G.I. Joe reveal in NYCC involves a Kre-O makeover
I mentioned a few evenings ago that it looked as if Hasbro was going to reveal some new G.I. Joe product at their little shindig prior to New York ComicCon next Wednesday, October 10th. While I think most of us were waiting with baited breath for some G.I. Joe: Retaliation or other 2013 G.I. Joe action figure news, Hasbro threw us a little curve ball today with the announcement of G.I. Joe Kre-O building sets!
From the sounds of things they will be Toys “R” Us exclusives and will launch in February, 2013.
There has already been some hot debate on Twitter and in the forums about what potential success of this and whether the G.I. Joe brand can survive an evolution like this, and as most people would expect, I’m remaining cautiously optimistic. I will say this up front… the Kre-O concept does not do a lot for me, and I’m not sure I’ll be partaking of this particular branch of the Joe brand, but I know there are a lot of folks out there who love the mini-figure concept, and this might just capture their attention, which is good.
Considering Transformers Kre-O sets have started sprinkling into clearance aisles, I was a bit concerned, but Twitter follower Kevin Hurd reminded me that the Transformers Kre-O sets sort of violate the basic tenet of Transformers, which is to…well.. transform. G.I. Joe doesn’t have that same base concept, so it was his thought that this evolution might work better for a Real American Hero than it did even for Transformers. I can see that perspective.
Regardless, the idea that the G.I. Joe brand is ready for another evolution is a good one, and one that I hope pans out for Hasbro and for Kre-O. And I will say, as much as I’m not really big on the mini-figure idea, and I’ve never been a die hard Lego fan, I gotta admit I had a huge-ass smile on my face when I saw this poster image. Even I had to admit this looked pretty awesome. Check out the mirrored image below, with the paragraph explanation.
Part of me hopes there are still some actual action figure items to be shown next week, but anything that gets G.I. Joe in the public eye and on the lips of consumers is a good thing for all of us. I’ll be watching this one.
“Hello Hasbro fans!
We hope that you remain as excited as we are for Hasbro’s NYCC Preview Night Party next Wednesday. Many of you have asked what new products we will be revealing that evening, so we wanted to give you a little taste of what’s in store for you on that night….
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. We are looking forward to seeing you next Wednesday night!
YoJoe!”