GI Joe 2006 Collector’s Convention Overview

Last weekend was not only an American holiday, but it was also the GI Joe Collectors’ Convention down in New Orleans. Since there was plenty of coverage, I thought I’d try to pull together what I could from different sources and put it all in one place for your reviewing pleasure.

After the jump you will see all my findings. Enjoy.

Exclusives:

In addition to the ‘Cobra’s Most Wanted: Mercenaries’ set of exclusive figures we previously reported here, a special team of Joes were also made. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the convention, Sgt. Slaughter and his renegades were made with all new tooling. Mercer, Taurus and Red Dog all came on one blister card, while Slaughter came on his own blister card with specifically extra space on the back for him to sign, as the real Sgt. Slaughter was in fact an honored guest for this special event.

  
The surprise convention exclusive was revealed to be an updated Nullifier figure. Quite a few of them and a few of the other exclusive figures were dropped 17 stories and parachuted to the ground to kick off the convention. Cool!

There were a number of exclusive vehicles available this year as well. To go with Mercenaries set, two Ferret ATVs were made. Supposedly one for each of the Mercenary Sub groups. The vehicle for the Joes was the expected Warthog.

The next set of Collector Club exclusives was the next setting from the Operation Flaming M.O.T.H. sets: Desert Theater. It features repaints of the Range Viper and Flak Viper.

8″ Sigma 6 line:

About a week before the convention a collector’s club newsletter went out with an announcement and pictures of 7 new figures, but being part of the exclusivity of the club, noone else had seen the pictures. That is, until the convention, where they were all on display.
The new figures include:

• Lt. Stone with Cobra Viper Disguise
• Cobra Commander with Black Deco & Face Plate
• Snake Eyes with Articulated Timber
• Zartan with many weapons and accessories
• Kamakura
• Spirit Iron Knife
• Storm Shadow with Chain Mace

These should be hitting retail in late August/early September. In addition, the following new figures were on display and previously unannounced:

• Shipwreck w/ Monkey instead of Parrot (no name yet)
• Cobra FireFly
• Grand Slam

Also shown and as far as I could tell are not newly announced:

• Night Ranger Quad
• Night Ranger ATV
• Hi-Tech and Arctic Duke in Package
• Destro in Package
• Snake Eyes with Helicopter backpack
• Tunnel Rat with Demolition Gear

A mail-away figure was mentioned at the Hasbro round table panel as a possibility in the future. And apparently at Sgt. Slaughter’s panel, the big man himself, said he thought it was time for a Sgt. Slaughter Sigma 6 figure and would be talking to someone from Hasbro about it. Hopefully, he won’t have to put anyone in the Cobra Clutch.

2.5″ Sigma 6 line (Mission Scale Series):

This somewhat controversial new line for Sigma 6 is coming out this Fall. This series basically consists of several playsets. Each set comes with one or more 2.5 inch Sigma 6 figure(s) and a vehicle ranging in size, but in scale to the small figures. This allows for much larger vehicles (in scale) than the previous 8 or 3 3/4″ lines would allow, but curses the 2.5 inch figures to almost no poseability and articulation. What really adds to the controversy of this line though, is not necessarily the lack of mobility on the figures, but the presense of an additional line in yet another scale. Since Sigma 6 launched with the 8 inch figures last year with great success, it adds confusion and incompatibility in play. Many don’t understand why these sets weren’t just made at the existing 3 3/4 inch scale. All that aside, the upcoming sets do look pretty promising on their own. We have reported on the latest on announcement of new sets coming soon here.

3 3/4″ RAH line:
The 4th wave of single carded figures was announced. The wave will contain the following:

• Outback
• Munitia
• Lt. Falcon
• Airtight
• Cobra Officer
• Cobra Night Viper

2 new Troop Builder packs were announced.

• Plague Troopers vs. Steel Brigade
  • Red Zone
  • Checkpoint
  • Rook
  • Cobra Plague Troop Commander Guillotine
  • Plague Trooper Gallows
  • Plague Trooper Grim Skull
• Cobra Viper Pit (this ones going to be HOT)
  • 6 Classic Vipers with a faithful color scheme

These should be available in September of 2006. They will be available only online and as Toys R Us exclusives.

As for 2007, the 25th Anniversary of the 3 3/4 inch line, Hasbro has been fairly tight lipped about it. One thing that was mentioned was that we’d be seeing a new figure with more articulation than anything we’ve seen in the 3 3/4 inch size before. Beyond that many ideas have been tossed around, but everything is still just ideas right now. Among the ideas mentioned being tossed around were things along the lines of 8 inch classic figures to some sort of build-a-figure, a la Marvel Legends.

Classic 12″ line

No announcements were made for any new figures or sets.

Sources:
TNI.com
MasterCollector.com
YoJoe.com
Cobra Island
StarrCommand.com