JoeLanta 2022: A Con Review!

With the dedication of a few good 1/6 scale enthusiasts, ToyLanta revived the show that started it all... JoeLanta!


Even though it was short notice to the 1/6 hobby community, a healthy crowd and I still managed to attend the first official JoeLanta in quite a few years!

JoeLanta 2022 was held at the Hilton Atlanta Northeast in Peachtree Corners, GA from September 9-11. ToyLanta in the Spring was originally JoeLanta, but due to a long absence of new 12-inch figures in retail, the presence of 1/6 toys severely dwindled at the convention. This year, some dedicated fans decided to break JoeLanta into its own Fall show and focus more on 1/6 enthusiasts/vendors!

These are the 90's-2005 Hasbro Classic Collection G.I. Joes. I could technically say these are the ones I grew up with. These are some of my favorite 1/6 scale figures for both military and adventure toys. There are ideal for kit-bashing and are what I consider modern 12 inch G.I. Joes. These used to go for extremely cheap, but with the lack of 12 inch figures in retail, the loyal few have driven the prices of these guys up on the secondary market.

Big Earl, or who I call, "The Six Million Dollar Man" guy, had his giant booth set up of everything SMDM related. He is an expert on Steve Austin and has even met Lee Majors himself!

One of the figures at Big Earl's booth was the rare Bionic Bigfoot complete with chest plate. The Bionic Bigfoot is one of Steve Austin's most iconic characters and is on my favorite episode(s) of the show!

When Hasbro took Marvel Legends back in 2007 from ToyBiz, they also took over the rights to make 6-inch toys for the Marvel movies. These three Iron Men were sold individually for about $10 each, but back in 2008, Hasbro would pack unsold toys into deluxe boxsets and sell them for a slight discount. This tactic was most common for leftover summer movie toys around Christmas season. Why can't greedy Hasbro do this anymore???

A nice 1/6 vendor was selling his custom Greek Hoplites for a very good price. He showed me the base Hoplite from Time Silhouette and what he modified to make the above figures.These were about $80 each. Although that seems high, the gourmet figures, rare pieces, and effort spent constructing these honestly makes them worth much more!

Here are 3 customs: Racer X made from a G.I. Joe Valor Vs. Venom Sand Scorpion , Speed Racer made from a Kid Action, and Stripes John Winger made from a Mattel Dr. Venkman!

1/6 Marx aficionado, Steve Corn, had a table of his reproduction Marx horses! I have bought from Stevo's Toys previously and his stuff is Grade A! He is a nice guy and it was a pleasure finally meeting him in person! Stevo's Toys for anyone interested in 1/6 Western accouterments!

Country Fried Toys (CFT) had a table with many prototypes of their upcoming 1:18 Western products!

I really like their unnamed Phantom Rider figure, but unfortunately, you can only assemble him by buying multiple accessory packs.

CFT will be diving into some Weird West stuff and doing a collaboration with Fresh Monkey Fiction in their new kickass Eagle Force line!

I am already too invested in other lines, so I did not purchase any of these. I have handled their unnamed Quigley Sharpshooter figure, and I can say these are top notch quality action figures! The only downer for these are their prices; it is hard for me to pay more than $30 each for a 1:18 action figure.

In 2003, Hasbro secured the rights to make figures for the animated film, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. They released three Sinbad figures, all using retooled Classic Collection G.I. Joe bodies. My favorite thing is about these is that Hasbro branded these Adventure Team to encourage sales and each of these figures had a built-in adventure with monster! I actually bought the Sinbad vs Seperns set as a kid and still own it today!

Cotswold brought a few of the highly sought after Brazilian G.I. Joe Falcon sets. After seeing these on the aftermarket for skyrocket prices for years, I was overjoyed that Cotswold finally secured a lot straight from Estrela for a decent price; I preordered every figure they imported!

Friend and fellow Joe customizer Matt Bil brought a table full of oddities for sale! Above was the first male figure I ever rooted and it was made as a trade for Matt years ago! It was awesome to see that it still has flare! Matt did not price it because he did not want to let go of it!

Here were some super striking Scottish adventurers made with leftover tartan fabric. The bagpipes were actually little novelty souvenirs that just happen to be to scale with Joe!

Here are some miscellaneous Adventure Team characters. I really like his Komodo handler; he is just an effective blend of simple pieces!

As a true artist, Matt sees customization potential in many items beyond Joe. Above is a Marvel Hulkbuster transformed into some sort of Adventure Team mech suit!

Here is Matt in the flesh holding one of his diabolical 1/6 Squid Game customs!

Sadly, the custom figure contest was severely lacking. Above was some sort of revised take of G.I. Joe's encounter with the Abominable Snowman!

Here was another entry. I am assuming since the show was last minute in many folks' schedule, they simply forgot to bring a figure. I cannot say much, because I was also too busy to make a special figure for the event.

The primary reason for me making the great effort of attending the show was Steve Bugg's invitation to present my creations in the Maker Space! Never decline an opportunity to present your work, especially if it is of no charge to you!

Art teacher and pop culture enthusiast, Clay Sayre, hard at work giving his Ape Megos a home to oppress humans!

This was my table! I did not make all of the clothes, nor all of the hair, but I can claim they are all 100% Chuck kitbash creations!

I did try to put the figures I had more creative input on in the front! This Barbie-Rella's clothing was made from a talented artist in Ukraine, but the doll is a personal reroot of a rescue thrift store find!

Here are some more of my favorite custom figures. The Sikh, Rakshasa, Afroman, and Grandmaster are all 100% Chuck-made customs!

If you look in the back, you can spot a 3-D printed 1/6 Box from Logan's Run. That figure received so much attention that somebody even purchased it for $30! I did not mind letting go of it, because it can easily be reprinted!

The convention's exclusive was a 1/6 Adventurer figure appropriately named Joe Lanta! He apparently has to fight off radioactive kudzu in Georgia. Will he survive???

I had a lot of fun at JoeLanta and really appreciated the focus on 1/6 figures again. 1/6 is my preferred scale for customization so meeting others who think and buy alike is always a welcome treat!

I will for sure attend next year if the show happens again in the Fall. Hopefully, it will not be as last minute, and I can make a longer stay to overspend my budget!

G.I. Joe forever!

-Chuck

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