Well folks, Christmas is almost upon us and that feeling of joy that the season brings has infected my household like a nasty virus… or maybe I just have a bad cold. Anyway, I thought I’d take a moment to post the long delayed image of all the awesome prizes you can win with ToyBender’s Joes for Tots contest:
You know what’s great? Helping others. This time of the year is the perfect time to help the less fortunate, because there are a lot of kids out there that might not be able to have a good *insert religious or secular holiday here* this year. That’s where Toys For Tots and ToyBender come in. If you donate a toy(s) to Toys For Tots, you’ll have the chance to win some fabulous prizes!
Over on the G.I. Joe forum Hisstank a fellow decided to share some pictures of two playsets that he made and they are simply awesome. What I really like about them is that he took the visual concept of the two most famous G.I. Joe bases (the first Joe headquarters and the Terror Drome) and created much larger (and more realistic) versions of the sets. Check this out:
G.I. Joe Headquarters:
While the G.I. Joe Headquarters is very obviously made up of a lot of Styrofoam coolers, you’ve got to give the designer major props for creating such a good looking piece from such simple parts.
Are you avoiding G.I. Joe live action movie based action figures because you’re worried about spoilers? Too bad.
What you see here is a figure three pack from the upcoming live action Joe flick, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. Supposedly it is an Iron Grenadier (Destro’s tough as nails and somewhat fancy special troops) three pack.
The most surprising thing about this set? It’s not horribly vomit inducing. That’s all I can hope for from any G.I. Joe toy based on the upcoming flick.
Thanks to: Toyark
If you collect vintage toys you’ve no doubt run into the issue of yellowed toys due to the plastic used in them changing over time. It’s a scourge that hits many lines from Star Wars to Transformers and there’s never been a sure fire way to get rid of it.
It looks like the riddle has finally been solved. Astute reader PJ has sent me a a forum link that shows the solution, it’s a 30% Hydrogen peroxide solution. It’s really quite amazing. The only downside is the pictures are so large that they may just crash your computer if it is as pathetic as it is mine, so here’s a sample of the fellow who investigated if this stuff would work:
Before:
If you think you’ve seen cool T-shirts and you haven’t been to 80sTees.com, you’re a damned fool. Let’s take a look at some of the awesome found on 80sTees.com, a generous sponsor to the Joes for Tots contest.
Superman: Kiss Me I Have Superpowers:
If I won the contest, I’d buy this shirt and put a Post-it note with an arrow pointing down on the bottom, which is the universal sign for, “In my pants.” I’m all class.
I’ve fallen a bit behind on my G.I. Joe news, so let’s catch up a bit. There’s two items that came out in the last week or so that are really worth noting if you are a Joe fan. The first is the reveal of Cobra Commander from the cartoon, G.I. Joe Resolute.
He’s nice and all, but I’m pretty burnt out on Cobra Commanders. To get me to buy one, he’s got to be pretty damn fancy. I’m talking hand stitched doily fancy.
While digging through my old picture files, I found a set of pictures that had been taken at Wizard World Chicago some years ago. The pictures are of a rather large G.I. Joe diorama that had been set up of Cobra attacking what looked like an oil refinery. The thing was fan-friggen-tastic and would have been a super cool piece to have in any toy collector’s home. Sadly, the pictures don’t do it justice as they are old and crappy, but I thought I’d share them here just for fun:
This last Friday I received a nice surprise in front of my door… my G.I. Joe Anniversary Operation: Rescue Doc mail-away Doc! I’m thankful that I live in an apartment complex where people don’t steal your mail that’s laying out. I’d rather not ever have to repeat the horror of my toys being stolen again.
I’ve got a quick couple of notes to send out this Friday. I don’t want to make a regular habit out of this, but sometimes I can’t justify making a whole post out of one line items.
Item: The Wizard Universe Message Boards (run by the company that publishes magazines like ToyFare and Wizard) is having it’s annual WUMBIE awards. I was nominated for two things, biggest nerd (of which I obviously don’t deserve) and in the “Outside Projects” for ToyBender. If you are a member of WUMB I strongly encourage you to vote for me, because I’m so awesome. I’d say don’t vote for Esbat, but you actually can vote a few times in each category so you can throw him a bone as well.
Item: I’m thinking of trying to get people to donate G.I. Joes to Toys For Tots this year, like a drive to get Joes into the hands of the younger generation. I wanted to do it last year, but there weren’t any friggen G.I. Joes around in stores. In order to encourage donations, I was thinking of running a contest. If you own anything Joe related that you think would make a great prize for a good cause, let me know, even if it’s just a spare figure in a package or some loose army builders or something. If you’re a retail store, you’ll get props and lots of plugs. Free plugs! Good cause! What more could you ask for!?
Item: Poe Ghostal has been putting up a cool toy pic of the day. So far it’s been pretty awesome. Go check them out.
Item: I’ve fallen in love with a new, non-toy related website. It’s Trophy Bomb and it’s a essay site of the type you’d read in the Onion… or something like that. Just go there and read. It’s got some hilarious stuff. I’d have to say I’ve been leaving some funny comments, so that enough should compel you to check the site out.
Item: If you own a website/blog and you’re a big fan of this site… well I’m sorry but I ran out of room to link to you. I only get so many links now and unless you guys want to battle to the death with someone who already has a link in the tiny blog roll section, have at it. This is all due to the fact that I only am allowed a short list of sites to add to my blog roll, because I don’t own this site. It’s owned by The Corporation. Now if you excuse me, I have a Death Derby game I must compete in.
On Hisstank.com there were a series of posts depicting some really kick ass customs. They were all gathered together and even though Topless Robot beat me at highlighting these a few weeks ago, they still deserve some loving here. As you can see, three of the greatest action movies stars were customized in G.I. Joe form: Chuck Norris from Delta Force, Arnold Schwarzenegger from Commando, and Sylvester Stallone from Rambo 3.
What’s funny is that out of the three, the most likely to actually make it as a Joe would have been Rambo in a way. There were plans during the 80s of making a Sly Stallone as a G.I. Joe in the guise of Rocky, but Stallone backed out late in the game to sign his likeness over to the Rambo toy line. This line had some horrible action figures with some of the best action features around. Seriously, click on that link if you don’t believe me.
In a move that is sure to delight many and anger just as many, the news broke this last week that the mail-away Docs that are still heading their way stateside have had a running change. The super unpopular “Duke arms” on Doc have been changed so they pivot higher up, instead of the middle of the arm. Why should you care if you aren’t a Joe collect? Because it’s kind of funny if you think about it.
It’s time to go over the issue of toy repackaging again. No, not the kind that toy companies like Hasbro and Mattel do where they keep making the same figures and putting them in different packages. I’m talking the kind done by scum bags. I know this isn’t a new issue to toy collectors, but since I’m seeing it more and more it’s time to address it once again.
And now for most likely the only Halloween related post I’ll write this year and it’s not really toy related! The greatest comic book blogger in the world recently posted a picture of his Halloween pumpkin that (much like everything he does) is flipping awesome:
Hey everyone, it’s the super cute Joes that everyone loves! Everyone that is, except for that evil man Great White Snark who has gone on record disliking these kinds of figures. Poop on him, I say! Combat Heroes rule and this second wave contains some great picks.
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