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Wasss once a man
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Posts: 1,430
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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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."
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