Hasbro did go on to confirm that there would be a ComicCon exclusive, and that they were committed to getting the Fan Vote winner Stiletto out to collectors as well. Beyond that, pretty much nada.
Many Joe fans lept to the attack citing a Tweet from Entertainment News International that seemed to say there would be a G.I. Joe presence at retail this year, but in fact, that Tweet merely said a “few reveals” would be at JoeCon. I consider an SDCC set (or two) and the Stiletto release a few reveals, to be sure.
At this point, as it has been several times in recent years, the future of G.I. Joe as a retail brand remains murky. The one main difference now is that while G.I. Joe at retail was sketchy, we at least at the Collectors Club to fall back on, which was generally good for 30 – 40 releases per year, a nice healthy number. Now as we push forward towards 2016 and 2017 not only is retail looking unhealthy, but rumors persist that the Collectors Club is off the brand as well.
So what the heck is going on here? It makes no real sense to jettison Fub Publications if you’re also jettison a retail presence unless there’s some kind of fallback plan, which at this point there doesn’t appear to be. All Hasbro will really tell us right now is “wait for a movie”, but that does us no good in the short term. Over the past few years, the G.I. Joe collectors community has been dwindling with no real catalyst to bring us together, aside from the Kindle Worlds fan vote, which was a fantastic experience, but ultimately came and went.
As we look towards 2017, we have no clear vision of a retail brand, and simply no clue on any product from any sort of Collectors Club, and hell, we may not even have an annual G.I. Joe Convention to look forward to.
I’m not sure exactly what’s going on, but I hope that we can get some kind of information from Hasbro at some point, just so we don’t continue to be left adrift, wondering. I’m one of those few who actually enjoys some healthy speculation, but speculating on something vs. nothing doesn’t do much for me.
Hopefully we can find out what’s next and get some kind of answers beyond just waiting for the next movie.
Do you like your peanut butter in your chocolate? Some do, some don’t, but whatever your preference, the G.I. Joe and Transformers Collectors Clubs have taken steps to offer exclusives linking together the universes of G.I. Joe and Transformers, and their first entry into that world is Marissa Faireborn w/ Afterbreaker.
Actually released earlier last year, I only got the opportunity to pick this figure up a month or so ago, and am now getting around to the review. You can check out the review on the G.I. Joe Collectors Club review page, or the direct link below.
I continue to play catch up from 2015 today, this time covering one of the membership incentives from last year, the Wave Crusher w/ Sub Viper! Using a great figure from 2001, the Collectors Club continues to pay homage to previously untouched corners of G.I. Joe history and does a pretty bang up job of it as well.
One of the most overlooked parts of G.I. Joe history is the Real American Hero Collection, a short run of mostly re-used parts that went from 2000 – 2001 and heralded the “next stage” in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Introducing some new characters while revisiting plenty of classics, all in the familiar o-ring style, it was the RAHC that put GeneralsJoes on the map and truly reignited my love for G.I. Joe. I’m glad to see the Collectors Club examining that crucial part of G.I. Joe history.
One of the more unsung releases of the early 2000’s in my mind was the Wave Crusher w/ Sub Viper. Not because of the Wave Crusher necessarily, in my mind, one SHARC repaint is more or less like another, but the Sub Viper was a very cool figure, and an excellent update using the old school Sludge Viper tooling.
Interestingly, the Club did a version of the Sludge Viper in 2014 (though they named him Repulsor) yet when they developed the updated Sub Viper, they used a different parts formula entirely. I’m actually okay with that, as I think this Sub Viper looks more like an underwater operations specialist and manages to look a lot like the classic Sub Viper, too.
There are no new parts here. He’s got the head (and helmet) of the Rise of COBRA Aero-Viper, the torso of Barbecue, arms of Techno-Viper, and the legs of Rise of COBRA Snake Eyes. They are relatively recent parts with some excellent sculpting and great range of motion, which I always enjoy seeing.
Where this figure really excels, though, is in the color scheme. The blue base uniform is bright and vibrant just like the original, standing out amongst the darker and duller COBRA Troopers. The silver trim throughout the figure is striking, a very stark and almost chrome finish that looks excellent and is quite eye catching. The combination of colors is quite different than most other figures we’ve ever seen, and is a great update to the 2001 original figure. The thing I liked most about that figure was its paint scheme, too.
For accessories, Sub Viper comes with a knife, underwater machine gun, flippers, and a pair of mines to plant on unsuspecting G.I. Joe watercraft. This makes him much more than just a glorified SHARC pilot, which I love. This figure is a lot of fun.
Wave Crusher
On the other hand, the Wave Crusher itself just manages to be pretty much any other SHARC repaint. I really enjoy the spirit of the SHARC. A vehicle that’s a combination of submarine and aircraft is a really neat concept, and the flip-up cannons provides some fun play value.
Unfortunately, while the SHARC was innovative in 1984, it’s received countless repaints and re-releases over the years, and at this point, there’s little to remain excited about. Even utilizing some new tooling for the 25th Anniversary line left us with a vehicle that’s more or less the same as its always been. I do like the shade of blue here, which matches the Sub Viper (but does not match the 2001 vehicle). The applied decals are a nice touch, and the Club has managed to give this a very “COBRA” feel. I’m glad they elected to match the Sub Viper colors, but in the end, this is still the SHARC, a vehicle that I enjoyed over 30 years ago, but offers little in the way of newness now.
At the end of the day, I love the figure, don’t much care for the vehicle. If the Club could find a way to release the figure at a better price without the vehicle, I’d probably grab a handful. As it is, I’m happy with one, but won’t seek out many more.
Once again, you can buy this set right now at GIJoeClub.com.
COBRA Wave Crusher w/ Sub Viper
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
Vehicle Design
Vehicle Paint Deco
Vehicle Play Features
3.6
Summary
The G.I. Joe Collectors Club continues to pull inspiration from all eras of G.I. Joe with this modernization of the 2001 Toys “R” Us Exclusive Real American Hero Collection set. They make some aesthetic changes, specifically with the colors of the Wave Crusher itself, but they’re good changes, and the updated Sub Viper looks nicely vintage inspired, but with a really interesting parts recipe. The colors are spectacular, with very vibrant blues and silvers, and they truly did one of my favorite 2000’s era figures justice.
It would certainly seem as if 2015 kind of got away from me when it comes to my G.I. Joe reviews… I managed to stay on top of the 50th Anniversary releases fairly well, but several of the G.I. Joe Collectors Club releases lagged a bit behind.
Interesting that now that I’m tackling them, we’re dealing with the distinct possibility that the G.I. Joe Collectors Club as we know it (as well as the G.I. Joe Convention) may be coming to an end after 2016. A real shame to be losing them as a resource as I dive into several of their really fun exclusives from 2015. I truly hope Hasbro has some kind of plans post GIJCC to bring the G.I. Joe brand to collectors, as I believe we’ve been the driving force in keeping the brand alive over the past several years. That will be considerably more difficult with an annual convention gathering or a Collectors Club offering exclusive toys geared towards us.
I will be cautiously optimistic that Hasbro recognizes our value and isn’t going to just leave the collectors who have been supporting the brand for over 50 years high and dry, but I suppose time will tell.
On that note, you can check out my review of the Arctic Dr. Mindbender at the link below, or on the G.I. Joe Collectors Club Review Page. Hopefully we still have many years of exclusives like this to look forward to.
