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Coil Con IV

Coil Con IV

Founder YT1‘s Recap:

My son and I were able to attend our first Coil Con this year, Coil Con IV 2013. This is only the second GI Joe event I have ever attended, the first being JOECON 2013 earlier this year. The Coil Con takes place in Kokomo Indiana, about an hour north of Indianapolis on the grounds of Kokomo Toys.

We were up early and arrived soon after the con opened at 9AM, because we were traveling as a family I was not able to attend the dinner that was held the previous night. There were about a dozen vendor tables including AVAC’s Lab, Roma Toys and noted author James Kavanaugh among others. Several members of the What’s On Joe Mind Podcast were also in attendance and were acting as MC’s throughout the day.

My son and I were able to pick up several neat items and in particular I was able to strike a great deal for several 82/83 figures I needed. In general there were some great deals and all the vendors were willing to negotiate and I scored some great deals. Kokomo Toys also had 2 large tables full of FREE vehicles and shells. My son was able to snag a nearly complete AWESTRIKER, STUN and a well loved Defiant Booster.

There was a short line to get into the Kokomo toys store, but it was well worth the wait. I have never seen such a collection under one roof, not only Joe but numerous other toy lines. They also had an entire wall of the newly arrived 3.5 wave, which was quite impressive. I had already preordered a case from them, which had shipped a couple of days earlier but seeing all of those figures on pegs was a sight to behold. I really enjoyed seeing all of the Sideshow Joes they had on hand including several of the environment pieces I have never seen in person.

I also wanted to take a moment to pass on the positive experiences I had with several of the people we came across throughout the day. Sometimes fans get a bad rap and it seems like high profile fans get the worst of it on occasion, that being said I have been very impressed both at JOE CON and at COIL CON how kind strangers have been to my son. He wanted one of the complete Serpentor figures Kokomo Toys had on display, however the price they were asking was just too much for me to spend for a figure that would likely end up lost by my young son. A man, who I assume was the owner overheard me explaining this to my son and gave him a loose figure for free and on the way out he gave him another vehicle to boot.

Another man gave us his figure raffle tickets and Joe Declassified gave out a free 3.5 Firefly to all the kids in attendance. This is not to mention all the little things and deals several vendors gave us throughout the day. Both times I have been around large numbers of JOE fans I have been blown away by the kindness and affection my fellow fans have shown to the kids in attendance.

Midway through the day several costumers showed up including: Snake Eyes, Shipwreck, Beachhead and a lady Chuckles. They were super friendly and we got some great pictures with them. I didn’t know a lot about the exclusives going into the convention and my understanding was there was some doubt if they were going to arrive but eventually did, however the boxes were still MIA and are going to be mailed free of charge when they arrive.

The exclusive was 2 figures and 2 motorcycles and priced around $120. I decided to pass because the subject matter was not something I was interested in, but it was a really hard choice because I really did want a souvenir to remember the day. Instead I opted for a great print by artist Sean Forney who was in attendance. We also picked up a spare for my son when they were giving them away on the way out. We did hang out until 5 for the closing drawings for SDCC sets and several custom figures. Unfortunately we weren’t winners but it was still a great low cost, fun day. If you are within comfortable driving distance, I would definitely recommend checking out next year’s Coil Con and rumor is that it may be at an indoor venue.

Big thanks goes out to Founder YT1 for taking the time to share his Coil Con IV experience with us.  Check out the gallery on page 3!

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About Tim Kraemer

Tim is a mook who likes to drink, play video games, and other stuff. He's Monkeywrench on our forums! Buy him a drink, friend for life!

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