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Toy Fair Report Part 4 – Pursuit of Cobra Mech Suits

Lastly, we got some looks at the new Mech Suits coming out for Pursuit of Cobra.  The Sigma 6 2.5” vehicles with some heavily tooled cockpits really mesh with the new age Joe universe perfectly, and both G.I. Joe and Cobra have ‘em. Retailing for $19.99, these should hit in August of 2010.
G.I. Joe and Cobra Mech Suits

  • G.I. Joe Steel Marauder w/ Kickstart – A new driver, and a familiar green and black color scheme give us a nicely military, yet futuristic tool of destruction for G.I. Joe.  I was in love with the Sigma 6 Iron Hammer, and I’m really digging this version as well.  Sign me up.
  • Cobra Deviant w/ Cyber-Viper – A fairly obscure vintage character gets a modern remake and he’s piloting a pretty neat, modified version of the G.I. Joe mech.  These two vehicles really can go toe-to-toe and they both look very cool.

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And that was about it.  G.I. Joe had a fairly tame showing compared to Transformers, Marvel, and Star Wars, but us Joe fans are pretty used to that.  I know there wasn’t a whole lot of new coolness to see, but what we did see was pretty incredible.  The Pursuit of Cobra is taking G.I. Joe in an awesome direction…absolutely awesome.  And Resolute is just the perfect icing on the cake.  There wasn’t much seen there that I didn’t really like, and I have a feeling we’ll see a lot more in April/May at JoeCon.

Toy Fair Report Part 3 – G.I. Joe Resolute 7-Packs

Also a big hit with many of the collectors were the Resolute 7-Packs, hitting in August/September of 2010.  They will be available as online exclusives from the same vendors who offered the Cobra Island 7-Packs.  HasbroToyShop may get in on the action as well.  The lowdown is as follows:
G.I. Joe

  • Beachhead – Looks to have some new tooling with great gear and a very nice representation
  • Flint – Similar head, but might even be a new sculpt, plus new webgear and the very familiar shotgun shells on his forearm!  Hell yeah…  comes with the tactical shotgun we’ve seen down the road.
  • Arctic Duke – Looks to come with a new head sculpt and other new trimming to separate him from the 5-pack Jet Pack version.  I may be alone, but I love this addition.  Now where’s Scarlett??
  • Snake Eyes – Deco appears to be much the same as the single packed version, all I can think is that we’ll get some nice new accessories out of this one.  Maybe the flight pack that was slated to come with Jungle Storm Shadow?
  • Stalker – Tough to tell how elaborate his new head is, but he’s got some great webgear and awesome colors.  Can’t wait for this one.
  • Roadblock – Same as we’ve seen.  And still bad ass.
  • Scarlett – We’ve seen her in preproduction form here and there as well, and she looks the same as she did then, too, and is still a very nice rendition of the Resolute character.


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COBRA

  • Storm Shadow – The same one we’ve seen online, didn’t appear to be many changes
  • Alley-Viper – Nice new accessories over the Trooper base figure. Hot damn I need a bunch of these bad boys.
  • Firefly – Some nicely done new accessory tooling to give us a very authentic looking Resolute version of the Cobra Saboteur
  • Cobra Commander – Hasbro mentioned that he might have a vac metal face mask, but the sample did not…  he definitely comes with a new knife to slit the throats of incompetent crimson Troopers.  Yay!
  • Zartan – Holy crap this one took me by surprise.  Great uses of existing parts, with just enough new tooling to knock it out of the park.  Impressive.
  • Baroness – Uses the same old tooling, but in a new gray and black paint scheme that is much, MUCH improved over the baby blue.  Like it a lot.
  • Destro – Pretty much what we’ve seen.  Which, again, is awesome.

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Some images above were mirrored from the great coverage at YoJoe.com and HissTank.com.

Toy Fair Report Part 2 – Pursuit of Cobra Vehicles (Alpha and Bravo)

To go along with the Pursuit of Cobra figures, we have 2 assortments of Alpha vehicles and 2 assortments of Bravo vehicles.  Now, there’s a lot that was seen at JoeCon that isn’t here…  that absolutely amazing motorcycle/armor suit?  Probably slated for 2011, from what the Hasbro reps told us.  The HISS Scout wasn’t nearly as desirable to me, but I’d imagine that either has the same fate, or may not end up happening at all.  No big loss in my mind.
The Alphas will retail for $14.99 while the Bravos clock in at $24.99, and initial waves should be hitting in August.
What we did see is the following:
Alpha Wave 1

  • Ghost Hawk w/ Tomahawk – Some very cool retooled parts on the Sky Hawk and a new character made of some rehashed parts makes for a very cool new addition to the Joe arsenal.
  • Doom Cycle w/ Storm Rider – A new Dreadnok with an amazing new Chopper.  The bike looks to have all new tooling with some great shotguns in the handle, and the Dreadnok driver has a great combination of new and existing tooling.  Very cool.

Alpha Wave 2

  • AWE Striker w/ Night Fox – Pretty interesting recolored AWE Striker in a more night ops color deco with a new character by the name of Night Fox.  Another cobbled together figure with existing parts, but still has some cool new elements.  I might be in the minority, but I’m always interested in seeing some new blood.
  • Ice Cutter w/ Snow Serpent Officer – Press photos showed the officer looking like the TRU Snow Serpent, but he’s actually without camouflage and with some very cool red colored webgear.  The Ice Cutter isn’t a bad looking vehicle (working treads!) overall.

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Bravo Wave 1

  • Wolfhound w/ Whiteout – Initially slated to appear in the Rise of Cobra line, but then pushed back, the Wolfhound now makes it into the Pursuit of Cobra line pretty much intact with a fairly “blah” worthy driver in Whiteout.  Nothing really to write home about.
  • HISS w/ HISS Driver Officer – This is just about the polar opposite.  Absolutely incredible looking new vehicle and play features like crazy and a whole TON of fun to boot.  THIS is what G.I. Joe vehicles should be all about.

Bravo Wave 2

  • Cobra Fury w/ Alley-Viper – We’ve seen quite a bit of this item already, and it looks relatively unchanged.  A neat addition, but not much more, in my book.
  • VAMP w/ Double Clutch – This on the other hand fills me with awesomeness.  New tooling, once again filled to the brim with play features, and with an interesting updated version of the classic VAMP driver.  An awesome looking new vehicle, to be sure.

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Toy Fair Report Part 1 – Pursuit of Cobra Figures

Toy Fair this year was a subdued affair, with it being a non-movie year and at a slower pace than 2009, but that didn’t reflect in the enthusiasm of the Hasbro reps, or in the level of product.  Yes, a lot of what we’ve seen here has already been seen, but that doesn’t take anything away from the beauty of some of these Pursuit of Cobra toys.  These things are just amazing.  You think the pictures look nice?  In person, they will blow you away.
The lowdown for the rest of 2010 is essentially 2 waves of main line figures, 2 waves of Alpha vehicles, and 2 waves of Bravo Vehicles.  Single packs MSRP is $5.99, Alphas are $14.99, Bravos are $24.99, and the Mech Suits are $19.99.
The best thing shown today, by far, though were the Resolute 7-packs.  Being solicited as online exclusives ( the same vendors as the COBRA Island 7-Packs) they do a great job blending new and existing tooling and getting a great representation of the Resolute characters.  All of these items should start hitting for August store resets and will be sold throughout the rest of 2010.  The images for the first two waves of single pack figures are below…
Pursuit of Cobra Single Packs – Wave 1
Wave 1 consists of:

  • Duke (Jungle Assault) – Same as we saw, with a new retooled head (that looks great)
  • Snake Eyes (Desert Battle) – Same as we saw.  Timber features a play action tail…when pressed down, his jaw opens and head turns!
  • Snow Job (Arctic Threat) – Same as we’ve seen.
  • Beachhead (City Strike) – Appears to be the same as was shown at JoeCon
  • Alley-Viper (City Strike) – Tooling from the Cobra Island version, but in awesome new gray and red paint scheme.  Also comes with Resolute Alley-Viper helmet and goggles!
  • Firefly (City Strike) – Same as we’ve seen
  • Cobra Commander (Jungle Assault) – Chase figure.  Will NOT be impossible to find.  Not as hard as the Clear Wraith, probably more along the lines of white/black coat Dr. Rex Lewis.  The retail version will NOT come with that cool as hell HISS Drone.  Hasbro is trying to figure out where to work that into the line.
  • Storm Shadow (Desert Battle) – Obviously quite different than the version we thought we were getting, but still looks pretty amazing.  Uses RoC Arctic Storm Shadow tooling underneath some cool new ceremonial gear.

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Wave 2 consists of:

  • Dusty (Desert Battle) – New tooling with swappable heads!  One has a great looking gas mask and the other one is uncovered.  Some very nice looking gear.
  • Recondo (Jungle Battle) – Same as we’ve seen from JoeCon.
  • Destro (Arctic Threat) – Appears to be the same one from JoeCon
  • Snake Eyes (City Strike?) – I’m guessing on the “City Strike”.  I know we’ve already gotten a City Strike version, I honestly have no idea where this one fits, just that he looks pretty cool, even for just another Snake Eyes.  The armor looks kinda clunky, and he actually doesn’t blend remarkably well with the rest of the PoC theme, but something about him does look kind of neat, and kind of “Sigma 6” in a way.
  • Zartan (Desert Battle) – Almost the same as what we’ve seen, but with a new non-Arnold Vosloo head sculpt.
  • Jungle-Viper (Jungle Assault) – Same bad assed sniper that we saw from JoeCon,

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Of course, obvious by their absenses are Ripcord (Desert Battle), Storm Shadow (Jungle Assault), Shadow Tracker (Jungle Assault), Scarlett (City Strike), Heavy Duty (Desert Battle) and Duke (Arctic Threat).  There may have been others missing, too, that I don’t recall off the top of my head.  Hasbro couldn’t verify any future status, but seemed pretty confident that figures which contained a lot of tooling would see future release in the line, most likely in 2011.  I know that’s small comfort to the fans who are out there clamoring to see some of these great looking figures, but that’s all we have at this point.  If I had to guess, I’d say figures like the City Strike Scarlett and Desert Battle Heavy Duty are probably destined for the scrap heap, simply because no new tooling was really invested in any of their production.  However, figures like Ripcord, Shadow Tracker, Arctic Duke, etc… will probably come out in one way or another, whether it’s their gear being included with someone else, or perhaps just a different head sculpt and different character.
Here’s hoping there’s a bit more intel at JoeCon.
Click the banner above for the full Toy Fair 2010 lowdown with all the information you would ever want to know about G.I. Joe for 2010.

Toy Fair Update – First Picture Push

I’m on a tight timeline, so you’ll have to excuse the rushed nature of these images, I promise I will take time to refine, crop, and organize them better as the weekend goes on (when I’m not running close to the wire for catching a train back home).
Until then… here’s what I got.
Resolute Figures
Not much was show on the presentation floor, and we don’t have official press pics yet.  Here are Flint, Zartan, and Scarlett:

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Pursuit of Cobra Figures
Not everything was on the floor, but here’s what I’ve got for them, too, scatters of both Wave 1 and Wave 2:

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Pursuit of Cobra Vehicles
Also, scatters of Wave 1 and Wave 2 for Alphas and Bravos:

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Pursuit of Cobra Mech Suits
Scattered images of the the Joe and Cobra Mechs:

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The Pursuit is still on! Hasbro Press Release confirms fall lineup for G.I. Joe

HASBRO’S G.I. JOE BRAND EMBARKS ON ITS NEXT MISSION AS THE ICONIC TOY LINE SETS IT’S SIGHTS ON “THE PURSUIT OF COBRA” IN 2010


PAWTUCKET, R.I. (February 12, 2010) – Yes, “knowing is half the battle.” But in 2010, the other half of the battle is getting your hands on the latest G.I. JOE action figures and vehicles! As excitement for last summer’s blockbuster movie G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA remains high, Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) launches a new line of G.I. JOE toys that captures the passion and exhilaration that have been a signature part of the brand for more than 45 years.
In 2010 THE PURSUIT OF COBRA line finds the heroic G.I. JOE team on the heels of the evil and menacing COBRA organization. Beginning in the fall, the G.I. JOE brand embarks in THE PURSUIT OF COBRA in four new battlegrounds: Desert, City, Jungle and Arctic. The new convoy of toys includes covert and technologically advanced 3-¾-inch action figures and vehicles themed to these new assignments. The vehicles are outfitted with surprise attack features and hidden weapons systems and are designed to traverse a wide range of terrains. The vehicle line also includes an updated version of the H.I.S.S. Tank, the iconic vehicle from the 1980s G.I. JOE vs. COBRA saga. THE PURSUIT OF COBRA line will also feature a new packaging look that blends classic elements from the brand’s iconic 1980s era with a modern, high-tech aesthetic that embodies the near-future global fantasy.
In addition to highly articulated new action figures and awesome vehicles, staples of the iconic brand, the G.I. JOE toy line introduces two new expressions in 2010. The new G.I. JOE 3-3/4-inch MOBILE MECH Suits feature an exclusive figure and give kids the opportunity to customize new high-tech action figure armored suits to their own specifications. For fast action play the new G.I. JOE 3-3/4-inch RIP ATTACK Vehicles feature a rip launcher to send these new vehicles on their way into the next G.I. JOE vs. COBRA mission.
Hasbro’s licensing program will also continue to support the G.I. JOE brand in 2010 with innovative, entertaining products across multiple categories, including publishing with a series of comic books from IDW as well as a variety of seasonal items.
Yo Joe!
To read the FULL DETAILS for upcoming assortments for fall, 2010, click the “Read the Rest of the Story” link below!
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