Yeah, I know I’m a day late and a dollar short, but as my Twitter  followers know, I was on the road all day yesterday doing a bit of toy hunting (without any luck).  During my road trip, Hasbro’s PR Agency released a note in regards to the SDCC Exclusive Sgt. Slaughters.  The note has been met with a mixture of humor, distaste, and optimism by Joe fans and other fans around the ‘net.
Humor and distaste because the letter is pretty adamant that there was Sgt. Slaughter stock that hit HasbroToyShop, but nobody can really find evidence that this was truly the case (especially in regards to the TTT version).  However, in more positive news, Hasbro also pointed out that they were working on plans to get the figure(s) reissued and re-released through other means in Spring, 2011.  Most likely in a different packaging format, and not through the single pack main line, but through some other means, which is good news for those 25th Anniversary fans who want to add Sarge to their ranks.  Of course a lot of those same fans love the single pack format, so this news probably won’t make everyone happy.
To read the full letter/press release click the “Read the Rest of this Entry” link below.

To the G.I. JOE fan community,

The passion displayed since Comic-Con on fan-forums regarding the special edition Sgt. Slaughter figures has been truly remarkable.  It proves that there is a huge appetite to see this character in action figure form and we’re thrilled that the designs were so well received.  We know the Sarge himself, who you may have had the chance to meet in the Hasbro booth at Comic-Con, would be honored to see such an outpouring of support and desire for this special edition figure in his likeness.

We understand there has been a misperception that Hasbro Toy Shop did not offer the primary or variant versions of the figure on the website after Comic-Con as has recently been tradition.  This is not true.  As publicized prior to the convention, there were indeed a limited number of Sgt. Slaughter figures (both variant and primary) available after the show; a reserve set aside specifically for HasbroToyShop.com as there is with all of our special edition figures.

Due to the overwhelming popularity, the figures sold out extremely fast.  While we cannot provide a number of how many were available for practical business reasons, we do understand the frustration of those fans who were hoping to purchase the Comic-Con figures online after the convention. However, the very nature of these special edition figures dictates that they will be made in very limited quantities and availability cannot be guaranteed.  Again, coupled with a strong demand for these figures, the supply available at both the convention and online afterwards went incredibly fast.  Our primary goal is to make as many figures available at the show for the convention attendees.  We are glad that we are also able to make some figures available online to those not able to make it to San Diego, but again, this quantity is limited.

It is important to note that the best opportunity to obtain these special edition figures is at the convention itself.

While we cannot guarantee anything at this time, because of the demand by fans who could not get the Comic-Con figures, we are looking at making the Sgt. Slaughter figures available again at retail, albeit in different packaging and likely not as single-carded basic figures.  While details are not final we are making progress for late Spring ’11 and will have news in a couple months.  We look forward to updating you then.

Thank you once again for the enthusiasm and support.

Sincerely,

The G.I. JOE brand team