Okay calm again. Sorry folks. New news from an actual official source is getting me heated again. Yes. Legate's got it. ESPECIALLY in the case of the Trooper vs. Infantry. Different colors, difference in accessories, difference in box numbers. They might be the "same" in an in universe role, but for all intents and purposes they're entirely unique characters. Their different box numbers is telling enough. I'm not gonna stress it too much. I'll wait until June before rejoicing or sinking back into toy depression. Hasbro can say they can deliver the world but until they can make it happen in a way they can control(hint hint, Hasbro-fucking-Pulse), I'm not holding my breath. If it weren't for the fact that the armband implies an officer, and that VARIETY in your troops is possible due to the accessories, then I'd agree with you. But at the very least the armband is an absolute necessity. We can debate about whether goggles are needed. I think they're fucking cool and the Trooper looks dorky as fuck without them. The sniper rifle is a must have for me too. Even if you don't want the Trooper to have so many guns, the guns can go to other characters too. By robbing us of those three accessories we've been robbed of an opportunity to actually diversify our troops and even have gear for other figures. At the end of the day, if this was a retail exclusive line that went away and you just missed the boat, then I wouldn't care if we ever got a reissue of it or not. But the fact of the matter is that demand was underestimated, distribution was bungled, and more of Cobra Island went to scalpers than actual fans and collectors. Please explain to me how anyone thinks this is okay and we should live with lesser retail releases? How is a re-release not something we should all support, for those who actually want these figures? 2020 was a special year with unique challenges, and because of those challenges people were literally screwed out of exclusives that they should've been able to get. I never saw CI Wave 1 in Portland. I never saw any Fireflies in Portland. I was LUCKY to get Vipers, and even then the Target wouldn't sell them to me at first and I negotiated for them to hold them for me until street date. These circumstances necessitate a re-issue of these exclusives. It's not enough to have retail versions, especially with less stuff.
Don’t disagree with most of the points made. I will say the guns are all garbage and I could do without them but obviously prefer they provide actually usable guns for the figures. The longer rifle (I can’t bring myself to call that monstrosity a sniper rifle) is somewhat passable.
I'm all for re-releases! Most of what I'm missing so far are CI releases, and this would be a great and affordable way to catch up on some missed releases. Why pay $120 for a single CI figure when I could support the line (and Hasbro) by getting six figures for the same price from them? Yeah, there'll be people army-building, getting extras for buddies or trade-bait, or straight-up reselling but if the demand is being met we can all get what we want. Maybe we can test the BAF waters with something easy but fun, like a S.N.A.K.E. armor! They could also do some classic small vehicles like Ferrets, CLAWs, or other troop-reinforcing options. Don't get me wrong, I want a HISS most of all, but we don't all have room for something the size of the Defiant in a 6" scale.
Not at all, the comparisons are apples to apples. I used the Snake Eyes hypothetical specifically BECAUSE it was more hyperbolic in order to make the real-world example of the Trooper/Infantry more relatable and understandable. Both scenarios are one of setting the same price for a figure that has less stuff as for a version that had more stuff. The only difference is scale. I don't think anyone would honestly argue that the SE example would be acceptable IRL. In that case, I think most people would have to then also concede the lesser point of the Cobra Trooper. Lmao, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say NONE of us have room for that! Just because, I scaled the dimensions and at 1/12 scale the Defiant is 46 x 36 feet long and across.
What would a Joe BAF even be? There weren't any oversized characters that would warrant it unless you get into latter day junk like the Mega Marines and Star Brigade. Doing a troop builder would be a giant fuck you, and doing a regular size named character (i.e. ML MCU Mantis) is kind of lame. Maaaybe Serpentor since you could bulk him up and/or go heavy on paint/details. Or if we want to venture into Cobra-Lala land already, Nemesis Enforcer BAF or Golobulus with his pod thing, in a Classified "Studio Series" wave. I...may have answered my own question. Next year is the 35th anniversary, Hasbro.
Next year is the 40th anniversary of ARAH. If Classified is ever going to launch Classic designs, there’s no better time to do so than next year. Also a good reset point for retro or the return of o-ring Joes. Though if o-ring Joes really return I want to see them 80’s all ABS construction, not the mid-2000’s comic pack style which mixed PVC parts with ABS. Never had had cracking hands and feet out the box until I got those o-ring comic pack joes. I’d prefer if Classified doesn’t do a BAF but instead makes Build A Battle Station. Some of the mid-80’s ARAH Battle Stations weren’t all that big relative to the figures and didn’t have much moving parts compared to the figures. So there’s already a cost reduction there. Stuff like the Bivouac. Plus you technically had to build them back in ARAH anyways so there’s a historic element for making new ones and honoring the past.
Put me in the no BAFs club. I don’t want to buy figures I don’t want to build something I do want. I’ve bought a bunch of Marvel Legends to build the big Venom and Kingpin, then they sell the BAFs as an individual release later on.
If they’re bringing back the o-rings, I’d love to see them return to DTC era designs and move forward. They were really creating some new characters back then that would serve the brand well to continue in that vein. Or maybe there’s a way to build on the POC era with o-rings.
Man it'd be awesome if we got more Joes next year. Surely the line must be considered successful at this point?
Maybe from a strictly financial point of view, but I don't think a line can be considered a success when so many people in your projected customer base are pissed off at you. There's two intertwined fatal wounds to the line as things stand, that, if not corrected, will kill the line in the crib. First, the older fan base will eventually stop buying when they're continually unable to get flagship characters from their intended point of sale and are forced to pay scalpers 4x or higher the MSRP. There WILL come a point where collectors, regardless of their finances, say "enough". Second, without shelf presence Hasbro isn't developing a new customer base to supplement the old one. Even though there's availability online at MSRP, kids aren't going to look for something they don't know exists and have never seen, as opposed to Power Rangers, WWF, Marvel, and so on.
So I'm not going to the range tomorrow other stuff came up but I will eventually get you a pic of what I mean
Yeah I think there’s a huge disconnect between income and availability with this line right now. On the one hand, people are shouting about how in demand this line is, but on the other, this line is non existent at retail. i don’t see how both can exist for very long. I think we are seeing something strange in the collecting world right now. I can’t really think of a similar line I’ve ever seen like this. Even TMNT I’ve seen multiple times.
It's this weird mirage that's formed, where legacy fans want to be collectors of this reimagined lineup of classic Joes but can't get them because of shenanigans. On the flip side, Hasbro is seeing shelf-clearing sales numbers, but getting complaints about distribution and availability. While they can't reconcile the two opposing realities, due to sales numbers they aren't trying especially hard. What they don't realize is, there while come a point where both the legacy fan base and what little new fan base they've built up will get sick of being swindled, gouged, and outright stolen from and abandon the line. Scalpers will invest in another wave of two after the exodus before they also bail out, leaving Hasbro and retailers holding the bag with cases of merchandise that nobody wants anymore and they are forced to drastically slash prices on just to offset their losses. Hasbro will declare the line a failure, saying interest disappeared, never realizing or admitting that they were a major part of the problem.
At this point make the product an easy pre-order. I would like to place my order for 36 CI Cobra Troopers and 36 CI Cobra Vipers. Also, make the future CI Cobra army builders easy to pre-order, I may as well place my order of 36 Crimson Guard and 36 B.A.T.S. Other then that I only need Cobra Eels, Snow Serpents and Python Patrol. Cobra drivers and be done in the next two to three years.
OMG! That base motorcycle that's been used for like half the ML Riders series could be repurposed for the Dreadnoks so easily. They could just release every Nok with a repaint of that bike. So naturally they'll "mass" release Ripper and Torch, and then only make Buzzer with the bike, and he'll be an exclusive that'll crash whatever site he's on upon release.
