Part One of The 2026 Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo Photos: Cool People and 3D Printing

The PopCulteer
July 31, 2026

The good news is, I have way more really good photos of the July 18 Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo than I thought I did.  The bad news is that I did not have time to sort, edit and prepare off them for publication today. I used the Kodak Charmera so that I can write a review of it in the future, but there’s a lot of wheat to separate from the chaff with that.  I took back up pics with my phone, and you can probably tell which is which.

Last week I brought you ten photos as a preview. Then last Sunday we had both the music video AND all the raw footage we shot.

For the second week in a row I did not get the extensive photo essay from this year’s Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo  completely done in time for today’s PopCulteer.  This has been a week full of absolutely top-of-the-line excuses, none of which I’m going to go into here.

Instead, I am going to carve up the big photo essay into three more manageable pieces.

Today we’re going to look at some of the folks we saw…a lot of old friends and their smiling faces that make this such a fun show.  We also took a lot of photos that were blurry or unflattering, so I’m only running a few here. We are also going to look at a few of the vendors who offered up incredibly cool 3D printed items, vehicles and accessories.

Next week we will devote one post to the cool custom figures and dioramas.  Then we will bring you a huge photo essay that is nothing but pictures of cool vintage toys.

I hate taking so long to get these photos published, but I love bringing them to you.

Friendly Faces

Two legends in the hobby, Ace Allgood and Scott Beckmann, both paying homage to Bulletman on his 50th anniversary as an action figure

Steve Stovall, one of the main forces behind The Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo AND The Adventure Command figures. Also, the guy who had a cooler shirt than I did.

Dean Morrison, another legendary GI Joe dealer, and also saluting Bulletman

Among the folks in this photo lurks Stitch Jones, of Bionic Marine fame. It’s up to you to figure out which one is him

Terry, from Action Media, who launched their new 1/18 scale line, Templars, the day of the show.

It’s always great to see Rocko Jerome, the man behind one of the most fun comics on the planet, G.H.O.S.T. Agents.

Jack Hall, legendary figure customizer. You’ll see one of his custom figures next week. Here he’s paying tribute to Walter Sobchak on Bulletman’s 50th anniversary!

3D Printing Galore

Crimson Toys had really amazing 3D printed diorama pieces for both 1/18 and 1/12 scale figures, but they were so busy that I didn’t get the chance to talk to them and only got one half-decent photo.

Brad Curry, (seen left) had tons of cool 3D printed 1/6 scale accessories, some of which I told you about yesterday.

This stuff is really spectacular. I’ve been buying pieces from Brad for years. You can find his work at of Bee Active Toys. He’s doing these in many colors, and some will be sold through Cotswold too.

This stuff is a godsend for those of us who want to build a giant Adventure Team Headquarters someday.

Yo Joe Java had an eye-popping display of great GI Joe stuff that could be made in 1/18 or 1/12 scale. This Cobra vehicle is astounding!

This stage for the band, Cold Slither, was stopping people in the aisles.

More cool stuff. I’ve actually got one of those little machine gun towers on top of the computer at the moment. Only it’s being manned by a mummy.

Even more cool stuff. I picked up the blue Cobra throne last year.

We leave you with more of the YoJo Java 3D printed vehicles. One of those Drillers in the back came home with us.

Years ago, on a “State of the Hobby” panel at JoeLanta (maybe in 2014, I remember me, Greg Brown from Cotswold, and Buddy Finethy talking about how the future of the hobby was probably going to be with 3D printing.

Looks like the future is here.

That is this week’s PopCulteer. Check this blog for fresh content every day, and look for at least two more photo essays devoted to Kentuckiana next week.