The State of the Hobby

This post is going to be primarily a long drawn-out rambling mess of thought on the State of the Hobby - at least from my perspective.

For anyone that doesn't know by now, I'm a fan of GI Joe - in almost any form. Sorry, GI Joe Extreme - you suck. I played with the classic, original GI Joe when I was a child, got into the 3 3/4" GI Joe when I was 19 in 1982 and have been a fan of nearly everything since then. I've got a little bit of Sgt Savage, and yes, just a couple Extreme figures. I've got a couple Sigma 6 figures also. And tons of the Modern Figures from the 25th Anniversary onward.

There are certain divisions or sections of the GI Joe brand that are important to me. I don't know the exact dates, so I'm just estimating on some of this stuff. 

• The original GI Joe ran from 1964 until 1976 in two primary forms - the military figures and the Adventure Team. I never had a Bullet Man or Mike Power. I'm over this era. Nostalgia, sure; collect, no.
• The Real American Hero o-ring figures started in 1982 until 1994, another 12 years of GI Joe dominance of the action figure aisle. Slowly reducing my collection, selling off many of the figures.
• Those characters took a break for a while, only to return in the new sculpt era, largely odd proportioned figures, moving into the 25th line, two movies and some other sub-sets. Weird stuff, eliminated most of them.
• Along the way, in the late 90's and early 2000's, there was another run of 12" figures, beginning with the Target Duke figure and moving into the Hall of Fame figures to the 30th Anniversary of the big GI Joe and onward through the 40th Anniversary of GI Joe. For me, that was the most important time period of the 12" GI Joe - the modern era.
• The modern era of GI Joe - from the 25th Anniversary through Retaliation - some of my absolute favorite toys, really cool stuff

The modern era of the 12" GI Joe is what confounds me. I don't have the timeline, but from 1994 to maybe around 2006, there was some serious growth in this market. The resurgence of the 12" action figure, beginning with that initial Target Duke created the market now occupied by the likes of Hot Toys and Sideshow Toys. The late company, 21st Century Toys, kicked serious amounts of ass with much of their 12" offerings. Hasbro did a damn fine job as well, moving from the awkward 30th Anniversary figures, progressing to the amazing 40th Anniversary reproduction figures, and on into the other various Classic Collection, Timeless Collection, and Adventure team re-releases. But most of it, besides the 40th and some Timeless, weren't those damn repros of the original nose-picker body. 

Even with the much superior super-articulated body, there seemed to be a lack of connection to those awesome new figures. Personally, I loved them and have a ton in my 12" collection. I've got maybe two or three of the repro original style Joe bodies; I made a few customs by remounting the 40th vintage style heads onto the modern super articulated bodies.

The biggest gripe that I have heard from 12" collectors is that there's nothing in it for them. Hell, there's barely anything in the 50th Anniversary line for anybody. Hasbro's offerings are almost an afterthought, a collection of previously shown, unproduced figures with a 50th Anniversary label stuck on them. Wow, thanks for the effort, Hasbro. Yeah, in my mind, this "anniversary" line is a just some table scraps tossed to the collectors by a company that no longer appreciates the brand that saved their corporate asses at least twice.

Rumors are out there that Hasbro has eliminated the GI Joe design team and GI Joe seems to be basically dead in the water. Shit.

and then again, so what...

I have enough.

I have over 100 12" GI Joe's and several hundred 3 3/4"-4" Joe figures, plus assorted oddball 4" figures from other lines. I have enough. I'll still pick up some of the 50th figures, but if there is no more GI Joe product to be had, then somehow I'll manage. If the Club is still able to access molds from Hasbro and they offer decent figures, I may stick with the FSS offerings. Time will tell.

Depending on the product for the future GI Joe 3 movie, I may be done with GI Joe. Some people have said, "Well, what would you buy if there isn't any Joe product on the shelves?" Nothing? Maybe actually save my money? 

The new Acid Rain product looks insanely bad-ass and is a little tempting, but they're just so expensive. I don't know that I can justify those kinds of costs for them. Yeah, they're probably worth it, I guess, but for me, I just don't want to spend that kind of money. Okay, I know, the Club's FSS figures are expensive as well, but I have limits.

Hell, I'm 51 years old. My near-vision gets blurrier and blurrier every year. Maybe it's time to just be satisfied with what I have and be done with it all.

The State of the Hobby? For me, it's just chugging along in my own little weird world and I'm just fine with that. I have enough.

Catch up time:
Ok, so here we go in no real order....
I got a real live Cobra FANG. Sweet, cheap. And while the 10yr old in me loves this thing, the 48yr old goes, pretty cool. Now really, 4 big missiles?  One big gimbal mounted gun that fires something, and since it's my imagination loading it, it fires high explosive flaming full automatic lasers. That about covers it. Ammo?Fahgettaboutit. Oh, and one great big honking bomb...Which for the 10yr is a great tactical device. For me?, of it comes when I finally use the Fang, The Fang is small sturdy and ready to go. And expensive. Ok, mine was 9 bucks!!! and then I had to fix the rotor mast. The FANG ,in cobra's world was just about as disposable as Trouble Bubble flight pod (see earlier post) and at least as expensive to make. And who flies the Fang? ANYBODY and everybody, which means A: Easier to fly and B: way more reliable and hardy. But then MARS engineers product improved the Fang and out came The CORPS! Rapid assault 1 man helo. A cost effective fang that no joe collector should be without. It's almost a spitting image, but clearly a bit better built. Higher speed but less payload and mission specific wings.(which Cobra leaves off in my world.. Better pilot seating and it's not nearly as nose heavy. It has 2 missiles and a double barreled fixed gun underneath. Less weight, higher speed. !0 year old goes pretty cool, get 2 ! 48yr old goes, I can have a sky full of these things!!!

Let's see...Oh yeay, Joes got a HAWK (Homing All the Way Killer) missile system, to even up the odds what with Cobra quickly getting air superiority at my house. Vintage piece , can't recall the price, maybe 9 bucks...Nice 3 missile system,needs launch van...10yr old was so impressed he was firing hawks all day long, tracked and killed everything in the house. 48yr old was stressed out form the cost of replacing rhe missiles. Defense cutbacks you see...Great piece. Makes wish I could find another, or the cobra set..

Got a HAL double barrel gun...More anti air is what I think it is...Got nothing to tow it, yet. No one to man it.  Meh, it was cheap...

got a WOLVERINE!!!!! and uh,,,what does it do? Anti air? Bombardment? Mine was a bit rough but cheap, and after the 10yr old was done and let me at it , I carved out the inside and a full size figure can drive it. It's neat, it's vintage, it was cheap.

Got a vintage DragonFly! Cheap. This one has 2 short nose guns that only swivel, no elevation. No decals but all the missiles and BFG on the side. Working wench. No figures. The 10year old went crazy. AH1 SuperDOOPER Cobra !!!!  Working rotors!!! The 48yr says, gotta crack it open to fix it so the gunner can sit in it.  Now this thing suffers fro Hasbro's "thats real but this is better "BS...no tail roto, but no jet exhausts either. Weird V tail thing...that's coming off..and what the heck is the universal joint on the tail? Other than that, it's joe "scale" meaning it's undersized, but an ROC sits just fine in the pilot seat. And the scale is not an issue BECAUSE

Because the Joes have an AH64 Longbow Apache. A very slick toy. made better by cracking it open and carving out the floor boards, now, 2 ROC figs get in just fine. And the scale of the Apache,(clearly it would be more in scale if the original joes were used) is not TOO bad, and the Cobra sitting beside the Apache, have roughly the same size difference they do in real life. Now the Apache has 8 hellfire missiles , and it always will because they are molde to the pylon. These hellfire also look a WHOLE LOT like the Avatar Scorpion hellfire. As in the same hollowed out spots and exact same size and type of plastic. The Apache coles with 2 throw away figs, and some useful stuff. Great deal at 30 bucks. The 58yr was happy to buy it for his 10yr old self.

Figure wise, I got an ROC viper eel. An old figure, ok, and rescued from the peg, he got modified with new gear and looks GREAT! He needed a swim buddy...So I found a Mantis very cheap and thought the EEL officer would work.Yhis gave me 2 mantis (mantises? Manti?) and then a lot of disappointment. The officer is crap. Hate him. I even mixed and matched 3 sets of dive gear and I'm still not happy. Contact me ifyou want to trade. But hunting for another EEL, I found one. And had to walk away, because he was 13 bucks PLUS TAX...really? not me...dammit.

Finally, if anyone has a cobra gunship pilot complete, I need him very badly!!!!

GI Joe: Retaliation GI Joe Trooper

When pictures started showing up about the new GI Joe: Retaliation (RET) figures, this figure stood out among the Wave 1 figures. A GI Joe troop builder? Wow, that's pretty cool! 

 

And then the madness struck. The movie was to be delayed until next March. Hasbro wasn't going to ship any additional product until closer to the release date. GI Joe fans were stuck with the first shipment and I couldn't get to the store quick enough to get one of these troops.

Wess got one, I didn't. Rats.

So how did I get this guy and what do I think of him?

Check out my thoughts here!

Cobra's Command Staff

Cobra's Command Staff - from left to right
Xamot, Zartan, Tomax, Storm Shadow, Mjr Bludd, Voodoo, Mistress, Cobra Commander, Firefly, Destro, Baroness, Scrap Iron, Dr Mindbender, & Blackout

GI Joe:Retaliation Cobra Trooper

I was really planning on disliking this figure. I've seen pictures of it and was not very impressed. Something about it just really looked goofy. Yeah, the parachute looked great, but was it really worth it to buy this figure based on the parachute?

Wess beat this guy up pretty well in his review as well. Not a lot going for the guy.

Seriously, when you compare this figure to the 30th Cobra Trooper or Viper, the RET trooper comes up lacking.

Well, I saw one at a local Walmart and decided to give him a shot. Damn, this is one goofy figure, right?

I mean, just look at him with his big goofy helmet. C'mon, man! Just so dorky looking.

As I usually do and have done since i bought my first 3 3/4" GI Joe some 30 years ago, I opened him up in my car. That's like a tradition with me now. Yeah, I could have waited to get an in-package picture, but nope, can't do it. 

The parachute is really well done. When I got home, the first thing that I did was to fold up the chute and toss him up into the air. Good canopy and he floated to earth - kind of quickly for the scale. But it worked and I smiled like a little kid!

So is there any hope for the figure? That helmet, man, that helmet is just so big and awkward looking.

Well, take it off, you doofus!
And we have a winner.

This head sculpt is just so simple and yet so awesome. The crisp color of the goggle color, sharp detailing with the black paint. It just really looks cool.

There is still something a little bit off - the color of the web gear. Cobra blue, right? Yeah, I guess, but I would rather have darker web gear.

Without the web gear, the trooper continues to be surprising. The overall sculpt of the figure is very simple and yet it works. 

So who or what does this character become? Once a GI Joe figure enters my world, I can redefine it however I choose. yeah, officially, this a RET Cobra trooper, but not to me. There is something more to this figure.

He seems to become an individual character or maybe a specific type of viper, rather than just a plain Cobra trooper.

There is something about this figure and his "look". He's just cool. I never thought that I would say this about this figure.

I like him. He looks like a bad ass to me.

Maybe Firefly's high tech protege? 

Look at these two pictures - cool on the left, dork on the right. The helmet is no longer an issue for me with this figure. Into the parts bin.

I tried out a couple differnt types of web gear and I think I'm going more toward the very early web gear used with a Snake Eyes figure. Cool simplicity.

C'mon, check him out. Isn't he really just a pretty cool figure?

I still don't know where he falls in the ranks of the Cobra heirarchy, but I like him. Will I troop build him? Maybe. Just a few. I think that these guys could become a very specialized trype of Cobra trooper.

Yeah, the parachute is pretty fun and the web gear is well done. Even the odd rifle is nice. Excellent flat black on that one, Hasbro. Thanks for not making blue weapons on this guy.

The true "coolness" of the figure lies when all the gear has been stripped away and you have been left with just a slick simple figure.

If you want to bitch about the prices of the figures, don't. I don't want to hear it. Don't buy them. Save them for me.

GI Joe:Retaliation - Cobra Commander and Duke

Two iconic GI Joe characters - Cobra Commander and Duke. Multiple versions exist - from exceptional to downright ridiculous.

Cobra Commander, of course, leads the forces of Cobra in his mad quest to rule the world. Really? Wouldn't that involve a lot of paperwork?

Duke has long been considered a leader of the GI Joe team, especially in the Sunbow cartoons.

Of course, it was essential that both characters became an integral part of the new film, GI Joe: Retaliation. Channing Tatum reprising his role as Duke and somebody under this new mask of Cobra Commander.

So how did the toys do? Especially these figures from the first wave. If you are holding out for the second or third waves, tough luck. You have to wait 8 MONTHS!

Both figures suffer from the new limited articulation. It's really not that bad. Joe fans have been spoiled by the recent 30th anniversary figures.

Cobra Commander is very well done, I really like this new helmet design. It definitely brings to mind the classic battle helmet look of Cobra Commander.

The limited leg articulation is not so bad with CC. OK, so he can't crouch into a great firing position, but I mainly see him in the company of protective troops. The hands are just simple swivels; they don't have the extra pivots. Not too bad, he can still have a decent two-handed firing grip.

The accessories are not very impressive. The rifle that he comes with is pretty decent. He's got some sort of odd pistol as well. I don't have a picture of him with it because it is a loose fit in the holster and I've already lost it. It was kind of dumb, so - big deal.

His spring-loaded weapon is a staff with a giant cobra head that shoots an oversized "flame" projectile. Cool, but so what? Tossed into the parts bin.

Not counting the gear, I think that this Cobra Commander is well done. Just in the brief glimpses in the trailer, Hasbro seems to have captured the movie style of the helmet. I can't wait to see this "new" Cobra Commander on film on June 29th. Oh wait, make that March of 2013. I guess I do have to wait, not 8 months - NINE MONTHS!

Now I turn my direction toward everyone's favorite GI Joe boy scout, Duke. Channing Tatum's performance in the Rise of Cobra was less than impressive. He was just too different from other portrayals of Duke in other forms of media. I'm not saying he couldn't have pulled off a tougher Duke, but it just didn't work.

I won't even go into the whole triangle of Duke/Baroness/Rex nonsense. Duke is supposed to be a Sergeant. In RoC. he was a Captain. In RET, based on the info on the card, he is a 1st Lt. Busted for his lousy performance in RoC?

Let's look at the figure. I hope you don't have to scrub your eyes with bleach after looking at this mess. Check out that spring loaded weapon. Yeah, that's going to work. I had to take a quick picture because he kept falling over. Shoulder mounted and snapped into his "rifle". Makes perfect sense, right? I actually think that the missile launcher is pretty cool. There's a ripcord (isn't he dead?) that you can insert and then pull out for a rapid firing effect. Kind of cool, probably fun for the kids. But for this big kid, it's dumb!

So what about the figure? Yeah, so what about the figure. The over-sized melon is the biggest problem. His head is just too dang big. Okay, Hasbro has to go with an actor's likeness, I get it, but can it go on a more appropriately sized body?

And the body isn't much to work with, either. There are some interesting detailing, implications of body armor, but it is just so... blah.

Maybe there is some custom work ahead for this guy. No, there is some custom work ahead. At the very least, a head swap. Maybe even with a RoC Tatum head that is more in scale with his body.

Overall, Cobra Commander is a hit. The sculpt is great and I can get over the new articulation issues. Duke? I should have left him on the pegs. I could have been just fine waiting for him to be rereleased closer to the film in 8-9 months.

GI Joe:Retaliation - Battle Kata Roadblock

Yeah! Giant spring-loaded missile launcher things! Hot damn!

GI Joe: Retaliation (RET) figures have hit the market! Well, sort of. With the delay of the movie until March 2013, toy releases are quickly drying up. Hasbro stated that all remaining toy releases will be pushed back until closer to the release of the movie. Understandable, but that means us Joe fans are only stuck with the first wave. And what a first wave - some hits and some misses.

Let's take a look at this first version of RoadRock, I mean Roadblock, as played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He's got this monstrous spring-loaded launcher thing, much like the Rise of Cobra (ROC) figures. This one has a couple added features in that Roadblock can actually interact with the weapon via the battle kata thing that he has PERMANENTLY AFFIXED TO HIS RIGHT HAND! What?

Okay, I know the picture is blurry, but that huge thing threw my camera for a loop. It was like a car wreck. It couldn't turn away and not focus on it.

The weapon actually comes apart into two pieces for added battle-kata fun. Yeah, I don't care. It's still silly. Well, silly for this 49 year old kid. Wess likes to point out his age, so why not me too?

We're both a couple of big goofy kids who focus way too much of our time on plastic toys. hey, we could be drinking and carousing, right Wess?

See that thing down in Roadblock's right hand? Yeah, it's molded into his hand.

Hasbro? Can I get an extra hand if I don't want my Roadblock to permanently have this thing in his hand?

The sculpt on Roadblock is pretty damn cool. The likeness to the Rock is impressive. Arm musculature is detailed as well. A great job by the Hasbro design team. 

Hey, even this thing in his hand is sculpted well. Okay, yeah, I'm reaching here. So what's a solution for this problem? 

There is another version of Roadblock currently available. Well, maybe. Without any resupply from Hasbro, RET toys are going to dry up real quick.

There's a ninja dojo 3-pack with Roadblock, Beach Head, and Kamakura available. This version of Roadblock is less than desirable - at least to me.

The first problem is that the plastic used for RB's skin is two different tones. Can't they make him match?

And his head is loose. What the heck? And his goatee is barely visible. Can we get some consistency between the two RB's? 

Fortunately, the hands pop off easily enough to turn the single pack battle kata RB into a much better figure. I personally prefer the non-tiger-stripe camo RB.

He also comes with the vest that may have first appeared with Night Adder from ROC and later with Resolute RB.

So a quick hand swap and I get a decent version of RET Roadblock.

I like this guy! But I don't know what to do with my Resolute Roadblock and this Retaliation Roadblock. I like both figures and how can I incorporate this guy into my twisted GI Joe world? Don't know right now.

And what about the lack of extra leg articulation? Single jointed knees and no ankle articulation! Oh the horror! The absolute HORROR!

I really don't care that much. I still remember the articulation of the original o-ring figures and I'm not upset by this move from Hasbro. Some figures with the extra artic are actually a little more difficult to stand up due to the extra joints. Not this guy.

And besides... It's a frikkin' toy! get over it!