 Hello everybody hooded Cobra Commander 788 here, and this is my special Joe Fest vlog I've been home from Joe Fest for a few days I've had some time to think about it and process it and I want to get something up So I get to talk to you about Joe Fest for those who don't know Joe Fest was a two-day convention really more of a day and a half convention in Augusta, Georgia on June 21st and 22nd It is not an official Hasbro GI Joe convention Hasbro does not have Joe Khan anymore, but Ed Schumacher has been organizing for the last couple years Joe Fest it's been in Augusta, Georgia for the last two years. I this is the first year that I went my understanding is it is much expanded from its first year and So it was quite an experience. I'd have to say it is one of my best experiences at a GI Joe convention and I've been to five Joe Khans and I love Joe Khan And I really loved the last Joe Khan in Chattanooga, Tennessee Joe Fest is a little bit of a different experience. It's a bit more fan-focused than Joe Khan was Joe Fest doesn't have like the official Hasbro convention exclusive figures and stuff Although there were exclusive figures there and I'm going to show some to you but it was more focused on on the fans and just getting people together and and enjoying GI Joe Along with a lot of the creators like Larry Hama, Kurt Busigian, Ron Ruddatt They were all there Sergeant Slaughter was there The voice actor for Storm Shadow and dial tone. They were there from the animated series And lots of fan creators were there comic book artists and so it was more like of a big fan gathering than just like a Way to grab exclusives so I have always gone to Joe Khan for The people to meet people and what was great about Joe Fest is a lot of the Joe Khan people were there You know the friends that you only see once a year They were there So it felt kind of like Joe Khan, but in some ways better That's really where I come down on it. I just feel That Joe Fest was a fantastic experience I hope to be invited next year But I do have to Give you an apology normally for Joe Khan I would do a whole travel video where I would have video of me traveling to the convention and video of the dealer floor and The contests and all that But I don't have that for you this time I tried but a couple things kind of gotten the way first of all they gave me a table right so I actually had a table that I needed to occupy and So I wasn't as free to you know go around see the whole show and go to each Vendor and you know go meet all the artists at least you know when I wanted to I needed to occupy my table And at the table I was very busy Which is great. I mean Being busy at the table means I got to meet a lot of people And that's what I was there for and my concern of course was that they would give me a table and Nobody would show up and I would just be sitting there, you know lonely and just Without anything to do because nobody really knows who I am That was not the case at all. A lot of people came to the table a lot of people said hello I talked with a lot of you guys. Thank you to everyone who came to the table I Appreciated that so much. It was so great to meet all of you I had some artwork for sale. I sold a lot of artwork much more than I was expecting I mean and there were like published comic book artists. They're great comic book artists And some people actually bought my stuff actually a lot of people bought my artwork So that was a surprise. I had secret code books to give away and so I gave away a lot of those I had my videos actually playing At my table and a ton of people showed up and so thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming and talking with me Now being busy though means that I can't just walk away. I can't just go and you know explore And so I didn't really have very much time to go like in the artist's room I did get to meet sergeant slaughter But that was like Then the like the last hour of the show the show was almost over and I finally was able to break free with with Mrs. HCC and go meet sergeant slaughter I've got some stuff to show you from when we met sergeant slaughter but yeah a lot of the of Like the G.I. Joe creators were there Kirk bezigian Larry Hama Ron Rudat you had voice actors from the animated series storm shadow dial tone. You had comic book artists there it was Just an amazing gathering of fans and creators and just people who Remember and still love G.I. Joe and it was a privilege to me To be there. I didn't really want to give you a travel video. I've been doing that every year It's kind of a tradition. However, if they invite me back next year, I've got some ideas I think I can do things differently, which will give me a little more freedom And I'll get you some more video next year I absolutely will after you know after the convention I hung out with a lot of you guys at the hotel bar Thanks for everyone for you know, just showing up and hanging out that kind of in-person interaction is what I always loved about Joe con and I love the interaction we have here, you know online and on the YouTube channel in the live streams But there's just no substitute for meeting someone in person So thanks everyone who hung out with me. It was a thrill. I had a panel There was a little bit of a hitch with the panel because I didn't have audio video equipment to use They had a projector. I could not use the projector. I tried to it didn't quite work But I'd still Gave my presentation. It was just mainly me talking but I was able to show the debut of The Cobra convergence video which is now up for everyone to see the first place to see it was at Joe Fest They had to squeeze us in Between the top secret panel the super secret panel that was invite only And then like an hour later. They were going to have the belly dancers So we had to fit between the super secret panel and the belly dancers We had to be out of there before those belly dancers showed up They looked like a rough crowd and I wasn't gonna mess with them So, you know, we had to kind of do the short version of the panel But I think I got across mostly everything that I wanted to say So thank you to everyone who was supportive and showed up at the panel I did put a video of the panel up so you can see that And I wanted everybody to understand what I meant when I said the belly dancers are coming that was real That was not a joke. There were real belly dancers. One thing that was a surprise was meeting Michael French from retroblasting Retroblasting was in Cobra convergence last year. They're gonna be in Cobra convergence this year and There was an amazing number of Cobra convergence people there that I was able to meet in person That was crazy man plastic battles and special mission force and retroblasting and like we had like a room full of Cobra convergence people there together. That's that was mind-blowing But yeah, I was just you know getting ready for the panel and I looked down the hallway and there's Michael French So, you know, I immediately got security to see if they could escort that guy out No, I didn't really it was actually really cool to meet him. He's very nice And we hung out together after the show. We went out to dinner with him and kick Lee by the way kick Lee the comic book artist also in Cobra convergence and What an amazing guy that is a great artist and just a really down-to-earth guys so fun to hang out with and talk to And so he went to dinner with us and like Michael and some of his friends I did get some things from Joe Fest and I will show you those things But first I want to show you the best thing I took home with me from Joe Fest and that is this This I put at my table and it's basically just said sign my Joe Fest 2019 card Because I wanted everyone's autograph not the not the the special guests. I wanted all the people everyone who came by To my table and met me and said hello I wanted your signature on this souvenir Joe Fest card so that I can keep this forever and always remember everyone who came to me and said hello and This thing we filled it up filled it up with tons of signatures and I love this. I Will keep this I may I may frame this and put this on a wall because This is special to me because this represents you right this represents the people. They are what's really important And so thank you if you signed this if you didn't sign it Well, I am going to make this an annual tradition I will have one of these with me next year and so just make it next year Come next year and sign my Joe Fest card now. Let me show you some things that People gave to me at Joe Fest Let's start with sergeant slaughter because we did meet sergeant slaughter Susan and I both met sergeant slaughter We got some pictures with him. I will put the pictures on the screen right now He put me in the cobra clutch. It was fantastic. He's a super nice guy And I'm glad that we were able to meet him before the show was over Yeah, it was maybe within the last hour of the show that we finally was We're able to get over to his table and meet him and I got some things signed I he signed this picture with the triple t tank and He signed t-shirts for us and I love these t-shirts this one is Susan's t-shirt And This one This one is mine and he did sign it He did sign it hcc 788 if you ever have a chance to meet sergeant slaughter Go meet him. I was looking at some of the stuff I got from Eric Amon because he gave me a lot of stuff He was one of the winners of the Hammer when I gave away the four hammer shells and parts Uh in the live stream He won one of those and so I just brought it with me and I gave it to him at joe fest Well, he gave me a lot of stuff. I including some alcoholic Adult beverages, which I can't really show you because I've already, you know drank some of those But thank you Eric for that. The wisconsin beer was pretty good. I liked the wisconsin beer I'm gonna have to get more of it Susan tried it and she liked it So now I really got to find more of it because you know, she doesn't normally like beer and we found a beer that she likes so So he gave me a couple of things He gave me this This hoodie this This hodag hoodie And I'm pretty sure that a hodag is a real thing. I haven't found any yet, but uh, I'm hitting my local Pet shops to see if I can find one And then he gave me a custom figure and I'm going to change the camera angle because I want you to see this close up This is a custom action figure of me With a whole card and everything with it Uh and a complete file card I am going to take this out so you can see it But uh, yeah, this is just an amazing amount of effort. Um, this is something that Eric commissioned for me And he also commissioned some custom figures for Larry hama and kirk bosigian as well But that is amazing a totally modern Figure a custom of hcc 788 Uh, now you might be saying that uh, hey, that's a modern figure you review Uh vintage o-ring figures. Well, hey I got an o-ring custom of me too from green yeti We're gonna look at that as well. This is both of these are completely totally awesome I'm going to take this um out of the box and show it to you So there is the modern custom figure of me It's got the green gi joe shirt that I wear sometime. It's got my blue jeans Uh, it's got a venom laser pistol, which you know, I do have a full-size venom laser pistol Because one was sent to me It has a laptop totally appropriate because I do edit my videos on a laptop He's even got my nikes there. Uh, and it comes with a Green hooded cobra commander head Um, and that's an amazing coincidence. I mean, that's I could pop off this head and put this one on But you don't often see the hooded cobra commander in green But um, this actually is very fitting with another custom that I got and I'm going to show you that later But yeah, so that's not a bad likeness of me. I mean you got my uh, my beard and That they got kind of the the lighter gray in my hair on top of the the darker color So Yeah, this this is mind-blowing. This is just an amazing custom. Thank you very much, Eric But this is not the only custom action figure of me that I got at joe fest This is an o-ring custom figure of me given to me by green yeti You know green yeti. He shows up in the live stream and in the comments and stuff And so, you know green yeti. He's a friend of the channel and this is just so cool So and you know, I'm very partial to o-ring figures and I've got to say that's a really good like this I wanted to focus. There we go. That's a really good likeness. You got my beard. You got You managed to get like that lighter bit of gray. I have in the front You know, I've had gray hair since I was in my 20s But uh, so, you know, I've got these patches of gray in my hair and he captured that so well And of course, I like this cobra commander uniform. It's quite regal with the venom laser pistol As appropriate again, I do have one in real life very appropriate that custom figure of me Include the venom laser pistol from cobra commander. So that's amazing includes the cobra commander card and a letter from green yeti here So evan, thank you very much. This is very special to me. I think it's great. I love it I love that you did it with o-rings and I love that you you captured my likeness. That's awesome And also, thank you green yeti for coming in talking with me. I'm glad that you were able to make it So thanks. Thanks for coming to my table. Thanks for talking to me and just thanks for being very supportive of the channel And I'm glad you're enjoying gi joe and I hope you continue to enjoy it and thank you very much for this Remember, I said it was an amazing coincidence that eric's custom figure of me included a Green hood. Well, here's another custom I was given at show fest And it is a green cobra commander And this figure comes from don cohen. I apologize if I'm not pronouncing your name correctly But don sent me a private message a while back asking me to pick from Among several different color schemes. He didn't say what it was for He asked me to pick one and this is the one that I picked and so he made a cobra commander figure in that color scheme And I have to say I like it. You don't often see cobra commander in green I think for obvious reasons green is more associated with gi joe But he looks good in green and you know Don and eric they didn't coordinate. They didn't talk about it beforehand. They didn't plan this But somehow both of them came up with the idea of doing a green hooded cobra commander So this is awesome. It's an amazing figure. Now, you may be sitting there at home saying to yourself Hey there hooded cobra commander seven eight eight You're a fan of o ring gi joe action figures Well don knew this of course and he made an o ring custom of the same figure That's just incredible. There you go modern and vintage style in green and Matching the custom figure that eric gave me just that's amazing. Thank you so much for this don This is incredible. Great work here and very much appreciated. Thank you I got these items from two different people at joe fest and I can't thank them by name Because I did not catch the names of the people who gave them to me and I apologize for that If you gave me these things at joe fest, please send me a message so I can thank you again for them I was given the 30th anniversary action sailor and action soldier I and another guy gave me the 1994 black star figure a figure I did not have so This helps me fill a gap in the collection and you get something closer to being ready to review So that's very important to me. That really helps me out And so thank you for doing that. These are both great I have considered that I may go ahead and review these kind of 30th anniversary kind of throwback figures That they did these commemorative figures I am intrigued by them. I'm interested in them. So I may eventually do a review on those So thank you for these now. We're going to look at some joe fest exclusives These are not official hasbro releases, but they are custom figures that were exclusive to joe fest And this one was given to me with the expectation that I will open it and review it So you can expect a review on this figure I haven't opened it yet though for now. It's still sealed in the bag And this is from scorched earth creations and level seven And this is the unmasked commando Done in the style of snake eyes with his mask off and with some excellent sculpting and paint work showing his scars And that's just incredible. It comes with an alternate head and his weapons and everything And it has a custom file card as well This I mean I haven't taken it out of the package yet. I I can see what it looks like and it looks amazing And I'm looking forward to getting this on camera and doing a more close up review of it. So thank you for this This is an amazing custom And if you're going to go to joe fest if you want to get the exclusives This is the kind of thing that you can expect to see These sold out and my understanding is they sold out very quickly And I can understand why It's just a really superbly done figure. This is another joe fest exclusive the traitor by broka customs And this one is a loner. This belongs to steward. And so this is one I need to review But then I will return it to its owner So I wanted to show this to you and this is another one where I will Give you a more close up review in the future This is called the traitor because it's based on dusty from a couple episodes of the animated series Where he was temporarily a traitor to cobra And it's got a custom head on it really excellent sculpting and paintwork It's got an alternative head. It's got a stand. It's got a pistol and a backpack It has this is not a typical cobra soldier uniform. This is a special uniform It's all custom and it's just looks really nice and a cool kind of Tribute to some popular episodes of the animated series So I'm not going to put this on the stand. I don't want to take any risk of breaking this figure I'm being very cautious with it And I will get this on camera in the future Close up so you can see it But really nice custom figure and another exclusive to joe fest one figure I'm going to show you that I don't have in front of me is the figure from the custom class They had a custom class this year where you could build a custom figure and Bart simon Who has been a friend of gi joe berg and a friend of this channel and I was able to meet him At joe fest really cool guy. He went to the custom class He did the custom figure and he let me get some video footage of the figure So that I can do a more in-depth video about it. So that's another joe fest video that you will be getting I'll be doing a special video about the custom figure and looking at it You know close up and also talking about the experience of the custom class At least as as Bart's reports it So thank you to Bart for letting me get some video of that custom And I will be showing that to you more later as you may know I'm a big fan of the finest the gi joe cosplay group I know some people in that group. They're awesome people and they gave me a couple things They gave me first of all a patch That says hcc 788 on it. They made a patch for me That is so cool I am going to find something to put this patch on. I will create Something just so I can wear this patch It's awesome custom patch from the finest and that's not the only thing they gave me. They also gave me this t-shirt and it has The finest on the back Capital defense regiments on the front and just just lovely this time beautiful t-shirt. I love this And and I really like the guys from the finest. They do great charity work They've got some great great people in that group and they do some awesome cosplay And so to have them give me a shirt was a special honor Thank you to the finest now. I can show you a few things I got for myself I didn't get very much really. I only got three things Because I barely had any time to shop. I was so busy, you know, usually at joe con I would get a lot of stuff and I would review that stuff for the rest of the year Not so much this time, but I did get a few things and one of those special things is The 1993 Ghost striker I already have the pilot it didn't have the pilot so that's okay But it's got all of its missiles and the often missing tail fin And nose cone And this is nice. This is a jet that I have been looking for for quite some time Been trying to nail this down. I often find it missing pieces. So it's nice to actually get it intact So this will be a great addition to the collection and eventually, of course, it will end up on the show in a review. So There is the 1993 Ghost striker this next one may interest some people. I got the 1991 brawler This big old tank from 1991 with orange bits It is it's complete. It's got like the break blade panel there But there it is. This is another 90s vehicle that I've been needing to nail down Really the biggest gaps in my collection are with 90s vehicles. So You know when I can find them and they're affordable. I try to get them when I can so Yeah, there's the brawler that may interest some people because I know there are a few brawler fans out there So that'll be one that will be refued eventually And I only got one other thing that one other thing is the 1993 ninja force ninja lightning It is with the box. The box is Open. It's not a sealed box But the contents inside Are still sealed. They've never been put together. It has never been assembled This is another thing that I've been wanting to nail down not because I love the ninja lightning motorcycle But because I want to assemble this on camera because Two other gijo channels have tried to put this thing together on camera and both of them have broken it sanitary and productions and gijo berg have both broken the front fork while Trying to assemble the front wheel And so I'm going to see what techniques I can use to Get this thing assembled. Hopefully without breaking it. That's been my goal Ever since I saw the other two guys try to do it I want to try it. I want to see if I can do it and maybe I will be the first Gijo youtuber to successfully assemble a ninja lightning on camera So yeah, so that's what this is for this will be in an assembly video in the future So that's all the stuff I got at joe fest, but that that's just the tangible stuff The stuff I really got from joe fest was the experiences and what a great experience it was I mean, it wasn't perfect. There were some hiccups with the panel and the the equipment and stuff like that, but Those things can all be ironed out The expectation is a will do it next year and I'm hoping to be invited back next year if I am invited. I will go definitely But yeah, it was it was a great experience and the best part of the experience was meeting all of you And I hope we can do it again next year if you didn't make it if you didn't make it this year Try to make it next year. I know that it's not easy I know not everybody can travel not everybody can get the time away from work I understand and if you if you can't make it because you need to take care of your other responsibilities Take care of your other responsibilities, right? You always have to take care of real life first But if you can make it Please try to make it. I want to meet you. I want you to have this experience for yourself The kind of experience you'll take with you for a long time making new friends Friends that you will keep with you for a long time These are the things that it's really about more so than getting toys It's about the people so thank you for making it a great experience for me. I hope this will Be satisfactory for a chofest video. I really wanted to do a whole travel video for it But this is the best I could do because I was just so busy having great experiences So you can expect to see a few videos of the stuff that I showed you some things that will be broken out into separate Short review videos But other than that, this kind of wraps up my joe fest coverage and comments So thanks everyone for watching. Thanks everyone who was there and hopefully I'll get to meet all of you next year And until the next joe fest remember Only gi joe is gi joe