| (February 3, 2002) Another Gung Ho Variant - I neglected to make a post on this when I first picked it up last week. I was planning this past Tuesday (Jan. 29) to pick up a pack of Gung Ho vs Destro for the custom idea I want to do. The one with added hip AND waist articulation on Destro. When I opened the pack I saw something different with Gung Ho. I saw only the front half of his belt painted. I thought this was odd, but then after cheking my other figure just to be sure if it was the same (which it wasn't), I noticed the different color black. This figure has like a slight gun metal color, and it's not as gloss as the others. It's just another oddity. There's reports of other slight variations too such as the CLAWs figure being dull black and gloss black painted, and now a new one with Heavy Duty having the pupils of his eyes looking a different direction. I don't know if hasbro is just messing around or if this is due to lack of quality control. - Joe |
| (February 3, 2002) G.I.Joe 12" - There are reports coming out that the new G.I.Joe vs Cobra 12" figures are showing up. Now is it me or are the new things showing up pretty fast? - Joe |
| (February 3, 2002) Toys R Us Closing - We've got a Toys R Us closing here locally. It's really ridiculous too. There is one here, then the town over has one. The one in the next town does (admitted by them) less business than the one closing. The trouble is the one in my town is in a now decided "bad area". All businesses in that area are leaving and using the "recession" as an excuse. It's a dying area and this town isn't doing anything about it. Now the only TRU that gets new stuff in (of the 2 locally) is closing. I wanted to comment on this because if you have a store closing by you, check to see why. It's probably less to do with lack of walk in traffic than it is just an excuss to close it. Granted we can't save are local stores, but it does feel better to see things in a true light than the BS the news is trying to paint. - Joe |
| (February 7, 2002) Rescue Heroes - Rescue Heroes are a nice line that give kids a great introduction point into the world of action figures. I've really admired these from a distance since the day these came out. I've said several times that these are great, and I really wish these were around when I was a kid. Now the sad point of this is other companies that have just lost all sense of their former identity. Sure there's always those companies that make cheap knock offs, but it'd becoming more an more a bad habit being done by the "big boy" companies. You see, now Toy Biz with their grasping for ideas practice, has now decided to take Marvel characters to a new low. They are making almost exact copies of the Rescue Heroes figures. From Construction Worker Hulk to Policeman Spiderman. It's actually sad to see companies drop to this level. An "introductory Spiderman" figure would have been one thing, but an out and out knock off is a practice best left for the lower class companies. Click here for some images of what I am talking about. My main complaint is that we all know Hasbro has gone to great lengths of late to show they can be copycats with the best of them. I'd really hate to see Hasbro make "G.I.Joe: The Rescue Heroes". Not only would they look silly and make Hasbro look even worse, but they assume all kids are stupid and just buy anything as long as they look like something else they bought. - Joe |
| (February 9, 2002) News Galore - The news is starting to roll in from Toy Fair 2002 on several items! So far most of it looks great! Naturally my focus here is he G.I.Joe items and other military themed toys. The items seen so far look promising. I'll save my individual comments for the next update. But so far I think we'll be very much into the new stuff. Some of it is a little weird granted, but check out those O ring figures! - Joe |
| (February 9, 2002) Palisades Mini Busts - We've now moved past the drawing concepts and are seeing the actual busts! I gotta say these look great. I;m no fan of mini busts, but combining G.I.Joe into it, I have to get them. The sculpting in top notch! I was expecting something looked like the characters, but only enough to pass. I've seen other projects Palisades have done, but I just wasn't expecting these to be what they are. There are some things about them that are a little weird. The Baroness is the best example. The hacking off of limbs in the way and place they have done it kind of distracts. I think it could have been a little better. I know, I know, "sSculpt your own if you think you can do better!" Well actually I plan just that. I'll see if I can improve on the idea someIf nothing else I'll have some extra busts that Palisades may not have otherwise thought to make! - Joe |
| (February 9, 2002) My take on the new stuff - Most of what I have to say usually is straight and to the point. I don't pat companies on the head and say "good effort" when something truly sucks. I always say what I feel, but at the same time I respect and back another's point of view too. Here's what I think of the items' we've seen so far: Strike HISS - The first shots I saw of this was those that yojoe.com had posted. I was thinking "What the heck?". This thing just was odd. I didn't see what other people were seeing in it. I was ready to pass it up and save the money. Then I saw the images of the foam mock up from MasterCollector. This changed my mind. It does actually keep the old HISS look, updates it, and adds that extra weirdness that kids seem to buy these days. It has that restrictor mechanism that let's the "head" snap forward. This actually can be cool in the same idea of the older vehicles that had an extra extender to shoot over the top of cover ground. To me, it's in the same concept idea as the EarthQuake, and I really like the old EarthQuake (aside from the colors). Sand Razor - Everything about this looks both cool and odd. I think if they shrunk that gun down it'd look better. That's the only thing I see suffering about it is the oversized top gun. But it does look as if the think isn't fully meant to go in the way they have it. Look at the back of the panel. It looks like foot pegs. Maybe a figure stand there and the whole gun splits in half. The figure would fit tucked on the back with a much shorter gun which would look cool. Customizing at any rate would fix anything that the buyer doesn't like. Wild Fire - This is the name Hasbro has stated to be the new helicopter that comes with Wild Bill. The mocks up shown of it at the Dallas Toy Show look perfect. I can't see anything wrong with this one. Everything about it looks like we'll all like it. The news from the press release have a Night Attack helicopter listed which is assumed to be the same helicopter. If so, the added info about it having lights sound, hold 3 figures, and is black make this sound like something very cool. It's suggested price of $30 make it easy to get multiples for those who want to do that. Finally the figures. There's now pictures for everyone to see of the retro fitted O ring figures. It's mostly evident in the Stalker figure. I like the custom I did with Frostbte better I have to say. I just think the thicker crotch would work better. But that's not to say I don't like the fix they've done. It is possible that only these will have the thin crotch since these are just retro fitted. There is suppose to be another final version after this. The only other problems I'd name are things probably done by the camera such as Stalker's vest. If it comes out that bright, that will be crazy. Corey from smalljoes.com stated that he remembers seeing them as the vest as darker green. I trust his word on that, and it probably explains most of the other "troubles" people are reporting. For now that'll do it until more news comes out. I'll post any new links and such even though this isn't a "news" page. When something like this comes about, all extra resources of news is great to have! - Joe |
| (February 17, 2002) The New Vehicles - Earlier this week I had exaggerated saying "Let's melt down the original FANG copters so they have enough plastic to make these new ones." Well maybe not when I speak of the second FANG, hehe. What I meant however, by my observations of the new vehicles, they appear to be heading in the right direction. There's plenty of room for improvement. With the wave 1 figures and their articulation, I didn't see room for improvement other than change (the change we're seeing). Back when the original line was running, we had the privilege of seeing the results of people that had Vietnam and other wars under their belt (they lived through it). Now Hasbro has hired people that see toylines as required "larger than life" appearances. That's the result of not having a group of people grounded. I think last year started to ground some of them. I think also September 11 knocked some sense of "need for real reality" back into them. Of everything people say, that is the main thing that stands out. If a vehicle comes out, it's always compared to something in real life. If there's nothing to compare it to, everyone is pretty well split on their thoughts of how to take it. My suggestion would be to keep on expressing your opinions on what you think. Don't bother holding back. Several people got tired of seeing a big majority of everyone "whining" about the wave 1 figures, hehe but you see the results of whining! : ) I like the looks of the FANG, and I think it'll be a neat helicopter to add to the army of Cobra. The Strike HISS is getting kind of out there, but I'll have to see it in person to judge it. Then the Wild Fire, I think fan reactions to it speaks volume to Hasbro. It is less than realistic, but it has a realistic edge that you can pick out basic ideas of what it could look like. I really think they're (finally) moving in the right direction. Now if we're talking plastic in the figures, hehe, I don't know still about the Star Wars quality rubber/plastic being used. The jury is still out on that one! : ) - Joe |
| (February 17, 2002) More on Opinions - While I'm on the subject, I wanted to address the need for people to express their opinions. While the whole ordeal was going on regarding the look of wave 1 new sculpt figures, some people started getting upset at other fans who felt the need to vent. There were fans that even went on to say that we as fans should just accept whatever Hasbro made. We should just buy anything they put out if we all are true G.I.Joe fans. Well that doesn't sit right with me, and I know 99% of you out there feel the same. It's become obvious that if a fan is loud enough, the "big company" will listen. In this day and time, fan input is just as valid as anybody else's. As a fan, we have as much right to speak as the next person. If something just isn't cutting it, we SHOULD say so and not just sit there. Sure there will always be those people who think that all fans should just sit back and not challenge the stuff that comes out. We shouldn't, and really it's pretty crazy for any company NOT to listen to what the buyers have to say. - Joe |
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