Hello Canadian friends!!!!!
This will be the thread for all things related to the JOE DECLASSIFIED: SPEC OPS PODCAST!
I'll post the show links here in the first post every time one is read to go...
and any needed applicable links etc in here as well. And feel free to use this thread to interact with the podcast or us.
We hope you'll give us a listen as we try to bring the essence of Joe Declassified into a podcast format.
www.joedeclassified.comwww.joedeclassified.com/forumYour hosts:
Gyre-Viper
notpicard (YoJoe.com)
General Hawk (GeneralsJoes.com/WOJM Podcast)
Kneroh
KrymsynGardImmoral
KuuKuuSon (RAHC Guide)
TOPSON (JoeIntel.com)
RedClaw (YoJoe.com)
PjDonnell (YoJoe.com)
cmderinchief (WOJM Podcast)
Roshan (Roshan's Guides)
Beach-Head (WOJM Podcast)
Smokescreen (CardedHeroes)
Jaimanstone (Project ARAH)
Dryhawk37
Tolan (YoJoe.com)
notpicard:
Patrick Stewart (notpicard) yojoe.com, joeintel.com, starcomspaceforce.com
Primary Focus: pre-production figures 1982-present, figure variations 1982-present, customizing.
Pat has written articles for Joe Declassified magazine as well as the Wizards of the Coast G.I.Joe Trading Card Game. He is also a regular contributor to the Joe Declassified convention booth. He currently archives variations and pre-production figures for yojoe.com where he is also a forum moderator. He has been collecting G.I.Joe since November 14, 1982 and customizing figures since October 1991. Other items he collects include Transformers and StarCom.
"He's up in space" and the rest of the gang thought I was giving him grief. They missed my point, most of us think we're standing far enough back to see the whole picture; no, he sees it all.“ - James M. Kavanaugh Jr. on Pat Stewart.
General Hawk:
Justin Bell: Current Owner and Admin of GeneralsJoes.com. Assistant Administrator of JoeBattleLines.com, Sigma6Central.com, long time contributor to YoJoe.com, JoeSightings.com, and JoeCustoms.com
Primary Focus: Shameless G.I. Joe fanboy. Consuming and enjoying just about every iteration of G.I. Joe from 1982 – Present, except perhaps G.I. Joe: Extreme and Sgt. Savage. Even he draws the line somewhere.
Justin has been collecting non-stop since first buying a straight-armed Flash figure in 1982 and has no plans on stopping any time soon. He joined the online fandom near its infancy in the late 90’s, and has been extremely active in various forms over the past 13 years, primarily doing action figure reviews and dio-story "figure comics” at GeneralsJoes.com. While not the pre-production and unreleased buff that some other high end collectors are, Justin makes up for it with his endless enthusiasm and unyielding love of the G.I. Joe property that some might call a sickness. Currently enjoys co-hosting the What’s On Joe Mind podcast and talking way too much about G.I. Joe in general and the upcoming G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie sequel specifically.
KuuKuuSon:
James "KuuKuuSon" Kavanaugh Jr. is the author of the R.A.H.C. Guide, printer of the Declassified newsletter and a contributor to the G.I. Joe Collectors Club and the Declassified Booth. While KuuKuuSon is a member of many online G.I. Joe forums, he is more known for his "in person" approach to the community, co-founding two Ohio area collectors clubs and a regular attendee at the International Convention. A collector of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero action figures since their debut in 1982, KuuKuuSons paused in 1990 to pursue other avenues only to be drawn back in by his late discovery of the by then cancelled Marvel Comic series in 1996; a move which inevitably led to his "no turning back" full-on collecting point in 2002. KuuKuuSon utilized his graphic design skills produce a supplemental fullback card for the Collectors Club renewal figures that are given away free at conventions as well as design the official 2007 exclusive Sigma Six Red Ninja file card. It has also been stated that he put G.I. Joe costuming on the map. KuuKuuSon also collects Transformers Comics, Starscreams, World of Springfield and Masters of the Universe.
“I've never understood this guy. One minute he's running around in some wild costume with the proverbial lamp shade on his head; the next minute he's debating the difference between version and variation and error within the confines of versatile production strategy in an unstable economic climate. Pick one already! No wonder his favorite characters are Chuckles and Zartan; he IS Zartan, he is Zartan...”
-James M. Kavanaugh Jr on James M. Kavanaugh Jr
Roshan:
Josh Carlson dabbles in nearly every action figure line of the 80's and 90's and although not an expert of any one line, brings a lot of information to the table from all walks of action figure collecting. He has been a member of the online GI Joe collecting community since 1995 on the alt.gijoe.1980's PITT group and has attended 12 GI Joe conventions both in the US and Canada. He is also the author of Roshan's Guide to Marvel Legends.
Kneroh:
Hey. Ken here. My handle on Hisstank and a few other forums is Kneroh. I’ve been collecting GI Joe since 1992… before that I was just playing war for the previous decade . I’m an average-to-below-average customizer.. depending on how much I drink. I’m into all facets of the hobby, each series of comics, the Sunbow Cartoon, Resolute, Renegades most of all though. the find your fate books. OK, maybe not them. .. Unless one of books ends with me soaring away with Raptor, where we’d celebrate a lifetime of romance and mink poaching together. I’d totally read that story. I wonder if I can pitch that idea to Danielle Steel.
So I have no idea why I’m on this show. There’s other people that know tons more about the history of GI Joe than I do. Others are encyclopedias of Joe knowledge. I’m ok… but there are guys on here that would kick my ass in Joe-Jeopardy. Like they were Watson and I was Tara Reid. (I’m just assuming she doesn’t know a lot about GI Joe. Tara, if you’re reading this, and if I’m wrong, I’m sorry. You’re also a gross skank.) So back to how little I know and how under qualified I am compared to the other superstars on this list… the pre-production process? My mom never had this talk with me. I’m going to assume the stork brings them to Walmart. What else is there? I don’t know… I can’t even focus on writing a ½ page bio and they’re putting me on this show. Oh and I totally love neon!
KrymsynGardImmoral:
Kevin Watts has been collecting GI Joe for many years, and has a varied array of interests in the hobby, including army building, MISB and AFA, foreign and prototype collecting, original artwork, customizing and has logged over 10 years as an eBay seller and GI Joe convention dealer. He has been on the web staff for YoJoe.com, Hisstank.com, and JoeIntel.com. He has assisted with GI Joe related articles for Toyfare magazine, White's Guide, and has been published in the Official GI Joe Collector's Club magazine. His most recent accomplishment was conceiving and creating the NJCC Jungle BAT HISS tank, an exclusive New Jersey Collector's Convention giveaway that was limited to only 11 copies worldwide.
PjDonnell:
Phillip Donnelly has been a YoJoe.Com fanboy since 1998; eight years later they made the unfortunate decision to let him join the website's staff. He's spent the following years carving out his little fiefdom on the web, maintaining the figure and vehicle archives, and letting the power get to his head. He spends his free time fruitlessly searching for new Joes in his area while showcasing other G.I. Joe collectibles that nobody cares about. May harbor an unnatural love for Optimus Prime.
RedClaw:
Administrator of YoJoe.com
Terry has been an active member of the G.I.Joe online collecting community since 1997. Working with YoJoe as the top administrator since 2005, Terry has overseen the G.I.Joe archival standards for YoJoe and works continually to evolve the way information is archived and how collectors collect.
An aficionado of all things A Real American Hero, Terry specializes in vintage/pre-2007 G.I.Joe and is an avid comic reader.
Cmderinchief:
Gary is a long time member of the GI Joe Collectors’ Community, active both online and off. As a collector, he has been collecting Joe toys and comics since 1982.
Online he has been participant in the community since the late 90’s within the old Usenet newsgroups and the former YoJoe mailing list. He is a member of most Joe forums in the community and has been awarded mods duties at YoJoe, assists with admin roles at JoeIntel, JoeDeclassified, JoeBattleLines, COIL Club and he’s a part-time contributor to GeneralsJoes.com.
Offline Gary has been member of the Official GI Joe Collectors’ Club and a participant of every GI Joe Convention since 2002. Since 2008, he has been a yearly volunteer for the GIJCC during the convention weekend. Founded during the convention in 2004, he is among the Founding Fathers of the Crappy Figure Brigade (CFB), the official 3.75” collector sub group of the Collectors’ Club. In 2007, Gary was elected as the CFB’s second President.
Locally, since 2005, Gary networks with other collectors in Indiana via the COIL Club, In 2011, along with Justin, Greg and Chuck, became one of the co-hosts of the community’s first Joe-only variety podcast, “What’s on JOE Mind?” which averages 700 listeners per episode and is heard in over 30 countries.
"What can I say about Gary? I've known him for years, he's been around for years prior to that and he'll be around for years to come. It's integrity and loyality that drives this man, not only to the brand but the community and espcially to his close friends. He is quick to get involved and known to be a dependable component of any project he touches whether it be hands on or project management. He's so good, he can even keep me in line. All in all, Gary's loyalty seems to be his driving factor and what shines the most; unless you cross him. Yeah, don't cross him... "
- James M. Kavanaugh Jr on Gary Godsoe.
Gyre-Viper:
Primary Focus: The archaeology of GI JOE’s preproduction history and future.
Veritable tenderfoot of the group, Gary “Goggles” Head has only been full-on GI JOE collecting since 2009 A.D. , although GI JOE has always retained a special place in his life since as far back as he can remember.
He is a Declassified donor and booth volunteer. He has been an official guest of Coil Con and the Iowa Collector’s ‘Assembly Required’ meet. He has provided upfront, sometimes unexpected, GI JOE news to the community at large.
Jaimanstone:
Jared Bunnell, known as jaimanstone across multiple boards, has been collecting GI JOE since Christmas 1982 when he received his first Joe, Wild Bill and his Dragonfly.
He is a champion of the o-ring and is an admin and figure designer for Slayer Design Studios Project-ARAH. He also created the O-Ring Nation and SKOmegite groups on hisstank with the mission of furthering the o-ring as a viable format for future Joe action figures.
He also contributed as editor to two projects featuring GI JOE sculptor Bill Merklein, "The Bill Merklein Interview" and "Sculpting the Human Head."
Jared is an avid ARAH collector with a heavy interest in the vintage pre-production and production processes and the documentation thereof and is currently finishing up an interview he conducted with Kurt Groen, a Hasbro designer who worked on the vintage line in the late 80's and early 90's.
Tolan:
I am Tim Dzieciatkowski,
Having been in the hobby as long as I have, I have been able to amass and cull thousands of figures and vehicles over the years. Finding differences in the toys was easy with for figures since a lot had been documented but the vehicles, sadly, hadn't.
While I primarily focus on vintage vehicle related items, but I do branch off into other areas because of my collecting mantra..
--Why is it this way ?!--
Discovering why such variations exist and creating a paper trail to document the changes is what I like to trouble myself with..
I am the brain-child of the first coil-con that was hosted by Kokomo Toys, great place if you get a chance to go. I was a recent guest at Iowa: Assembly Required speaking on some vehicle variations. Currently helping Yojoe archive , and contributing to the Declassified booth.
I'd also mention how much and often I like to eat... and the giant 15+ pound rabbits I have as pets - GI Joe's ultimate downfall ..
TOPSON:
Chris Murray (who is the actual archaeologist of the group) has been playing with GI Joes since 1982 and collecting GI Joes since 1995. He bought his first prototype in 1998 and his entire collecting focus changed from there. Chris has been seeking information on the “behind the scenes” aspects of GI Joe ever since. His primary focus is on the ARAH line from 1981 to 1995. Chris has been archiving his prototype collection on
WWW.Joeintel.com and he is a regular contributor to the Joe Declassified convention booth. > > “To me, owning the toy is not what’s important. It is understanding the thought processes of the designer as to why it was made the way it was that I find important. This is a toy line that has helped bring happiness to millions of children. The history of the toy line needs to be preserved now, while those who created the line are still here to tell us about it. Understanding the history of the ARAH GI Joe line is my passion.”
1. I have been attending cons since 2005 in Atlanta, GA.
2. I have a nearly complete domestic collection with an extensive foreign collection!
3. To the regret of my fiancé, I converted the second largest room in my home to a joe room. LOL
4. Chris Murray is a large influence on Gyre-Viper in his collecting and daily life.
5. I have had the privilege to talk to many former Hasbro designers and some of them I am lucky enough to call a friend. (Guy Cassaday)
6. I am 39, a Virgo, my favorite movie is Highlander, and I love to go caving.
7. I buy the occasional modern piece, but I typically have no interest in anything after 1995.
8. Stopped buying joes from 1988 to 1995. I thought toys would hurt my chances of being cool/getting girls. I should have just bought toys. LOL.
9. I started reading the marvel run in 1982 and that was the biggest influence of GI Joe. The comic was what shaped the characters for me. I did not watch the cartoon much.
