Good Work, Hasbro!
 

Others who are more informed than myself may have tumbled to this fact already, but I haven't seen anything about it posted here...

Those who don't appreciate the 25th-style figures probably won't care, but I realized today that if we count the Rise of Cobra Cover Girl as a "real" Cover Girl figure, then Hasbro has, as of the release of the RoC figures and Attack/Defense of Cobra Island sets, released every single Joe figure from 1982 - 1984 in 25th Anniversary format! This even includes all vehicle drivers!

And 1985 is only short five characters before it, too, has all of its figures produced in the new format! Those would be Airtight, Footloose, Frostbite, Keel Haul, and Tollbooth. I kinda doubt we'll wind up with all of them (particularly Keel Haul and Tollbooth), but stranger things have happened! I do recall reading some time ago -- I think in one of the Hasbro Q&A's -- that the Viper 5-pack was canned in favor of a pack that would include Footloose. I wonder if that's still in the works, and if any of the others might show up there, too...?

Anyway, I just thought it was pretty neat that, in the past two years, Hasbro has churned out every Joe from the first three years of the original line (in addition to many other figures from other years) in the new format! Way to go, Hasbro!

(I honestly can't remember the last time I ever even thought, much less said that...!)

EDIT: I've just discovered that the Rise of Cobra Ice Dagger comes with Frostbite. So I guess that means '85 is only down four characters!

an update for you theres a footloose in the new desert 5 pack on the way with zartan in disguise female dial tone footlose dusty and one other joe .theres a cobra counter set with a joe disguised as a cobra but can't recall who it is .its a sweet pack that comes with the night adder the cobra dog handler

The desert pack is Dialtone (female), Law (and order), Repeater (now dark skinned), Footloose and Zartan in disguise.

The other is Neo-Viper, Elite-Viper, Duke in infiltrator gear, MARS Officer, MARS Trooper.

thanks for that . couldn't recall who was in it just recalled female dial tone zartan and footloose and people complaining about footloose

Huh. I wonder how I totally missed these desert packs. Obviously they're what Hasbro was talking about when they said they'd replaced the Viper set with a set containing Footloose, but I have no idea how the announcement slipped past me! Well then, 1985 will only be short three figures!

EDIT: So apparently they had the desert sets on display at the San Diego Comic Con. Which I attended. And I totally didn't notice them. I probably saw all the desert camo and assumed it was some lame movie-themed troop builder.

Anyway, I guess it counts as Footloose (in the same way Cover Girl counts), but it's not really a Footloose I have any interest in owning, since he's not in green!

Frostbite is the Ice Dagger's driver too, guys. ;)

Pretty impressive, but I can't help that with the release of Resolute and Rise of Cobra toys... the older 25th anniversary figures feel a bit... outdated. The attires and gear are just incredibly outdated, being based on how things were back over twenty years ago.

I really hope Hasbro pretty much scraps the 25th Anniversary "new sculpts looking like they did 25 years ago" deal they made and sticks to more modernized takes on the characters that they've accomplished during Resolute and ROC.
This is JvC/ST/VvV done right, people!

I disagree! My very existence is fueled by nostalgia, so I'd much rather have new versions of characters as they looked when I was a kid. But to each their own, and since I've got "classic" versions of very nearly every character I care about, I have no problem with Hasbro switching gears for the future -- it'll save me some money!

Funny you should say this, because back when JvC first started, I remember saying that I wished they'd just released better-articulated, more detailed updates of the original Joes, in their original uniforms! I would've been far more interested in that line if they had -- for example, I've bought almost every 25th Anniversary figure that is a faithful re-creation of the original (and some more than once as they kept "improving" them), while I really only picked and chose what JvC, etc. figures I wanted. And the same thing is happening with Rise of Cobra. Since the movie figures came out, my Joe purchasing has come to a near-standstill!

Now, all that said -- I do want the Resolute Roadblock!!

I like the 25A/Modern Age stuff over the movie stuff. Resolute seems outside the continuum simply cuz Hasbro didn't push it very hard.

I like redux versions of the Joes but the movie stuff just doesn't turn me on. IF the Bastard Era had the same sort of articulation and sculpting I'd be cool. I LIKE the buffed up Stalker. Dart was a great figure despite the head. Crosshair was cool cept his hands sucked. Major Bludd was awesome. Steel Brigade cannon fodder were pretty cool if you leave their helmets on.

It's the 25th Anni that got me started collecting again. There's something I like about finding the members of the original 80's team in new construction, and in vehicles and stuff. Of all the Joes in the Assault on Cobra Island pack, it's Zap the one I like the most, and he isn't loaded down with all sorts of vests and bandoliers and huge backpack and ultra detailed BDU's. But he's cool in his simplicity.

I hope to get at least one of the new desert sets.

There some good stuff being post up over Hisstank from Joe con

Including a new hisstank and New Gi joe Cycle Armor "Cyclone"

which is keeping my interest in the new style strong