So much for the quiet news days, eh?

Apparently  Hasbro has just participated in the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, and rumor has it they spent quite a while talking about their future entertainment and toy plans with the folks in attendance there.

According to staff with TFW2005, Hasbro actually spoke about G.I. Joe specifically, saying they were going to “reignite” and “reimagine” the G.I. Joe brand through the Cinematic Universe, and that they were even currently developing a new G.I. Joe animated series.

In a way, this should come as no major surprise.  G.I. Joe in its current iteration isn’t exactly a retail behemoth, and with a potential movie franchise on the way, you have to expect that Hasbro is looking to get back to the drawing board and push the franchise forward.  I am fully on board with this plan.

G.I. Joe as it currently stands remains a fantastic and relevant product.  Its design aesthetics, articulation, and overall style have very few peers at brick and mortal retail, in my opinion, the main issues all seem to fall around thematic ones and conceptual ones.  Continually revisiting the same themes from the past 30 years is not an innovative way to carry a brand forward, so really, with a film franchise coming, it only makes sense to jettison some things and start fresh.

By all accounts, that seems to be what Hasbro is prepared to do.

Unlike many of my collecting peers, I don’t feel handcuffed or wedded to three decades of past history, and I really look forward to seeing what new concepts Hasbro might develop to move into the 21st Century.  It will certainly be interesting to see what they do to dovetail a mostly real world military brand with these other interstellar adversaries, but I’m definitely on board to see what happens.

Check out TFW2005 and HissTank.com for some more specific commentary.  I think the next few years could certainly get interesting!