JoeFest 2025: A Con Review!

In between my summer job, graduate school, and military drills, I decided to try my hand again at the 1/18 focused action figure convention, JoeFest!

I will say... this year's show was leagues greater than my experience in 2020!

JoeFest 2025 took place on June 20-22 at the Augusta Convention Center in Augusta, GA!

One of my favorite 1/18 scale companies, Marauder Task Force (MTF), double downed at their booth! These were just a few of their "Geared-Up" figures you could buy for a bargain price of $25 each. I was very excited to finally buy their female Cobra Viper, because Hasbro never made that!

This is something my dad absolutely loves doing. This is their "Make a Marauder" table where you make your own decked out playable 1/18 action figure! It is an extremely cool feature for a wicked price!

MTF has been teasing their Vietnam line for years now, but here are some mockups. Villains like the Viet Cong always catch my attention!

MTF's most recent project is a collaboration with Creative Beast Studio called "Dinohunters Attack!" More on Creative Beast Studio below!

One of the most magical things about a toy convention is the inclusion of dioramas! Thank you MTF for putting up this awesome display of your badass product!

Marauder Paul is my #1 guy at every toy show I visit the MTF booth at! He is a blast to speak with and always cuts me sweet deals on other miscellaneous figures available at their booth! 

One of the most creative independent toy companies, Spero Toys, is dipping their hands into Japanese mythology!

For their 1/12 Animal Warriors of the Kingdom (AWOK) line, they are introducing the original human forms of a few of their beast people!

These are resin printed prototypes of AWOK's Wave 2! I am super psyched for the chameleon guy!

Delta-17 is a modern 1/18 G.I. Joe esque independent toy line. Their designs are really sharp, but I cannot convince myself to buy O-ring style figures anymore. I do really appreciate their diorama though!

Like the Viet Cong I mentioned above, villains always catch my eye. These are mockups of terrorists for  a modern realistic 1/12 military kickstarter line known as Patriot Force!

Ryan and his son are the imaginative artists behind the concept of Patriot Force. He says his Kickstarter has hit a plateau, but for some reason, I feel like these will get made!

My friend Seth sold me many of 1/12 Savage Crucible's Wave 1 at a great price! These fantasy figures are tremendously playable, crammed with detail, super articulated, and highly modular for personalization!

These are mockups of their Wave 3, consisting mostly of fish people! I am a huge fan of these and their lizard people. I am weary though that their prices will not stay competitive like their first wave was.

Almighty Legends is a 1/12 fantasy kickstarter based on Biblical myths that has been cooking for years now. Apparently they have collaborated with Savage Crucible, but only time will tell if these ever come out.

I ran into this early 2000's 5-pack of Microman material force figures! I am unaware of how rare or desirable this is, but I just thought it was an interesting find!

Some booth had this cool 1/12 diorama up! Dioramas rule!

D13's 1/12 Biblical Adventures came out this year and apparently have been a big hit! I have handled their St. Michael and Demon figure, and I can confirm that these are very solid figures if you choose to bite into this line!

Chicken Fried Toys had a booth full of their 1/18 western Dime Novel Legends figures! These are awesome figures that play out just like Hasbro 1/18 G.I. Joes. In fact, I think these are designed by some of the brains behind 25th Anniversary Joes! 

I have been slowly dipping my feet into this line. They are super cool, but I only have so much expendable money! I love their celebrity tributes like Yul Brynner and Tom Selleck! 

Tim is one of the minds behind Dime Novel Legends! He was explaining to me hopeful production of more 1/18 Cops N Crooks, a collaboration between Chicken Fried Toys and Big Bad Productions!

There was not much 1/6 stuff, and that was okay, because I was not expecting them at this particular show. I did run into these rare "Alamo Patrol" figures that I had not seen before! I did not care to pay $125 each for them though.

There was a unique booth that did not sell anything, but showcased many unmade Hasbro concepts and prototypes!

Here are some more unmade Hasbro concepts! Oddly, the guy running this booth told me I did not have permission to photograph these for some reason, so I left immediately. He came up to me shortly after that, and said I was allowed to take photos of the goods. It was a strange encounter.

This is the first time I have seen Creative Beast Studios figures in the flesh! They are super articulated prehistoric animals designed to be in scale with 1/18 lines!

Here are some more shots of their dinosaurs!

These look really cool, but unfortunately I have never handled one, so I cannot say how playable they are.

I saw this cool diorama of 1/12 figures in these G.I. Joe vehicles that I know Hasbro has not made yet for their Classified line!

Here are some more of their vehicles that look eerily similar to Hasbro designs!

Apparently they are factory-made by Chinese toy maker, Fans-Hobby!

The biggest driving factor for me to attend this show was that I finally got to meet the team behind Big Bad Workshop, formerly known as Fresh Monkey Fiction!

These are their 1/12 Operation: Monster Force mockups! I actually do not collect this line, because I prefer the 1/18 versions in their Eagle Force Returns line!

These are mockups of their future 1/12 World of Eagle Force line!

Bill Murphy was the driving force of getting Eagle Force Returns off the ground! I consider it the coolest 1/18 currently available (when they are in stock), and I hope they continue making them at this scale.

Also at the BigBad booth, Ed Hellman is the creative force behind the Eagle Force Returns spinoff line, The Shields of Liberty! I definitely signed up for the notice to purchase these awesome characters!

Sadly, this JoeFest was the last time toy dealer, Roma Collectibles, had a booth. The man behind their magic, Aaron Detrick, passed from cancer earlier this year. They had a celebration of his life at the show, and liquidated his stock as well. His family sold me these Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. at prices so low, I am almost afraid to admit what I paid. Thank you Aaron for being an awesome guy and cool toy dealer; you will be missed.

This variant H.A.C.K. was an exclusive that the Roma team sold at their store. I wanted it signed by his wife as a memory of their dealings.

The other 1/18 treasures I picked up from the show!

Not only did I want to meet the Fresh Monkey team, I also wanted their JoeFest 2025 exclusive, "Downtown SGT Brown" figure! Apparently some customizer made an Eddie Murphy head to accompany this figure, but since it was not official Fresh Monkey merch, I did not feel like I required it. Awesome figure though and totally worth the 4 hour drive!

The last time I attended JoeFest, it was 2020 and one of the worst years for collecting ever. Prices were high and supply was limited. Five years later, the show has improved much more. I enjoyed the conversations more, the dioramas more, and overall the show more. It was a strong mix of fun toy dealers and interesting independent toy companies. If it is convenient for me to come to this show next year, I will try to make it, and so should you!

G.I. Joe Forever!

-Chuck