JOElanta 2008 Diorama

Here's just one angle of this amazing 8x12 ghost town diorama titled "Killer Mine at Bloody Canyon" from JOElanta 2008. With a church, general store, sheriffs office and an underground railroad tunnel this piece was really something to look at. Heck we even had a hanging at high noon! Check it out on utube as well as these other diorams from past shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFuQIu9qyqo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPHpWbx9Eek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYHVPtM6S4w

10 th Annual JOElanta GI JOE & Action Figure show

The time is drawing nearer to our 10th Annual JOElanta celebration! Come on out and bring the family March 28th. Free parking. Special room price for show attendees.

And for all of you hardcore fans , please join us on Saturday night 27th (starting at 6pm) as part of our Commander's package that includes:

show t-shirt, show poster, exclusive (to be announced), Joelanta Trivia contest, JOElanta film festival, Sat night dealers preview room, lobby swap with Mr EJ White, parachute drop, early admission to show Sunday morning and 2 passes to the show itself. (price to be announced shortly).

The show hrs will be Sunday 28th 10am - 4pm Admission: $6 adults $5 kids 12 and under
under 5 free First 100 kids get a free toy!

Come check out our brand new show diorama, costumed guests, Collection of every vintage boxed adventure team era Gi Joe, Iron Joe competition (hosted by JOE World), custom figure and vehicle contest, over 100 tables jam packed full of:

Gi Joe, Star Wars, Captain Action, Barbie, Johnny West, Marx toys, Big Jim, Captain Action, Dragon, DID, comics, magazines, games, miniatures, monster toys and more!

Please visit www.joelanta.com for directions and more info. Dealers please contact Marten @ madjallads@bellsouth.net or 678-232-2871 to order your booths.

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band parody poster

Another example of parody. This time of the classic Beatles Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band record album. It just made perfect sense to the JOElanta team to recreate this using action figures. You can see that in the last picture a few of the key members of the team have our heads superimposed on bodies. My head being appropriately added to the body of Johnny West, my current collecting obsession.

My Action Figure Collection

I remember getting my first Action Man (UK's cousin of GI Joe) back in 1970. Over the next 6 or so years I was enthralled with them and although I never had that many, playing with them certainly helped stimulate my imagination until I discovered MAD magazine which helped further warp my mind.

Over the last 10 years I have rekindled that love of Action figures, specifically Action Man and GI Joe (I have been involved with JOElanta, helped start The Great Atlanta Toy Show and helped out at various National GI Joe Conventions around the country) and more recently Johnny West and Marx Action figures. Strangely enough I had never even seen Johnny West as a child but after seeing so many of these great figures at various shows I was tempted beyond the breaking point to start collecting them.

Here then is my collection which includes various JOElanta exclusives. Check out www.joelanta.com and come to our 10th anniversary show next year on March 27th & 28th. We are in the process of putting together next years exclusive set. Pretty exciting!

Also check out http://www.circlexranch.com/ to see the latest from MARX TOYS, including many great head sculpts.

Local Atlanta GI Joe club interviewed on CNN

Here's an interview that recently appeared on CNN that some of the local GI Joe club members had an opportunity to be involved in. The main reason for the article was to showcase GI JOE & Action Figure collectors and highlight the new movie "The Rise of COBRA".

The prior day the entire club was invited to a sneak peak screening of the movie (which I personally give 3 thumbs up to! - intense action from start to finish - what a rush!!!) courtesy of Paramont Pictures (THANKS). We had a blast as we got to set up a visual history of Gi Joe in the lobby of the theatre for all to see as well as share the news of our very own JOElanta Action Figure Toy Show on March 28th 2010 (10th Anniversary) and The Cody Lane Foundation TOY & DIORAMA MUSEUM that we are in the process of initiating. Check out http://www.joelanta.org/ for more information and links.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/06/joe.collectors.irpt/index.html

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-287739

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-309370

A few pictures from this years JOElanta Toy show

Plenty of fun was had by all at this years JOElanta GI Joe & Action Figure Toy Show that took place on Sunday June 17th. We are already gearing up for next years show at the same venue on March 27th & 28th so mark your calendars and check out http://www.joelanta.com/ periodically for updates.

JOElanta 2009 show MAY 17th

We are getting very excited about the 9th annual JOElanta GI JOE , Action figure and General Toy Show that is rapidly approaching. The buzz is out check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCmZpkBeO7o on utube as well as go directly to www.joelanta.com to find out more info about the show.

Also check out a look back at JOElanta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYHVPtM6S4w&feature=related

and Jack Wash's Film Festival winner "Plastic Chef" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydwM1HtyOWQ

Saturday night is gonna be great for all those with Commander's packages as there'll be a ton going on. We'll kick things off with registration at 3pm in the lobby of the MARRIOTT Century Center at 2000 Century Center Blvd NE, Atlanta Ga 30345, next we'll have a "Meet and Greet" followed by Trivia. Next is our world famous JOElanta Film Festival, a couple of presentations and then a Dealers preview room!!!! Stay up late to room trade and watch the parachute drop!

Sunday we'll kick the show off at 9am for Commanders and all others at 10am. Remember this is a Family friendly show- 1st 100 kids get a free toy, any Scouts or anyone in uniform will get in for free. Check out the 501st STAR WARS Storm Troopers in full gear! Our Diorama experts Steve Bugg and Mike Gardner will be on hand to unveil their latest creation - a tribute to "War of The Worlds" with a 16" robot! Here's last year's Diorama "Killer Mine at Bloody Canyon" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPHpWbx9Eek The show will have 120 tables packed with all types of toys, the Iron Joe competition (where teams will compete to build a Diorama within one hr), custom figure and vehicle contest hosted by "Tanker", tons of door prizes and fun for everyone.

We are very excited to be working towards our goal of opening "The Cody Lane Toy & Diorama Museum" right here in Atlanta.

Hope to see you all at this years show. Doors open at 10 am Sunday 17th! Bring the family, dig up your old toys and bring them to be appraised by our experts.

'

Jedi Jam

This picture was taken at The GREAT ATLANTA TOY SHOW in 2005. Even though we had been doing JOElanta GI Joe & Action Figure show for 5 years at the time it was our 2nd regular toy show. Our 1st being in Jan of that year with an Antiques Roadshow type theme patrons were encouraged to bring in their old toys and have them appraised by experts in different fields. It was a huge success and everyone had a great time.

The Jedi Jam was a STAR WARS themed show with tons of sci fi related toys as well as Storm Troopers from the 501st in attendance and of course Vader Painter, here seen about to crush a poor lowly toy show promoter. HaHha!

Incidentally we are gearing up for the 9th Annual JOElanta taking place the 16th & 17th of MAY at the Marriot off of I-85 (2000 Century Center Blvd Ne, Atlanta, Ga 30345). There'll be 120 tables packed full of all types of toys and action figures as well as comics and magazines. Check out http://www.joelanta.com/ for more info.