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GIJoe_50thEver since San Diego ComicCon last year it seems as if everyone has been casting their eyes forward towards  New York City, just waiting for Toy Fair.  During ComicCon last year it was mentioned that there were possible “surprises” in store for G.I. Joe fans come Toy Fair, but now as we stand a little more than a week away, what those surprises may be remains a very foggy and murky topic.

While we’ve seen some  press releases and articles for many different new Hasbro toy lines that are destined to be debuted at Toy Fair, the word on G.I. Joe has been surprisingly mum, only being referenced as having a “Spotlight” for it during the Toy Fair event, and not necessarily any new product to be shown.

This morning an AP article has started making the rounds, and within the context of that article, apparently Hasbro has said they will announce their plans for the 50th Anniversary of G.I. Joe at Toy Fair next weekend.  This has, understandably, gotten many fans all ramped up to see what we might have waiting for us on Saturday, February 15th (which is when the Hasbro event is slated to begin).

While I remain as excited as anyone else, I just ask that we temper our excitement a bit, and understand where G.I. Joe’s place in the current market is.  More and more action figure lines specifically (and toy lines in general) are shifting to a more licensed model, where you must have a major motion picture or animated series in order to catapult something into the market place.  I think we all know, G.I. Joe currently has none of that.

That being said, it’s evident from the Press Release that Hasbro will have something to say next weekend, but I would just ask that everyone key their expectations towards perhaps being more of a “say” and less of a “show”.  Regardless of what happens next Saturday, I’ll admit to being pleased with a flurry of G.I. Joe related news and information flying around the Internet this morning, and hopefully Hasbro is seeing that the brand still has some pop culture interest and enthusiasm.  At this point I’m not certain if I’m actually making the trip down to New York next weekend or not, but whatever happens, I’ll be following the news very closely and hope to hear something interesting.