Author Archives: S. Sears

2013 Con Exlusive NF Steeler and Flak Cannon Review

Posted on by

I’m starting off my con reviews with the most pleasant surprise from con. Remember to check back often, and specifically the joecon2013 tag. Steeler was one of the con attendee exclusives this year, meaning even if you got a home front heroes package (ordering the con set by mail) you couldn’t buy this guy unless you came to the show (or hit up ebay!)

NFsteeler2

Cyclops wishes he was this Bad A

Steeler comes with an impressive night force flak cannon. Action Force Expert and WOJM UK correspondent Dave Tree said it was similar to a Z-force edition of the flak cannon.

Steeler was one of the original thirteen (013) ARAH G.I.Joes but  his inclusion was surprising as he wasn’t previously a member of night force.

NFsteeler1He is a fairly plain looking figure, yet that only makes him more aesthetically pleasing. The drab green, black and earth town brown makes him fit in with night force, but the lack of teal helps him fit in with the regular Joes as well. While simply, he isn’t overly simply, his buttons are painted as is holster which makes him pop more.

The parts including Retaliation Firefly’s torso, POC shock trooper arms and POC wave 3 Snake-Eyes Legs with 25th Steeler head. The Holster is a tight fit for him and I’ll probably place that and the cool but somewhat dated helmet aside.

NFsteelerfilecardThere is not really a lot of additional information or pictures necessary, he is what is, and thankfully that is a good update of one of the original and often neglected ARAH Joes.

NFflakcannon1The flak cannon he comes with is surprisingly nice. It’s mostly black with shades of green, both G.I.Joe and the Night Force team logos, a single star, as well as  4 Cobra’s that have be slashed out to display his kills/vehicles destroyed.

NFflakcannon2My only real complaint about the cannon is the green pant here, that appears to be a a scope or camera, is not painted well at the seem of the plastic and it is very noticeable.

Scoring these two together I’d give them an 9 out of 10.

I also can’t help but think his inclusion as given away who the mystery 13 figure is, if NF falcon is in FFS 2, and NF crazy legs is the one not left with a figure, i think he is a good candidate.

Remember to check back often, I hope to have at least one other review up tonight.

-Sears

a review of: RAHC Guide by noted Author James Kavanaugh Jr.

Posted on by

The RAHC Guide is written by noted Author James Kavanaugh Jr. which you may know from the excellent What’s On Joe Mind podcast.

It’s obvious this work is a labor of love. it covers an era of  figures often looked down upon in a thorough manner. This is a guide for every figure and vehicle released from 1997 to 2007 and details their parts, what the came with, variants, and some trivia information. It isn’t a price guide, but it doesn’t need to be. Despite books like this including price guides, toy prices fluctuate enough that they can only be close to accurate briefly, and with this particular set of toys, sadly most of them are not as desired as the classic 12″ or ARAH figures, or even the more recent 25th to current style figures.

RAHCcover

Jump into the article for the full review. Continue reading →

So I saw Retaliation tonight…

Posted on by

The theatre was almost empty, that does not bode well for the opening weekend. I saw it in max 3D, the small audience laughed a few times, my wife enjoyed it, compared it to expendables which she loves. Me? It was okay.  The Mt. Scene was amazing, but the exposition was so bad just before that it could have came from a motion comic written by 10 year old.

A few quick not spoiler thoughts for now, and i’ll post a full review later.

Stormshadow was the star of the film, and talked only a little more than snake-eyes! His character had the most obvious Arc, and his fight scenes were excellent.

There were several Easter eggs in the film i won’t spoil here, but they made me leap with excitement as i found them! (He did call him brother btw, a lot of people didn’t catch that!)

The action was ratcheted up. The fight choreography was good in places, a little too fast to follow in others, but the fights felt more quick here, and occasionally more brutal, but could have showed more strain from those involved at other times.

For being on the screen so briefly, i really thought Mouse was a good addition.

I was very disappointed in the need to add sex appeal, one of the best things about the last film was that it was more kid friendly than the TFs, while this one still is, it will be longer before my son can see this than I had hoped.

RZA is awful! Just awful.

as I said, full review coming soon, but prior to Joe Con I have several important non site obligations that will keep things slow. During Con, and then again shortly after, explosion of good things!

 

G.I.Joe Rise of Cobra Review (Yes the first one!)

Posted on by

5by5nAs I gear up to see G.I.Joe Retaliation tomorrow (in IMAX 3D) i thought it appropriate to dig up a review I did of Rise of Cobra shortly after it came out. I have to say up front, that review was more of a long rant, and I’ve recently re watched the film so I tempered it quickly to arrive at this rough around the edges article.I wanted it out quickly in case someone had the chance to read it before the movie tonight. Warning, it’s long, and it could probably fit into that nerd rage category in a couple of points.

The first thing i want to do is list some positives, then I’ll look at the movie as just a film, then as a Joe film.

thiswasawful

1. A Few of the Positives:Christoper Ecceltson played a convincing Scottish Destro. Nods to it’s roots like “Yo Joe” and “Kung Fu Grip” are humorous and nice. It doesn’t take itself to seriously. It brought the name G.I.Joe to theaters. It felt more kid friendly and family appropriate than the Transformers movies, which i think is a big plus. My kid could see this well before i would let him see Bay’s sex obsessed explosion films. Continue reading →

MU (new) HULK review

Posted on by

I was very excited when I first saw the sculpt for the hulk. The earlier sculpt from the marvel universe line was so terrible that I settled for a pair of hulks from past movie lines to fulfill the Jade Giants place on my display shelf. I picked up the red and grey versions (as you will see below) so I was familiar with the sculpt of the toy.

newhulk1

The original mu hulk had lots of articulation but barley any of them worked. It was extra wide and mad while seem more squat and squished that brutish.

newmuhulkvsgreyhulk

Unfortunately This hulks is similarly full of barley functional joints, especially in the legs. While an improvement, I was hoping for more. I am also in sure why the my line continues to use high thigh swivels that don’t function, given hasbro’s recent move to reduced articulation I would think obviously non functioning joints would be the first to go to save money on parts. Continue reading →

Site Update: Some posting difficulty

Posted on by

I’m experiencing some difficulty with some pre-schedualed posts, if you came to the site because of a twitter or facebook link, or briefly saw an incomplete article, or saw a complete article that disappeared, I apologize, and will fix it shortly.

-revsears.

Exclusive interveiw over at Leaky Suit Brigade with a former Hasbro artist

Posted on by

08_CobraCommanderG.I.Joe blog Leaky Suit Brigade recently uploaded an exclusive interview with G.I.Joe designer Andrei Koribanics. If you haven’t read it yet give it a shot! I love learning about the background of my favorite properties, and since classic Joe is my favorite, this was great.

Click HERE to check it out!  -revsears

Firefly table top rpg announced

Posted on by

fireflylogo

While Table Top gaming isn’t at it’s prime these days with the shiny graphics of modern video games, for many any way to continue the cult hit that was Firefly is great.

There is not a lot of details at the moment, but i’ll attempt to keep you up to date as i hear anything. Click here ( to head to Gaint Freaking Robot) for all the details I can currently find.

A bit ago i spotted this exciting news on Gaint Freakin Robot. I must admit I can’t remember how i ended up there, it’s highly likely it was originally linked to on a message board.

Either way, to them go the credit,

Hit up our board HERE to discuss it more.

-revsears