After Action Report!
JoeFest Toy and Comic Show 2025
Last post, I pulled this humble spotlight onto G.I. Joe’s Tripwire. Normally, I’d use that figure to follow up with their relevant tropes for writing and tabletop gaming.
However, I need to take a brief detour first, through the green, blistering confines of Augusta, Georgia. Why?
Because last weekend was JoeFest Toy and Comic Show 2025! And my first year excited to be attending.
The Wide, Wide World of Cons
Going to cons has always been a somewhat bewildering experience as an introvert— although, the crowds are easy enough to hide in—whether for collecting, gaming, writing, or otherwise.
Whatever the con, each one has offered their own unique highs.
I had an absolute blast last year celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons at Gary Con. It was also my first visit back to Lake Geneva, WI since my 5th grade overnight camp experience (in which one of my bunkmates decided it would be funny to smoosh burrs into my hair). I’m not a cosplayer myself, but I always love to see the cosplay at PAX West. And it was with tense anticipation waiting to hear what question my kid would ask his own mother, during her Welcome to Dragon Talk panel at Spokane’s LitFest (I’m sure it was something wildly inappropriate, probably about dragging him there, but at least no one could hear it).
During my time at Wizards of the Coast, I worked several Gen Cons as well (once backing into the light switches during an important Q&A, leaving them to flicker for the rest of the panel). But I also had a great time celebrating the 35th anniversary of D&D in front of the huge “red box” recreation, and spending way too many after-hours at the Slipper Noodle Inn, which despite the name is not a pasta joint, but a blues bar in downtown Indianapolis.
So what would I experience at JoeFest?
JoeFest 2025
I came to JoeFest with only one expectation in mind—to surround myself with action figures and fellow action figure aficionados (action figurinados?).
In that, JoeFest did not disappoint.
Last time I also mentioned my recurring dream, where I’m shopping at a big toy store, and come upon shelf after shelf after shelf of action figures. JoeFest was very much that dream come true!
Just like a kid, there were pegs and pegs of action figures to look through, trying to find one I needed (successfully finding a Headman and Anniversary Zandar, but no luck with an Anniversary Thrasher or Monkey Wrench).
When not ogling the figures, I was also trying to politely side-eye the celebrities.
My previous brushes to fame, at least at cons, have been largely limited to once sharing an elevator with David Faustino at a Gen Con.1
However, at Joe Fest, there he was in all his glory—Sgt. Slaughter himself. Man, he really does have a chin like chiseled granite, but what I loved more was watching him patiently chatting away with a young kid at his booth, who looked absolutely flabbergasted to be getting Sarge’s undivided attention (or maybe was just too afraid of him to move on).
Even more incredible, for me at least, was getting to shake hands with a personal hero of mine, Larry Hama. His run on the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic series kept me far, far more invested in the characters than the after-school cartoon ever could.
I also attended several panels (refraining from backing into light switches, even while totting around a giant cardboard box holding my purchase of a 100% complete Transportable (ironic word, there) Tactical Battle Platform).
Many of the panels featured action figure lines being discussed and hyped by their creators. The one from Operation: Recall, MC’ed by 3D Joes’ Caron Mataxis, even featured some true G.I. Joe legends in Mark Pennington, Ron Rudat, and Doug Hart, along with Mark Gerwig.
While they ran through their own line’s upcoming figures, there was some invariable comparison to their previous work with the G.I. Joe brand. At one point, it was noted by Ron Rudat how they’d been exploring different heights and body types for the figures to help distinguish them—body type variations that Hasbro did not support back in the O-ring days, but which did take place later, with larger/taller figures appearing in the Anniversary line.
As Mark Pennington clarified, part of G.I. Joe’s uniformity when it came to body types back then had more to do with the line’s original emphasis on vehicles. Figures were the same size, so that every figure could fit every vehicle!
(Well, Golobulus excepted… but we try not to talk too much about him.)
When it Comes to Augusta
So why Augusta?
Gen Con started in Lake Geneva, WI, home to Gary Gygax. Which was a relatively convenient place to drive to from the surrounding Chicago/Minneapolis areas, but limited attendance based on convention space, hotel availability, etc. It moved to larger digs, first to Milwaukee in 1998, and then to Indianapolis in 2003.
As such, it remained in the Midwest, but at a greater crossroads further accessible by a larger airport. Attendance increased from the mid-20ks to 70k.
JoeFest, from what I can gather has always been in Augusta with attendance anywhere from 7.5k-10k in recent years. I can’t imagine there are plans to move the convention out of Augusta, so it will likely stay around this size; but without a single official JoeCon any more, that may make the case for more, smaller cons such as JoeFest.
This was also my first time in Augusta as well (I’m not exactly huge into golfing). And while I wasn’t able to spend too much time exploring the city outside of the convention center (although I did walk by the Lamar Building, modified by I.M. Pei), except to say that it was hot as hell (my hats off to the cosplayers dressed in full Batman/Ghostbusters/Beachhead/Firefly gear) and had great food. Shout out to Sheehan’s and the Arsenal Tap Room.
So if it stays here despite a more challenging city to travel to from Seattle, so be it. I’ll just need to explore more of Augusta next time.
Games and Figures
And it’s true. While Hasbro continues to manage the G.I. Joe line, there is no longer an official “G.I. Joe Convention”. The last one took place in 2018, in Tennessee.
And that may also be fine. Sad, but fine. There’s now a number of officially unofficial conventions in its place, including JoeFest, as well as the Dallas G.I. Joe & Action Figure Show, Joelanta, and others.
By the same token, just as there are unofficial cons for G.I. Joe, there’s also a fairly large number of action figure companies, small or large, helping fill the gap of 3 3/4” Joes. I say a gap, and not a void; Hasbro has returned to the 3 3/4” line with O-ring figures, but for me as collector, their slightly larger, more detailed Anniversary line work so much better to me.
Here’s where we have companies like Marauder, Skeletron, Fresh Monkey Fiction, and Chicken Fried Toys creating new figures—including some absolutely fantastic versions of Joe characters. Operation: Recall has their own line of O-ring figures. Super 7 has less articulated figures, but often covering more oddball Joe characters (such as Cold Slither, Fatal Fluffy, and Ramar2). And others, like Animal Warriors of the Kingdom, Savage Crucible, and Four Horsemen Toy Design creating their own lines of figures often in the larger G.I. Joe Classified 1/12 scale.
Do they need to be officially stamped G.I. Joe, in order to attract me as a collector? Turns out, no. A great figure is a great figure, and while I’ll always maintain a particular love for the brand, that does equate to brand loyalty at the exclusion of neighboring brands (as it once did for me as a kid).3
But before I go, one extremely valuable lesson I need to keep in mind for next time. When discussing Tripwire, I also spoke about hiding toys for later purchase in the random aisles of Toys R Us. It didn’t work then, and it still doesn’t work now. I toured JoeFest during the Friday evening hours, considering figures to buy the next day. ONLY EVERYONE THERE IS ALSO A COLLECTOR! So by the next day, some of the figures were snatched up or already sold out.
If I’m going there to buy figures, then buy the damn figures.
But at least I still came away with that sweet Transportable Tactical Battle Platform…
Even G.I. Joe had their alt versions of figures, but that’s a topic for another time. Until then, we’ll get back to Tripwire next.
I did also once share an elevator with Joe Manganiello (at D&D Live), and another time ran into Harry Caray stepping out of one. Maybe there’s just something magical about elevators. Maybe celebrities are able to use them like some TARDIS device, to travel more fantastically than we’re normally aware.
I suppose on that note, my dad did once tell me a story about hitting an elevator button three times fast at the Pentagon, and it instantly arriving. This was sometime back in the early 70’s. The elevator operator told him how this was actually a secret General’s code for faster elevator service. And, not to ever use it again (I mean, until he became a General himself, I suppose).
Ramar was personal favorite of mine, since he appeared in the first Real American Hero cartoon series, for the M.A.S.S Device. At the time, I had to use the AD&D ogre king figure to take his place. Cold Slither was one of the cartoon storylines that easily convinced me how Larry Hama’s comic run was far, far superior.
The same can also be said for me with Dungeons & Dragons and tabletop roleplaying games. I need to dive into the rules for Dungeon Crawl Classics, Daggerheart, and Dungeon World.
Fun essay. I’ve always wanted to go to a Con but have never done it. I need to get my ass in gear. Also, I was once in an elevator with Jared Leto, so I think you’re onto something.