The DFW G.I. Joe & Action Figure Show 2025 – the A Real American Book! Convention Report / Part 3 of 3

SUNDAY—–

In our last episode, Tim attended panels, talked with TV people, dined with them, and fell asleep before midnight!

Woke up at 6 again. Partly the time zone, partly a positive anxiety, I didn’t mind. More time to get stuff done! I packed, and then drew Claymore in Michael Charles Hill’s sketchbook. Kickily’s opening piece was action and facing right, so I thought mine would be quiet and facing left.

At 8 I headed downstairs for breakfast. At a table for four, Kirk Bozigian, Bob Swanson, Vinnie D’Alleva — all marketers, and Guy Cassaday, designer, were eating and talking. At the next table were Dave Kunitz and Greg Berndtson, both designers. I didn’t want to bother them as they weren’t yet on the clock, so I had to settle for this okay shot to capture the feeling rather than a proper candid, and even taking this felt a little intrusive. Once again, I love the idea that old co-workers and friends could be together at this show. Hats off again to Dan Klingensmith for organizing the “Joelebrities.”

Larry Selman was seated at a bar (not the bar, a bar. Not wanting to take up a table for two, I sat next to him. Selman painted extraordinary package art for G.I. Joe Timeless Collection and Classic Collection, plus Collector’s Club and Collector’s Convention exclusives ten and fifteen years back. Importantly, he had sent images of two of his paintings for inclusion in my book, and as that interaction had only been via email, I wanted to say thank you in person.

Brian Savage rolled up with his breakfast, and we three talked. I asked Selman about his studio. He mentioned an uncluttered room in his home dedicated to painting, with rotating art on his walls, plus props and costumes in his basement. Savage talked about flying a plane, and I asked about Selman’s drive home and the Aviation Artist Society of America. He had thoughts about organizations like that, and I mentioned there’d been attempts in the ’80s to form a comic book artist’s union. Selman mused on the changing art-buying habits of young people, and this reminded me of something my wife noted, that mid-century modern furniture is in style and young people don’t want their grandparents’ antique couches or fine china.

I ran to the lower level to finally get some shots of the silent auction.

The first table had a display explaining the charity itself:

There was a variety of toys, art, and objects.

Prints by James Payette, donated by Greg Berndston. Payette painted character presentation art for Hasbro in the late ’80s.

Here’s a Funskool Skystriker, a toy released in India, donated by It’s Chad.

Two pieces of wood cut art by former Hasbro designer David Kunitz:

These are fun because they are something new or unseen, like something that (this is a guess) hobbyist Kunitz made in the last ten years.

Here’s a Profit Director Destro bust donated by Diamond Comic Distributors. This is funny for a few reasons. One, this color scheme on Destro is sort of a joke that Hasbro and fans made official after running with it. Two, Diamond declared bankruptcy late last year (as a comic shop owner who has ordered from Diamond every week for the past 13 years, the company is always on my mind). I was impressed that the DFW Club was able to get through to someone at Diamond, explain the charity auction, and that Diamond followed through on shipping the item to Texas. (This is all a guess.) Diamond has had a lot of ups and downs these past seven months. I’m pleased this item could help bring up the tally for the charity — it had three bids when I looked at it.

Ken Davis donated these three HasLab G.I. Joe Classified Dragonfly action figures. I have only somewhat followed the HasLab campaigns. I certainly want them to succeed, but man, those vehicles end up being so big!

Say, author John Michlig donated a copy of his GI Joe: The Complete Story of American’s Favorite Man of Action, which is actually my favorite book and is much of why I have this blog and am writing my own G.I. Joe history book. (I think of my book as a sequel to Michlig’s.) I have had a copy since it was released in 1998, and I don’t need a spare. But my shop sold its copy long ago and I’ve pondered the notion of buying another to sell there. This seemed like a sign that I should try and bid on the auction since Michlig signed this copy. That the dust jacket is torn in no way diminishes any of this.

To the three people I outbid, better luck next time!

This one was the most unusual item in the auction, a World War II US Army Air Forces pilot pen light. The “donated by” line was left blank, and when I checked there were no bids, adding to the mystery. Everything in the auction was two or 20 years old — merch, prints, toys. Here was an actual historical object. I wondered if I should bid and give it to my older friend, a writer who likes sitting in a cockpit at that aviation museum in NYC.

Next to it was a 2023 Comic-Con International-exclusive enamel pin set of the Cold Slither Dreadnoks. This was donated by The Finest, a G.I. Joe Costume Club. Cold Slither sure is having a year, at last in 2025, so this felt timely.

On left, in black and white, “The Lone and the Brave,” a print by Larry Selman. This was signed by Selman and a jet pilot. Knowing what little I do from talking with Selman at breakfast that morning, I get the sense that this pilot flew this jet. I wondered who had commissioned the piece, and if Selman took it further and painted it. As lovely as his color work is, I was particularly struck by this pen and ink piece. On right, in color, a print of Larry Selman’s “Hour of Liberation,” signed by the artist and three D-Day veterans.

Here’s a view of half of the room. You can see several items I didn’t photograph up close.

Slightly down the hall were the two diorama rooms.

This was a little confusing. Some were for display, while others belonged in the competition. Technically each room was for one category, but the rooms had no divider. A gent inside said that someone who set up on Friday had placed their wares in the wrong space, and so the two kinds of dioramas were mixed up. This was not a big deal, as the dioramas with competition paperwork were clearly marked. But technically, the signs were inaccurate to what was in each room. Also, one or two people had taken their dioramas with them late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, so these two rooms were at about 85% of what had been on display at their peak the previous day. I regretted missing some!

Apologies, I didn’t write down the name of the person who created these three custom figures:

Here was a big diorama assembled by members of the DFW G.I. Joe Collectors Club:

Let’s zoom in a little:

On my right was a long line of soldiers. Ben, who posts to YouTube as Diorama Works, was fine tuning it:

It was made up of Hasbro and Sideshow figures…

There were 96 marching soldiers in all!

Here’s the rear view. My photos don’t do justice to just how long it was.

Over on a different table were three custom figures by David Cueter. I will admit that when I see these displays, I’m not sure what’s store bought and what is homemade. Sometimes it’s new heads or key accessories. Still, I appreciated these in a general sense, specific people in specific uniforms with accurate details.

Perhaps you can tell me in the comments if this cool spaceship by Keith Holmes is invented or belongs to a specific novel/series/movie. The blue-green lighting in the cockpit makes for a nice detail.

At last! Some Real American Hero characters. This I can definitely tell what’s new (Golobulus’ green pod, Cobra Commander’s clam, the ground, the backdrop), and what’s production (the figures). I note that there’s a mix of 1980s and 2007-style bodies.

Two separate entries in the custom contest by Saul Friedman:

You can also see details of other figures in the background — I didn’t photograph everything.

In the back corner was a gigantic, epic tableau by Geppetto Joe:

This was a specific city from a specific war — I didn’t write it down in my notes I was so dazzled by the size and the detail. The dirt! The walls! The trolley! Let’s focus on the broken glass in the trolley:

Now let’s duck down a few inches to reveal soldiers underground:

Now let’s loop around to the back. Each room tells a story!

My wife has been reading up on childhood development, the anthropology of play, dollhouses, and how museums archive and curate their collections. There’s an overlap with my own interests in art, G.I. Joe, comics, and such, and certainly seeing all of this hit home to me how much “dollhouse play” and “male action figure base play” intertwine.

Zooming into one of the underground rooms in the rear, this soldier is keeping these two children safe. Or is it the other way around?

Back to the front to include the trolley, to give a sense of the depth of the gash in the road, and somewhat to add in the real human scale — there’s Geppetto Joe on the right. I think he had spent most of the convention there, making sure no one touched this killer diorama, but also answering questions. He talked a little about his studio space at home, and mentioned he had just sold this whole piece to a woman who had made an offer!

It was a lot of money, although I did some quick math and it probably didn’t add up to the total cost of supplies (a dozen-plus action figures, paint, resin, etc) or manhours, but Geppetto Joe was pleased. He didn’t have to lug it home and now he could move on to build the next one! I thought that was a healthy outlook.

It was now 9:15am. The con’s “preview” hour was underway, the first panel was at 10, and I was running out of time. I crossed the lobby and saw Vinnie D’Alleva with a roller bag. Surely he wasn’t leaving this early? The image made me a little sad — someone departing a con, especially a guest. But no, D’Alleva still had “signing hours” at his table in the showroom, and was maybe part of a panel later on. He was probably bringing his luggage to the front desk in advance of checkout, and would probably head out in the afternoon or early evening. But the last day of a con is always a bit melancholy.

I headed into the showroom. At his table I showed Gregg Berger a chapter of my book. We both remarked how nice dinner conversation had been the night before. At Destro’s Toy Lair I bought some 1980s G.I. Joe post cards I didn’t know existed. The coloring makes me think they’re Comic Images. As with the Star Brigade napkins I got a week prior, I definitely want to use these because they’re not valuable or special, just fun, but I may never bring myself to. Oh, actually, I mail letters to my niece and nephew, and I’ve been trying to get one of them into G.I. Joe comics, so that might be an avenue.

I had missed my chance to get a signed photo from Lisa Raggio as she had left for a panel. Bummer!

This dealer had a 3-D printer. E2 Studios LLC, selling on Etsy as “TK560”

(I’ll flashback here for this paragraph to something I forgot to post in Saturday/Part 2: I bought a toy! An expensive one. A dealer had a mint unopened 1991 Snake Eyes figure. I kinda need one that I can photograph for my book. Funny thing is that I already own a mint unopened 1991 Snake Eyes figure, but it’s sealed in a time capsule that I can’t open. Therefore I’ve been vaguely aware, these last two years of conventions, figuring out what I need to scan or photograph for my G.I. Joe history book, that I needed to source a Snake Eyes. Here was one for a good price. Then the dealer said “which one do you want?” and pulled out two more, each a little different — one with a name toy store price tag, with with a generic price tag, one with a contest sticker on the front. Good news, I talked him down 25 bucks because I paid in cash. End flashback.)

I hadn’t yet looked at Larry Selman’s table, and was surprised to find that in addition to paintings of realistic military characters in the world of 12-inch G.I. Joe, he also had small photo prints of a Snake-Eyes painting and a Scarlett one as well. And, wait, a Destro? I started grabbing one of each. Selman said “there are more under.” What a strange surprise! Larry Selman had done several more for Hasbro that were never used! I tried to place the year, but couldn’t. These felt a little like they may have been considered for the 25th Anniversary packaging — a single Joe or Cobra with an explosion behind them.

I was now missing the 10am event, the G.I. Joe Animated Series Panel. This featured Zach Hoffman, Gregg Berger, Lisa Raggio, Keone Young — all voice actors, and writer/producer Michael Charles Hill, plus comics artist Jamie Sullivan. I had thought I’d have time to sit in for part and get a photo, but in talking with Selman and Jamie Sullivan’s wife Erin Sullivan (manning his table during his panel), my time was in fact up. Erin offered to send me a photo, and ran in while I figured out how much cash I had left.

I’m going to pause on the actual timeline of my Sunday attendance here, because at this moment I realized I needed to leave. I’ll pick this up below, but in the interim, here are a few more dealers and toys for sale! In my JoeFest report (the convention that took place a week earlier) I had remarked how many USS Flaggs were for sale. I’m pleased to report that this largest of all Real American Hero vehicle/playsets was represented at the DFW Show — a loose one. I think it was for sale, but it was also doing double-duty as a table:

And one more comparison. There were several dealers selling comic books at that earlier convention. One dealer had a great spread of long boxes at DFW. I think this belonged to Davis’ Dreadnoks:

In the outer hallway that wrapped around three-quarters of the main con hall, here was Heritage Auctions:

I had seen Heritage at JoeFest a week earlier (these were probably different reps), I get a few Heritage catalogs in the mail, and have once or twice won something in a Heritage auction, so they’re not far from my mind. Also, as the completion of my book inches closer, I think about thinning out my collection of toys — will I sell it to that pal who goes to BotCon? Or that mega G.I. Joe collector who may switch to selling only Star Wars if he can’t acquire any more Joe stuff? Maybe an auction house like Heritage or Hakes will drive out to my place and take it all off my hands, and I can get a page-long write up in an auction catalog. Whatever may happen, I do like looking through Heritage’s catalogs, and not just for screen-matched Star Wars lightsabers or 1980s original comic book artwork on bristol. It’s the historical objects as well, like pins and buttons from 1920s elections, postage stamps from the 1880s, and, yes, Victor Laszlo’s passport from Casablanca.

Where was I? Here are more dealers.

Gary Peck, who’d driven from Nebraska. While he’d attended the DFW Show before, this was his first time selling at this or any show:

Mark Spencer of Denton, Texas. This is the only show he does, and he’s sold at this show (or its predecessor) for 25 or 30 years.

Here are David and his wife, selling as David’s Collection from West Monroe, Louisiana. Their first DFW Show, but their 7th show selling overall, they had moved homes and were downsizing their collection:

Here’s Michelle, one of the Vintage Sisters of Ft. Worth, who set up at local shows:

And toys for sale!

Here I’ll acknowledge the other panels I missed, starting at 11am. The first was Dan Klingensmith’s Inside the Process: A G.I. Joe PTO (Product Turn Over) Presentation, wherein some of the Hasbro alums talked about a key final step in creating each G.I. Joe toy. I describe this briefly in my book, and would like to know more about it. (Maybe I should drive to Kirk Bozigian’s house, take him to lunch later in the summer, and ask him.) I regretted missing this one, and had looked at flight departure times to see if there was any way I could attend this and then depart for the airport, but no dice.

Next was the Valaverse Panel, about the 6-inch military figure line. Show organizer Greg Brown had told me that last year’s version of this panel was standing room only. Each time I saw the panel room this year, it was lightly or moderately full, so it would be great to cap off the show with a bang. Brown had said that the Valaverse figure line, 6-inch soldiers in a modern military style, has a big and loyal fan base. (Rewind an hour, near the elevator after breakfast: A fellow con attendee looked at me and asked if he needed to get in line early to make the Valaverse panel.)

Lastly was the GI Joe Classic Collection: Inspiration & Research of the Real Heroes of History. I’m going to guess that this was figure designer Kurt Groen showing drawings and product samples from the ’90s, and possibly also artist Larry Selman, who painted many great package paintings for this line. I did see a panel with these two back at JoeCon ’18, so I don’t feel like I missed out too much.

And at 3pm, the showroom closed, attendees would have headed out, and dealers would start breaking down their booths. Some had short drives, with their home bases in Fort Worth. Larry Selman had mentioned his drive home would be 20 hours. Another item Greg Brown had told me the previous day: next year’s DFW G.I. Joe show would be at this same venue.

Getting back to the actual chronology of Day 3 at DFW ’25:

I looked over prints of lovely Larry Selman art at his booth, including, to my surprise, the “Crimson” take on Baroness, presumably from a convention exclusive set. Selman’s art is sort of halfway between Dave Dorman and David Michael Beck’s. The nextdoor booth belonged to Jamie Sullivan, but he was in a panel at that moment, and I realized I was out of time and my convention was over. I told Selman and Erin Sullivan (covering for Jamie) that they were the last people I would say goodbye to, and abruptly walked out of the showroom. The hotel shuttle was leaving in ten minutes, but the front desk had suggested showing up five or ten minutes early. I had seen a Fantastic Four comic back on Friday that I hadn’t bought, and handed my last two one-dollar bills to that dealer on my way out. Walked fast to the elevator, grabbed by luggage from my room, and while checking out, saw Gray Childs once again. He suggested I take a ride with him and his son, Aiden. The airport shuttle was waiting outside for me, and I didn’t need special treatment, but Gray half-insisted. Also, I like the idea of having one more G.I. Joe experience. Sure, I could talk to the shuttle driver or the other riders, but maybe they were here for those soccer or baseball tournaments. Putting a close to this trip with the convention’s social captain seemed like the thing to do.

We three drove the five miles to the airport. I was a little sad. I asked Aiden about his interests. Does the child of a collector get into their parents’ interests organically? I do like seeing convention attendees walking around with strollers or little kids, and I’ve noted when little kids at JoeCon or BotCon are holding a G.I. Joe or Transformers toy. Would those kids be interested in those toys on their own? Aiden asked me about how I’ve felt when a favorite comic series is canceled, and I recalled my feelings as a teenage reader and how I can be more practical now.

We were at the airport. I got out, we all shook hands, Gray and I hugged, he said I should send him suggestions for next year’s show, and that was it.

FIRST POST SCRIPT
Back in Part One, I explained that I needed to depart from the con early to attend an event at my store, Hub Comics. Quick recap: Hub Comics (that’s my store!) manager Jesse Farrell self-published the third issue of his comic book, Action Draculas, this one with a vinyl record of his own design! And in my 13 years at the shop, he’d not yet planned an event for his own work, like a book signing or artist talk. Until now.

My flight was on-time and I took a cab straight to from Boston Logan to my shop. The event was great!

SECOND POST SCRIPT

The day after DFW ’25, the DFW Facebook page advertised not its next show, but a next show:

I clicked on the link, and landed on a website that told me it wasn’t annual, but monthly!

I wouldn’t be attending, but I was glad the cycle continued for dealers and collectors alike. Here’s a whole ecosystem of smaller toy shows that are scaled a little more like swap meets and less like the fancy, annual events with celebrity guests.

And just a day or two after the 2025 DFW G.I. Joe and Action Figure Show ended, the DFW Club announced its location (same as this year) and date for next year. This is earlier in the calendar, as I think some big sports event is taking up all the hotels later in June ’26.