Joker Squad Review

The website Entertainment Earth has had some interesting exclusive sets in recent years, most related to Star Wars. There were two sets that featured a variety of Astromech (R2-D2 type) droids. One of the most recent is a set called Joker Squad. Joker Squad is based on a comic series that covers the story of the Stormtroopers of the 407th Division.

“The Stormtroopers of the 407th division-- Anson Trask, Sergeant Harkas, Jes Gistang, Hondo Karr, and Vax Potorr-- are sent to take down one of their own. The 908th division is going to defect to former Emperor Fel's side against the current Sith regime. The 407th is ordered to stop the defection, and Sith Lord Maleval joins them to ensure that they finish the job.”

So I stumbled upon one of these sets at Ross for only $14.99, $25.00 lower than Entertainment Earth’s price. How Ross got these sets and at such a low cost was a bit of a surprise. I did see the set again at a different Ross store. The stores Marshall’s, Ross and TJ Maxx have been known for getting some GI Joe stuff in at some great prices. Supposedly the elusive GI Joe DVD set #5 has been spotted at Ross for only around $12.99 – I haven’t had that kind of luck!

I thought I would take a look at this set and give my two cents on the quality and value of the figures. So here goes…

Lord Maleval, a Quarren Sith Lord armed with a red lightsaber and a lightwhip. Loyal to Darth Krayt, this Quarren villain features a cloth robe with wires inside so you may pose it any way you see fit along with loads of articulation.

Okay, a Quarren Sith Lord? Really? He/it is actually an interesting figure. Decent articulation – swivel shoulders, elbow and wrist movement, ball & socket neck, waist movement, hips, thighs, knees, and feet. Decent sculpting as well. The fabric cloak is interesting with the wire to assist in posing the robe. Overall, I’m not really impressed with him/it and he may wind up on eCrater.

Sergeant Harkas, or "Hardcase" as his men call him, has uniquely decorated armor indicating his rank. This tough-as-nails trooper leads his men against the opposition in the name of the Emperor!

Jes Gistang handles the heavy weapons in Joker Squad, and she's the first-ever female Stormtrooper in the Star Wars action figure line! With slicked-back red hair and a weapon nearly as big as she is, this amazing figure is ready to rain down the pain on her enemies!

Vax Potorr was born on Coruscant, and through a life of hardship, he eventually found his way into Joker Squad. Ready to jump head-first into battle, he has his eye on the enemy and his blaster aimed right at their heads!

Hondo Karr, rumored to be an ex-Mandalorian, is as proficient with his blade as he is with a blaster. Surprising for a Stormtrooper, this anti-authoritarian loose cannon is a bit of a mystery. Can he be trusted with the future of the Empire?

Anson Trask, fresh out of training, is the "noob" of the group. Having just been assigned to his first mission, this soldier is ready to fight alongside his squad mates against a worthy foe-- a group of defectors!

So what do I think of these figures? The head sculpts are excellent, but that doesn’t save them – they suck – big time. Their arms seem a bit too long or their legs are too short – I can’t decide which. The blasters are soft bendy plastic and are just crap. Jes Gistang’s big weapon is a repurposed HEAT Viper’s anti-tank weapon. The overall articulation is decent but just not over-the-top impressive.

The biggest problem is that they are short! Plus they are nowhere near as cool as Clone Troopers. Not even close!

“You clowns replaced us? Seriously?”

“Hey, baby, what’s up?”

“Aren’t you a little short for Stormtroopers?”

The fate of these five Stormtroopers no longer lies with the Empire. Their heads will be reused on GI Joe bodies, unsure right now on how they are going to be used, but the head sculpts are just too cool to waste on these lame Stormtrooper bodies! I should be able to fill the Stormtrooper helmets with putty and stick them on the bodies to make some generic troops.

Just an idea!

Too busy, but lot's of ideas

Been too busy lately, but have got plans for the near future to get this sad little blog rolling again.

Here are some potential future posts:

• Review of Target exclusive R.H.I.N.O. vehicle
• Review of Entertainment Earth Star Wars Joker Squad Stormtrooper set
• Review of TRU Exclusive Palkia/Dialga figures (What? Pokemon toys? Seriously? Yeah!)
• Post some pics of a storyline that I have been posting to Joedios.com

So that's a start. Anyway, hang on, my three followers and other random guests - I might actually finally post something new!

Book Review- insight: Photography & Dioramas by Gianni Lopergolo

My Favorite Christmas Present for 2009!

I saw this book advertised several months ago and was very impressed by the images that Hasbro had on their website. The pictures were very impressive and beautifully crafted. This book speaks to the amateur and the professional photographer.

I'm a member of Joedios.com and frequently post my brave attempts at diorama photography, but my work is far below Lopergolo's work. There are some wonderfully skilled photographers on Joedios and all of the members can learn someting from the book.

The author of Insight, Gianni Lopergolo, offers much advice on how he created these wonderful images and shares some clever tips and tricks for his pictures.

Insight is much more than a book on diorama photography. Lopergolo has been living with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) for three years and chronicles some of his struggle with ALS. His writing is poignant, uplifting and inspirational. This book will inspire you at what ever your photographic skill level is.

Even more importantly, this book will inspire you as a person. I highly recommend this book to toy fans, photographers, heck - I recommend this book to everyone!

While it would be wonderful to share all the pictures with everyone, I will not do that. Instead, buy the book! But I do want to share some of my personal favorite pictures from Insight.

The pictures in the book cover G.I. Joe (12", 8" & 3 3/4"), Star Wars, Marvel figures, and even Action Man! I'm just a little biased toward Joe figures, so that's what I will be reviewing.

The first three are from the 2005 Bravo Collection of the 12" G.I. Joe line. These figures must have been planned just prior to the cancellation of the 12" line. Horrible, horrible shame! These three figures are amazing! I would have easily bought at least two of each!

Advanced Land Soldier - 2025
Excellent picture!

Advanced Land Adventurer - 2010
Amazing stuff!

Future Ops Code Breaker
The scenery in Lopergolo's sets is just amazing!

Desert Wolf from the Sigma Six line. No digital effects! Compressed air creates the gunshot blasts.

Marine Leatherneck from Sigma Six.

An unreleased 12" Baroness figure from 2002. Why, Hasbro, why? Amazing figure! I would have definitely bought this figure!

Postcard to Home.
Beautiful set up of the 40th Anniversary line.
There are several pictures from the 40th line that are just amazing.

The 3 3/4" line gets some love, too. Looks like a promotional picture for the DTC line. Really cool picture!

The Smokescreen Transport. Did this ever come out? I don't know. The amazing part of this picture is what Lopergolo used to set the scene - very surprising, very innovative!

The Sea, Air & Land 8" set (TRU exclusive) captured wonderfully.

Again, I highly recommend this book. It is an amazing look at some wonderful pictures showcasing the work of Gianni Lopergolo.

Make the investment, add this book to your personal collection, be inspired to seek to improve your own skills as a photographer. And most importantly, be inspired in life.

Set Building with LEGO

Who would have thought that LEGO would make a great set for using with GI Joe figures? The round pegs on the top of the bricks are just a dead give-away and just don't look good with the Joes.

Here are a few shots of a set that I built with LEGO and used with some of my troops.

Duke gets ready, his only way out blocked by Cobra troopers.

A side view of the previous shot, showing the length of the hall.

Helix gets in on the fun, ready to clear the hall and make her escape.

Here is a shot from the weekend Joedios.com Fatalities Theme. Duke put up a good fight, but he's not going to make it through this mission.

Here is a brief tutorial on how I made the set. Shouldn't it just be a simple process of throwing some bricks together? Yeah, it is, but I thought I'd go into a little more detail. You have to remember the principle for basic Lego construction. I learned this lesson when I was very young. Bricks must always be over lapped, just like in real world construction. If bricks are stacked in columns side-by-side, there is an inherent weakness to the structure. Any wall made of bricks is done by overlapping them The structure of the wall just becomes much more solid.

The first step was to build the wall. I had a bunch of plain bricks and just decided to build a wall as a background for pictures. It's really surprising how many bricks get used when building something as simple as a wall. The objective is to get the wall tall enough to be somewhat appropriate in relation to the height of a figure. I didn't have enough white bricks to make a solid white wall, so I added the red and black highlights. I could have probably had just a solid red area, but I thought that the single black bricks acted as a way to break up the continual red bricks.

A picture to give an idea of the height of the wall. It could be a little taller, but I decided that this would be a corridor in a sub-basement somewhere.

This angle shows the side that will form the corner of the hallway.

A look at the roof panel. I used seven 8 x 16 x1 base plates and used the red flat strips to secure them.

I added various detailing on the underside just to give the hall a utilitarian look. I used various Technic pieces as pipes and valves. I think a proper term would be "greebles". 

Duke and Helix show off the wall and the roof. I added a column for support. The steps of construction for this project began with the wall, moving on to the roof. I think that the wall may have been a bit taller, but once I built the roof, I knew that I needed a support column and sacrificed some of the original height of the roof in order to add the column.

This is a back wall that will serve as the other side of the hall. I didn't have enough of the other type of bricks to use and I thought that the blue beams with the holes could add some interesting lighting effects. This is also considered as a temporary wall; it can be removed for side shots of the hall.

A look at the fully assembled set with all walls attached. See all the greebles? Pipes, vents, conduits - I don't know what they are - just extra added detailing.

Helix stands by the corner support column while Duke waves from the back of the hall.

Another view from the side to give you an idea of different photographic angles. In general, Lego would not always make a great set piece for use with action figures, primarily because of the round pegs at the tops of each brick. I designed and built this with the idea that nearly all of the pegs would be covered up once construction was complete.


This was a fun little project and one that I would love to replicate on a much larger scale. I can imagine Lego's would serve as a great medium for building the walls of any secret military installation!

New Dio posted on my Website

I took a bunch of pictures using my 1/6th scale troops. I've got a little story to go along with it. Check it out here.

Check out my website!