Toy Bender

Thanks to the fine people at Krause Publishing, I snagged a copy of The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994 to give away to one fine Toy Bender fan (or ToyBendinite as you often refer to yourselves at the chapter meetings). That’s right, true believers! You could get your very own copy of the premier G.I. Joe collecting by Mark Bellomo. That’s a 26.99 value for free! I’ll be giving my impressions of the book soon, but here’s the quick and dirty version if you’re on the fence about entering the contest: It’s great and you should have it.

There are three ways to qualify:

1. Post a comment below stating what G.I. Joe figure or vehicle is your favorite toy from the line and why. Include your real email so I can get your address if you win.

2. Become a fan of the Toy Bender Facebook page.

3. Follow me on Twitter.

Each of the above items will give you an entry into the contest, so that’s up to three entries! If you already follow me on Twitter and/or are a fan on Facebook, send me a message to WinBigPrizesWinBigMoney@gmail.com telling me who you are so I can give you credit (sometimes nicknames don’t match up, so I can’t remember who is who).

One random person will win themselves a copy of the book! Winner will be announced July 17th.

Thanks again to Krause Publications, publishers of fine hobby books and magazines. They’re also located in Wisconsin like I am now, so Wisconsin pride… or whatever.

A special thanks goes out to Mr. Bellomo.

While cruising the G.I. Joe message boards I noticed that there’s a lot of fans that don’t seem to like many of the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra toys because they are based on what looks like a shitty movie and many of the figures don’t fit into their idea of a Joe universe. At first I didn’t think I’d buy any of the non-old school inspired Joe figures, but I’m warming up a bit to some of them. I must admit however, that it’s not just because they all look pretty cool. It’s been such a long Joe dry spell that I’d pretty much buy anything right now. My new strategy is that if it looks like it fits in with my other figures and it’s cool, then I’m getting it unless it’s highly overpriced like the Marvel Universe line.

Here are some of the figures I’m looking forward to:

1. General Hawk - If you don’t want a Dennis Quaid action figure, you’re a Communist. This movie now has allowed us to have a Mike Brody from Jaws 3D. Or the dad from Yours, Mine, and Ours. You’re choice.

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Hey, hey! It’s been a really long time since there was anything worthwhile to report from G.I. Joe and now there are a couple of things to report. Okay, it’s not world shattering news or anything, but let’s Joe up this joint a bit. It reeks too much of Star Wars nerd and nobody needs that… nobody.

G.I. Joe Monopoly: I kind of want this and I don’t know why. I already own way too many copies of Monopoly already. What I dig about this version of the classic board game is that it’s not based on the movie, it’s got the classic 80s versions of the characters right on the box.

The G.I. Joe video game that’s based on the movie kind of sucks: Okay, it might not be completely terrible, but is anyone surprised that it’s not the greatest thing ever? I’m just holding out hope that it won’t totally blow, but even that might be asking a little too much.

The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 2nd Edition is shipping: I found the first book to be an indispensable tool when I started collecting Joes again. I’ve heard a lot of promises that this version has much better images with lots of updated info. Perhaps if I was sent a review copy I could let my legions of fans know this is true?

You know, back when I decided to revive this blog I never thought I’d have so many “Hey, look what I bought” posts in short amount of time, but thems the breaks. Coming back to the Midwest has had it’s benefits for toy collecting. Northern California was a dead zone for me, so it was nice to return to a land where scalpers aren’t as big of a problem and figure swapping is a relatively unknown phenomena.

On a recent trip I decided to stop at what I like to call the “Magic Target”. The Magic Target has offered up plenty of great prizes over the years. This stop was no exception, because I finally got my hands on the G.I. Joe Sting Raider (a.k.a. Water Moccasin). I’ve been wanting this thing forever and I’ve never spotted it before, which isn’t any kind of surprise considering how crappy the hunting was for me.

The Sting Raider is every bit as cool as I hoped it would be. It’s big enough to fit a few figures, which is always a plus when it comes to my vehicle purchases. Another welcome feature is the extra storage spaces and removable engine cowl for “posing” figures in situations with mechanical difficulty. The movable fan and small torpedo are just icing on the cake. I didn’t need another Copperhead figure, but it’s nice that I have yet another addition to my growing collection of Python Patrol Cobras. Now if only I could get a Python Patrol Sting Raider…

Anyway, any thought I have about the Sting Raider is completely overruled by this video by Last Best Angry Man.

Out of all the characters we’ve seen from the upcoming live action G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra flick, the missing key figure was Cobra Commander himself. Well, here he is:

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As much as I have a huge man-crush on Christopher Eccleston, I was really hoping that he’d show up in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra in a full on metal Destro mask at some point. Well kids, it looks like he will be if the toys are any indication.

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Is it just me or does Storm Shadow look a lot like Steven Segal?

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Remember the awesome assortment of G.I. Joe vehicles that got canceled a few months ago? Well, now they are back and you can pre-order them at sites like Big Bad Toy Store (who generously donated to the Toys for Tots contest this year so perhaps you should pre-order from them?) In case you forgot about the assortment it includes:

Ghost Hawk with Lift Ticket
Arctic HISS with Arctic Driver
Claw Glider with Stratoviper & Flak Cannon with Outback
Stinger Jeep with Stinger Commander

It’s good to see these back again. With the live action movie, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, coming out it’s becoming clear that it pretty much ruined a lot of the momentum for the stuff that we really want. These wave 5 vehicles seemed to be the a victim to Hasbro’s new lust to push out mostly movie related merchandise.

Personally, if I had the means I’d seriously consider buying all of these. The only one that seems to be missing is the Water Moccasin. Did that come out already? I feel like such a moron, but the G.I. Joe supply sucks so bad around here that I never know what’s actually hit shelves or not.

Side Note: On the rare occasion that I could find new stuff, I spotted the Pilot Destro/Shockwave comic two pack at Wal-Mart yesterday. Hot damn, it took a lot of willpower to put that puppy down. The only thing that saved me was focusing on how dumb pilot Destro is.

I enjoyed the idea of the Cobra winter and dessert themed internet exclusive packs as much as the next guy (which I gave away during the Toys for Tots contest this year), but I’m really digging on the next set of G.I. Joe seven packs as seen on Topless Robot:

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The good folks of Sideshow who generously donated to the big Toys for Tots contest are trying to kill me. How? Well, they decided to announce the pre-order date for their latest 12″ scale Joe figure and it’s the one I’ve been waiting for: Storm Shadow.

Gee, what impeccable timing! Storm Shadow is the one 12 inch Joe from this line that I was guaranteed to buy outside of a lottery winning and it comes just after I lose my job. If only it had been before December when life was all unicorns and bottomless bags of Sun Chips.

Seriously though, Papa friggen need this toy. I may have the line on a possible temp job that just might come in time for this thing. Besides, as a responsible toy blogger I really should buy Sideshow’s Storm Shadow right? I mean, for the good of blog and the you readers who I’m sure would be dying to know what it’s like owning one or something.

Man, my justifications are weak sauce. I’ve got to think of a way to get my hands on this lovely Storm Shadow… maybe I can convince some inner city kids to win a dance competition or something.

More and more stuff is leaking out as the G.I. Joe live action movie tie-in toys are being spotted. This last week saw this poorly photographed image of the product offering from the line:

There’s pics of what we’ve seen already, the standard roleplay items, and the obligatory Mr. Potato Head as a Joe. The thing that interests me the most is the huge Pit play set. It doesn’t seem to be getting very much loving from the collecting community and I’m not sure why. Is it the shape? Is it because it’s from the movie and not the U.S.S. Flagg? Further images have surfaced since the 2009 Toy Fair has kicked off and they’ve lead to even more arguing back and forth.

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Everyone’s favorite toy news site Wired… ah hem… recently revealed several G.I. Joe toys from the upcoming live action flick. The most interesting to fans is the reveal of the movie’s version of the Night Raven:

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There’s only one thing I’m kind of looking forward to during the Super Bowl, the G.I. Joe live action movie trailer. I really don’t care for many sports and I especially don’t care about football. Sure I’ll watch the occasional game or I’d even go to one, but if football disappeared off the face of the Earth I wouldn’t care a bit. Well there’s one thing that’s compelling me to watch the game and it’s the G.I. Joe film trailer (that and the fact I’ve been invited to a Super Bowl party and I desperately need to socialize). A ten second tease was aired already on the usually worthless show Entertainment Tonight to super tease the hell out of us, but here’s a 30 second trailer right here:

Look, I’m not someone who thinks this thing is utter dog crap without seeing it, but I really don’t have much hope. The Baroness looks cool, but I’ve had enough of Matrix-like missile dodging to last me the rest of my life. And I have to admit it, this trailer got me a little bit excited. I can’t help it, it’s friggen G.I. Joe!

Oh yeah and the Transformers 2 trailer will also debut during the “big game.” I wasn’t a super huge fan of the first film, although it didn’t dissapoint me very badly either. It was just kind of there. Hopefully this next film will have less “hilarious” hijinks.

Thanks to: /Film and The Braxcave

Images of the G.I. Joe Resolute box set are now out and hot damn, do
In the tradition of Hasbro doing something because it’s worked before comes a G.I. Joe Resolute box set, which is similar to the 25th Anniversary sets that were responsible for me being addicted to G.I. Joe again.

I’ll admit it, the figures look bad ass. Playing on the updated, yet familiar look first seen in the singled carded Resolute figures (of which I’ve seen only one stinking Duke in the store) this box set has a Cobra Commander, a B.A.T., two Cobra Troopers, and a Duke. Oh yeah, there’s also some bigger, spring loaded weapons in there that look like they are geared for the kid crowd.

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I recently got a case of Joes I ordered about three months ago that were delayed about four times and due to the fact that I’m not as excited about them as when I originally purchased them and I’m not hot on giving eBay an undeserving chunk of my change, I’d buck the system and simply give them away to you!

The winner will him himself (or herself) one Cobra Para-Viper or a Sergeant Airborne (your choice!). The loser will win a Pilot Scarlett figure. (Yes, the loser is actually second place, but I thought we’d put a fun spin on it.)

There are two ways to enter. The first is by becoming a fan of the brand new ToyBender Facebook page. That’s right, your favorite toy blog is now on Facebook like everything else these days. Once you become a fan, that’s ten entries to the contest.

But that’s not all! If you comment on this here site, you also qualify! Each comment is one entry and you can comment as many times as you want, on any post, and you can even comment multiple times in the same post. Please at least provide a little substance with each comment, though. I will ultimately judge if it fits into the “spam” category or not. Spam does not qualify.

So there you have it, comment and/or be a fan on Facebook and you can win free stuff. Life is grand.

Extra Deets: If for some crazy reason you wouldn’t want a free toy sent to you for doing practically nothing and you win, you can turn down the prize and the next person in line will get it. The deadline for accepting entries is 2/13/09. Winner will be picked randomly out of all entries received.