"That's one good looking action figure!" JOElanta report

WOW! That about sums up my experience from this year's JOElanta. More Dealers, more Commanders, more Attendees and more Toys than ever. It was truly a great time. The energy was building as we got closer to the show and pretty much exploded during it!

The festivities kicked off after Commanders patiently waited until 6pm and then after all our sponsors were thanked for their support, JOElanta founder (and Trivia MC ) Buddy Finethy was given an award for his labor of love which has become this great gathering, 12 teams competed in the Who Knows JOE Trivia. After lulling a number of teams into a false sense of security with some easy questions a few zingers made everyone reconsider how easy this was going to be. Do any of you know what the inspiration for Barbie was (And for the record it was NOT Big Jim : )) or the name of the Hippity Hopp originally invented in the UK? At the mid point all the Commanders got to open their Convention Exclusive Uniform and Figure Set with 2 lucky individuals scoring a vintage painted head or a vintage AT fuzzhead! Once the dust settled 3 lucky teams won a variety of Gift Certificates and figures from MARX TOYS www.circlexranch.com

Next the group made their way to the dealers preview room and JOElanta Film Festival. But not before hearing a presentation from Collector DASH www.collector-actionfigures.com about the latest applications to their state of the art website as a resource for collectors (you've really gotta check it out - and it's FREE too!). The Film Festival included past winners such as "Plastic Chef" and "Lara Croft" as well as 19 episodes of Govt. Issue Joesph and the debut of #20 - HILARIOUS! www.youtube.com/GovtIssueJoseph or www.governmentissuejoseph.com and finally one new entry! While the film festival was going on all attendees were able to peruse the Dealer preview tables to begin their buying frenzy. And boy did it continue into a full blown 100 person plus "Lobby Swap" hosted by Mr. EJ White. It was like a mini show! Next came the parachute drop that ended up lasting into the wee hours of the night (12:30 am).

The next day was amazing. Just think 120 tables jam packed with all types of toys, comics, movie posters. And centered in the room was a massive medieval castle sporting stained glass windows and everything! Think "Where Eagles Dare" - Mike Gardner and Steve Bugg really outdid themselves this year! Great door prizes, Custom figures and vehicles with prizes donated by SIDESHOW Collectibles www.sideshowtoy.com , a rather voluptuous Baroness monitoring the floor, a collection of MIB and carded Military era and AT GI Joes on display, other costumed guests and the list goes on and on. Again a truly great time.

On a personal note I would like to say thank you to everyone, both here locally and around the country, who helped make this 10th anniversary show such a huge success. It is truly wonderful to see something like this become a reality because of so many people's hard work. It was also great to see many old friends again and to meet many new ones.

Thank you to our sponsors, thank you to Gregg Sherb for the great exclusive uniform, thank you to all our great dealers, thank you to all the Commanders and their families, thank you to all the 100's of visitors who supported the show. And to those who missed it we sure hope to see you all next year on March 19th & 20th at the same location.

Now about the title to this entry, that devilishly handsome fellow is supposed to be me! Ha Ha! Thanks to Don Coffee and his "Flocking Machine" that he had set up at the show (more to come on that in a future post). The shelf is beginning to get a bit full with JOElanta exclusives - guess I'll have to continue it down to the next shelf for next year's exclusive. Finally the buckboard wagon was just one of many items I was fortunate enough to score during the show.

Stay tuned much more to come. Visit www.joelanta.com for show pictures and next year's show info - coming soon.

JOElanta 2010 Exclusive Uniform and figure box art

JOElanta is just right around the corner! If you'd like to take a trip down the memory lane of your childhood toys then this show will not disappoint. Everything from vintage '60's, '70's & '80's GI Joe , Johnny West, Big Jim, Barbie, STAR WARS, Monster toys, Super Heroes, comics and much more.

The festivities start on Saturday night with "Who Knows Joe Trivia, The Joelanta Film Festival, Dealer preview, Lobby swap and Parachute Drop (special packages available check out www.joelanta.com for all show details). Sunday show hrs are 10am-4pm. 1st 100 kids get a free toy! Over 100 tables of toys, Huge 10 ft x 10 ft diorama, costumed guests, Iron Joe competition and individual diorama and figure contests.

The above image is the box art to the exclusive outfit and figure set for this year's show. I spent the afternoon putting the boxes and decals together. Together with show poster, pin and T-shirt, this year's Commander's package is a great deal!

See you at the show!

FLASHBACK magazine

Another interesting magazine from the '70's was this publication called Flashback that focused on classic movies, including articles, reviews and stills. Naturally the magazine benefited from great covers with caricatures done by Jack Davis. Check out the back page blk & wht house ad by Mort Drucker!

Bob Clarke original

A few years ago while perusing around on ebay I unexpectedly came across this great pen and ink illustration done by none other than one of MAD magazine's original UGOI, the multi talented Bob Clarke. It now hangs proudly on my studio wall along with other interesting items. I especially like his "Alfred E. Neuman" shorts!

Johnny West - latest score !!!!!!

Check out the details to my latest acquisition below!

The JOEpit Report - Johnny West Score!!!!

Joe Pit Report
Thursday, March 04, 2010
This week’s Host: Buddy Finethy

Steve and I are making great progress on the diorama. We completed a dozen windows for the castle with a hot wire, foam, and 3 layered window templates Steve developed. Steve and I are taking a break from the Wednesday night meetings until after Joelanta to complete the construction of the diorama. So in the mean time David Lane and Marten Jallad will be helping out with the Joe Pit Reports.

As Ya’ll know down here in Atlanta the Wednesday night JOE fun doesn’t always start that night. Take yesterday for instance when EJ and Marten (AKA The Marx Brothers) spent the whole day Joe-ing. Marten had received an email from Spidee (George Felix) who has a toy booth in an antique mall. He had just purchased a large collection containing some Johnny West items! That, coupled with the fact Spidee needed to replenish his stock and EJ wanting to thin out some of his collection made it a win - win situation for all involved. The great thing about knowing so many toy enthusiasts in town is that we have an awesome network to work with. After leaving Spidee’s and a Chinese Buffet later it was over to EJ’s to continue culling through his massive collection to get ready for Joelanta. Then Bryan comes over and digs through about 5 tubs of loose figures before the group headed on out to Buddy’s.

Charles had gotten there ahead of us all and grilled up a bunch of burgers and hot dogs and made some killer slaw. After some recaps on how great everything was coming along with the show and Buddy unveiling the 1st print of this years killer poster we settled down to watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. After the group (in much disbelief) learned that Marten had never seen The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and Casablanca. We decided that Marten was horribly deprived as a child, even for someone who grew up in Kuwait. We agreed that we need a crash moviethon to close the holes in his edumacation. The flying monkeys alone could bridge countless gaps in his cultural understanding and enlightenment. Incidentally Sky Captain was great, especially seen in Buddy’s theatre room.

Come see the following Dealers at this year’s JOElanta. COTSWALD, Horror Works, Toy Chest & Collectibles, Dean Morrison, Capt. Cosmos Collectibles, Stewart’s Attic & Circle X Ranch, Foot Soldiers, House of Anime, F & M Models, The Toy Surgeon, Ace Allgood, DASH, Monocrhromatic Studios, Full Circle, Don Coffee with his “Flocking machine” This is just a sampling of the many great dealers at this years show.

Don’t forget about the custom figure, small diorama and custom vehicle contests. We have great prizes to give away to the best in each field.

As always the time for us to disband came too soon.

Until next week this is David Lane, Marten Jallad and Mike Gardner saying… ”Play with your toys! “
23 days to lift off

Friends of THWAK - Dave Newton

I truly have been so fortunate to not only have met so may wonderful artists and writers but also to befriend many of them. One such individual is my buddy Dave Newton who I met about 10 years ago at the short lived Atlanta Comic Convention (not to be mistaken for the ongoing Atlanta Comic Con that takes place once a quarter at the same hotel we do the JOElanta Action Figure and Toy Show www.joelanta.com ). I was set up with fellow THWAK (comic book) publisher and editor and another great friend Buddy Finethy, promoting the brand new THWAK comic book. I had already decided that I was going to take the publication in a new direction and change it to a magazine format and was actively looking for new artists when this guy comes up to the table and asks me if I would like to see his portfolio. I was immediately taken aback by how talented he was. Great line work, humor based illustrations and he could do a continuity too!

Starting with THWAK #1 magazine Dave not only started contributing but also helped lay out the 1st 2 issues and 5th entirely, something I could not have done at the time. Dave's 1st piece was a spectacular homage to Movie Monsters. He captured so many terrific monsters from past to present. His love for the genre really came through. In one instance after his parody poster of the Wolfman and Frankenstein for our Monster themed Great Atlanta Toy Show back in 2005
Dave was asked to do some work for Atlanta's best known Halloween Haunted House "NetherWorld". Dave's love of the Creature also found him contributing to the horror film fanzine SCARY MONSTERS.

Dave would go on to contribute multi page stories for the whole run of THWAK , JOKESTER(even illustrating a piece written by underground comix legend Jay Lynch) and CRACKED magazines as well as edit the original art collectors publication CFAAPA. Dave's artwork and designs can be seen on hundreds of T-shirts around the country.