Bart Carroll's Blog, page 2

After Action Report!

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.

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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.

Is Larry pointing to me… or my super-cool Dreadnoks shirt, my super awesome Father’s Day gift this year!

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…

Actually… it was surprisingly transportable. I got this baby disassembled and safely into my carry-on bag after all!

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.

So now you know! At least, what little bit I do… Anyway, thanks for reading; this post is public so please feel free to share it.

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1

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).

2

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.

3

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.

G.I. Joe: Tripwire

I had precious few options for getting my hands on action figures as a kid. We probably all did. For me, there were the obvious holidays of course, mainly Christmas and Birthday. And, less regular and dependably, there were spontaneous outings organized by one set of parents or another from my friend group; and if these were to the “big show”, that meant a trip to the nearby Toys R Us.1

To this day, I still have recurring dreams of walking the aisles of some fantasy big box store, knowing I’ll come upon shelf after shelf after shelf of action figures.2 It’s the best dreams I have (after flying, and those are few and far between).3

This was the ‘80s, and the square footage committed to G.I. Joe will never be rivaled. Granted, we could only buy one figure at a time with our allowance… which made for some painful Sophie’s choices.

Sidenote: I didn’t do shit for chores. I don’t understand why I was ever given an allowance at all to pay for these outings, except maybe to pass the economic conditions of toy buying onto me instead of keeping it invisibly with my parents. I may have been lazy, but I was also whiney.

So what to do when confronted by too many choices? My friends and I would solve this by stashing away figures for future purchase. Usually this meant hiding a coveted figure behind toys down some other random aisle. Our own version of layaway. The theory being that we would come back the next visit and have the assured availability of the figure we previously hid.

Please note, we never came back and found any of these figures.

However, I think it was more about the psychology in taking some action in order to feel like we weren’t sacrificing the other side of whatever purchase decision we had to make. And, it helped train us in the fine art of concealing objects.

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The “Other” Toy Store

Mentioned in my original post, I grew up on the Fort Sheridan Army base. Unlike Toys R Us, the base is still there. At least, parts of it.

I just went back to visit family last weekend, and visited it—the streets where my friends and I grew up have since been converted into the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve (closed, until recently, due to an unexploded WWII grenade found somewhere along the lakeshore—still, go check it out!).

The post library has since become part of a condo (starting its own days as a military hospital of some kind; I think we used to tell each other it had been a haunted insane asylum). And sadly, the old Post Exchange no longer stands.

For those not familiar, a Post Exchange (or PX) is a like a general or department store for the base. Prices are usually cheaper than other places (well, because there’s no sales tax), but you need to have a military ID to make a purchase. So, kinda like a military Costco!

The best PX I ever shopped at was at Fort Bliss, Texas. But the smaller one at Fort Sheridan was where I purchased some of my earliest G.I. Joe figures—including Tripwire.

They Call Him Tripwire

The Joes’ Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert was part of the second wave of figures hitting stores in 1983. When it came to cool accessories, I’m afraid this guy didn’t have too much. Instead of a gun, he carried what looks more like a WWII-era mine detector than Vietnam-era detectors with a squarish head. It could also pass for a metal detector, to help his fellow Joes who lose their keys on the beach, or to help find Cobra’s hidden chest of doubloons.4

At least he had a fitting codename… Only, to help the character stand out, they went in a more ironic direction. He’s called “Tripwire” not just for his association with explosives, but that he’s somehow also incredibly clumsy by nature.

Except, I assume, when it counts.

Here we have a heroic earlier look at Tripwire. Or maybe an alternate universe version hyphenated “Trip-Wire”.

Even his dossier file name feels intentionally dorky: Tormod S. Skoog. Although, Tormod is actually “Thor’s mind”, or Thor’s courage and bravery (and Skoog, as Scandinavian for a “forest dweller”).

In the early issues of the comic book, Tripwire is introduced along with several other wave 2 figures, including Doc, Gung-Ho and Torpedo. The action happens just after Hawk is shot, and somehow not only are these new recruits just as emotionally invested in Hawk as the original Joes, but they’ve also arrived… in full costume.

As a kid, I thought Gung-Ho was dressed the oddest of the bunch; just a vest thrown over a bare chest felt way too informal for me (Dr. Mindbender was thankfully still a few years way). In obvious hindsight, what he hell is Torpedo thinking showing up in full SCUBA gear?

For Pete’s sake is right. Torpedo, are you using a respirator on land? What are you, Zuckuss?

Of course, nothing connects the comic to a toy line more than depicting their toy form as their permanent appearance this way. Tripwire isn’t too much better, already wearing his bomb disposal gear.

As a kid, I didn’t analyze too carefully what the gear was, or connect it to his specialty. I figured the protective eyewear was just a cool visor, and the protective hearing gear just a more stylized helmet.

The protective vest a bit subtle, and more like what we already had with Flash and Grand Slam. That it was heavy bomb disposal gear wasn’t clear, until these options came much later in the Classified version.

Like Michael Keaton, the outfit I wore when changing my kid’s diapers.

What all this did reinforce to me is that visually, these figures were moving even further away from the more standard olive drab uniform look of wave 1.

And what was cool to me about Tripwire wasn’t his mine detecting gear, but the mines themselves. He came with three that he presumably detected and collected for later disposal. In my mind, these were actually live mines that he could arm and hide as well. I mean, why carry them around if he wasn’t going to reuse them?

As toys, these mines were a bit hard to conceal from your friends (no matter how thick the shag carpet at the time). Playing with them outdoors worked better, but those little mines were easy to lose in the dirt/snow/sand.

But if we learned how to hide action figures in the shelves of Toys R Us, we could certainly hide those little mines in our playfields.

And we had about as much success finding them again.

Look out Cobra! We have a guy armed with a mine detector and another one with a speargun coming for ya!

Next time: The tropes of trap-detectors and bomb diffusers in fiction.

So here we are! Thanks for reading. This post is public so feel free to share it.

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1

I can still track down the old address: 1610 Deerfield Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035. When I drove by it, the store is empty but the old colors are still painted above the door. Just like I can tell you about Il Forno, the greatest pizza place ever, that also closed: 496 Old Elm Rd., Highland Park, IL 60035. Man, I miss their pizza.

2

My god, apparently I’m far from .

3

And the opposite of my recurring stress dreams where I can’t find my classroom and/or there’s one last final I need to take on a subject I’ve avoided all year in order to graduate (based on a true story).

4

One odd illo I found for this article over at yojoe.com. looking at the Action Force version of the character. Before I pass judgement… is this really any way to hold a mine detector?

(C) YoJoe.com

The Sad, Terrible Fate of Bill the Pony

Last time, we discussed the trope of drivers in fiction, including their roles and added complications. Now let’s look at using drivers in D&D/TTRPGs.

I never was a car guy, myself.

But since we’re been using G.I. Joe’s Clutch as our starting point, let’s continue the discussion around drivers and vehicles (which for D&D, I’m including mounts).

Sadly, I’ve never played Steve Jackson’s Car Wars. Planet Smasher Games’ Gaslands sounds pretty awesome (customizing old Hot Wheels and Matchbox Cars for use as game pieces). But about the most cars I’ve played with in games though Mille Bornes.

So when it comes to drivers, I’m mainly thinking in terms of fantasy TTRPGs. But with those, there tends to be certain issues with the character of a “driver”—usually this means they have skills with their own mount, which can have limited utility in the game, or they can transport the entire party while sidelining everyone else during the journey.

The Individual Mount

When it comes to D&D “drivers” that first thing that comes to my mind are the characters with a dedicated mount, such as paladins and their warhorse.

The concept of their warhorse is certainly a fitting dynamic, with the connection to medieval knights, as well as a desirable reward for reaching higher levels—but practically speaking, just how useful is a warhorse to manage?

One of the more grounded images from The Lord of the Rings (to me at least) is Bill the Pony. Helpful as he’s been, the fellowship can’t exactly bring a pony any farther into the Mines of Moria.

“But in any case we cannot take the poor beast into the Mines,” said Gandalf. “The road under the mountains is a dark road, and there are places narrow and steep which he cannot tread, even if we can.” —The Fellowship of the Ring

If memory serves, Bill is assumed to be eaten either immediately by the Watcher in the Water, or later on by the surrounding wolves.1

That’s the paladin’s warhorse, to me.

(C) Wizards of the Coast, Art by Christina Kraus

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The 1se D&D cavalier was even more of a specialized class. Their class features play even more directly into the knight trope, with skills in jousting (or at least use of the lance), mounted combat, and horsemanship. So unless you’re playing an Arthurian campaign where most of the players are actual knights, once the cavalier dismounts at the dungeon entrance, they lose their (literal) one trick pony.2

That is, unless both cavalier and horse magically shrink and are able to trot ahead in reduced size—an adventure concept I’d definitely endorse.

(C) Wizards of the Coast

In many campaigns, overland travel is required to get from home base to adventuring site with the occasional wilderness encounter along the way (much like Indiana Jones travel montages). And as adventuring parties, characters tend to take the roads less traveled through the world, including across mountains, jungles, deserts, oceans, and icy tundra—not exactly environs where you could or would even want to take a horse.

So what’s the solve? Let me sidestep this one for now, and talk through my second issue with drivers.

The Individual Driver

Another challenge of a driver in TTRPGs can be somewhat akin to the “smooth talker”. That is, if all Charisma-based activities are naturally left to the character with the highest Charisma (often the bard, for example), this can sideline the rest of the party during such challenges.

On one hand, this only makes sense. After all, you wouldn’t have the barbarian making magical research checks (unless it was testing potions by drinking them at random to see what happens)3. Of course let characters shine when it comes to showcasing the specialties of their character and that character’s class!

On the other hand, even though every class has their own niche, the game tends to flow better around the table when everyone is able to participate for as much of it as possible. The fighter may land the heaviest strikes, but everyone takes part in combat. The bard may be the lead negotiator, but the players table-talk amongst themselves about what exactly to say.4

When it comes to the concept of a driver, it’s another skill that might logically sit with only one character. All the same, the more that all characters are able to participate and play an active role, the better.

The Collective Vehicle

One way to provide greater participation is to introduce larger, more complex vehicles (such as normally handled with naval ships in fantasy or spaceships in sci-fi). After all, there are more roles that can be assigned in larger vessels—captain, navigator, gunner, communications, etc. Just think of how everyone on the bridge of the USS Enterprise has their own important role to play in moments of conflict and tension.

Such a vehicle might be a grand, complex wagon that needs to be driven. For fans of steampunk (or with some level of science in your fantasy) this could be a larger version of an apparatus of Kwalish, or even a giant iron golem (such as from the old Earthshaker! adventure). In the Mortal Engines series, these might even be entire walking cities!

Such larger vehicles open themselves up as their own adventure locations. For example, watch U-571 or similar submarine warfare movies. There may be boarders trying to get on that need to be repelled (Mad Max-style, or like any castle siege), saboteurs on board as well as their damage that needs to be found and repaired (e.g., Among Us), even sections of the hull closing down due to fire, flood, or lack of air that either need to be escaped or to rescue those already trapped inside (e.g., Titanic, The Poseidon Adventure).

Why would such a weird vehicle ever be required? Well, it may be the safest way to traverse a broad, open area that’s plagued by hostiles (such as a massive gnoll army). Or it may be the only way to travel across certain environments at all, such as various planes (including the Nine Hell), the vacuums of space (such as across a moonscape), or crawling along the bottom of the ocean to meet with a storm giant, kua-toa princess, or the secret lair of mermen-obsessed scientists (e.g., Cabin in the Woods).

I hasten to add that another vehicle that gives each character a needed position is to go Voltron-style5. Essentially, separate vehicles come together to form one giant iron golem/robot, with each driver needed to operate their individual component of the whole.

Even if it’s not a mechanical vehicle that not all characters have the skills to operate, you might introduce some large beast that needs to be crewed by multiple handlers—a single roc instead of multiple griffons, or a war-mastadon with an elaborate platfotm harness. Just the same as with a vehicle, these crewmen may need to serve as pilot, lookout, gunner, repair, etc. Failing a check or two may result in the creature veering off course, slowing down, or speeding up dangerously. Fail too many checks, and the creature may go berserk—even attacking its own crew!

Driving Challenges

As we discussed last time when it came to writing about drivers, it’s one thing to simply operate a vehicle. As a DM, you don’t your players to grow bored without sufficient challenge for the characters they’re playing, any more than you want your readers to grow bored without sufficient challenge for the characters they’re following.

So, to that end—think about what attackers does the vehicle encounter? Pursuit? Pitfalls, obstacles, and mechanical breakdowns?

Besides applied use of skills (animal handling, etc.) and the straight roll of the dice, what other strategies might the players employ? Do they have any gear, magic items, or spells that can help? Does the beast perform better depending on what kind of treat that it’s given?

Sample Added Challenge

One challenge a driver might face are “gremlins,” whether actual or conceptual.

Back in WWII, when planes were damaged and repaired so many times that spontaneous mechanical failures were inevitable, these were often blamed on gremlins. So how might gremlins work in TTRPGs to interrupt travel? By sabotaging equipment at night, booby-trapping saddles or mounts, etc. As in the movie Speed (or Crank), if the horse drops below a certain speed/heart rate, a hidden bomb might go off.

Like stirges, these gremlins hide during the day (hidden beneath a caravan wagon, for example), to emerge at night and quietly feed on the blood of the horses, resulting in their growing sluggish and weakened.

So What About Bill the Pony

Getting back to the paladin’s warhorse, and options for handling their use:

Handwave Their “Storage”: If you don’t want to effectively negate the benefit of a paladin’s warhorse, you might simply allow for its autonomous hitching outside of dungeons or other areas where it cannot travel. In 5e, this is easily handled by the implementation of the find steed spell—you summon and dismiss your warhorse as needed, which also plays into its mystical fey nature.

But what if you’re playing earlier editions, Old School Essentials, Shadowdark, etc.? In this case, you might treat the warhorse in a similar fashion, as a more spiritual creature that’s summoned when needed. Even as a more tangible fey, it might still roam free and capably fend for itself in the wild until called. (I picture the Lone Ranger whistling for Silver, who appears moments later cresting the nearest hilltop however improbably convenient.)

Assign a Handler: You can also treat the warhorse as a more earthly, tangible creature. In which case, the paladin may need to hire a henchman/hireling in the role of squire or groom, in order to stay with the horse and care for it. While this requires added logistics for the players to manage, it does also open up possibilities for new NPC interactions, added risks to navigate, story hooks, etc. 6

In other words, some campaigns enjoy managing the logistics, and so the reward of a paladin’s warhorse also comes with the complexities of its actual use.

From the Codex Manesse: Wolfram von Eschenbach and his squire.

Ultimately, that’s the ongoing challenge for you as DM: To ensure that each character feels like they have a unique role in the party, and how that’s expressed through their various class features and level upgrades. And, ensuring that those features can best fit into your campaign without too much logistical “paperwork” that makes them not worth having at all.

At the same time, while each characters should feel like that they have their own niche, still allowing the rest of the party to participate as much as possible in their own ways. It’s a challenging balance that comes up again and again, especially when we start looking at thieves, rogues, and assassins.

So here we are! Thanks for reading. This post is public so feel free to share it.

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1

Edited: As pointed out by , Bill the Pony actually survives and is later returned. Bill… or a fiendish doppelganger pony!

2

The niche of the cavalier was something we explored for the D&D website. At the time, I was working with Jason Thompson (of Mock Man Press) on a series of D&D-themed comics, with the cavalier still available online (at least for the time being).

3

I love the concept of potion miscibility, governing what happens if two or more potions are consumed at once. These rules could be found in the 1e Dungeon Master’s Guide, but disappeared in 3rd Edition—a situation addressed in a 2006 April Fool’s Day article I commissioned for the D&D website. And it’s great to see them returned to the game in 5e as well!

4

Unless it’s simply a dice-rolling skill challenge, such as seen in 4e. But that’s a topic for another day.

5

I never did watch the actual Voltron cartoon. For me, this premise was best displayed by the Decepticon’s Devastator. Man, I wish the Transformers were all built to 1/18th vehicle scale, but for that I would have to wait.

6

I can see a side quest, or even the start of a new campaign entirely, focusing on these low-level characters left outside the dungeon. What threatens them out there? Who tries to steal the party’s mounts? What happens if there’s a suspicious call for help from inside the dungeon that may or may not be their patrons?