Wow. Â Who would have thought when we woke up this morning that we would not only be getting the Super Bowl trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but also our first look at the new toys from the film today as well?
Serious kudos to Brian Truitt from USA Today for getting this story together and totally rocking the G.I. Joe universe. Â So, the initial pics hit, and I rushed around getting the news out there, but perhaps a little more careful analysis is warranted. Â This is a totally new universe after all, a pretty new aesthetic, and something pretty different from what we’ve seen from the film designs. Â It almost seems like Hasbro is using Retaliation as a catapult to launch into a more widespread G.I. Joe line that’s not necessarily dependent on the film aesthetic.
I love it. Â With figures taking some serious inspiration from science fiction, an animated aesthetic, yet with some real world parts and pieces, early opinion is a lot of the elements that I love about G.I. Joe. Â A closer look at Toy Fair will hopefully provide more educated opinion. Â Now that I’ve taken a few minutes to digest things, here are some of my thoughts. Â Keep in mind, I have a feeling these figures don’t necessarily represent the characters how they will appear in the film. Â They seem considerably different. Â I find myself perfectly okay with that.
Click the Read the Rest of the Entry link below to see all my thoughts.
Roadblock
A great likeness of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and an absolutely ripped sculpt. Â Holy cow. Â Some serious musculature throughout that figure with a ton of little details, especially considering how relatively plain the overall design is. Â A fantastic, very basic military figure in impeccable detail.
However, a concern. Â What is that in Roadblock’s right hand? Â Doesn’t really look like a gun. Â Not only does it not look like a gun, in the close up image, I don’t see a wrist joint and I don’t see any separation of the fingers from the grip of that… Â whatever it is. Â Nobody throw tomatoes, but it looks to me like Roadblock has something permanently afixed to his hand. Â Don’t kill the messenger! Â Check out the close up picture below:
Am I wrong? Â Are others seeing this? Â Something to keep an eye on at Toy Fair.
Cobra Commander
Proof that you can reinvent a character and a figure without totally flushing the classic appeal. Â While I kind of liked the Rise of Cobra and Pursuit of Cobra versions of our faithful terrorist leader, I won’t claim that they honored the vintage look and feel of the character. Â In this case, though, I love it. Â The helmet design is certainly a traditional homage, but with some nice new twists, including the great serpent fangs and angular design. Lots of detail throughout the baggy uniform giving the figure a solid, imposing appearance. Â A very nice looking figure overall.
Cobra Trooper
Okay the Cobra Trooper is a little wacky, but mostly because he’s at a strange angle. Â His grenade-holding webgear straps are pretty big and clunky, but I love the colors (going back to a more blue/gray look) and his gask-mask integrated head sculpt design is pretty bad ass. Â Working holster is intact. Â Very interesting design, certainly different from the film look, but still cool and a nice new direction.
Duke
If any figure shows a clear separation from Retaliation movie design and a more science fiction or animated feel, it’s Duke. Â Totally bucking the film trend, even with Channing Tatum’s head sculpt, we get a Duke that goes whole hog into the technology realm with a full green bodysuit, layered metallic armor and a honking brown rocket launcher. Â A big step away from the more traditional looking Duke figure, this once again seems to support the idea that Hasbro is using the film as a jumping off point into a true future generation of G.I. Joe, which works on many levels. Â This is a very neat looking Duke, but a very different looking one as well.
G.I. Joe Trooper
Well if the Pursuit of Cobra and 30th Anniversary Steel Brigade figures began eased the pain of the G.I. Joe army builder idea (which I wasn’t a fan of) this guy totally cures me. Â Throughout the majority of my Joe collecting life, I’ve never been a fan of G.I. Joe themed troops, but I’ll be damned if I’m not coming around. Â This figure is suited for action! Â A very nice generic green uniform, awesome looking helmet, and a ton of great looking gear (love the holster on the backpack!) this is a really nice looking new trooper figure that has some great potential down the line. Â Love what I see here.
Red Ninja
Looking like a total head-to-toe repaint of the 30th Anniversary Storm Shadow (which I’m totally fine with) this figure obviously has all of the great things about that figure as a part of this one. Â It will be interesting to see what weapons he comes with, and considering how different the film Red Ninjas look, whether another Red Ninja will be in the toy line’s future.
Snake Eyes
Sleek, black, with a hint of armor throughout the figure and some very nice baggy, military pants, this is one VERY cool looking Snake Eyes. Â Certainly not on the same uber-military level as the Pursuit of Cobra version, but with his own super-hero charm I really like this rendition of the G.I. Joe ninja commando. Â He doesn’t have the huge webgear, flak vest, or over abundance of military ruck, but he is still a very cool looking Snake Eyes figure that I really dig.
Storm Shadow
Wow. Â Wowie wow wow wow. Â Look at this version of Storm Shadow. Â Absolutely awesome. Â White ninja aesthetic as we all expect, but with some fantastic gray trim throughout the uniform adding really cool detail and a great futuristic element. Â The insanely baggy legs on the uniform are a great throwback and I’m thoroughly enjoying the looks of this figure. Â Before 2011, I was certain I never needed to see Storm Shadow again, now with the 30th Anniversary version and this one, we’ve gotten two terrific ones back-to-back. Â Win!
Zartan
Hello!! Â Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this looks like a Renegades Zartan! Â No, it’s not 100% accurate, but it’s damn close enough to work for me, and I am THRILLED. Â If this is some indication that we might see more Renegades infused designs throughout the Retaliation toyline, I am totally on board with this. Â Very awesome and sleek uniform, I love the look of the hood, and his nasty pale skin is totally evocative of his Resolute version. Â Several great Zartan elements all worked into a single figure. Â Hot damn!
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Now, I would caution folks to get too excited about seeing characters looking like this in the film. Â I would hazard a guess that this initial run of figures is NOT inspired by how they will appear in the movie. Â Once again it would seem Hasbro is using this as a jumping off point into kind of a new era of G.I. Joe, which I’m all for.
Another thing to watch out for. Â Several of these figures seem to be missing ankle joints. Â As we saw with Avengers last week, and as I’ve been warning on the Whats’ on Joe Mind podcast, these are some things we need to watch out for. Â We can’t expect the insanely high level of collector themed toys we’ve been getting over the past 2 years, especially with movie royalties being taken into consideration and adding to the cost factor. Â We just have to prepare ourselves.
But man. These figures look amazing. Hasbro has taken the Joe property and revamped it once again, this time with a heaping helping of vintage flavor, and we’re getting some great looking new toys to drool over. Â Well played, Hasbro. Â A huge thanks to Brian Truitt over at USA Today for the intel and the pics, and for allowing me to host some images here as well. Â He does his nerd brethren proud.
Nice. they look like pre-production models, hopefully in production they will do the ankle and wrist joints… and not fuse guns to anyone’s hand.
Duke lives! All kidding aside, these figures look great! I love the new CC and Joe trooper. From the toys to the previews, I am 100% more excited for Retailiation than I was for ROC. Also, I looked closely at the photos and several figures seem to have ankle joints. Hopefully this articulation can carry forward on most of the figures.
was sort of hoping for a vac metal head on the big snake
I might be wrong, but I think the red ninja has new shins and feet, those guards look very different from 30th Stormy.
Yup knee knees, lower legs and feet plus new lower arms.
And notice the ankles? It looks like we can expect the same ankle articulation as Renegades Scarlett. I see most of the other figures have it but maybe they all do and the joint is well hidden.
Very glad to see more stowable sidearms with these guys.
maybe Rock will have swappable hands like the Club’s Big Boa?
The item in Roadblock’s hand appears to be part of a heavy machine gun of some sort. The piece on top looks like a tab into something larger.
I love the look of all of the Cobra figures. I still prefer the Renegades CC but this one will be purchased. I buy every Storm Shadow as he’s my favorite character from G.I. Joe but this one is absolutely amazing.
Wasn’t there a listing for a preview pack recently? I’m wondering if being slightly off from the designs could be tied into that?
After rewatching the new trailer, I noticed how CC’s helmet has a smooth faceplate in the film, but not on the toy. I prefer the smoother look, so it’s an interesting choice to add a detail that wasn’t there in the film.
I can live with some figures loosing articulation, CC for example is a set on his throne type, I can handle that. The Roacblock being less battle ready than the generic guy? That’s not acceptable in my book. As much as I intially was wow’d about roadblock i am now concerned. I think the saving grace here is that there will likely be more than one roadblock, and hopefully at least one of them will come with full articulation.
How Hasbro finds ways to still make cool Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow figures is incredible. Everything looks great.
They do look like preproduction models. As I see no thigh screws on them, even the leg reuses like Snake-Eyes (Renegades Ripcord).
Unless they’ve changed the way they construct the legs and we’re getting no ankle joints on newer sculpts and only one joint for knees.
They do look good though.
These really exceed my expectations, particularly Renegades Zartan and the HALO trooper.
OH good lord….all of these guys are SO ripe for parts. I knew I would be getting back to buying multiples when the next movie stuff came around. The last movie was like that too; the figures were just so GREAT for parts. I can’t express enough how much I am loving these designs. It’s so…refreshing to see new takes on characters. Cobra Commander especially feels like a throwback to the JvC/Spytroops days when they were actually trying some different looks. It’s CC…but it’s NEW. You know? Same goes for the rest. Hell, this may be the first time Zartan has actually looked completely interesting to me (most of the time I’m just not interesting in the standard designs for him. Either it’s “hooded guy” or CRAZY guy, and this one has the hood, but takes the rest of the costume in a cool new direction while still sticking to his classic colors.
All of it. I love it. Bring it on.
There might be some minor gripes, but a very solid initial assortment.
I’m sure Roadblock will come with a metric ton of gear, so I wouldn’t worry too much.
Here’s hoping the inevitable Jinx figure lives up to expectations, since that’s the one that most everyone here needs as a lineup filler.
(Not that I’m going to mind having a Joe-poseable Rock figure; he’ll just be set up Rock Bottoming RoC Ripcord.)
Looks like the Joe Trooper also has a second head/gasmask on his pack. Cool options, IMO.
Wow, these guys are amazing – so much better than I was expecting. Cobra Commander & the trooper look really neat -functional. The two ninjas look great, and this time Storm Shadow edges it.
Roadblocks hand doesn’t look like it’s carrying something permanently. Looks more like the forefinger isn’t split?
There is no way in hell Roadblock has a permanent gun hand. That’s a photoshop error of some sort.
Those cylinder(grenades) on the Cobra Trooper give me hope that it could be used for a Battle Force 2000 (3000?) Blocker figure! Fingers crossed
So nobody noticed the smiley face on C.C.s face plate? Lol. I think the “Block is holding a new type of pistol.
I hope that look will not be Zartan’s default for the movie. It looks way too silly to blend with what we’ve seen of him previously.
I just went from cautiously optimistic to pretty jazzed for this movie. Regardless of how the movie turns out I am in love with these figures. If they aren’t “movie accurate” then that is alright with me. I think when you make figures that are only in line with the movie it’s like you make a subset inside of the universe rather than enlarging the universe as a whole. The head sculpts look like the actors but aren’t faithful reproductions like in ROC. Again, I think that is a fantstic idea. Channing Tatum may play Duke but he is not Duke to me. I don’t want a Tatum mug on all of my figures. The first Resolute Duke was so awesome, right up to the head sculpt. If they are using this to jump out into a new Joe universe then Hasbro – pour the coals to this idea. These figs have a decidedly sci fi/Sigma 6 flair which I totally dig. I always like the Joe concept of being 10-20 years in the future on their military tech. I have enough reality in my life. I don’t want Rainbow Six Gi Joe I want the elite team of the future. This could be a start to whole new Joe universe that is not beholden to 25th anniv/30 anniv/ROC/POC etc. The aesthetics definitely look like they are distancing themselves from all the lines before and are starting a new line that will be the basis for Gi Joe. I can only imagine how cool the vehicles will be.
A word of warning to Hasbro though. I’m not in love with the ankle articulation but the multi-jointed wrist is key to holding weapons well. Don’t be cheap Hasbro because ol’ Dusty is watching!
Upon further review I definitely get a Renagades and Sigma 6 vibe from these figs. CC’s helmet reminds so much of CCBFG from the Sigma line. The vibrant colors and more animated feel also remind me of Renegades.
I don’t understand what’s so great about getting the same old charcters over and over again,redisgned or not.I don’t need another Cobra Commander or a stupid looking Zartan. I have no need for yet another Snake Eyes or Ninjas in general. The Cobra and Joe troopers are OKAY.Unlike most of Joe fandom I don’t worship wrestlers or the Rock in particular. I’m not impressed with steriod freaks.He’s nothing but a man, he can’t cure cancer or solve the world’s problems.The Rock can kiss my ass. I worship no man.Duke looks stupid too.
I am scared to death of losing the articulation which is one of the MAJOR things that makes me love joe over other toylines… please Hasbro don’t cheap out on ankle and knee joints!
Hey, these are great! Great for parts, too. It seems like such a mix of styles and eras of Joe, I wonder if this is more of an in-house thing, not a movie thing. There’s no Lady Jaye or Flint, no Firefly, no Joe Colton or Jinx….this looks more like a filler wave using a few of the newly tooled movie parts rather than the Retaliation wave proper.
Everything looks pretty dang cool, though, and at least there’s no Destro.
Love the new line. I must say I am a bit disappointed with CC’s look! I wanted something more movie accurate. But It’s cool. But I think any comment before in hand image would be too early.
Having said that, Roadblock swept me off my feet anyway!
By “missing ankle joints” do you mean they don’t have any at all or are you talking about the Renegades Scarlett ankle joint?
Some of them look like they have rocker ankles (SE, SS, Red Ninja, GI Trooper). Duke, Roadblock and Cobra Commander look like they don’t have any ankle joints at all.
The action figure design reminds me more of the later period classic Joes, such as from the late 1980s to 1994. The photos are a little too whitewashed for me to tell the full color palette accurately, but they do seem quite a lot brighter than we have seen in the past. Looking forward to seeing more of them… and the rest?
I’m gonna reserve judgement till more info comes out at toy fair. A loss of wrist/ankle articulation means some of these figures are less articulated then the initial 5 pack figures…
Cobra Commander..can’t tell if he has ankles or not, looks to have wrists
Cobra Trooper..single joint knees? thats an awful step backwards to the 80’s
I think that would be a pretty major departure that would rile a lot of people up.
The only major bummer with these toys is that I won’t be able to be there on opening day. I hit two TRU’s when the ROC toys came out. They didn’t even have the big front display up but they had boxes and boxes of the toys. I waited while they unpacked the boxes and I attacked I then hit another store to get some the previous TRU didn’t have. I still have the picture on my phone of the stacks of ROC toy boxes that are waiting to get unpacked and put on the shelves. It was a glorious day. I was looking forward to a repeat but oh well. The big difference here is that I view these figs much more positively than the ROC figs. I bought a lot but I was caught up in the moment.
Very cool stuff! Perhaps these designs will be prominent in the proposed animated series after the movie?