Amongst the fandom hooplah that Hasbro hates us because they cancelled a wave of vehicles, BigBadToyStore announces that pre-orders for the Wave 5 Vehicles have been reborn. Check out the link here.
Thanks to Mysterious Stranger as well as Irid70 of HissTank.com for pointing out the info.
I’ll be honest here. I’m kind of flabberghasted about how riled up the fandom got over these things, especially once it was revealed we’d be getting the figures in separate 7-packs. I think the vehicles look great, but let’s face it. One pack as the CLAW (which everyone hates) and the FLAK (which, in my opinion, is no great shakes itself), while the other sets consist of a Stinger (pretty much an exact reproduction of the one from 1984, though it does have some really nice updates, to be sure) and a white HISS tank with some minor tooling modifications.
I’m not saying these vehicles are terrible…nothing of the sort. But once it was revealed that we’d be able to get Outback and Strato-Viper outside of these vehicles, I’m really stunned that the fans would be so vehemently irrate about a few vehicles that were most likely getting worked into the movie line anyway.
Ah, well…just another item in a long list of things I will never understand. I am glad to see the vehicles being re-submitted for pre-order, though. Even though I was neither ecstatic (nor heartbroken) when the vehicles were announced, and then cancelled, these are some nice pieces, the Stinger is awesome, and I do look forward to getting that. With the 7-packs coming, I doubt I’ll get the FLAK/CLAW set, and I’ll have to wait to see the HISS in person before making my decision. I am happy for the fandom, though, it seems like they really want to get their hands on these. Awesome to see Hasbro coming through for the fandom on this as well.
Personally, I wanted the Stinger the most. The other stuff I can live without, but may pick up on a whim. The Stinger is a MUST have for me though.
I have to say I’m quite pleased these are back on the schedule. I was truly bummed especially about the Arctic HISS. Unlike Justin, I’m a HUGE arctic environment fan and getting an offical arctic tank from Hasbro will save me loads of time and effort making my own (painting white over black=not fun). So I ordered 3 of the HISS as well as the Stinger which I think is a great looking update and I got 4 of the CLAW/FLAK coming as well. One I’ve armybuilt 4 of each of the Cobra air vehicles (air troops are right up there with arctic ones for me) and two the FLAK was one of the first Joe items I had as a kid so nostalgia dictates I get a few. Plus that Outback body will make for nice fodder. Sure we’re getting the figures in a 7-pack but I want them with the vehicles we were shown first 😉
I want the FLAK the most. The characters are pretty irrelevant beyond that I think. Hopefully they don’t do the same thing they have done with the DVD #5. Nothing worse than having something for sale, but never able to buy it.
I had little doubt Hasbro would find someway to release this last run of RAH vehicles, it was just a question of when. However, now that Hasbro has unveiled their new COBRA Island figure packs, I agree with the General that it makes the FLAK/CLAW set pretty much obsolete. The only reason I had planned on getting that set was for the new Strato-Viper. The Arctic HISS I was never impressed with at all because Hasbro has released much better COBRA cold weather vehicles in the past, and this just seemed like a lazy effort. The Stinger on the other hand I was looking forward to and pre-ordered about half a dozen from Entertainment Earth which is offering slightly less prices then BBTS.
glad that they are coming out. i had no interest in the joe 7 pack with the exception of outback, and now i can get him along with the flak.
I’m glad that the fandom in general is happy about this, even if 3 out of the 4 vehicles don’t really rock my world. I will say that I have always been really looking forward to the newly tooled Stinger, so I am psyched that this is coming out…and the Arctic HISS driver is pretty cool looking, too. I will have to think about whether or not I want to buy the FLAK/CLAW set or not…the figures would be the main draw, and they’ll be coming in the 7-packs, so…