Welcome to Joe Talk!

[Sgt_Flash]

Before settling in, a couple of quick thank-yous:

• To Jim, this site's owner, who's been after me to blog about this hobby for quite some time now. Thank you for wanting to read what I have to write, and for providing the proverbial soapbox to do so.
• To Terry, whose diligence in getting the technical side of all this ironed out has finally paid off.
• To the rest of the staff at Yojoe.com, past and present, for all you've done over the years to make this site the place to visit for all things G.I.Joe. As a hobby, G.I.Joe can be exhausting with its detail, and Yojoe.com has long been the guide for many of us in the community to keep everything in order. I'm involved with a lot of great projects in the G.I. Joe community, and Yojoe.com has left its fingerprints on them all, from JoeDeclassified to What's On Joe Mind? to GeneralsJoes.com.

That said, let's get down to business... who am I and what am I doing here?

I'm Mike Irizarry, co-host of What's On Joe Mind?, the G.I. Joe community's largest G.I. Joe podcast. As I stated earlier, I've also been a contributor for a number of other G.I. Joe sites and projects over the years, including the COIL Club and COIL Cons, the Joe Declassified newsletter, podcast and website, GeneralsJoes.com, Joesightings.com, JoeBattleLines.com, and others. I collected G.I. Joe as a kid from 1982 until about 1988, then dove back in in 1996 and have been going ever since. Despite this potential oversaturation, I'll hopefully bring some new ideas and views to the Yojoe blogroll, or at least provide some fun stories from the social side of the hobby.

Joecon is literally only a few days away and as it's in my hometown of Indianapolis, I'll be there. You'll be able to find me in any number of places, from the COIL Club booth to the Declassified booth, recording with the WOJM guys or attending panels. One WOJM listener asked me on Facebook if that left any time for me to actually enjoy the Convention. I replied that if I wasn't keeping that busy, I'd be bored silly. So please come by and say hello, and I'm sure I'll have more to write about once the Convention is under way. I can't wait to get there! Travel safe, and I'll see you in Indy!

[The_commander]

so....let's talk Joe?

See ya in Indy!

[tkjaer21]

Are you going to be at the Convention more than just a day this year? I am not going this year but hope that you all have a great time. I love your podcast and tell all of my Joe Friends and new people I meet in the toy eisles that show interest in G.I. Joe to listen to it constantly. Take care and have fun this year. You guys do a great thing. I can't wait to hear the episodes live from Indianapolis.

By the way, you know me as Starfighter on the other sites.

[Black Llama]

I'll jump!

GI Joe in the 90's. It seems a lot of collectors that shunned the Neon/Space/Ninja era are now jumping back aboard. Suddenly owning Star Brigade figures and a Lightning Cycle is not as ridiculed as it once was. Do you think the Club should embrace this change, or continue to try and cater to the more core character fans?

[The_commander]

Good point. I think a lot of it depends on age. A lot of the 80s Joe fans were in their mid-to-late teens in the 90s and at that point the line was probably seen as childish. However, if you take me, for example, I didn't get heavy into the Joe toys until around 88-89, and from then on I have great memories of Eco-Warriors, Ninja Force, and Battle Corps. I think the Club would be wise to cater to this 'era' of Joe fan as well, and we are starting to see that with FSS 2.0 Cesspool (a GREAT figure choice, btw).

[Sgt_Flash]

I wouldn't mind seeing the character from those eras re-imagined, but I wouldn't be nearly as interested in straight-up redecos from that era. Too much neon, too much bulk.

[KuuKuuSon]

op and enjoy the convention?