What makes a convention figure?

[PJDonnell]

Hey everyone, say hello to my Cobra Infiltrate Jinx!



Astute readers will note that my figure looks a bit different from the one in our database. That's because I didn't get my figure at the 1993 G.I. Joe convention. I got mine at a little toy show in Burbank around 1999 or 2000. The year is a bit fuzzy to me now, but the rest of the details are not. This was a G.I. Joe toy show put on by James DeSimone, the type that still go on today.

Mr. DeSimone put on the 1993 G.I. Joe convention, as well as a few more. The figure you see here I bought directly from him. I fished her out of a gallon size plastic bag full of o-ring-less Jinxes with Cobra logos on their torsos. Yes, the entire bag was filled with unassembled convention Jinxes.

Now, traditionally, these convention Jinx figures feature black gloves and shoes. I'm told that a simple black sharpie applied to my figure will authentically rectify that difference. I could buy Jinx's 1987 staff off of ebay - after all, it's the exact same accessory this convention figure is supposed to have. These two easy fixes would leave me only missing her cloak.

But I prefer to leave my figure as-is. The question that this raises is this: is this a legitimate variation? I got it from the guy who makes them, after all. Or would you even call the convention Jinx a true convention figure? For me, I think of these as figure oddities. Neat to have, but not necessary to collect. The same would apply to the Police Officer (a repainted Starduster) and the Race Car Driver (a touched-up Ace).

All I know is that this leaves a lot of questions on how exactly I'm supposed to archive my Jinx. Incidentally, for those who care, she has the blue logo variant.

[Plastica]

Your question Phil seems to cover a lot of Gray areas. One argument that people could make and it would be understandable is that especially back then when "leftover stock" of figure B that used Figure 238's Head Sculpt would be packaged up with some accessories that look right and be sold as if it was Figure 238 that they aren't True convention figures. These people would say that the only True Convention figures were those put out starting in 2002 from the Club and later figures and so forth that Hasbro created to sell at places like San Diego Comic Con. After all what's to keep me from going to something like JoeCon and going onto the sales floor and buying 6 Custom Night Force Steel BRigade Figures (I know such figs exist) and then try and claim that they are a Convention figure since I bought them at a convention.

[r07a23c]

You raise an interesting question.... These figures are essentially custom figures, but Jinx is even more unique; per the archive, it was authorized by Hasbro. So in that case, I would say yes, it's a convention figure. Police Officer and Race Car Driver, however, were not authorized by Hasbro, but were available at DeSimone conventions.

So, I guess...

As there are regional conventions that offer exclusive figures, produced by the organizers, I would call them convention figures, but specific to those conventions. In other words, "this is the DeSimone Convention exclusive figure Police Officer" or "DeSimone Convention exclusive Race Car Driver", and so on.

As you got your Jinx figure like that straight from the "manufacturer", I think it's fair to call it a variation.

That said, I can also see the case for viewing them more as "oddities", much the way I view, for instance, the Black Major customs.

[martin-montreal]

How would you classify the Canadian Joe Convention exclusives that were endorsed by Hasbro : Canadian G.I. Joe Convention

[PJDonnell]

How would you classify the Canadian Joe Convention exclusives that were endorsed by Hasbro : Canadian G.I. Joe Convention

What Flophouse said, though archiving these figures could possibly add more legitimacy to these figures than they already have. The problem is that not everyone who visits this site reads as much as the archive says about a figure.

[martin-montreal]

What Flophouse said, though archiving these figures could possibly add more legitimacy to these figures than they already have. The problem is that not everyone who visits this site reads as much as the archive says about a figure.

What is the process to make a place for the CJC exclusives on YoJoe?

[Flophouse]

This is a difficult subject to draw a line in. My initial thought was that the figure needs Hasbro's involvement or approval, hence the DeSimone Jinx is a true convention figure. But Race Car Driver and Police Officer are fan customs made in quantity. However, Martin's point has made it difficult now. I've never considered the JoeCanuck figures to be anything other than hand painted customs, so I never collected them. If Hasbro Canada signed off on them though, that muddies the water.

I want to say that a true convention exclusive has to be factory made, not hand painted, dyed, or part swapped by fans. But then Black Major's customs are factory made......(albeit illegally).

I think for the archives here you could technically add ANY fan made or bootleg figure, but always include a special note mentioning their origin and unofficial status. Soon, all these fan made convention and bootleg figures are going to start being sold off in lots with regular figures as people dump their collections for whatever reason. It would be helpful if people could find info on those figures here and know they are not actual Hasbro releases.

Tough call either way.

[martin-montreal]

I was looking to get your point of view before adding more comment. The CJC were fully endorsed by Hasbro. See top right comment on the filecards: "G.I. Joe and its logo are trademark marks of Hasbro and are used with permission. (c) 2011 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved"



So my question is why these are not in the archive?

[PJDonnell]

We've asked around, and this gets confusing for us. And we mean no offense or harm, at all. That particular year did get approval from Hasbro Canada, yes, but Hasbro USA seemed to think differently. Maybe opinion has changed now, I really don't know. But it put us in a bit of a bind.

The other reason is more practical - none of us actually has a set to archive!

[martin-montreal]

We've asked around, and this gets confusing for us. And we mean no offense or harm, at all. That particular year did get approval from Hasbro Canada, yes, but Hasbro USA seemed to think differently. Maybe opinion has changed now, I really don't know. But it put us in a bit of a bind.

Why saying that "particular year"? I gave the example of 2011 because I had the filecards on hands. But these filecards are from the 2010 set:

The other reason is more practical - none of us actually has a set to archive!

Then, I can provide the 2011 and 2012 sets :-) Maybe more...