JoeCanuck

No, not Joe Canuck. We all know that is in Hamilton. I'm talking about the G.I. Joe Collectors Club (or Master Collector club, whatever you want to call them). Anyhow, for years I've been pushing for a con in Niagara Falls and this time in stead of doing what everyone else seems to do and just suggest where I want to do it, I've done some research. This is what I'm going to post soon but I'm open to suggestions. This is a LONG read. You've been warned:

Personally I would like to see a G.I.Joe convention make it closer to the U.S. / Canada boarder. That?s why for the past few years I?ve always suggested Niagara Falls. The convention could work on either side of the boarder. Sure, I?m a proud Canadian but there are many reasons why Niagara Falls would be a great spot to hold the convention so instead of just saying I want it to be held in Niagara Falls and leaving it at that, I?ve done some research on the subject.

Location: Niagara Falls is located within 500 miles 14 major cities. They are:

New York City - 400 miles ? The largest city in the U.S.

Chicago - 500 miles ? 3rd largest city

Philadelphia - 400 miles ? 5th largest

Detroit - 250 miles ? 11th largest city in the U.S.

Boston - 475 miles ? 24 largest city

Washington, DC - 425 miles ? 27th largest city

Cleveland - 185 miles ? 39th largest city

Pittsburgh - 240 miles

Rochester - 53 miles

Syracuse - 148 miles



Toronto, Ontario(Canada) - 90 miles * Canada?s largest city

Montreal, Quebec(Canada) - 380 miles  * Canada?s second largest city

Hamilton, Ontario(Canada) - 58 miles * 9th largest city

Ottawa, Ontario(Canada) - 335 miles * Canada?s Capitol and 4th largest city

Other Canadian cities not mentioned on this list are London (10th largest) and Windsor (15th largest), St Catherines Niagara (12th largest) and my hometown of Kitchener / Waterloo (10th largest).

With all the cites close by and 3 out of 4 of the largest cities in Canada within driving distance, Niagara Falls is a great location to draw more people out that might not normal attend.

Attritions:

These are just a few of the many things that are fun for the whole family to enjoy. I should mention I was looking on the Canadian side when doing my research but the difference is literally walking over a bridge. Besides, it has been mentioned before that the convention might sometime head outside the U.S. boarder. This would be a good and safe way to test the market. Anyhow, list of things to do:

Fighter Combat International
Niagara District Airport
Highway 55, RR #4,
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, L0S 1J0
(905) 684-5440 Fax (905) 684-3054 Toll Free 1-888-FLY-HARD
No Flying Experience Required This is NOT a simulation ... YOU fly in a jet fighter and experience emergency maneuvers & aerobatic spins. You can also take bi-plane tours in a 1941 Stearman. Romantic night tours offered.

Marineland Canada
905-356-9565
8375 Stanley Avenue,
Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6X8
Marineland provides a day of entertainment featuring unlimited access to amazing killer whale, dolphin, sea lion and walrus performances; thrilling amusement rides including the world's largest steel roller coaster, Dragon Mountain; the world's highest triple tower ride, Sky Screamer; and other attractions that will appeal to the entire family. Park is open until nightfall, but admission only during gate hours. Open Victoria Day to end-June: weekdays 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.& weekends 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; End-June to Labour Day - daily 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Labour Day to early October - daily 10 am to 5 pm. Admission Fee (kids under 4 free)

Ripley's Believe It Or Not
Ripley's Niagara Falls
4960 Clifton Hill
Niagara Falls, ON, L2G 3N4
(905) 356-2238, Fax (905) 374-7345
Experience the strange, the odd and the unbelievable at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum! Robert L. Ripley, creator of Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoons, spent a lifetime collecting and documenting the most unusual stories he found while exploring over 198 countries. This museum has over 500 exciting and bizarre exhibits, including artifacts and actual film footage of Niagara Daredevils. Experience the 4D Moving Theatre across the street, the only movie of its kind, where you actually move with the picture and feel every bump, dip, and turn - experienced in "Four Dimensions."

Criminals Hall Of Fame
905-374-3011
5751 Victoria Avenue,
Niagara Falls, ON L2G 3L6
The scamps immortalized at the Criminals Hall of Fame Wax Museum are all notorious -- and almost all are from the United States. Older, boring criminals (Bugsy Siegal, Al Capone) are nicely mixed with more intriguing modern mass-murders: Timothy McVeigh in his orange prison jumpsuit, Jeffrey Dahmer visiting his fridge looking for a late night snack. Its highlight is saved for the end: a photo-op electric chair that buzzes when you sit in it.

http://www.foundlocally.com/niagara/Tra ... ntario.htm
Places that could hold it. I didn?t really look to hard into this but I did come up with a couple of places:

The Conference Center ? Niagara Falls
101 Old Falls Street, NY
22,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space
14,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Sheraton Falls view Conference Center

Anyhow, that is my suggestion and my reasons why I think Niagara Fall is a very solid location to consider for a future convention.  Within driving distance of 18 major cities, two of these cities are both the United States largest city and Canada?s largest city, lots to do (plus lots of places to gamble) and the falls themselves are a fantastic sight to see. Heck, it?s a major honeymoon location, so you know it?s set to cater to lots of visitors.

Now nobody can?t say I haven?t done my homework.

Any input from you guys before I fire this off is welcome but don't expect me to re-write the whole thing. I spent a fair amount of time on this as it is.

I'm a huge fan of Kevin Smith so when I had the chance to see Clerks 2 a day before it's release I was damn happy to go. If you are a fan of the view Askew universe then I think you'll be happy. I know the whole theater was laughing out loud many times last night.

I won't go into details as to avoid spoiling things but it does a nice job of wrapping up the Dante and Randall story. Very well done. I look forward to buying the DVD when it comes out later to add to my View Askew collection. That and the Star Wars vs Lord of the Rings debate they had was very funny and making fun of Transformers was pretty funny.

On a side note, they placed a bunch of fake snakes throughout the theater (Easter egg style) to advertise the movie "Snakes on a plane". Looks like a stupid film but I'll take a free fake purple snake.

He looks a bit sleepy.



PTG: edit  I Eddie Guerrero'd the picture

Can't see much detail right now as everything is blacked out but at least it looks like the second carded figure that the MC group mentioned might be a three pack just like the original renegades were.

On a side note, every time I try to upload a picture I'm told I've used my maximum upload quota limit of 256 KB. The images I tried to upload were 33 KB and 42 KB. What am I doing wrong?





Edit by PTG: Added the pictures and poster confirming the Renegades (source: http://www.joesightings.com/forums/inde ... entry34762 )

Canadian dollar is the highest it has been since Jan 26, 1978. It is worth 90 cents (USD) and has been going up for a while:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... /Business/

Good news/bad news. While it's great to see the Canadian dollar rise like this, the down side is some factories like BF Goodrich are pulling Canadian plants because it's no longer economical as there was such as discount to have the work done here when the our dollar was down around the 75 cents area.

Still, it's nice to finally see the dollar rise. I know I've always wanted to see it even out. I remember years ago seeing some show/movie with Pamela Anderson where she wanted payment in Canadian dollars for some job because it was worth more. Maybe she was on to something.

I was just wondering if anyone else has ordered the wave 2 DTC "One of everything" from GIJOEHQ.com. My order was suppose to be sent on March 1st and I still don't have it. I know the usual delay from the U.S. is 2 weeks, but this is now a month. Not trying to stir anything up here. Curt has been a great guy to deal with and I know he reads these boards. Just trying to get a feel for what my fellow Canucks have ordered and if they have experienced longer wait times with larger orders.