If I remember the dates right, I think it happened w/ the 3rd movie. He wanted NO competition so he set up a situation w/ Hasbro to get that 'other' 3.75" action figure off the shelves so only his would be available. To an extent, 3.75" went away for Sigma6 but the small line had it coming. You can also blame that on the big wigs there. It would seem that each theme/year, there was someone knew at the head. Deryl DePriest, Dwight Stall, Billy Lagor... Someone wanted GI Joe to be an overnite seller and that was part of the reason for S6.

It wasn't until recently that someone figured out that slow and steady sales can work too. Instant success stories are rare and S6, while popular, may have not taken off like they had hoped or assumed or thought or whatever.