Q: Recently at a trade show in Japan TakaraTomy displayed a repaint of the Direct to Consumer RHINO vehicle slated to come with Rampage (who was nicely reminiscent of the vintage Heavy Metal). It is assumed that this item is coming out in Japan, can we expect it to come out in the United States as well? Any other repaint vehicle gems that you want to mention?
A: Stay tuned, we hope to make an announcement about this figure at San Diego Comic-Con this summer.
Q: The upcoming Wal-Mart 2 Packs appear to be a fantastic way to get vintage and Resolute homage figures in the movie line. Considering how wildly popular the Resolute animated feature turned out to be, how many of those 2-packs can we expect to see, and when might we be getting some items like that outside of a Wal-Mart exclusive series?
A: The current plan is 4 of the two packs available this fall with additional packs possible based on success. It is too early to say at this time for sure.
Q: The Resolute animated feature was pretty amazing, all told, and has quickly become a favorite of fans (and even non fans), but it seemed as if there was little to no promotion for the feature, and the public airing was relegated to a midnight Saturday night showing. Can you tell the fans why it seemed as if the series was pushed to the shadows? Were there fears of its adult nature or concerns about the content? And what can the fandom at large do to show Hasbro how much it enjoyed Resolute and how can we prove that we will fully support toys based on this mythos? To many of us, Resolute was a fantastic expression of our favorite things about G.I. Joe, yet it seems to be consistently overshadowed by the film. While we realize the importance of expressing the G.I. Joe brand to a broad, worldwide audience, I think pushing Resolute aside would be a waste of potential from a content and a toy perspective. How can the fandom help express our satisfaction with Resolute and our intense desire to see the toys hit retail and to see the mythos continue?
A: We greatly appreciate the fan support of the series. We announced the animation about a year ago and the enthusiasm for it has been phenomenal ever since. Resolute had significant Hasbro support ranging from print ads, press releases, and its own website to drive the event. The nature of the content influenced the decision to air it at certain times and places. With over 1MM views on the Cartoon Network site, the fans have expressed their views…they love Resolute.
I wonder what the fourth 2 pack will be?
M6D- Something with an Alley Viper, I hope. Maybe an Alley Viper/Range Viper two pack.
Or, Alley Viper/Chuckles. There were like 4 different colour variations of Chuckles leaked from China at various points; one of them may be destined for one of these two packs.
Another possibility could be that black Beachhead- we haven’t seen that one packaged yet, have we?
Or Night Force Lt. Falcon, seeing as how Hasbro had him all prepped, and there’s a kind of Night Force theme to the ones we’ve already seen.