During an exciting round table conversation with Hasbro this morning, the fellas from What’s on Joe Mind and myself got some information about the concept case shown at the G.I. Joe Convention here in New Orleans.
According to G.I. Joe Marketing director Joe Del Regno Hasbro is going to endeavor to list some online polls on GIJoe.Com in order to gauge interest in the figures and concepts shown within the confines of the “vault” here in New Orleans. While we’re not certain on the timeline for this event, I figured the sooner we start identifying these figures, the better. Thankfully, Hasbro made the job considerably easier by providing labels today in order to better organize our thoughts and priorities.
Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below to see the run down of figures with their identification. The photos will all be presented in the same order as the names for easy ID.
Now, I had to make some educated decisions about this list as I put it together. Based on what we know from G.I. Joe: Renegades, the fact that the theme has long since come and gone, and considering nobody in the design team even bothered to label any of those figures, I’m making the gross assumption that Renegades figures are off the books. When Hasbro decides to host their poll on GIJoe.com, I suspect it will not include the G.I. Joe: Renegades items, only what we see labelled in the case belonging to the 30th Anniversary and Pursuit of Cobra format. I could be wrong, but that’s what I’m going with.
The interview with the Hasbro G.I. Joe team will air in an episode due to be uploaded very shortly, but for now, I’d like to get some of this organized for folks to make some educated decisions. I’m going to run this down in Alphabetical Order.
30th Anniversary style
- Barbecue (Team Bravo Firefighter)
- Beachhead
- Cobra Eel
- Cobra Officer
- Cobra Shock Trooper
- Crimson Guard Immortal
- Crimson Shadow Guard
- Flint
- G.I. Joe Police Unit 4
- G.I. Joe Trooper (tan uniform)
- HEAT Viper
- Hit & Run
- Kwinn the Mercenary
- Lady Jaye
- Laser-Viper
- Shipwreck
- Steel Brigade Commander
- Steel Brigade Delta (light green uniform, different tooling)
- Stinger Driver
- Tele-Viper
no images were found
Pursuit of Cobra style
- Clutch (Pursuit of Cobra VAMP Driver)
- Cobra Infantry
- Data-Viper
- Dreadnok KAOS Crew
- Echo Faction Trooper (Grunt?)
- Heavy Alley-Viper
- HISS Driver (Pursuit of Cobra HISS Driver)
- NOMaD Warrior
- Pit Training Duke
- Raven’s Wing
- Ripcord Arctic Diver
- Snow Serpent
- Steel Brigade v.2
- Zartan
no images were found
The Legends of the Arashikage
- Beast Ninja
- Dark Ninja Master
- Ghost Ninja Henchman
- Gold Ninja (Actual name not known)
- Ninja Warrior Monk
- Red Ninja Dice
- Snake Ninja Master
- Urban Ninja
- Weapons with the set
no images were found
Zombie Invasion
- Mutant Zombie
- Toxo-Zombie
- Zombie Cobra Commander
- Zombie Cobra Shock Trooper
- Zombie Cobra Viper
- Zombie Echo Faction Trooper
- Zombie Ninja
- Zombie Steel Brigade
- Zombie Storm Shadow
- Zombie Viper
- Weapons with the set
no images were found
If I had to pick one….HEAT Viper.
I would so buy that Zombie set. It comes with 10 awesome Zombies, plus the weapons include a hatchet and a chainsaw! What more could you want from a Zombie pack?
My first question is: how many figures is Hasbro is intending to produce?
From 30th line, I’d pick Beachhead (simply perfect!), HEAT-Viper (could be in better colors, like PoC Alley Viper), Hit & Run (cool, but looks very older than character’s bio require), Kwinn (of course!), Laser-Viper and Tele-Viper.
From PoC my choices would be Clutch, Data-Viper (amazing!), HISS Driver (“we are sorry about those 5 POA figs”), and Ripcord Diver. Too many “generic” troopers on this PoC line, didn’t thill me.
I have no interest on Arashikages and Zombies. I’m concerned about these “themes”: with a few classic figures to bring to new construction, and no cartoon or any media exposition until the movie, seems like Hasbro is going to a doubious path, with Ninjamassification and Zombies. Allow me to remember that the brand went through this before, and we all know what happened.
A final comment: I have a strange feeling about the overuse of PoC Snake Eyes tooling (specially legs). This takes away the “exclusivity” of the original release, making it looks less interesting. The same happened with 25th Torpedo, one my favorites from that line…
Huge bummer that Renegades is off the table because those were what I was most excited about. I’m with you regarding the zombies and Arashikage. It’s a neat concept but I don’t want an entire line of zombies and ninjas.
Scrap Iron is amazing, I´d but him for sure!
HEAT Viper for sure. In those colors. We need to complete the 89 Cobra troops. Kwinn, of course. I’d like a non-zombified Cobra Commander because the tooling is great.
The others I wouldn’t buy for sure or are just better versions of what we have gotten. I’d consider Flint, Zartan, Tele-viper, and Beachhead in this category. I’m not so fond of the Lady Jaye headsculpt or the Snow Serpent tooling.
I don’t like the majority of the Ninja figures, though I could go for Dice. Some of the variant colors/troopers I’d consider getting, like the Cobra Officer, Blue Shock trooper, etc. I would probably pick up the Laser Viper, but he was never one of my favorites.
That Lady Jaye is fantastic looking and I’m a sucker for a good shipwreck too. The Zombies are amazing, the cobra commander is perfect with the broken mask. What a great crop of figures!
Is the Hit & Run head Bruce Willis?
No. It is a unique sculpt done by John Warden of the design team. I spent a good deal of time talking to him about this in particular. He also said to note the particularly “snarly” look he has on his face.
Very good figure, but his face resembles a person much older than the classic Hit & Run. I know there are few lines on his bio but, perhaps under influence of Justin´s Dio-Stories, I tend to think he is about 20 years-old.
I this had would be great for Salvo or Guillotine.
I want all of these. I would buy them all.
I would gladly buy two of each set and two of each figure at full retail. That kind of commitment from even a median portion of the GI Joe collecting community should be significant enough to warrant a hard second look.
I would not get the new versions of the figures that first appeared in the 80s and 90s (with the possible exception of some troops).
The new characters and concepts, especially the zombies, I would be interested in. Zombie and ninjas are a nice addition to the line, as long as they do not come to dominate it.
Yeah, I’d be really into many, many of those figures. The ninjas are a little much, but the execution is pretty good, same with the Zombies. It is amazing how versatile that ROC Arctic Duke body COULD be, if they would ever start using it.
The ones I would definitely buy are Kwinn (duh), Hit & Run, Steel Brigade Commander and Echo Faction Trooper.
I would seriously consider the SB Delta, Deep Sea Diver, Ravens Wing and Police Unit.
Probably would get Flint, Lady Jaye, Officer, Stinger, and Tele-viper, but on the other hand, I have a bunch of all these characters.
I’m out on Zombies and Ninjas. Although, I do like the Gold Ninja and the blue Monk Ninja and the Skele-Ninja for some reason.
I think I would go with:
– Hiss Driver
– Ravens Wing
– NOMaD Warrior
– Eel
– Ripcord Arctic Dive
– Hit & Run
– Crimson Guard Immortal
– Shadow Guard
– Zartan
– Clutch
From what I was told, they’re going to let you vote on only 5. Hopefully with enough positive energy and excitement they can convince the higher ups to open it up to more. 5 is a very hard number with all of these awesome figures. So make sure to show your enthusiasm when the time comes!
My faves:
Kwinn
Lady Jaye
Flint
Snow Serpent v2
Hit & Run
Zartan
Heat viper
I’d love an improved Tele-Viper too, but I’m not keen on the part choices. The torso mainly, but also the legs (I know those SE legs are good, but need everyone have them, Joe and Cobra alike?)
Wasn’t there a CG Immortal as well? I would mind seeing that.
So, General justin, I notice that Hit n Run (your favourite joe) not only has a beard, but is also bald. Bet your jumping for joy!
If I HAD to pick one, Kwinn. If I had to pick two, Kwinn and Flint. Three? Kwinn, Flint, and Raven’s Wing. If I had my druthers, ALL of them. I’d buy every single figure in that case.
In addition to the obvious Arashikage and Zombie 7-packs, there’s lots of other 7-pack possibilities there.
Night Creepers: Slice + Dice (he’s a suspected former Night Creeper not a Red Ninja) + 5 Night Creepers
Steel Brigade: Steel Brigade Commander + 2 Steel Brigade Deltas + 4 Steel Brigade Troopers
Cobra Army: Cobra Officer + Stinger Driver + 3 Shock Troopers + 2 Tele-Vipers
Crimson Guard: 2 CG Immortals + 5 Crimson Shadow Guardsman
As for some of the others, Echo Faction Trooper is a fine generic grunt but not really an upgrade from the Retaliation Trooper.
Retaliation Joe Trooper is a great figure so a desert version is a good future release. I’m not crazy about the original’s backpack though so I’d hope they come up with some new gear.
I’d like some generic G.I. Joe MPs or even civilian police but that Law vest’s badge is cartoonishly large.
They could just give NOMaD Warrior and Raven’s Wing new codenames and make them new characters instead of army builders.
I never picked up the 25th Barbecue so I’d probably pick that one up regardless but a removable helmet or unmasked head would be golden.
SEAL Shipwreck isn’t a bad idea but I’d rather have the same figure with a Wet-Suit head instead.
They could put out that Viper (and the Cobra Trooper too) in every series with different camo and I’d be fine with it and I’m not missing the chrome face-plate since I don’t think grunts need a fancy shiny face.
Despite living in an area that barely sees snow, I love Snow Serpents so I’d probably pick up one with a bigger coat.
Jason as a Dreadnok looks cool but I’d rather they work on getting out a good updated Ripper, Torch, or Monkeywrench before working on generic Dreadnoks.
And get working on a good Gung-Ho already, Hasbro.
Hit and Run is bruce willis head!!!!!
I DESPERATELY want that Cobra Commander with a non-zombie head. Don’t really care for any of the zombie figures other than that.
Also love Flint, Lady Jaye, Tele-Viper, Ravens Wing, Clutch, Stinger Driver, and Cobra Officer.
But honestly I would buy at least two of nearly any of these figures…