JoeDeclassified.com

Kingofpain’s Annual “What was Great about Joecon” 2011


OK peoples. Here is the report for Joecon 2011. However, This year, I’m going to be a bit more blunt than normal, as I feel the need to clarify a few things.

1) THE JOEBROS
I mentioned this last year about how much we Joebros are a tight knit group of caring people. It was much more apparent this year. There was virtually NO board angst whatsoever. Everyone hung with everyone else in mixed groups, we partied together, laughed together, and played pranks on each other together..

THAT IS HOW IT SHOULD BE!!!!

We’re all Brothers under the Joe… and we showed it at con!


2) THE CON EXPERIENCE
This year had a lot of new attendees, but also a lot of regulars. Some people think that all we do at Joecon is look at toys in the dealer’s room…
Far,.. so very far from the truth..
Excellent Seminars, One-on-one time with the Hasbro teams, Guests, and Club Staff, Tours of the surrounding area, long after hours hang out with the Joebros… of just the wonderful sitting by the pool enjoying the sun after Con breaks. And it wasn’t a bunch of stuff shirts, I’m talking hanging out with Attendees, Hasbro staff, and club stall, watching people ham it up at Karaoke, Enjoying Hangout and drinking sessions well into 4-5 am, and jokes, JOKES, JOKES!!!

Joecon is a wonderful experience. The Club works hard to make is so…

THANK YOU GUYS!
I had so much fun… I didn’t step foot into Disney until SUNDAY!

3) HASBRO DOES LISTEN TO US!!!
For all the people who are STILL posting on the boards how much Hasbro doesn’t like its fans, and how much they ignore us:

PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!!!

Not only was Hasbro eagerly listening to our requests, and our ideas, THEY WERE TAKING NOTES! From the marketing reps, to the sculptors, to the Brand managers, to the design team, they asked EVERY fan what they liked/ disliked about the line, listened to even the nerdiest among us. And were writing down all of our suggestions from ideas on figure accessories and character choices, Distribution problems with Wal-mart, Ideas on enhancing a permanent archive of old protos, Ideas on Releasing items that were previously cancelled, Explained the Slaughter situation, and even asked us about a solution on getting us fan favorite characters and FEMALE FIGURES!

…Hasbro is listening to those among us with constructive criticism, new Ideas, and detailed feedback, positive or negative, on their products. And they did it this year on BOTH a formal and informal setting.
They listened to their fans, maybe they’re just not listening to YOU…

4) CON GUESTS

The Guest were GREAT this year! We finally got voice actors at Joecon., The Baroness was a Gracious guest, happy to stop for fans, and even recorded a voicemail message for several fans in the Baroness voice!!! Larry Hama as always was a Great guest. Rod Wingham always thrills me with his comic anecdotes. Hasbro reps talked directly to the fans, even actually asking us opinions, what we want, and hanging out with us after hours..

5) BINGO!!!!!

PROBABLY THE MOST OBNOXIOUS FUN WE HAD!!
Even if you didn’t win, there was joked galore! Aside from being the only black guy in the room.. and winning a 12 inch CONFEDERATE SOLDIER!!!?? (great prize) we were a goofy lot, chuckling every time Becky yelled “O-69”, and laughing at her jokes… but… we made so much fun of that confederate soldier… and it just got worse and worse! well.. you see the pic:



6) THE COSTUME CONTEST

It was actually a great idea to move it to the actual con, so that walk ins could participate, we had triple the amount of costumes this year.
SOMEBODY CAME DRESSED AS FUMBLES!!!!
There were a lot of accurate costumes (that ALLEY VIPER was Sick!), cute costumes (Zarana was Dreamy)…
But the best costume there was still Number One… WITH A BULLET!

7)DEALERS
Several dealers were willing to give us great deals, especially if you were known on the boards. Special shout outs to Dirt Cheap Joes, who had a special deal for all Histank fans, and gave me a Wu-Tang “cash rules everything around me” sticker as advertisement, Killuminati of Urban rev Toys, and Guru planet, who had great deals and great products, Alyosha, who pretty much was the flame to every customizing moth in the room and had great deals for us, and a special salute to Joe Declassified, who gave us a glimpse of all the protos and behind the scenes items.
And BIG ups to James, who authored the Best damned G.I.Joe visual guide I’ve ever seen! That book is so great it actually convinced a lot of people to start collecting the New Sculpt figures!

8) AFTER HOURS ACTIVITIES

Most of us never got to our rooms before 2 am, and some of us didn’t hit the rooms at all!
A Special Thanks to TheMick, Mamichula, and Shockval, for single handedly keeping us inebriated half the night. (you gotta ship me a bottle of that Smirnoff Sweet Tea, Mick!!!) So much fun was had in the lobby of the hotel, as well as the After Registration


9) THE LOCATION
When we weren’t just standing around, we got the oppurtunety to sit in the sun, chill in the pool, relax in the lagoon, and enjoy the spa and fine dining. Although the prices were a bit high for food, the food was great and they gave you a LOT of it. I paid 10 bucks for a chicken ceasar salad, and it took me 2 days to finish it! 11 bucks for a burger and fries (with free toppings) and It left me full all day..!
GREAT Location!!!!

10) JOEBRO LOVE

I Love my Joebros!
From the moment I walked into the Hotel, to the moment I left, people treated me like I was a celebrity, I was very humbled at the love, especially when literally dozens of people came up to me throughout the con, saying “Hey, are you KOP?” and shook my hand!

Right back at you guys! "The Ambassador" loves You

Can't argue a thing KOP ... although I must say the picture below pretty much sums up what was great about JoeCon for me. It was his first Con and he has finally caught the "Joe bug" like his old man! The Skystriker is already tops on his Christmas wish list. Just like me back in the day.

Good to see you and your son this year Steve! Next year we'll get Gregg off the bench and back into the game.