for myself, My favorite 5 would be as follows: for figures: 5. Storm Shadow 4. Roadblock V2 3. Sgt.Slaughter V2 2. General Hawk ( single pack) 1. Bazooka ( just becuase that body I think has been the customisers choise for so many including my idea for a Piper figure)

worst figure: This one was a little harder but but ultamely it was the 25th version of Short Fuze. It had the wrong web gear and the repainted doc head just looked awful.

Best vehicle might get a little hate for this one but I think the awe striker has to be up there just for the milage Hasbro has gotton out of the mold.

Worst vehicle I have to say that air chariot looked not too pleasing to me. and the armadillio also was a close second.

Anyway those were my picks .

Take care and will catch you guys in 2013.

Sincerely,

Ryan ( Mapleleaf) Hildebrand

Hope you guys are having a wonderful new year thus far. Just heard #70. Awsome show as usual. just wanted to say I’m in total agreement with you when it comes to the convention exclusives. You guys do pay for the con ( so will I when I have the opertunity to do so) and the majority of porduct should be held for the con. The opertunity is provided by the club to get a set through the Homefront heros option or if by luck through e-bay. It was nice of the club to do a second run for the october guard but I don’t want to see that be the president either. If anything I’d rather see the character made to have a varient for a run in the FSS just for those collectors to have a Horror Show in their collection lets say but to have the exact conset done in multiple runs—- an imfatic NO. And yes, I did say I would buy a second set if the club offered ( and if I was finacialy able) but that is just becuase it was the October Guard. And I think that is the issue its the October Guard and thats why fans wanted the second run. I don’t think that will be the case with the next set. I myself will try to get a set through Homefront heros but won’t be too upset if that opertunity is lost this time. Most likely will by that second set at the club. Anyway getting of the con sets discussion I do have a question about an interesting thing I noticed in one of the Sunbow episodes and I’m just wonding if you guys thought this might be accurate as well. During the episode Spell of the sirens I noticed a depiction of what I think might be this joes only appearence anywhere. The Joe I’m refering to is Crankcase. Its during the scene where the joe women try to release stun gas to stop the now brainwashed joes but Cobra then pulls a quick retreat. If anyone happens to remember or happened to review the episode please tell me if it was or not. It does go by quick , may have to pause to freeze frame to see.

Anyway, Again hope you guys had a great new year celebration and with all the joe goodness coming this year—and the movie (finally) its great to be a collector . YO Joe and Happy Holidays. Be listening in 2013.

Sincerely,

Ryan ( Mapleleaf) Hildebrand

Great Special Edition guys, it’s been a fantastic year to be a WOJM listener.

Where are you having the issue of the download? Here or iTunes or Stitcher? I have had Flash crash on me when doing testing from the Podbean site. Flash will crash causing me to have to refresh the page and then start the streaming over again. If you are not on iTunes or Stitcher, I suggest downloading the show in its entirety to your local desktop and listening to it from Windows Media Player (for example). To download the entire MP3, right click on the grey icon above that says AUDIO MP3, and do a SAVE LINK AS (or SAVE AS or SAVE TARGET depending on your browser). That will work.

Thanks for listening!!

I DO mind all this use of Gangnam Style. Please don’t do that again.

Thanks again.

I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it. Had some of those life and family things happen.

Much like when Craig from Fwoosh visits, I love hearing from international Joe fans. As a Canadian Joe fan it’s always been tricky to get much product up here but to think that the brand can make Joe fans in regions where they have much much less product is friggin cool!

Here’s the big request of the week, is there an album somewhere with all the different Con outfits worn by a certain noted author?

And of course nothing makes for a better show than when I get to hear “COME ON MAN!”.

It’ll also be real interesting to hear the experiences you’ll be having now that you’re waaaay bigger Joe-lebrities than last year. Let’s hope you haven’t gone too diva on us yet.

Do our fandom proud!

Or maybe release a themed character in the wave that is intended for a vehicle, like the battleforce 2000 releases? Then again with the distribution issues, a lot of vehicles will end up have to be piloted by roadblock, SE, or Duke…

GI Joe has been around, in one form or another, since the 60’s. It’s a recognized name, something every kid and their parent has played with. It’s bank among retailers and as long as Hasbro has product to put out? The retailers will have room to sell it.

As far as all the movie and stuff? The brand has to evolve, whether us fans of RAH like it or not. At the end of the day, we all have to remember they’re toys, something meant to spur the imagination of a five to ten year old - not cater to the nostalgia of a 30 something.

GI Joe will be there, long after all of us have gone. Whether it’ll be something any of us recognize is another matter.

Also, I noticed no one answered the question I had in my review

Thanks for answering my question about Horrorshow and the Strikefire vehicle on this week’s show. I would like to appologise to you Gary.It sounded like my letter gave you a mouthful to read. I try to make sure I’m a little more coheirnt but when I am typing out my thoughts they get a little jumbled. Especially when I’ve had a bad week outside of listening to the show. I am impressed with the Oktober Guard and I am impressed with the way Horrorshow was done. With in regards to the Strikefire , I was planning on making a custom vehicle and that has been the closest( I figure anyway) to giving them a bit of teh classic but maybe making it a little modern. But I do understand about having too many influxes of other product that is out there become intertwined with joes and I agree there is no need to have too much but I had to also saticfy my budding customizer side. When I get the vehicle built I would love to send you guys a photo when its done.

Anyway love the show and thanks for giving me your thoughts about my thoughts. And Yes I’m Canadian lol. Keep up the good work guys.

Sincerely,

Ryan( Mapleleaf ) Hildebrand

And regarding Duke’s popularity (or unpopularity), it seemed he was always planned to be the line’s protagonist. Hawk had the rank of Colonel, and by default and in comic lore, was calling the shots from day one. But Duke’s introduction in his initial mail away was that of the first-shirt, field commander, man-of-action. It seemed a bit more ceremonious than Hawk’s mere inclusion with the MMS; it put Duke on par with the preceding mail away - Cobra Commander. So there was a lot more to it than him just having a tan shirt! His exposure made him a more alluring central character, and his central character status warranted him more exposure. If there’s one criticism of Duke, it’s overexposure. But can you blame the producers of comics and cartoons for letting him overshadow Hawk? Hawk could only have been more prominent if Duke had not existed. Duke took away Hawk’s role as an ‘action’ character and relegated him purely to a leadership role. Duke will forever be the more appealing choice as the leading man to writers on projects like Resolute, Renegades, Rise of Cobra…

Before I get into this message, I feel I should apologize for my remark I left on your voice mail. I was nervous fist off because I am one of those types of people that hate answering machines to begin with. But with regards to my message I had said that “someone let the Zombie Vipers out and they went away hungry” or something to that effect. I was trying to be funny because I was a bit upset and I had plans to go to the opening when it came out. Having said that I do realize that there was most likely more to the decision then what was let on and I’ve now come to terms with it and also knowing that the toys are also pushed back till then well believe it or not I was ok with that it just means I can save up to buy them all at once so its still a win.

Having said that I kind of got an inkling of what might have been the major factor. I was in my local Toys r Us and I found to my shock Amazing Spiderman movie 6 inch figures and various other movie tie ins. I think Paramount and Hasbro looked at the writing on the wall. I know that Hasbro owns the licensing rights to the toy line but maybe the powers that be saw more of a financial opportunity here as well and with the Dark knight stuff sure to follow maybe there was a fear of cuts into their merchandising profits as well.

To be honest the one I relay fell for is Adrianne Palicki. This would be #2 set back in a row with having Wonder Woman also failing to be picked up for TV. I know it might not think it hurts but it could be a little deflating for a bit.

Anyway I can’t wait to hear the next show. Keep up the good work guys.

I think it’s a combination of factors, which you guys have said … 1) 3D is a factor … 2) What it’s coming up against, Spider-man and Dark Knight Rises, yeah, those films are going to crush G.I. Joe because they’re presence is larger than G.I.Joe …. 3) I think the tests are probably proving negative. I don’t think the Joe film is true to the brand’s nature (A Real American Hero). Tatum Channing is just too young to be Duke IMO. Many of the characters didn’t feel like who they were supposed to be. And it felt like, hey, we’re dropping character names, but the names are all wrong. Not to mention a Wayans brother? And a cameo by Brendan Fraser? … Please. … And from everything I heard about them, they were all, “hey I love G.I. Joe so I wanted to be in the movie.” By that logic, there should’ve have been 7,000 Snake Eyes in the film.

Now you have Retaliation, and while it looks better. Killing Duke is a bad idea. Lady Jaye’s look is all wrong. Long hair? … They’re attempts to internationalize the brand is not working. It should have been marketed to the U.S. as A Real American Hero.

I could say more, but I’m rambling already.

As a lifelong Joe fan I’m near speechless. Some of us can be teased as Hasbro-Apologists, but this is a day that I assume Hasbro is as stunned and confused as we are.

So many questions swirling…What happens with the merch, do we get new waves next year? Are we about to hear about any new reshoots? How will Jon Chu comment? Will this move in fact hurt the film’s profits instead of helping? How long have studio execs been sitting on this news?

I’m so glad to have WOJM around in these very strange days, in fact I can never imagine the hobby without our “voice of the hobby” podcast.

First, you can attend GIJoeCon and have full access privileges without attending as an Aide to another attendee. It’s called the Sergeant Package and $160 gets you a souvenir pin and not a single toy.

Second, there was an announced “seventh” figure incentive for signing up to the Transformers subscription service. It’s a repaint of Beast Wars Neo (original Beast Wars toys and sequel in Japan) Big Convoy, only in white with a blue underbelly and called Ultra Mammoth. He’s very shiny. There are all kinds of rumours there could be as many as 12 figures (plus Mammoth) but time will tell. I am blown away by the idea that the club puts half the cost into the boxes that, while pretty, the vast majority of fans could live without.

Third, speculation, but part of the reason that some Joe collectors believe they can walk in and get the special figures is likely answered on your segment on the 2002 set. Simply put, they lingered for years, as have so many GIJoe 3.75″ exclusives. 2011 was the first set that completely sold out before providing remote fans the chance to purchase. And honestly, part of the reason they did sell out was that the numbers were one-third the numbers of add-ons at the Transformers Convention (600 versus 2000). In the past few years, while the Botcon figures do sell out, drop-ins have been able to get the add-ons from the Collectors’ Club table.

Lastly, great sympathy with our GIJoe brethren on the trials you face with the Retaliation line. While Transformers fans have watched our figures literally shrink in size with the upcoming Transformers: Fall of Cybertron figures, five-point of articulation figures were a phenomenon I thought (prayed) would be limited to the Avengers vehicles. Cover Girl, HISS Driver, Ace, Steeler, these were some of my favourite Joes growing up. To think that they would lack the articulation of their brethren, in a line that prides itself on articulation and just as Star Wars (ironically) move to a more articulated form, is saddening.

Great show. Neil Ross was another great find to interview. Awesome to find out about his background and his connection to the great white north .And for fun I’ve been repeat listening to the in character message he had left for Justin that Gary posted on Facebook. It is just too funny. the whole show was great and having that laugh was great to brighten my day this week. Except for the fact that Craig was in pain so wish him a speedy recovery for me. I do have a an opinion question for the panel concerning the con set. Now we all have our opinion’s with regards to Horror Show but my question is if the club was able to do you guys think that perhaps( if the club could have been allowed to use it) would the jacket of Cobra Commander version 45 have been a better choice to give the figure more of what fans were looking for.And would the Captain America Strikefire ( repainted of course)be a good choice for a vehicle exclusive for their trademark 6 wheeled assault car. Just a thought. As for the winter gear on the IGS, I was actually expecting the Guard to have more winter gear as well. but totally forgot about their other looks. It does through an interesting idea about the FSS too as Gary eluded too. Perhaps the FSS would get Dragonsky or even Wong. I had even given thoughts of it being Agent Poole. Again just thoughts at random.

Anyway can’t wait for the next episode of WOJM. Take care for now.

Sincerely,

Ryan ( Mapleleaf) Hildebrand

I have all of the reviews saved separately. I can create a page where people can download them at their leisure. Let’s put that on the post-con TO DO list.

I also quite enjoyed the CON set review. In fact I’d love to hear a similar review for all the past sets…if certain web folks could be convinced to do it of course.

And…not that Gary needs more work editing, but would there be an easy way to post just the guest interviews? A few of them are a blast to re-listen to but sometimes it’s tricky to find which episode they’re all on and where.

Keep up the great work.

And does it make it worse that I wanted to add that Lola and Grunt got married in the DD continuity and had a daughter?

But it was worth it for the reunion of the original WOJM lineup, the Mike Bell interview, and all the callers

Already looking forward to the next episode!

oh and Gary, as for your comment that the more that join the club the better it is for G.I.Joe? we will just have to agree to disagree. It’s better for fun publications etc. but the club isn’t the brand itself, and While I can’t offer a solution for something better than the club, and I hold no ill will against them, the value to cost for me isn’t there at the moment. If it changes, I may join. I do understand that some people get aggressive in denouncing the club, and that is uncalled for, it’s a business, if you don’t like it, don’t join.

1) With Hasbro taking steps in reducing certain figures articulation, do you think it possible that Hasbro may eventually go back to a 1982-1994 (not the strangely dis-proportioned JvsC) style O-ring format? And if they did, how would you feel about that?

2) Also, since you seem to know who is who in the Joe community, who runs the vintage reviews over at Joe Battlelines (http://joebattlelines.com/reviews/toys/arah/index.htm), and how do I get them to get more vintage reviews posted? Its the closest thing out there to Mike T’s forgotten figures, which I miss terribly. Do they take submissions?

Thanks guys and keep up the great work!

Its been a while since I wrote on your pod bean page but the show is as awesome as ever, and I think I’m in the majority in saying Justin’s so called “low-brow” swearing is just funny and is entertaining cause it just hits the timing just right. Its even funnier when bleeped out. Zack Hoffman was a great interview . It was a true geek moment to hear him do “Zartan” after all these years. I don’t know if it was just the way the audio was but his own natural voice tone sounded a lot like Alan Alda. Maybe it was just how I was hearing it. I’m glad you guys are able to get these one on ones with the voices behind our favorite characters. And not just the most recent actors but ones from the old sunbow days as well. I look forward to hearing more interviews down the pipe. I do have a couple of general questions to perhaps could be answered or discussed on a later date and one specifically for Justin.

In just the general for the panel : 1) If a joe cartoon was to come about how would you like to see it take shape? Should it be hand-drawn with a little cg like renegades or be completely CG like Transformers prime and most or the cartoons out now a days?

2) Would it be more interesting if it took the shape of a complete story within 5 episodes like the first 4 Sunbow offerings( “Mass device”, “Revenge of Cobra”, “Pyramid of Darkness”, and the Further adventures of GI joe”) before going into a regular series or should the standard of one or two episodes to complete the story be the norm to keep attention spans?

3) Is it better to rotate the characters involved to introduce new ones ( perhaps getting to involve characters like Kwinn for example) or just basically stay with the core characters episode after episode?

And now this speculation question for Justin:

You mentioned just in discussion that you got or was given an inkling that there would be a release for Gijoe renegades, any chance you might have heard rumblings about second series( or DIC) volume 2 ? Just curious.

Anyway keep up with the great shows can’t wait for the next interview.

Sincerely,

Ryan ( Mapleleaf ) Hildebrand

Thank you thank you thank you for the outstanding RORC coverage. You two bastards were damn lucky to be able to attend but you gave us all such a great souvenir. I truly hope you earned a couple of proper hang overs from our good friends across the pond.

Maybe somewhere in show notes at some point we can get a page of links for all the Joe related fan books we need to buy, including any by noted authors.

Have a safe trip home boys.

Too bad about Crave, but I am not all that surprised. It was a good idea, but ebay is an online Juggernaut.

As always, thanks for what you do!

I loved that line from Roadblock, yes. He was a great character in that issue, and hopefully that does carry forward. We shall see.

On a sidenote, despite there is some insider references in this episode, it is quite possibly my favorite episode. Certainly in my top 5.

I was going to post about Mrs. Nerd and I meeting online, but it’s a little too convoluted to post here. I’ll have to find a way to get that story out there.

Thanks again for a great show! E-nerd

Thanks first of all to Justin for the shoutouts to the all the “UnderScoopFire Top 100 Action Figures of All Time” panelists. It was a lot of fun.

Which brings me to my point. It absolutely terrified me. Which is strange, because I like to talk. However, with Justin, Howie, and Rob on there, I felt I was hanging with some big dogs of podcasting and it really just hit me when we got ready to record. I’ve listened to all three of the podcasts for a while now, and it was like getting to talk to authorities I’d come respect during my commute everyday. I hadn’t quite realized how much that would freak me out until it happened. The listeners are lucky I didn’t sound like Ralphie saying “Football” and nothing else. (On a side note this continued when I went to listen to the episode later, I was very worried about sounding like a fool and it took me a couple of tries before I could listen to the whole thing.)

So yes, you guys are a voice for collectors. I hope you all understand this something earned through respect and admiration.

Keep up the great work fellas! John V. aka Engineernerd

I’m glad the Beachhead Mike has joined on full time as I really enjoy his views toward the hobby and insight.

Excellent show as always and I am really looking forward to the next.

It was interesting to hear you guys talk so openly and honestly about the podcast. I think we fans really enjoy to get a glimpse of the inner workings of the show. Especially when it comes to being such a “voice of the hobby” and staying true to your opinions on figures, vehicles and all of Joe in general. And YUP, I’m one of the weirdos hoping to say hello at the next CanadianCon. Excellent crossover all around fellas.

And welcome home Will!

I really enjoyed the rapid fire question segment. I hope you continue to do that from time to time.

I was glad to hear that Will Bell is home, and hope that he will suffer no long-term effects from his injury. My father was a Marine serving in Vietnam, and suffered a shrapnel wound in the back of his neck. Luckily, the shrapnel didn’t hit anything vital, and I hope Will had the same luck. I thank Will for his service and sacrifice to our country. I don’t recall now who mentioned having him on the show, but I think that would be a great idea. I’m sure he has some interesting tales.

Looking forward to the Buzz Dixon interview on 42– as always, keep up the fantastic work!

As for me, I have a specific shopping list when I go to brick and mortar stores. The only times I’ve ever bought in bulk have been online from either HTS or BBTS

You guys must be psychic as far as what guests we’re trying to secure going forward…

I’m glad you all enjoyed the episode, and Inverse Midas, I do agree with the timing of the Marauder weapons coming in April, John would be a great guest. It’s certainly something we are exploring.

And for LIKES and DISLIKES, please keep the countdowns to important Joe dates! Makes every event seem closer somehow.

Another fantastic episode. Chuck, you did a great job of stepping up to show-runner. Moving Mike into a permanent position is a well-deserved and welcome addition. Of course, it’s always nice to hear from Craig too. I hope things start looking up for him!

The Matt Yang King interview was super. It’s great to hear from the VA’s. Both he and Marsden were very entertaining listens, and I hope you can secure more voice talent for interviews in the future.

Speaking of interviews, I recall in one of the first WoJM podcasts, one of you expressed an interest in getting Marauder John on the program for an interview. I think he would make a great guest, and with all the buzz surrounding the April release of wave 6 weapons, now would be as good a time as any, I think.

Keep up the great work! I’m eagerly awaiting episode 41!

Great episode again. Matt Yang King and Alex( Timmy lol ) were just hilarious. I really needed a great laugh even though I am currently fighting flu and it hurts to laugh. Any chance you could try to get Zack Hoffman on the show I always wanted to know if he knew what the hell was with Zartan’s Hood. Was it his hair or was it hood. Or was it a tattered hood? maybe you guys have some theories. By I’m getting sidetracked and babbling. Can’t wait for next weeks episode.

Ryan( Mapleleaf ) Hildebrand

Finally got to hear the review of the figures. Your right these are all going to totally rock.

Ryan ( Mapleleaf ) Hildebrand

Leroy

Half way through, trying to finish today so I can get to the next one Justin just posted.

Just letting you know I get an error message when I try to load the file from the podbean site hear. Just wondering if others have had same issues that your aware of. Would love to hear about the reactions about the new figures.

Sincerely,

Ryan ( Mapleleaf ) Hildebrand

Yup Scott, couldn’t make the drop in of Mike during the Sims interview sound any better. I couldn’t edit it out and I couldn’t make it sound any better, so Greg would say: c’est la vie.

Overall, I think you guys have made the best out of a very dry last few weeks as far as news and releases are concerned. I can’t wait to hear how exciting the shows will be around Toy Fair, Retaliation, and the con.

On a side note, I have to agree with Kord, Chuck seems to be diminishing. Is he okay? (Well, as okay as Chuck can reasonably be).

Thanks for all your hard work, guys!