And you thought convention season was over…
The Declassified staff got together this year and decided that it was time to bring more to you, the community. That said, here’s where we’ve set up so far:
Joe Con in New Orleans
Canadian Joe Con
Coil Con in Kokomo, Indiana
Well, we’re not done yet! Declassified founders Sam “Nomad” Damon and Darren Howlett, with staffer Drew “Dryhawk37″ Hagerty will be setting up at the Sacramento Joe and Toy show this weekend, on the 24th of September.
Additionally, Declassified staffers Gary “Gyre-Viper” Head and Josh “roshan” Carlson will be setting up at both the Chicago Toy Show and Assembly Required in Iowa.
If you missed us at any of the prior shows, this is your chance to come see an awesome display and learn bout Joe history!
Recently, an oddity surfaced through the Grey Market in China: a mystery mech. It seemed to be a hybrid of sorts, comprised of parts and aesthetics from both the canceled POC Cobra Minotaur and the canceled POC Mountain Wolf
mechs. Well, thanks to Joe Declassified supporter and hobby lurker Nitro-B.A.T., we get an in-hand look at this oddity along with comparison shots to the 2 canceled mechs. As you can see from the pictures, the oddity mech is
not only a hybrid, but also a mutation. It carries over the frosted canopy of the Mountain Wolf but its camo is not a straight carry over from the Minotaur. In fact, the camo is inverted. Error? Preproduction piece?
Or something else entirely?
Pic heavy:
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Goro!? Street Fighter?! What’s this guy doing here?
At one point, Mortal Kombat was in fact going to be part of the GI JOE line officially. Due to the violent nature of the Mortal Kombat brand and GI JOE being Hasbro’s own… certain parties at Hasbro felt that MK should remain removed from the GI JOE brand entirely. Obviously, several G.I. Joe molds made it into the Mortal Kombat toy line (all the vehicles). As such, a look into Goro’s construction process is a unique look at the tale end of the vintage Joe brand.
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Moving a little more recent into history, here’s a good solid look and the cancelled Zartan and Elite Ice-Viper that would have been the transition wave from Rise of Cobra to Pursuit of Cobra. Zartan’s head was changed away from the actor likeness and was released in POC, and the Ice-Viper never saw retail release.
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With the current lull in new product and news, we figured it would be a good time to step back a bit and look at some history. So, here we go with with a look at the unproduced last wave of the 25th Anniversary figures.
“Wave 14″:
Often (read as: loosely) referred to as “Wave 14,” this unreleased wave would have actually been the 2nd wave of 2009 (after the Blowtorch and Resolute wave etc that actually did make it to retail). There are less than 7 and in some cases less than 5, carded samples of each figure accounted for in the hands of collectors. Some loose samples do of course exist as well. Special thanks to notpicard, cmnderinchief, Dryhawk37, acmilan8540, shdwknt, and ekko for information in regards to the samples that are out there in the hands of collectors.
The carded samples of this wave that have actually surfaced are as follows and as pictured:
-Night Force Falcon
(Two loose preproduction “versions” of this figure are known to exist, one with TF Flint’s short sleeved arms and one with the rolled-up Duke- sleeve arms. As far as I can tell, all the carded samples have the TF Flint arms. Night Force Falcon is the only figure from this collector-coveted, unreleased “14th” wave that has yet to actually be released officially in some form or another. However, the GJCC has announced that they will be releasing their own version of Night Force Falcon in the 2nd FSS (Figure Subscription Service). It will most likely differ from the canceled 25th Anniversary version pictured).
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L to R:
Canceled Sigma 6 Dusty, Bio-Viper custom by Hasbro’s Richard Woodhouse, canceled Desert Scorpion, yellow and orange Volcano Viper anomalies, canceled Desert Hiss Scout Driver, preproduction Nano-BAT (brown leg version).
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Now that our interruption for SDCC is over, we can get back to taking a look at some of the amazing pieces on display at the Declassified booth at this year’s Joe Con!
Top row, L To R:
Long Arm, Iguanus, Iguanus, Warwolf, Slythor.
Bottom row, L to R:
Hand painted Col. Courage resin, Col. Courage test shot, hand painted Flak Viper resin, primored resin Flak Viper, T.A.R.G.A.T. version 2 test shot, T.A.R.G.A.T. VSP with variant head.
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Despite the madness that is SDCC, Hasbro’s Derryl DePriest was kind enough to take out a few minutes for us to batter him with some Q&A. What follows, is my best attempt to transcribe such verbage, above the din of the overwhelming throng, and some Con-goers who didn’t understand what “private interview” meant. Special thanks to Joe Moscone and Justin Aclin of Hunter PR for giving us the opportunity, and Fred Meyer of Joe Battlelines for putting the contacts in place. As always, thanks to Derryl: a gracious, patient, and willing victim.
Declassified: You’re aware of the backlog issues at retailers, items/waves getting stuck at warehouses and eventually being pushed to discount stores; is there a plan to circumvent that?
DDP:
Well, that’s unfortunately part of the environment we work in. When things go according to plan, then there’s no issues. We’ll make our release decisions based on what we anticipate our future needs will be. We’ll release those waves right to it, and the size of that wave will meet the market need. So, if the fan-base is growing, we need to make enough of it, or fans will complain it’s short. But, if for some reason we’re delivering a substandard wave, or we’re not meeting the needs, then our point of sale will go down. That hasn’t necessarily happened. The big problem here has been calling the right size for G.I Joe in the absence of any entertainment activity, and we haven’t found the right cadence yet. So, what it means is that when we re-launch a new line, we’ll put our first shot in there of what we think we need, and if it doesn’t meet our needs, then we’re in trouble, because everything’s backed up after that. It’s all about calling the right numbers.
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What is there to be said about SDCC? It’s a madhouse, to be certain. Despite lots of line standing for exclusives, we managed to snag some Joe-related pics from the Hasbro and Sideshow displays. Let’s let the photos speak for themselves:
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Here we go again! Joe Con 2012:
L to R:
Storm Eagle wood pattern, Storm Eagle styrene model, Storm Eagle hard copy.
L to R, top to bottom:
Version 2 Lifeline proofcard, Flak-Viper presentation art.
Techno-Walker General Hawk 2-up paint master, with 1:1 hand painted resin lying flat; Techno-Walker Firefly 2-up paint master, 1983 Hasbro Appreciation gift to Hasbro employees of 25 years, 2-up paint master for Battle Rangers Shipwreck – with 2-up wax head and 1:1 primered resin below; custom Cobra Country Club patch made by James Kavanaugh Jr.
L to R, top to bottom:
Repeater presentation art, refined Sonic Major Bludd art, Sky Patrol Airborne proof card.
Internal sculpting buck, original 2-up hand sculpt for Ferret (by Bill Merklein), 2-up head for Cobra robot Techno-Walker, Hasbro in-house copy of the Darklon sculpt sheet, Darklon 1:1 hardcopy, Hasbro memo describing Darklon
A closer shot.
Questions? Hit us here.
