Images have emerged for the upcoming Toys “R” Us 5-Pack Troop Builders, and the Terror Drome has hosted them right here. Of course, I’ve also mirrored them below. It’s looking like the COBRA set is purely a “reissue” set with the Troopers not looking redecoed much at all (besides the Duke/Airborne covert ops figure mixed in there, of course). However, the Joe set is really interesting, sporting a nice new type of camouflage scheme and some great parts re-use. Four new characters to boot. Check out the images below.
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The Cobra set would be a no-brainer for troop building if it weren’t for the Duke they just had to throw in there. As for the Joes it’s a nice mix of new characters, I could have done without the Zartan repaint but I guess it just makes me glad that I didn’t bother to pick up the original one 🙂
crapola…all of it.
So what’s up with Repeater? Was this addressed / asked at the con?
I think that Duke might be the closest to a Low-Light that we get.
According to some folks who saw the figures first-hand, Repeater looks more like a guy with a “dark tan” than someone of a different ethnic background. Still not sure, though.
Saying Repeater has a “dark tan” is like saying Obama isn’t a real black man. That is definitely frijoles negros.
The COBRA set is really very good and considering how the waves of the future are lacking in Neo Vipers and the M.A.R.S. troops never saw retail, this is really the set I’d go for (x4).
The Joe desert set while interesting is forgettable in it’s uniformed blandness. More color please?
And the MP/Zartan body cannot sit… replace the lower torso & legs with the Dusty/PIT Commando parts, pretty please?
It looks like Zartan has an MP badge on his arm…doesn’t bode well for Law & Order!
I was liking this set until I saw Footloose and Repeater. Hopefully Footloose gets a jungle camo later. And I don’t mind diversifying GI Joe more…but seriously, does Hasbro think all heavy machine gunners need to be black? Heavy Duty, Roadblock, Repeater…all we need now is a black Rock & Roll and the set is complete!
From what was reported from Madmac41 at the con, Repeater was specifically made to be Black. Can you imagine the uproar if I ever suggested a revised Roadblock who was White or Asian? I also love how Duke’s blister is mangling his G36. That’s always cool to see…
These sets are okay, but halfassery and limited new molds limit the coolness factor.
yeah there would be a uproar if they made roadblock white but i think it would sting just a bit more then making repeater black.
there are more whites then blacks in this country and there are more white gijoe figures than black joe figures. losing 1 white joe wouldn’t make a dent in the percentage but losing 1 black joe would. plus it’s not like a vast number of joes races were changed..it’s only been done twice.. ripcord, and now repeater.
also repeater is a minor character compared to roadblock. changing roadblock would be like making duke japanese. a roadblock change would really change things with the team and collectors but repeater’s change wouldn’t really alter anything in respect to the joeuniverse..
for me it’s only a change in color, repeater could still act like the first repeater more or less. black people cry, laugh, buy toys, have jobs, get married just like white people they just have different color skin. we are all more alike then we realize. so if they keep to the essence of repeater’s character then again it’s only a change in skin color.
now if hasbro decided to change spirit into a irish celtic priest with a pet owl or make destro into a columbian gun runner that would totally change those characters and i would probably be leading the uproar myself.
but it really shouldn’t matter if they made repeater black or if they made roadblock white. there shouldn’t be a uproar either way. hopefully one day will ALL (me included)get to a point where we won’t “really” see black or white or tan anymore will just see “us” and we won’t care what color anyone else is and we won’t notice how many whites or blacks there are in a toyline or in anything else.
i’m sure there are plenty of collectors out there where it’s not about the change from white to black that’s upsetting it’s the fact that there was a change made. and that’s it doesn’t matter what the exact change was it was the change itself that’s upsetting.
Zartan better hope he doesn’t get his carry-on lugage inspected.
While I normally like figures with some similarity in their uniforms, like the Python Patrol Toys R Us pack, these desert tones do seem much too bland.