Duke is part of Hasbro's CORE. You guys really need to understand that when the corporations became part of the toy scene (ie; Walmart, Target and TRU), they wanted a link between different series of toys. The creation of the CORE is a common knowledge among toy enthusiasts. Let's face it, Star Wars can't sell a 'wave' if there isn't A RECOGNIZABLE NAME. We have Anakin, Yoda, Vader, and ObiWan in every g'damn wave, it seems like.

So somewhere in the GI Joe world, it was decided that such chars like Duke, CC, Destro, Baroness, Scarlet and Snake Eyes were top dogs. HOW they got there, I do not know. But there are a late comers to the GI Joe toy game and all I can think is that Hasbro people went out and asked people who they best recognized. And don't think for a second Hasbro was thinking, "we'll ask about the comic side of things" cuz the cartoon was viewed by far more KIDS. Ask anybody on the street if they remember GI Joe and Duke will come before Hawk and Flagg.

Let me bring this up. Justin and Fred both see this. Most AMERICANS do too. I don't know what GI Joe means to y'all overseas, but the people here have different views. And sometimes, it makes the non-US fans feel like outsiders. There are people who dig the ARAH old skulpts and stand by them no matter what. There are those like me, Justin and Fred who want to see GI Joe progress and not got stuck like it was 1982 or 1986. Hasbro is a business and people gotta understand that.

The 2002+ relaunch was a danged good attempt to try to change GI Joe up and making things hip and cool. A lot of people HATE the nu skulpts. Uhmmmm yeah, as if the old skulpts were working??? Hello, the comic fell and the toy did too. The crapola cartoon by DiC didn't help any but by then, there was a lot of weird things going on. The ARAH remains in my memory and I have no need to relive it. I want to relive old stuff, I can buy videos of Metallica and Maiden. GI Joe needed to progress and while it was very hit n miss, uh, well... uh...

Ok, so now we are hitting the 25th Anniversary of GI Joe. WHy exactly would they experiment w/ something TOTALLY new? It's common consensus that Hasbro wanted to redux the original designs into a new age skulpt. From where I sit, that redux of Snake Eyes (from 1982) is absolutely awesome. It's like, "this is what Hasbro can do NOW w/ the original designs."

Everyone HAS to understand that GI Joe's sales philosophy has changed dramatically over the last few years. I'm not sure why that is or why the heads of GI Joe Hasbro keeps changing. But it was decided at the end of Valor vs Venom that sales were NOT high enough. The stockholders or whoever at Hasbro wanted an overnite success. Sigma6, while planned, got a whole lot of changes and love. For the record, S6 was NOT the overnite success they wanted. I mean, Trader Joes, when they open a store, they expect $150k+ sales that first day. (For the record, some of the Cali stores do $500K+ during X-mas season. THAT is for a store whose hours are 0900-2100; it is NOT 24hr.) If the store doesn't do hot success that 1st day, it's considered a failure. I bring THIS up cuz I see Hasbro pulling the same crap.

The 1st quarter S6 comes out, if it don't do $2 million, then it sucks. Or whatever. It's crap like that that makes me question Hasbro. Remember the TCG? Remember how fast it got pulled???

Back to the 25th Anniversary. It's believed that the old uniforms will get past collectors to look twice. It's believed that the old uniforms will cater to those really hardcore fans who wanted to see the stuff updated. It's believed that GI Joe needed a shot in the arm and S6 was not the correct answer. (I know it sounds like a dis, but it DID bring in a new generation; something that the 2002+ relaunch couldn't do very well.)

How I feel about it is irrelevant. I just know that the most recognizable characters are being utilized and to an extent, that sucks. I don't know how much the BIG 3 are in on this. But I can believe that everything is connected. Walmart needs Joes to sell and their historians know that the ARAH designs worked best. At the same time, GI Joe must go forward so new articulation (albeit, untested) has to be tried out.



Go ahead and try to argue it out. Just blame corporations in the end, ok? :P