G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary

[crimsonquill]

I'm not quite sure where to put this news but I figured here was good since there was no "Toys" area in the forums....  :unsure:

Anyway, Hasbro decided that since the Transformers line is getting major hype before the release of the new movie that pushing their other big toy line might be a boon to another franchise. Thus G.I. Joe Vs. Cobra is finally getting a relaunch with a completely new 3 3/4" toy line-up and having them be the most detailed and joined figures to date.

Check it out: http://www.hasbro.com/gijoe/rah/default.cfm?page=25th

While I do like the manga inspired Sigma 6 toys for some reason... I'm just too old school to be spending my cash on them when this new series is right around the corner.  :drool:

- CrimsonQuill

[Mr. Hamrick]

looks like they spent more effort on the Cobra figures and snake eyes than on the rest of the Joes

[GogglesPizanno]

I really would like to be more excited about this than I am.
The new skulpts are pretty nice, but I'm really tired of all these re-issues, revamps, relaunches of old toy lines (not limited to just GIJ). It just reminds me of the Horror of 90's comic book buying.

The only thing thats missing on these figures anymore is the limited edition foil character card with the five alternate portrait packages.

Though I do like the Retro "original" character card design, and Snake Eyes with the wolf is a nice touch.

[crimsonquill]

The whole point of these 25th Anniv figures however is that Hasbro is finally giving these figures the treatment they richly deserved. Had they done these figures back when they relauched the classic GI Joe line the first time around and Rhino Video was releasing the DVD season sets they would have raised action figure production up a bar or two. I get horribly ill walking the toy isles with my son and looking at the movie tie-in figures like Star Wars or Pirates Of The Caribbean where the sculps are sub-par and the pastic is so cheap that leaving it out in the sun for took long melts them. These days I just get my figures off the net from companies willing to make high quality sculps even if I have to pay a few more pennies.

- CrimsonQuill

[Pyroclasm]

:drool:
Hopefully they won't carry a "collector's" price tag.  I want to be able to afford ALL of them.  Finally, the ladies look like ladies, and not men in drag.  My favorite of the new Joes is Gung-Ho, and the Baroness, who is my all-time favorite Cobra, is also my favorite of the new Cobra figures.
As for relaunches, I'm glad the toy companies are continuing with things I've grown up with and love.  Most everything else they've been putting out have just been crappy anime or movie tie-ins that I couldn't care less about.  Now I'm just waiting for them to relaunch Thundercats & Silverhawks.

[Kommando]

Ooh Snake Eyes the way he looked when I had the figure, but nicer.  Gah, I remember when the first 3-3/4" figures came out and none of the original line up seem to be left:  Grunt, Zap, Short Fuse, Flash, Stalker, and Breaker.  Snake Eyes wasn't added on to that original list till a couple of months later as I recall.  Then Scarlet seemed to be fairly exotic.  This was before they became the Village People Brigade.  Heh, I remember Cobra Commander being a big secret and mailing away for the figure with Proofs of Purchases.  And it was the helmeted figure that came out first.  I look forward to these guys, finally a line of toys that can hang out with my Star Wars Toys.  Scarlet can joined my box of Republic Commando Delta Squad figures... 

I still prefer the classic look of Snake Eyes when he was a Commando with an Uzi instead of being turned into a freaking Ninja.

[GogglesPizanno]

Oh Zap... How we miss you.

[MJB]

Wow. Those bring back some fond memories.

-MJB

[zuludelta]

My older brother bought the GI Joe 5-pack (Duke, Scarlett, Snake-Eyes, Gung-Ho, Roadblock). He had to get them through a comic book and collectibles shop since they don't seem to be available at Toys-R-Us (at least not the ones in the Vancouver area), despite Hasbro's press release saying so. Anyways, he had me hold them for him for a while since he's just moved in to a new apartment with his fiancée and didn't want to risk losing them in the shuffle. All I have to say is that the detail on these guys are amazing, especially at this scale. The handguns that come with 4 of the 5 characters are actually sculpted uniquely (Snake-Eyes looks like he has a Sig-Sauer P-226, while Gung-Ho seems to have a Desert Eagle... not sure what Duke and Scarlett's pistols are supposed to be modeled after). Gung-Ho (the original was my favourite toy when I was 9 years old) is now sporting an actual M-79 grenade launcher (instead of the made up one in the original) and dig this: it has actual folding ladder sights and you can actually "break" open the barrel to simulate the grenade launcher's loading. All this detail and articulation in model weapon less than an inch in length.

The negatives are quite minor... the figures feel a little fragile in my hands because they're a lot more slender and closer to human proportions than the previous toys although the softer, almost rubbery, plastic they used for the the thinnest parts like the forearms and hands means there's less likelihood of breakage occurring. The figures also come with figure stands with their respective names on them but this pack was missing a Gung-Ho stand and came with a duplicate Roadblock stand instead. I could probably sand it down and etch a new name on it but it seems to be a lot of trouble for a very minor annoyance. 

All in all, an awesome piece of childhood nostalgia. 

[JeyNyce]

I saw them at the Toys R US in my area and they are cool, but I have these figures from the first time they were release.  I just have to go dust them off.