Okay, I must admit when I first saw this little SDCC related news item pop up I immediately checked the calendar to make sure it wasn’t April 1st. This seems like one of those stories that simply works too well to be true.
But Toy News International is reporting that Mattel has acquired the license to produce Thundercats figures and that their plans for those figures (based on the classic cartoon) involve keeping them in scale with their Masters of the Universe Classics toyline. None of this has been confirmed, so take it with a huge grain of salt.
Whether that means the two lines would share parts or whether they would have a subscription model for the Thundercats line is all in question right now, and hopefully as SDCC goes on, we’ll get some answers. As a big Masters of the Universe fan and even bigger Thundercats fan, I am more than a little giddy at this idea. Unfortunately, however, Thundercats has a recent history of doing something great but not doing it for very long. Just see their excellent animated series and recent Bandai action figures for proof of this.
I plan on reporting on any of this news as it comes up, so stay tuned.
The British invasion continues with the Figure Subscription Service. The Collectors Club revealed Tiger Force Sneak Peek today, a European variant of the G.I. Joe reconnaissance trooper.
Check out the image below, and get more info on the FSS at GIJoeClub.com!
San Diego ComicCon is upon us! Hopefully everyone out there is ready. One of the joys of this annual gathering of geeks is the plethora of exclusive toys that are produced for it. This year leading the list of awesome exclusives is the Sgt. Slaughter Marauders vs. Iron Grenadiers Kre-O set!
Kre-O may be MIA from store shelves, but Hasbro went all out with this fantastic boxed set. Check out my Kre-O Review Page, or click the link below for the full review.
As strange as it may sound coming from an adult collector, one of the biggest disappointments from a G.I. Joe perspective I’ve experienced this year is the apparent end of a mainstream Kre-O toyline. After clearancing the majority of their stock, it appears as if Toys “R” Us has gotten out of the G.I. Joe Kre-O game, relegating us to convention exclusives.
That’s not a bad thing, and I really enjoyed the G.I. Joe Convention Kre-O set, but man, after getting that Terror Drome, Firebat and other great items, I can’t help but at least slightly lament the loss of a higher profile Kre-O presence.
This ComicCon exclusive set does two things… it satisfies me greatly, yet also gives the knife a little bit of a twist. It’s a terrific set that I love whole heartedly, but also puts a big magnifying glass on the bare shelves where G.I. Joe Kre-O used to be at Toys “R” Us.
The theme of this ComicCon exclusive set is spectacular. With a box designed like the classic VHS Boxed sets of old, each individual “video tape” pulls out into an individual component. One tape is the Iron Grenadier figure set, one tape is the Marauders figure set, and the third tape is the Triple T tank. Magnificent. The animated Kre-O themed artwork across the box and the inner tapes pulls me back to the FHE days where I’d go to my local video store and rent the “Revenge of Cobra” mini series back in the day…and the artwork is very reminiscent of the DiC series box art, too, especially with the Slaughter’s Marauders. Fantastic presentation with the box and artwork for sure.
Slaughter’s Marauders
I think I share most folks’ surprise in seeing that Hasbro was once again able to get license to Sgt. Slaughter’s character, even if it was just in Kre-O form.
Slaughter himself is a great looking figure, using the typically fantastic Hasbro design aesthetics. Kre-O designers seem imminently capable of focusing on some very key elements of the characters and translating them perfectly to toy form.
Footloose is another great looking Marauders update with just the right touches of green, brown, and blue, as well as a neat assembled RPG and machine gun.
Low Light has his familiar Marauder paint scheme along with a great sniper rifle and Uzi to call back to the vintage version that had the same equipment. It’s neat comparing these versions to their classic originals in the Kre-O line and see what was changed.
Using a gas mask, night stick, and submachine gun, Hasbro gives us a good looking Mutt in the updated Marauder paint scheme, again a nice separation from the classic version that already appeared in the Kre-O line. Just a note – Junkyard is bagged in with the Triple T, so if you don’t see him in the action figure package, look in the Triple T box, he should be in there.
Unlike some others, Spirit never actually received a classic Kre-O version yet, something that didn’t occur to me until I was doing this review. Spirit is the consumate Sunbow character that would have made perfect sense to have done in Kre-O form, and represents just one more reason why I hope to see Kre-O continue in some form somewhere down the line. We need a classic Spirit!
Lastly we have Marauder Barbecue who comes with a great flip up Barbecue mask and fire extinguisher, along with his handy battle axe. Like the others, he has a great Marauder paint scheme that’s very evocative of the figure, and awesomely colorful.
Iron Grenadiers
On the enemy side of things we get the Iron Grenadiers, which serves as a great tie-in to the Convention Set this year, which also contained some key members of the IG crew.
Destro leads the team in his Pimp Daddy Destro deco, another ComicCon throwback, which is a great touch. The leopard print collar and red cape are both so tacky and fantastic.
Voltar is second in command looking great in his pink and gold uniform, with an awesome helmet (even though the eyepiece is on the wrong side), a great weapon, and even his trusty vulture.
Darklon is far and away my favorite figure in this set, with great chainmail deco, an awesome sinister face, his gatling dart gun and all the trappings of Destro’s cousin.
Taking a closer look at the three Iron Grenadiers as well, some things become apparent. First of all, one of them is an officer while two of them are troopers. The officer’s Kre-O deco is actually themed like the modern Iron Grenadier update (using the Battle Armor Cobra Commander body) while the two Troopers are the vintage design with the more familiar clasping buttons. All three figures have red bandanas, but if you remove them, you see the classic Grenadier visage glaring out from behind. As an unabashed Iron Grenadier fan, I love these three troopers and they compliment the rest of the set perfectly.
Also, using a Kre-O Grunt head and a random red beret I found kicking around, the Iron Grenadier Officer quickly becomes a nice looking Sgt. Major.
Sgt. Slaughter’s TTT
Just looking at the figures themselves this set would already be a sure fire winner in my opinion, but Hasbro took it one step further and didn’t just give us 12 great looking Kre-Ons, but they also gave us a full blown ready-to-build Triple T tank!
Like many of the Kre-O items we’ve seen, the Triple T really made its mark in the Sunbow cartoon especially when Slaughter made his dramatic entrace, leaping from the oddly shaped white tank and single-handedly dispatching with a few dozen Battle Android Troopers. To be honest, in its toy form, the Triple T never did much for me, but as has happened in the past a vehicle I might not have cared much for gets whole new life as a Kre-O set. No matter how many times I’ve put these sets together, it always amazes me that I can dump out a pile of random bricks, and moments later, an actual physical form begins to take shape, eventually resulting in a vehicle that actually resembles something that I know. Early Kre-O efforts were mixed, giving us vehicles that bore only the most passing resemblance to their vintage counterparts, but recently, things have gotten much better, and the Triple T is a perfect example of that.
This is a very unique looking vehicle from G.I. Joe history, and the fact that this Kre-O build represents it so accurately is simply amazing. Using a majority of white bricks, with a healthy mix of green and brown, the TTT is an amazing feat of brick engineering that completely lives up to my expectations for these Kre-O sets. From the size and shape to the “fit” with this year’s theme and the vintage resemblance, I may actually like the Kre-O TTT even more than the regular vintage one. It wasn’t a really complex build, and as always, I find myself incredibly amused with how small these items end up, but it was a lot of fun, and the final result is 100% worth it.
From the packaging to the Kre-On mini figures, all the way to the TTT vehicle, this set is simply amazing. A truly enjoyable and yes FUN addition to the already impressive Kre-O library. I thoroughly enjoyed this set while at the same time it made me lament the sparse offerings of Kre-O going forward.
Slaughter Marauders vs. Iron Grenadiers Kre-O Set
Characters
Paint Deco
Accessories
Vehicle Build
4.6
Summary
Something that often gets lost in the shuffle of collector toys is the notion of “fun”. TOYS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. I think that’s why I’ve been drawn to Kre-O so much since it first came out. Even when the builds weren’t 100% accurate and even when some of the figure designs were a bit weak, the base concept of the entire thing was G.I. Joe as a fun toy. No Kre-O set to date has captured that sense of fun more than this ComicCon set, which takes the essence of what was great about G.I. Joe in the 80s and boils it down to a single boxed set, from the packaging to the filecards, and the individual pieces themselves. Terrific characters, an excellent vehicle build, and an all around impressive package. This set is a must have!
Continuing their FSS IV reveals, the G.I. Joe Collectors Club has shown off their version of Bullhorn today, taking inspiration from the 90s version…well, the only version unless you count the Club’s own take from 2008.
It’s a good looking figure that is certainly based on the 1990 version with some good modern parts and great accessories. In my younger days, Bullhorn joined Hit & Run as being “boots on the ground” for the next generation of G.I. Joe, so I’m excited to see him here.
Check out GIJoeClub.com for the latest info on FSS IV!
