G.I. Joe – Page 32 – European Joe's

Impel Trading Card #22

It has been a while, but we are back on track with the review of the Impel Trading Cards. Today we arrived at # 22, First Sergeant Conrad “Duke” Hauser.

Duke is the field commander and second-in-command of the G.I. Joe team after General Hawk. He was first introduced into the comic in issue #22 (and this is the #22 of the Trading Cards, talk about coincidence). He is introduced alongside Roadblock on the funeral of General Flagg, shooting down a Cobra Rattler. The character has been a love him or hate him character all these years. Even Larry Hama (God for the admirers) admitted not really being able to handle the character.

However you feel about the guy, he has played a major role in all of the Joe storylines. In the Marvel run, he keeps on duty till they fold the flag. In the Devil’s Due main comics he takes over active duties from an – spoiler alert – disabled Hawk. In Amera’s Elite, he leads the Joes into the battle against the Plague during World War III. In Reloaded, he gets knifed by Scarlett (Go Red!).

Not only in the comic books, but also on the small and big screen Duke plays a big role in the Joeverse.

In the ARAH cartoon, he is field commander for General Flagg and later second-in-command under General Hawk. In the animated movie, he is the older half-brother of Lt. Falcon and should have been killed, but Hasbro intervened and at the end of the movie a small line was added – uttered by Doc I think – to indicate Duke would survive. In Sigma 6 he is the Joe leader. In the Resolute story, he finally gets a shot with Scarlett. During my research I came across some fanfiction that goes deeper into this (I haven’t read them though). In Renegades, he is part of the fugitive band of heroes that fight the Cobra Corporation. This is grittier, darker setting and so is Duke. He even gets a role in Prime Time TV show Community – Episode G.I. Jeff – where he leads a court-martial against the main protagonists of the show alongside Scarlett and Flint.

In the Live Action movies, Duke is the main character in the first movie and becomes a part of General Hawk’s team. Only to be killed in the second movie…

This brief overview again shows that it’s a difficult character for the writers as well. While one depicts him as a hero saving the day and the world, the other might just have him shot in the nuts.

Personally, I have nothing against the guy. I thought he was a regular Joe in my toyworld. It wasn’t until I started getting into the comics that I learned he was a big shot. The more recent IDW comics show some more of Duke (having a wife and all that). They’re making him into more of a tragic hero and I think that is fitting for a guy you either love or hate. Basically a good guy, that can do bad things if it means saving someone or something he loves or believes in.

Until next time!

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

50 (or 51 actually)

No the 50 does not reflect my age 🙂 The last post I did, was actually the 50th post on this blog. So this is effectively the 51st post and a celebration of the previous 50 writings.

Feel free to check them out!

Now this shouldn’t just be about the 50 posts. I also have some great new additions to my collection. This weekend I was on a short city trip to Haarlem and Amsterdam. We also blitzed into The Hague as well, but only for a few hours. I wasn’t hoping for much, but imagine my surprise when I found a second-hand toy store above a popular concept store in Haarlem. The concept store Meneer Paprika occupies the ground floor of a big space in the center of Haarlem and they rent out part of the ground floor to a bike store, part of the first floor to the vintage curators and the second part of that first floor to the ToyBoys.

They have a big collection of toys from Action Man to Yu-gi-Oh over Star Wars and Star Trek and of course G.I. Joe. They also sell comics, games and other merchandise and have their own Youtube channel. They ship worldwide, so check out their site and maybe you could find the missing piece(s) of your collection.

Their web shop has lots more to offer than the store itself, but I was able to score some new Joes for my collection. Pictures are below.

That’s it for now. See you at post 52 in a short while.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Impel Trading Card #21

In casino´s, 21 is the aim when playing Blackjack. The Impel Trading Card #21 however, is showing Dusty. Air Conditioning Repair Man. Oh and G.I.Joe desert mission specialist. Now that´s a different kind of cool.

I try to read up on the characters that feature on the cards when I post about them. Dusty is one of those figures that don´t ring a bell for me. I can´t remember ever seeing him in the stores here and I can´t remember having the figure in my collection. After browsing on yojoe.com, I can now say that I have 2 versions of the figure. The v6 from 2002 that came with the Sand Razor and the 2015 Specialist Dusty figure that was released in the Sneak Attack set that includes Bazooka and Firefly. I remember Zandar better than Dusty… 🙂

Going through the page dedicated to Dusty on the G.I.Joe wiki site, I read that he plays quite a prominent role in the Action Force Weekly Comic series. I always thought that these stories were 1 on 1 copies from the Marvel ARAH run (after the Baron stories). Seems that there were several stories made for the European market. As a European Collector, I have to admit I feel a bit stupid not realizing this sooner. On the other hand, it gives me another excuse to go shopping the web for Action Force Weekly Comics.

Now here’s something I have been pondering over. We could really use a real life G.I.Joe team, be it all American or a joint force from all over the world. We can’t solve this by bombing civilians and opposing fractions in the name of counter-terrorism. We need to attack IS online to keep them from spreading their propaganda, cut off their finances, put a full embargo on weapons dealing in the region. In short, we need specialists doing their stuff and fixing this world. This is not a war between countries, this is a group of fanatics that use a ridiculously strict version of a faith to judge others. Religion is a human invention that the – so called – smarter people used to keep the ‘simple folks’ in check. I have no problem with people believing in Allah, God, Jawheh or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but no one should be forced to believe what you believe. And religion should never be used to control a country or people. There are simple rules one should live by. All men are equal, women too, respect each other, don’t kill, … These should be abundantly clear to every human being that can think straight. I personally don’t feel I need a religion (in the present case some elitist power-hungry idiots) to help me see those values. If you do, take those values at heart and don’t be blind or deaf for the world around you. Religion can give people hope and strength, I won’t deny that, but they also try to put you in a box. You’re either with them or against them. We – as humanity – should be better than those stupid playground politics. I don’t know, maybe after all these years of evolution, mankind is still but a child. Maybe it’s just time for us to grow up and take responsibility. We only have one world and we all need to live on it. We should focus our efforts on making it the best for all of us.

Wow, quite a rant.

And now… back to Dusty. I think he’s a good guy. Not much more to say really. Until next time.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Impel Trading Card #20

We have arrived at the 2oth card. I started this series back in February, and I´m trying to get some writing rhythm going so that I can get posts out more frequently. Any feedback and/or tips you may have, please let me know by adding a comment to one of the posts, sending a Tweet or email. Don´t hold back, every comment can help me become better at this 🙂

Now without further ado, let get talking about Card #20, Shockwave.

I have to confess, that I´m not very familiar with this figure. I never had it as a kid, and can´t say I ever saw him in the stores (or I just can´t remember seeing him).

Albeit that the figure never made an impression on me, I did have a TPB comic of the Special Missions (in DUTCH!) which included #22. In this issue, Lady Jaye, Chuckles, Hit & Run and Shockwave are enlisted by the FBI to assist in a hostage situation where a family is held captive by some terrorists. I won´t spoil the story here, but the ending of this story sure made an impact on little me back in the day. (A review of the story can be found here.)

The card art is a bit strange, the guy is a SWAT member, but is shown running through what appears to be a jungle setting. I suppose Joes should be able to work in any environment, so I´ll go with it. The card describes him as being a gifted singer. Was there ever a musical episode of the cartoon? Other than Cold Slither, I can´t think of any. Maybe there should be a Broadway version of G.I.Joe The Movie. Can you picture that magnificent intro played by a classical orchestra with a full musical cast on stage performing? EPIC!

Looking back, I don´t know why I haven´t looked harder to find a Shockwave figure. I really liked the story and he played a major part in it. Then again, by the time I read the comics (I only had 3 TPB of the Special Missions in Dutch), it would have been around 1994 (I was 12 or there about). After 1994, it was very hard to find Joes in the stores here and I was still far from discovering eBay and online shops.

Since April this year (see Comic book update), I have completed my Marvel ARAH run and thus my focus is shifting now back to collection more figures and vehicles. Of course, the odd paraphernalia associated with G.I. Joe and Trading Cards will always spark my interest. And Action Force, Funko Pops, The Corps (I´ve got my eye on The Beast right now, just waiting for a reasonable shipping cost), LEGO (or other building blocks that can be used with the Joe Kre-O´s), or well, basically anything geek.

That´s it for now. Come back next time when another one bites the … Sorry, no spoilers 😉

Happy Collecting & YoJoe!

Ms. Kim Arashikage

Just a short intermezzo today. My first Joe signed by Larry Hama has arrived today (purchased through eBay). It´s the 2012 SDCC exclusive Kim Arashikage figure. The seller included a picture of Mr. Hama signing the figure, so I´m guaranteed of a genuine signature.

Well, this is one thing I can delete from my bucket list. The next big thing will be trying to get my hands on a signed Comic Book. Probably through eBay as well, unless I can find a sponsor to get me over to the US for a convention where Larry Hama will be attending.

For now, Happy Collecting and YOJOE!