ToyLanta 2021!: A Con Review!

Although 2020 caused an awful cancellation to my favorite action figure show, it did not prevent ToyLanta* 2021 from still being the best toy show on Earth!

Below is just SOME of what the show had to offer, along with a few of my creations, and awesome buys! Please enjoy!

ToyLanta 2021 was held at the Hilton Marriott in Marietta, GA. It ran from March 19-21, and there were two stories full of great dealers!

Some upcoming Cotswold Collectibles prototypes! I have my eye on that Dr. Komodo!

One of the magical inclusions of ToyLanta is its larger than life dioramas! This year we got the treat of a 1/6 scale kraken attacking a pirate ship and coastline!

The kraken was made of a spongy foam and painted with a nice flexible paint known as Createx!

This ship was chock full of celebrity cameos, site gags, and Easter eggs!

The booty!

The ship's cabin!

Starboard of the ship firing upon the kraken!

The beak of the kraken!

Unfortunate crew!

Attacking the coast!

Interior of the coast house! Always full of fun details!

Continental soldiers fighting back!

Better view of the coastline!

Diorama master Mike Gardner posing in costume next to his masterpiece! ToyLanta 2020 was supposed to just have the ship, but since it was cancelled, Mike used the extra year to add the kraken for an even superior diorama!

Besides the fantastic kraken, there were other dioramas, such as this 1/18 Star Wars rebel outpost!

Fernando Cota standing by his Death Star's Trench! He also created the rebel outpost!

A smaller Joe diorama with oddball inclusions!

In the corner of the show, you could find another great diorama of the Quest team encountering the sinister Dr. Ashida!

Look at those vines!

These figures were a collaboration of many artists, one by the name of 1/6 customizer Frederick Jay!

Diorama extraordinaire, Troy Baker, posing with family and his action figure art!

One brilliant new element to ToyLanta 2021 was the free interactive maker-space!

Here were various art supplies for experimentation on the customization of action figures!

Action figure enthusiast Steve Bugg standing by for demonstrations on plastic forming and molding!

Local art teacher Clay Sayre posing next to his prototype life sized G.I. Joe heads! Clay discussed and demonstrated the arts of sculpting and flocking! Here I learned about proportions and Monster Clay!

Mellow Mushroom artist Buddy Finethy conducted classes on various art tools such as airbrushing! I learned about airbrush exercises and dependable brands such as Iwata!

There was some cosplaying at ToyLanta too; this was my favorite! Eugene Baldwin dressed as ARAH G.I. Joe's Wild Bill! After some conversation, it turned out I already met Eugene at the Kentucky Joe show, but I did not recognize him with the mustache! Now that's good cosplay!

There was also a custom figure contest at ToyLanta! There were not many participants at this year's show, but here was a D-Day soldier taking cover!

A 40th Joe with Grunga Toys attire and Mattsquatch accessories!

These were my Kung-Fu entries! If you would like to know more about these figures, click here!

This was a 1/6 G.I.Joe Rhino G.P.V. custom painted for the Adventure Team!

Here were some 1/18 Dime Store Legends having a shootout on dinosaurs!

ToyLanta has an annual exclusive figure if you purchase a Commander's Package. This year was the Lawrence of Arabia inspired Arabian Adventurer! I do not usually purchase the show's figure, but this figure's theme was extra cool, and I had a little more disposable income this year!

Here are some highlight finds from the show (from left to right): Arabian Adventurer, Sea Adventurer with Harman's custom scuba suit, DFW Joe exclusive Texas ranger, Grunga toys space ranger Joe, and Mike Gardner World War Z CDC Hero custom exclusive!

As I always preach, "odds n ends" are the best things to pick up at a toy show! These figures took a little love and cleaning, but they averaged about $2 each!

These were my greatest deals of the show! The rare Crewcut Joe was only $5 loose, the Adventure Team Kung Fu set was $35 MIB, and the loose Texas Ranger Joe was $15! You could not find these type of deals anywhere else on the planet!

There were many other great seminars, events, and deals at ToyLanta, but I could not cover it all! I did not even cover EJ's Famous Lobby Swap, but that's where you can get some seriously dirt cheap deals on toys! Each ToyLanta differs on what toys are the best deal. In previous years, I have scored super hot deals on Marvel Legends, Legos, and other figures like Captain Action, but this year, it was primarily 1/6 G.I. Joe! I have been going to ToyLanta/JoeLanta for 20 years, and it is still the greatest toy show on Earth!

G.I. Joe forever!

*This article was formerly called JoeLanta 2021!: A Con Review! Because of the new 2022 sister show addition of JoeLanta in the Fall, I will call this convention by its proper show title, ToyLanta.

-Chuck