Marine Devastation is out of stock again. Retaliation Night Viper will be a lightning deal on Amazon tomorrow around 11:30 (11:00 if you have Prime). Amazon.com: G.I. Joe Retaliation Night Viper Action Figure: Toys & Games
The Marine Devastation pack went back up earlier and I was finally able to get one. Well I hope I did anyway as it went straight to backorder.
I still haven't had any luck getting a Rock Rampage 3 pack. I really just want it for Alpine, so for you guys troop building the Cobra guys and have extra Alpines, send me a PM.
Snagged the GI Joe DVD Battles sets (Best of the 80s) for some decent (for aftermarket) prices. Wasn't so much interested in assembling the MASS Device as I was in getting some hard to find characters in their original toon decos, like Dusty, Major Bludd, and Quick Kick (real men don't wear shirts and shoes! ). Guess Serpentor is a nice bonus to go along with the Nemesis Enforcer/Lt Falcon two-pack I recently got, and the upcoming Club release of Pythona. If only Hasbro would release Sgt Slaughter as a mass retail figure and not just an uber expensive SDCC exclusive.
TRU has G.I. Joe The Eagle's Edge Pack in stock for $14.98 (apparently limit 2 per customer). Also some pretty decent Black Friday/Cyber Monday/Week deals on True Heroes stuff which are 3.75" figure compatible (got me the Apache Long Bow attack helicopter and the Sentinel1 Combat Trike).
I know GI Joe as a toy line is pretty dead in comparison to Star Wars and Transformers, but seems that over at Hiss Tank that Hasbro recently did a fan poll contest with 4 potential brand new characters (which are canon/official characters featured in novelizations of GI Joe stories) up for consideration last month in November. Looks like a female character named Stiletto won, and she apparently has ties to both Cobra (possibly an ex-Cobra agent or current Cobra double agent) as well as Slaughter's Marauders (a bodyguard for Mercer/Mercenary; makes sense given Cobra has a bounty for his head after he defected from the Vipers). Always good to see more female characters get figures. The other three characters have neat back stories too. Hope they get their own toys some day as well. The winning author of the Stiletto novelization is trying to drum up support for the other authors/characters too for that very cause. It's a minor quibble for me when he comes packing heat with such a big machine gun instead.
Yeah, Leatherneck just doesn't feel the same without his backpack. And after looking around, it's actually surprisingly hard to find a good cheap green backpack for him to replace it. Of course, he also doesn't feel the same with terrible paint and hard, cruddy plastic, but that's another issue...
TRU has the G.I. Joe Heated Battle Pack (50th Anniversary Blowtorch and HEAT Viper 2-pack) back in stock for $9.98. G.I. Joe Heated Battle Pack Wonder if that means they'll eventually get the Viper's Pit battle pack back in stock. Wouldn't 25th Anniversary General Hawk's backpack do in a pinch? It's green, and the figure itself is pretty cheap to get even on the aftermarket.
Probably talking to myself at this point and I know I'm terribly late to the party, but I cracked open some of the SDCC GI Joe / Transformers crossover sets and they're pretty damn cool. Really like how the Shockwave HISS tank came out. Got purple Destro in the driver's seat with the Arctic club exclusive version of Dr. Mindbender (with his purple winter coat) in the tank turret, flanked by (purple) Techno Vipers (it's a purple party ). Putting together Hound and Jetfire next, though I did fiddle with the Joe figures (Snake Eyes, Bludgeon, Baroness, and Ravage) and they're great (I plan to put pilot Scarlett and pilot Wild Bill in Jetfire's two cockpits). Makes me want to track down pilot Cobra Commander and the Starscream deco of the Skystriker jet. Also scored some pretty good deal on a movie Cobra Steel Crusher (with Nitro/Motor Viper) - what a great vehicle. Love the rubber wheels and pop up hatch cannon. Got it manned/flanked by a bunch of Cobra Shock Troopers, Night Adders (with dogs), and Shadow Guard troopers. Also nabbed two Moccasin boats (need to track down Copperhead), HISS tanks, an Ace Skystriker, and troop building my Vipers, BATs, Crimson Guard ("siegies"), and Tele Vipers with Bubble Trouble flight pods. I was right about the 50th Anniversary Viper's Pit 3-pack eventually showing back up on TRU's Web site. The product page shows up but is currently out of stock at the moment. The Arctic battle pack with Snake Eyes and the Arctic Wolf/Viper is there (and in stock) too.
I loved the SDCC Joe/TF crossovers. My only nitpicks are: 1. Wish they weren't exclusives. 2. Wish they used a Rattler for Powerglide instead of the Skystriker for Jetfire. I kinda got into Joes again after I got these exclusives and having a hard time not getting into GI Joe again..... Recent purchase
Nice! I nabbed my first Jungle night Viper off eBay recently (stuff from the POC sub-line tend to be great). Hope to get him soon. I do have the red Night Viper that came in the 2-pack with Low Light but haven't opened that up yet. Yeah, I recently picked up a Target exclusive Cobra Rattler (the blue version; the garishly yellow Tiger Force version does nothing for me personally) and it's a great jet. Too bad the Joe jets (well, most any of the vehicles really) are really expensive on the aftermarket, sadly. But worth the price of admission for me. I had a helluva time trying to shoehorn the comic 2-pack version (with Shockblast/Shockwave) of Destro into the gunner turret but managed to get him in there (his flight suit deco looks pretty nice paired with Wild Weasel and the Rattler). A red Powerglide version of the jet would've been awesome, agreed. Could've paired him with a Joe version of his girlfriend Astoria. Got the X-30 Conquest (another sweet jet) and plan to get the Cobra Raven eventually. I'm not terribly interested in the Crimson Strike Cobra Scythe or the red Python Patrol version of the Conquest, only in the figures that come with the sets themselves. On a side note, I did pick up a True Heroes F-22 Raptor (for a high aftermarket price) and plan to put a Capt Ace inside the cockpit. I got the True Heroes black Apache Longbow and it's pretty nice for the price I paid ($17 on Cyber Monday). Put two Air Vipers into the cockpit (was a tight fit) and they look good with the chopper. I intend to peel the stock stickers off and put some appropriate Cobra stickers (from ToyHax) on it. The True Heroes figures themselves are garbage but the vehicles are cool and scale well with 3-3/4" - 4" Joe figures.
Not a bad idea at all, thanks! I might look into getting one. I think the green backpack that comes with the Steel Brigade guys would work as well. Though the ideal pack, unfortunately, would be the one that came with the Mission Brazil Joecon Leatherneck. It's the right type of design, with the roll at the top, and the right kind of dark limey green. In my mind's eye Leatherneck's pack is still more dark lime green than army green. Sadly, while that pack has been released with many figures, I think the convention set is the only place it was featured in green. I like the crossover sets a lot as well. And I agree 100% with your point about the Rattler. I had wanted a Rattler Powerglide desperately ever since they started those crossover sets. Such a wasted opportunity. Even Joe guys who weren't into Transformers would have liked it, because it could have been repurposed as a Crimson Guard Rattler. In my ideal world its pilot would have been that Pilot Scarlett figure repainted as Astoria Carlton-Ritz. And it would have come as a set with an AWE Striker repainted as fellow minibot Beachcomber. Maybe paired with a new Spirit, since the 25th anniversary release had such a bad sculpt. That's my pipe-dream SDCC set, that I would have preferred to the Jetfire/Hound set. One of these days, if I'm feeling ambitious, I might still try to paint up a version of this set myself. Going back to the Rattler... as a big fan of that plane, I'm pretty sad it wasn't released again in the latest wave of bizarre TRU Joe recolors. I know the new brand manager Mark Weber said the Sky Striker was his favorite Joe plane as a kid, but did we really need two different recolored versions of it on the shelf at the same time? One of those really should have been the Rattler instead, to balance things out a bit. I mean, not that it could have saved this line, but still....
A Joe Beachcomber would be an awesome idea too! Also agreed with the red Rattler nicely doubling as both Powerglide and a Crimson Guard Cobra jet depending on what stickers are used. Such a missed opportunity, for sure. Speaking of Crimson Guard, I opened up and put together the Crimson v5 HISS Tank and really like the working rubber treads (kinda wish the SDCC Shockwave HISS Tank had the same treads) and pop up gimmick. Shame the canopy is opaque plastic though. I like the Crimson Horseman so much that I stuck in the Crimson Elite Viper (a more ho-hum figure from the City Strike Crimson Flight Pod) into the cockpit instead, and plan to troop build the Horseman flanking said tank. I too like the Sky Striker (just cracked it open and put it together last night, as well - nice jet but man does it take up a lot of display real estate especially with the landing gear being connected with the swept wing mechanism which requires the wings to be in the open position if you want the landing gear down; may try to disable/mod it somehow) but I still like the Rattler more. Yeah, I don't think we needed so many Sky Strikers at retail either though I suppose the Silent Strike colors do offer options for a possible Navy Black Bunny sticker set from ToyHax. I can also see the Moccasin/Fang prop boat being repurposed in Seaspray colors too (the Joe Whale would probably work better but I don't think there's a modernized mold/version of that particular vehicle). I put Dreadnok Zanzibar in the gunner turret with his cutlass in hand for more pirate-y action.
Welp, been on a modern Joe buying binge. Purchased a bunch of the 25th Anniversary vehicle boxed sets (Skyhawk, Firebat, Sharc Tooth, VAMP, AWE Striker, Night Specter, Armadillo vs. Serpentor's Air Chariot, RAM Cycle vs. Bubble Flight Pod, Ultimate Battle set with MOBAT vs. Crimson HISS Tank, Blue and Black HISS Tanks, and Cobra Stinger hitched/paired with a ROC Jungle Terror twin artillery cannon). Just need to pick up the Cobra FANG and CLAW pack (not sure if I'll bother with the repaints like the Arctic HISS or AWE Striker with Mission Brazil Leatherneck). Also picked up a Locust so I can put in Wild Bill (pilot) and Sgt Airborne (gunner). Got a complete 5-set of DVD Battles (won a MISB Best of 80's set 1-of-5 pack at a great low price given the usually insane triple-digit secondhand markup for it, even though I now have way more jetpack Dukes, CLAW glider Cobra Commanders, and Alpines than I know what to do with ). Finally, I can complete the MASS Device! Got the Arctic battle pack with Ghost Hawk/Snake Eyes and the Arctic Wolf/Ice Viper, Desert Duel pack (love the FOE Striker and its updated gimmicks -- put Chuckles in the driver's seat, 50th General Hawk in the passenger seat, POC Dusty manning the rear gatling gun), and Ninja Combat Cruiser (looks good with 50th blue Bazooka, 50th blue Dusty, movie Gung-Ho in the driver's seat, and movie Shockblast riding shotgun with a shotgun blasting a movie Night Creeper who decided to hitch a ride without permission ). The NCC is pretty cool if a bit cheap feeling as far as plastic materials go; I much prefer the Cobra Steel Crusher -- now THAT's a quality vehicle (rubber tires FTW)! Might pick up the Silent Strike pack next. Also nabbed the Sub Viper and Wave Crusher from the Club's Black Friday sale. The Sub Viper's right wrist actually twisted and broke off (the joint was gummed up and stuck right out of the box) but I modded him so his right hand pops right back on the stump while still retaining wrist swivel rotation. I plan to give him some B.A.T.-ish weapon upgrades, starting with a hook hand (using a spare grappling hook/anchor accessory that comes with comic 2-pack Ship Wreck). Cracked open the Ultimate Battle Pack last night. Love the MOBAT but I caved and got a loose SDCC Steeler off eBay just so they can both be color-matched green. Also started quite a Flight Pod (Bubble Trouble) collection (mostly white, a handful of blue, and a singular red from the City Strike set) with about a dozen or so thus far. Finding backpacks and accessories to match the Tele-Vipers is a pain (wonder why they didn't come with any) but some radio antenna backpacks did the trick. Just need to get their scanner guns and some hose to cut to length for each. Finally, got a Lanard "The Elite Corps" Puma the other day. Pretty neat 1:18 female figure. Kitbashed a backpack for her (she can stow her crossbow on it) and still giving her a few touch ups with paint and some joint-tightening (since her limbs are a bit loose). She looks good with Joe accessories too and seems like she'd fit right in with the Dreadnoks gang. Might pick up Snake Bite and see what I can do with her kitbash-wise too.
Toyhax is considering the Playboy Bunny sticker set(from VX-4/VX-9) for the Silent Skystriker. We ran a poll from HissTank a month ago and they are open to suggestions. As far as the landing gear/wing mechanism, I did find a way to separate them(the landing gear are now manually retractable while the wings swing in unison): OPERATION WING SWEEP - Disconnecting the wing sweep mechanism from the landing gear - HissTank.com In the meantime I have been thinking up better ways to stabilize the front landing gear and convert the cockpit into a 2 seater. I did pick up a Silent Skystriker set and I like it a lot. The missles stay on a lot better too.
