag prison.

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Outback is able to make it to the edge of town by using a compass and a Michelin guide. Luckily, some intersections have name plates. Meanwhile the colonel has deduced that Outback must have escaped through the sewers and he orders a truckload of fuel to be dumped into the sewers. Outback is sort of warned by a plague of rats screeching past him, but because of the stench in the sewer, he can’t smell the fuel. After it’s been lit, he realizes what is going on and is able to escape through a manhole, clinging to the bottom of a passing streetcar.

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He makes it to a local market and steals some clothes to disguise himself. He cuts a deal with a chicken farmer to buy his truck and sets off for the border.

Colonel Ratnikov has closed off the border and is still looking for Outback. They too come across the market and are able to convince the farmer to help find Outback. On his way to the border, Outback passes a hitchhiker and he thinks that it might be better to have a companion since the military will be looking for him, traveling as a duo might be a good camouflage. The guy soon pulls a gun on Outback, but Outback outsmarts him and unarms him.

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Colonel Ratnikov is still giving pursuit from a helicopter, bringing along the chicken farmer. They spot the crashed truck and set down. The man in the cabin is still alive, but they conclude that it isn’t Outback. One of the soldiers discovers a trail of blood, leading to a figure laying face down in the snow. As they get close, they discover that it’s just clothes, filled with snow and the dead chicken Outback bought from the farmer. Outback jumps out from hiding and catches them off guard. He takes Ratnikov’s uniform and instructs the pilot to fly on his orders after destroying the onboard radio and compass. Before he jumps  out, he orders them to turn around and stay above the clouds. Colonel Ratnikov orders the pilot to take the helicopter down through the clouds and find themselves on the wrong side of the border and get shot to pieces in no time. The border guards capture Outback and he seems relieved and asks to speak to the American Consul.

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Great story, that’s my short review. My longer review is that I didn’t get it at first. The first time I read this story was in a Dutch Special Missions Omnibus (TPB) that collected several Special Missions. Sure, the banner on top of the splash page did say that the story was a continuation of what happened in Marvel issue #61, but we didn’t get those over here and this was in a time before eBay and before I even got internet. How was I to know what had happened and more importantly, what was going to happen with Snow-Job, Quick Kick and Stalker. It took years before I finally got my hands on the complete run of Marvel comics and I could read the whole story. Talk about a frustrating time. All I could do in the meantime, was search for more comics (all they had around here were the Dutch translations of the Special Missions) and re-read them over and over again without getting the full story.

 

SM_06_troopersLet’s get back to the card. It shows the cover of the story, I presume drawn by Herb Trimpe. The rest of the creative team is also the same as before, with Larry Hama on script. The scene on the cover does not really show what happens in the book, but it’s a cool looking scene. Outback hiding, partially covered in snow, under a ledge where Col. Ratnikov, flanked by some very mean looking soldiers, is looking for him.

SM_06_eyesThe eyes of the first soldier especially are terrifying.

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The back of the card depicts Outback the way he appears in the comic book, disguised with a cap and pipe. This leads me to another thing, I only knew Outback from the Tiger Force figure we got here in Belgium, the only version I have of Outback to this day. He had white hair and a white beard. My thoughts were that the colorist made an error, but it remained constant throughout the story, so I didn’t know what was what. I later learned that Outback got 10 figure releases (not including the Tiger Force one we got), and all of them were ginger – safe for the 2016 Collector’s Club homage to the Tiger Force figure. Thank you internet 🙂 Some versions were a little strange though, the 1993 Eco-Warriors line has him wearing a cap and the 2014 head sculpt had a beanie and headphones. Slow down hipster. Read more about Outback on the post I wrote a while ago when we were discussing the Impel Trading Card #69 dedicated to him.

That’s it for this week. I’m going to go through my boxes and try and find that damned little flashlight. Next time we will look at card #89, unless I pull the old switcheroo…

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

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