I understand where you guys are coming from, and mostly I agree. Unfortunately for me, I don't have any choice but to buy the 25th anniversary figures, because that's all the new stuff available. I don't have many Joes at all, and I can't afford to go on ebay and buy classic figures, so I have to save up and buy what I can, which is whatever is on the shelves when I walk in the store. I prefer the o-ring figures, but if I want joes, I have no choice but to buy the new figures. :(

I can understand that. The ones that kill me are the guys who were collecting since 2002 or so and passed on every version of the figure they are now saying they DON'T have. I can understand wanting a V1 Flint if you had one as a kid, but come on! The Comic Pack was a closer imitation than these gangly legged dainty museum pieces! Why these people passed on comic pack figures, VvsV, Spytroops, JvC and the 2000 Collectors versions to wait for these pale replicas, I have no idea. If you like them, fine, but to me, these are like Sigma six....they're just not REAL GI Joes!

I'm interested in seeing a remake of the V1 BAT. Now that is one figure that this mold might do justice! I could see a BAT being 6+ feet tall and slender. But I hate the fact that these figures don't fit all the old vehicles! It's like Hasbro is saying to us, thanks for all your support all these years, but you and you heros are uncool...you have to buy our new stuff to be in the club! Well......F*%k Them! I'm not buying another thing until they get the ARAH molds back...or even NuSculpt!

See, this is what I worry about. NOt so much if they are lawyers and politicians, but guys who are really narrow-minded about GI Joe. These guys are creating the JOeverse as they see fit. You get one head guy who is into the cartoon. You get another head guy who loves 12". You get another guy who came from Care Bears or whatever, y'know?

And just how hardcore are these guys? WHen did they come into the toy as a kid? If you've read old Josh Blaylock interviews, he said at one time that he favoried Lifeline over Doc simply because when he came into Joe, Lifeline was more prominent. And iirc, Blaylock and most of the crew were cartoon fans, not comic fans. So they had to 'reference' the Marvel series for things.

So when you get to the guys working at GI Joe Hasbro, I question just who their favorites are. It's entirely possible they are huge Duke and Snake Eyes fans, ya dig? Hell, you gotta wonder if the guys working there during the theme years weren't CORE fans. We can try and blame the Big 3 for half the figures made, but man...

Anyway...

Great idea!

Well, I just went on Hasbrotoyshop.com and looked for GI Joes. For a dying Line, Sigma Six seems to still be going strong! Out of 26 listings, 24 of them are Sigma Six! ONLY TWO of the 25th Anniversary Joe line sets...and they are both sold out! Maybe that shows how fast the stuff is selling out...or maybe it shows what I knew all along....if you want a line to die...offer it ONLY on your obscure website!

I see it this way, if the 25th is Suceeding, it because of the impulse buyers in the action figure aisles in the big three.....maybe if they had done this with the DTC line, I would be sporting my Munitia Figure and Cobra Officer right now!

Even if I WANTED their crappy 25th figures...where could I get them? I have 16 Walmarts, 7 Targets and 3 TRU's within 30 min of my house and all only have the 5 packs and a few hooded Cobra Commanders. (I know, because I've been looking for a IG Destro to do a head swap on my Pimp Daddy..LOVE that Golden Noggin!!!). I mean they're already on WHAT? Wave 5? 6? and If I WAS gonna Collect them, I'd have missed out on 95% of the single carded figures!

I hate Hasbro...I really do!







Oh, and checking Amazon.......

http://www.amazon.com/G-I-Joe-Anniv...9125809&sr=1-93

http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Joe-25...9125853&sr=1-97

http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Annive...125878&sr=1-110


Hmmmm...bad guys sell for more than good guys..interesting.....

And Smalljoes.....


http://www.smalljoes.com/gi-joe-gij...n-figures.shtml


Hmmmmm...most Army builders are going for $12.99 whereas regular figures (With the exception of Flint (WTF???)) are less than $10. Hmmmmmm.....Could it be that Army/ Troop builders are more in Demand??

Nah! THEY WANT COBRA COMMANDER, DUKE, STORM SHADOW AND SNAKE EYES!!!God, with that classsical bounding leap in logic, I should work for Hasbro!!!!

Yeah, your obscure web site that isn't interested in selling to anyone outside the US, forcing me to buy at inflated prices from third party sellers, should I be stupid enough to want to buy the 25th anniversary junk Hasbro now makes. So much for being "global". :mad:

I hear you there Outrider, the only thing I can seem to find anywhere are two year old Sigma 6 figs that haven't left the shelves yet, and at TRU, a few of the 'new' Commando Joes (Rebadged Sigma 6). What did they think that nobody else outside of the US would be interested in buying the new line? I probably would have initially, now that I've read more about them, and actually seen a couple from a buddy of mine who bought a couple of E Bay. I won't buy them now, even if they do start selling them internationally.

Hasbro has always ignored Australia as far as GI Joe goes. Even when the line was at it's peak in the 80's, we only ever received limited releases over here; mostly the single carded figures and a few of the small and mid sized vehicles, and only then between 1987 and 1993. Any of the larger vehicle sets, forget it! The only biggie they ever released here was the USS Flagg, and from what I saw, that was only in very limited numbers. :mad:

You guys got the Flagg down under? Weird. I only ever saw 1 in the UK, and it was a store display for a competition to win one of like 7 the national chain had imported specially. We got most of the line (with a few odd omissions like Low-Light, Sneak Peek and Crystal Ball) and the larger 'planes, plus the MCC, but Hasbro apparently thought British kids had no use for a GI Joe HQ (I guess Palitoy didn't shift enough Z-Force ones), USS Flagg or Terrordrome.

And now, as with everywhere outside the US, the 25th line is deemed inappropriate or something, since it's collector-oriented and only the US has enough toy collectors to warrant releasing anything that isn't meant for kids to actually play with.

It's a good job the line is flimsy crap incompatible with the 25 years they claim to be celebrating, otherwise I might care.

Surely not!
 

"Here here.. Sacrilege" shouts I...your not suggesting hasbro are ignoring us in the UK are you? :o
In all fairness i'd stand in line and defend hasbro.. but i can't.. from what we were promised in January.. they just simply haven't delivered.

And Stormer your right.. considering these figures are supposed to celebrate 25 years they've certainly made a complete goof up on it.

That's weird all right. We were deemed unworthy of vehicles like the Maggot, Mean Dog, Desert Fox, and too many more small and mid sized ones to mention, but they gave us the Flagg. I've never figured that one out! :rolleyes: :confused:

My Two Cents
 

I just read through this thread for the first time and had to laugh. It makes me laugh that we (a bunch of grown men) can get so worked up about toys. And the animosity towards Hasbro really surprises me.

The fact of the matter is that the 25th Anniv. stuff is selling. Its selling better than than the last few waves of the new sculpt did, and way better than the DTC. The line was dying and they tried something new. It appears to be working right now.

We have to remember that the collecting community isn't big enough to support a toy line. There just isn't enough of us. That means Hasbro has to create toys that will sell to kids. If Hasbro thought that the only people who buy the 25th Anniv. stuff would be collectors, they never would have bothered to produced the stuff in the first place.

What I don't understand was the need to switch to yet another construction format. Hasbro has proved they can produce new ARAH versions of old characters in the recent con sets. They sometimes act like there is no possible way to create new ARAH style molds.

One thing is certain though: Hasbro is not trying to kill the line. With the new movie coming Hasbro is extra motivated to keep this line successful. The idea that Hasbro is trying to kill the line is absurd. But they also have no need to expand the roster.

They already killed the line -- they don't make 3.75"-scale GI Joe figures any more. They do this 4.1" scale and are filling their new toy line with figures based on 3.75" Joes. It annoys me that they say they are "celebrating" the last 25 years by discontinuing it in favour of this do-over.

And if you read around their responses to the Q&As they've been doing, they've actually said that the 25th line IS aimed at collectors and NOT at kids they're trying to bring into the fandom. They've said in response to things related to the movie and/or stuff like "Galactic Heroes"-style figures that if they refocus the line's attention to include kids that'll play with them as well as collectors, they'll consider more options regarding styles.

I'd be very interested to see actual sales figures for the likes of VvV, DTC and 25th -- people say 25th is selling because their stores are out of them, but at the same time people are complaining about not being able to find them in the first place. If they're making them in more limited numbers and with more limited distribution, it's going to simultaneously give the impression of a high demand if shelves are always empty, and of driving up the determination in collectors to buy whatever they DO find because of the perceived value due to scarcity. Are they REALLY selling better than VvV did just because you're not seeing any hanging around shelves? What about the VvV wave with Torch, Bazooka et al? THAT had a more limited release than others and those figures have been in high demand, fetching high prices on eBay and such, ever since. If Hasbro is aiming this line at collectors, as they've implied, then limiting their availability like this is a great way of exaggerating the demand.

I don't feel that I'm "so worked up about toys" -- it's not like I talk about this to my family or non-collector friends. But this is a GI Joe toy collectors' forum, so in that context it's a significant issue for me. Plus, you have to take into account the considerable financial, emotional and time investments I've put into this hobby. To simply dismiss those would be to invalidate not only them but also any reason I'd have to need or want to like/accept the 25th line anyway.

It just upsets me that, one one hand, there's Hasbro saying "It's great that we made it to 25 years; we couldn't have done it without the fans," and on the other it's "Your previous patronage means nothing to us. Buy our NEW toyline, which is just BASED on the one that you've loved for all this time."

Are they trying to kill the line or not?
 

Uncle flint!! You just way confused me.. :confused:
As above.. You say "hasbro is trying to kill the line.. and then hasbro is motivated to keep the line successful? The idea that hasbro is trying to kill the line is absurd.. "

:confused:

I've seen some confusing things in my time, but reading this gave me a headache.. or is it the way i am reading it? Anyone else read that it says hasbro is trying to kill the line then read that hasbro aren't trying to kill the line..

I dunno.. :o I've read this paragraph 10 times and it makes absolutely no sense.. Heeeellllpp.. :o

ditto :confused:

Right.
 

Ok Flatline, now that would make sense..
You mean like:
One thing is certain though: "Hasbro is to trying to kill the line" -.
With the new movie coming Hasbro is extra motivated to keep this line successful. The idea that Hasbro is trying to kill the line is absurd. But they also have no need to expand the roster.

As to quote what others have said? If your right you should get a gold star.. as reading it from a person's reading viewpoint without seeing this makes it very difficult to understand. :o :confused:

Yeah it's selling....and it has nothing to do with they're cool or they're better than ARAH sculpts....it's because Hasbro is SUPPORTING this line! Since 2001 have you seen an ARAH or NEW sculpt ad in a Magazine? No, they just complained sales were crap and then relegated them to an obscure website to die!





I think someone alread tackled this one. But Toys just don't sell like they used to! Kids want XBOX, Wii, Guitar Hero and Halo3! They don't want toys. My neighbor is a Joe fan and he got his boys all 3 five packs for Christmas. Two days ago only 3 figures we're broken or damaged. "They don't make 'em like they used to" he told me, and said he figured these weren't made for kids. And I gotta say, they AREN'T. They're too delicate...



EXACTLY! I feel like they're saying to me "Thank you for your support all these years and buying 2,500 of our figures, but our need to make money and our habit of not listening to what you want has brought us to the conclusion that we need to remake the entire line, so you're years of loyalty and dedication now takes a back seat to our greed....F*%K you very much Mr. Nash....throw out that old non compatible collection and REBUY 25TH!!!!!"




Wanna know my biggest gripe? I'm tired of seeing the same figures again and again. I wanna see Mayday, the Red Shadows, Firewall, Wraith, Alexander and Lady Armada, and NOT Duke Version 234,578! And instead of just redoing the classic figures, why not Update them? Update them like DD did with MainFrame? (ok, maybe not the best update to use as an example, but....)Scarlett in a black commando type outift. I'd even buy Duke in black Halo gear.

Something cool and yet BELIEVEABLE and REALISTIC! Not stuff like the Sand Razor that has a two man open turret on top that is as big as the vehicle itself!
My last 15 Purchases have been PTE, or BBI because I'm so sick of the same unbelieveable crap! I started buying GI Joe 25 years ago because they had the closest thing to a Humvee and an Abrams! Now I get a purple hiss with snake scales on them! Huh?

The thing that made GI Joe sell in the 80's was everyone else was selling WWII figures, guns and vehicles. Kids wanted to play with what the Army had now (well, THEN!)! We were tired of our Grandfathers coming up and saying "I drove one a them tanks in Belgium" We wanted something new, sleek and modern. Something realistic. And Hasbro gave us that with the original 13....but as time wore on, they became rock starts with football Jerseys, long hair and Ninja Training until it got to the point they were hunting dinosaurs! And now they've gone from science fiction to porcelin collectors items! BLAH! Bring back the ARAH Molds and the "O"ring, get me an M988 Hemtt, or I'm giving BBI and PTE my money....Oh, and Marauder John....but I'll buy his stuff even if Hasbro listens to me and makes my dream come true!

For me, I enjoyed the articulation. As much as I loved Star Wars, these had more playability.

Not trying to kill the line.
 

Sorry, guys it was just a typo. Sorry if I confused everybody. However crappy the products are, Hasbro is NOT trying to kill the line. They need it to keep going and even growing. They wouldn't have bothered to create a whole new line if they only expected it to last one year. And with the movie coming they have to be trying to increase the fan base as much as possible.

There is no conspiracy here, or anything. the new sculpt stuff wasn't selling. the ARAH 6-packs weren't selling because they were poorly executed. so I guess they said "Lets' try somthing completely new."

I know they claim the 25th Anniv. stuff is for collectors, (and that may be true about the packaging) but they're just saying that to make us feel good. Hasbro has to sell this stuff to kids to make it profitable. They want to keep us happy, and keep us involved, but there just isn't enough of us to make a difference. We proved that with the DTC stuff.

Actually, the problem is, Hasbro left alot of us out of the picture with the DTC stuff, heck us non- US fans have no other choice but to go on E-Bay for alot of the items that we were looking for, yes TRU up here carried some of the VvV line and Spy Troops, but the really cool stuff was only available to US residents, and now with the 25th line, it's still only available to US residents, unless you go on E-Bay or a dealer like Small Joes (who is really good). Hasbro just plain ticks me off.

well i love GIJOE but like all the south americans joes collectors , i have to buy what i can
i used to have ARAH as a kid and i love them O ring rules , i have a huge collection of gijoe vs cobra , ARAH ,and VvV but only a few DTC because i ONLY find them on internet , WELL im still waiting for some PRODUCTS TO ARRIVE TO MY COUNTRY , like back in 94 when ARAH was over , im not into 25th FIGURES , but maybe i will buy some vehicules .....

I've been griping about the 25A figures over at GoodToGo, but this thread here seems to be more fertile ground for the subject...

See, I've been outta the loop for a while, so I only recently got my hands on the 25th Anniversary figures. And may I say "argh"? I have several gripes:

1. Ratcheting joints
On larger figures, ratcheting joints are very useful (if not vital) to stability and maintaining poses. But on 1/18-scale figures, I really see no need for them. At such a small scale, the ratcheting joints mostly restrict pose options. Grr. Plus, they present real obstacles when it comes to painting. In my opinion, this is the biggest problem with the 25th figures. Sheesh!

2. Hip articulation
I know this is being revised in the later figures, but... I mean... Man, I have no idea why Hasbro tried this in the first place. To go to all the trouble of making the new figs super-articulated, and then obstruct the hips so the figs can't fit in vehicles? That's strange. It almost seems like every new GI Joe figure line is required by law to have a poseability issue that is overcome later on in the line. Swivel-arm grip, no O-ring T-crotch figures, and now funky hips. WTF?

3. Soft plastic
I think that the use of softer plastic is a great thing for *certain parts* of action figures -- especially the hands and the smaller, more more fragile parts -- but is it really necessary to make the figures entirely out of soft plastic? Several of my figures are bowlegged or otherwise warped. Darnitall.

4. Torso joint placement
I gotta admit, the inclusion of a universal joint at the junction of the rib cage and abdomen is useful... But it's not as useful, IMO, as a joint at the waist/belt line. The waist is just a more natural place for a joint, isn't it? And on the 25th figures, the joint is at a very odd place; it makes the torso seem, well, oddly shaped. Instead of having the joint follow the bottom of the rib cage, it seems to follow the bottom of the pecs. A someone said, the effect is a look of man-boobs. Ugh.

5. Backpack holes & pegs
And then there's the backpack holes thing. Some have them, some don't, and none of the back holes are compatible with oldskool backpacks. Curses!

6. Scale
I was annoyed as heck when the new Microman figures got a bit larger, but the absolute awesomeness of the figures eventually won me over. There were almost no other flaws in the new line, and whatever flaws there are, they are lesser than the flaws in previous lines. In the case of the 25A Joes, the new scale just seems obnoxious. It makes compatibility with older vehicles even more of a problem, too. Gawd!

7. Elbow range
On a lot of the figures, the elbows have a really limited range of motion. Why did Hasbro think this was a good idea? Why?!?

GOOD THINGS
Alright, I've complained a lot. But still, the new figs do have a lot going for them. They have fabulous detail in the sculpting. Mmm-mmm good! Double-jointed knees, wrist joints, ankle joints... these are all wonderful. Also, I'm personally fine with there being no O-Ring, as that was always the first piece of a figure to fail (except sometimes for a thumb). The new figs still have a T-bar inside the pelvis, but the loss of the O-Ring really doesn't bother me. Well, except for the fact that it makes the figures harder to customize and less compatible with the previous toy lines. I gotta say, though, some of the accessories have been really keen.

I guess I'm kinda spoiled by Microman figures. But all in all, the 2nd-generation Joe figures (like Spytroops and such) are probably my favorite *kind* of Joe figures ever.

Grebo!

I share everyone's pain here about the new figures (obviously -- see my previous post) but I think it's also important to understand Hasbro's POV...

1 - Fans vs Kids
Adult fans & collectors tend to think of themselves as the true driving force behind the popularity of their chosen toy line. But this is not the case. The number of monied adult fans is FAR exceeded by the number of monied parents with eager kids. These things we love are TOYS, after all, and the main market for toys is children. Ultimately, Hasbro is making toys for kids; they try to take adult fans' wishes into account as well, so as to make the most money possible, but at the end of the day the kid-aimed factors outweigh the fan-aimed factors. Basically, they're trying to have their cake and eat it too; the result is a product which doesn't really satisfy anyone fully.

2 - Focus Groups, etc
Hasbro (like any other corporation) spends tons of time and money trying to determine what their customers want, and then by committe they decide how best to make such things while at the same time spending as little money as possible. Apparently, the current trend for a lot of toy buyers -- kids included -- is display. Focus groups, market research, and the like indicate that nowadays, even kids are getting more interested in collecting and displaying rather than backyard-playing. Therefore, the look of an action figure is starting to become more important than the playability. I think this is the reason for the wierd crotches and hands and such. However, if you ask me, the figures don't really look all that nice. :-/

3 - Long-Term Plans
Much like the Transformers Classics line, I get the impression that the 25A line is a "filler" -- a placeholder until the movie-related toys come out. Once the movie hits theaters, Hasbro will probably not make any more 25A figures and instead will launch a blitz of movie-related toys with varying sizes and prices and styles. Look at the recent TF movie and its related merchandise if you want a forecast.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I am still not happy with the 25A line (except for a few figs, like Firefly, BeachHead and Zartan) either... But I know that Hasbro really just pays lip service to adult fans, and is much more concerned with kids. Me, I remain happiest with the 2nd-gen Spytroops and VvV toys.

Grebo!

Well said Grebo! You pretty well touched on all the points that make us "25th haters" angry, and you did so articulately and in depth. One point you didn't mention, but which really annoys me, is the "cartoonish" leanings of the styling, the "Sigma Sixing" of the line.......definitely not a good move. And you also covered the few good points of the line, the excellent sculpting detail and mostly great accessories.

That rachet effect is a bi-product of the injected-molded shoulders and eblows. The figures that had them in the older line suffered from them too. Major Barrage, for example.

The "for the kids" argument is used a lot but Hasbro has said during their online Q&A sessions that the 25th line is aimed more at collectors. Someone asked about stuff like Galactic Heroes/Superhero Squad-style figures and their response was along the lines of, "If the success of the brand leads us to shift the focus away from a collector-targeted line we may consider such things when playability and the desires of children would be more important."

I do find it hard to believe that the majority of collectors wanted them to do a line that was largely incompatible with anyone's existing collection. Sure, people are OK with them now they're out with quite a lot of "Well, it's GI Joe and I'll buy it if that's all they're going to offer," but I bet next to nobody would have chosen for things to be like this in advance!

Oh, and it's good to see you back, greboguru! I might restart that Dream Team dio-story idea of mine if one of the more vocal supporters is around again...!

Thanks, Stormer. Yeah, man, do the Dream Team dio! I've wanting that to be fully realized for a while now.

Grebo

Not Really for Collectors
 

I know Hasbro has said that the 25th Anniv. stuff is aimed at collectors, but it just isn't the truth. The reproduction packaging is aimed at collectors, but that's about it. Hasbro can't make money selling figures to a few thousand adult collectors. Its just not economically viable. Hasbro probably has to sell something like 50,000 figures of a given mold to make any profit. There just isn't 50,000 adult collectors out there, and Hasbro isn't going to produce figures knowing they will take a monetary loss. Its a business.

They may tell us, that we're the target audience, but it just ain't true.

You guys are suxxoes! 25th Joes Rox!

Now now Jeffrey, that's no way to behave on your first day in school. Go home, learn some respect, and come back with something a little more intelligent than "you guys are suxxoes". Do that and you might just find people listening to your opinion rather than laughing at it. ;)

Thats funny Outrider! :D
Oh and maybe rate everyones picture as terrible on your way out! :mad:

Maybe not 500,000 adult collectors out there, but what happens when the ones that are end up buying multiples of everything due to the perceived rarity caused by abysmal distribution...? Of course, that line of thinking ends up leading to conspiracy theory-like notions that Hasbro is trying to force the new toyline into prominence and popularity so that all the existing collectors will buy everything, even if it's a remake of a character & design they already have, whereas original costumes in original construction would be more likely to get passed up by collectors who already have them...

I'm curious to know how many collectors of the 25th line are basically in the process now of replacing their ARAH collection? Who's buying everything that's coming out now and will be disappointed if any characters don't get a 25th release even though you already have a figure of that same character wearing the same clothes...?

As well as longtime Joe-fan collectors, I also think Hasbro's "adult collector" targeting includes people who will buy them for the nostalgia factor. People who used to collect Joes as kids, watched the cartoon, etc, and will see these in Wal-Mart and say "Hey, I remember that guy." Hence their advertising the line in places like ToyFare and Wizard magazine -- people with the right kind of attitude to buy toys but who couldn't identify with stuff like VvV. I've seen a few people/places online talking about the 25th figures (both positive reviews AND negative reviews regarding stuff like shoddy construction and restricted range of motion) and they were obviously people who weren't following Joes before the anniversary and certainly didn't have classic vehicles or dio-making hobbies that the new figures are harder to reconcile with.

That's not really a valid argument...

I peruse this thread from time to time and there are SOME valid points. But I know where I stand on the issue and for the most a lot of others do as well. I don't think over-zealous shout-outs are gonna change any minds here though. Also they are somewhat counter-productive.

Personally I like both 25th and ARAH. Was never into the JvC, Spytroops, VvV, or DTC stuff though unless they were RAH molds. These are a big nostalgia thing for me, but I can see why some don't like them. I don't see them as a continuation of the original line, but I didn't see any of the in-between lines as continuations either. Between Star Wars, Transformers, and GI Joes I think Hasbro likes to start over A LOT.

Now that I've set my opinion up for an attack, I'll go. ;)

Flying his X-Wing toward Prince Adam's toy collection.

"Sonneilon, why did you turn off your targeting computer???"

lol

Nostalgia
 

I think the nostalgia factor is huge. Its what got me back into buying Joe's after a 14 year absence.

Nostalgia is what's made the 25th Anniv. line successful where the DTC stuff wasn't. Since there isn't really any marketing at all, its nostalgia that's gotten people besides 'collectors" to by the figures.

I can just picture some 30-35 year old guy shopping for a Christmas present for his kid and he sees the new Joes. He recognizes the packaging and the figure. It ignites a spark and he ends up buying one or two. Maybe he comes back for more, maybe he doesn't. If the guy doesn't give it to his kid as a gift he'll probably end up using to decorate his desk, or sharing it with his kids or something. Does he end up collecting the whole line? Probably not, but maybe. He's probably introduced GI Joe to a new generation is the process which is great.

I think this nostalgia effect was realized mostly through character selection and packaging, and its the reason for the success of the line thus far. But can this nostalgia sustain the line long-term, and without a cartoon or something to breathe life into the line there's not much to get kids excited about unfamiliar characters. I'm really hoping that the movie will bring about a ton of interest from kids and crank the nostalgia up a few more notches with adults.

What I don't get, is that if Hasbro is really mining the nostalgia angle with the 25th Anniv. line, why did they have to switch to an entirely new construction? Wouldn't we all rather have new ARAH style sculpts of the original characters. The pre-1985 molds really look dated. Just imagine new ARAH molds for Short-fuze, Flash, Grunt, Firefly, Duke, that actually looked like the art work of the original packaging. Then imagine simply re-issuing molds we haven't seen since 1985 or 1986 (Alpine, Barbeque, Crankcase, Airtight). Combine that stuff with reproduction packaging, and you've got nostalgia gold.

I know some of the molds have been lost or broken, but its got to be easier to re-make a mold than it is to develop an entirely new construction format and new molds from scratch.

Ahhh, my unobtainable dream.... ;)
Sounds like a darn good idea to me Uncle Flint, too bad Hasbro doesn't think like we do. Had they stuck with the ARAH construction for the 25th stuff, I would have bought them by the bucket load. As it stands, I refuse to spend money on the "new" style of figures. It's a completely different line as far as I'm concerned, and it holds no interest for me whatsoever.

My 6 year old started "wrestling" two figures together. An O-ring ARAH figure (or at least a comic pack reissue) vs a 25th (comic pack Hawk, I think, vs 25th Cobra Commander.)

It was great to hear him humming his own little music and saying things like "25th vs old-style, who will win?"

"Uhh, bam, slam, ding, ding, ding! Old style wins the day!"

I'm not a 25th basher, I like them all right, but the idea of what you would have to do to acquire a mail-away Doc. Wow!

6 comic packs at $10 per, plus $4.95 shipping per fig. $64.95 for a single fig. Wow. I guess if the comic pack figures were great figures, that would be cool. Maybe future waves will look better.

Glad I still have a 1983 Carl Greer in decent shape...

Not that I want one, but I'll bet the offer is not available outside the US either, as usual. That would mean another third-party eBay rip off price for us "foreigners" who might want one. :mad:

The problem with Hasbro making new figures that use the ARAH style, or even the ARAH molds, is that... well... the ARAH figures look dumpy. They do! I dig them, I own many, I keep buying them, but really guys -- come on. Look at the ARAH figs and compare them to VvV figs, to Microman figs, or even to Star Wars figs. The ARAH figs looks dumpy! Their shoulders aren't broad, their heads are big, their arms are lumpy... their look simply is not up to the standards of modern toy aesthetics. They just don't look "cool".

I repeat: I like ARAH figures. They're not my fav (that would be 2nd Gen figs like VvV), but I do like them. However, part of their charm for me IS their frumpiness. I don't think Hasbro would feel comfortable with making more frumpy action heroes.

Grebobnoxious

OK, now I'm really gonna catch hell... (winces)