G.I. Joe Classified Series (1:12)

[nacho]

Sooooo, Tiger Paw w/ Wreckage anyone?



I knew of Wreckage only from adult collecting when I learned of the Special Missions Brazil set from '88. But a lot of people are saying it looks more like Sabre Tooth... whom I had never heard of until about a month ago. Apparently he was part of an unproduced final wave of Tiger Force. His pic made it into a catalog but the figure never got made... until an almost identical looking guy named Wreckage hit the SM:Brazil set. Some think they're supposed to be the same character, while others insist that they're different. In my mind, Sabre Tooth doesn't exist... because the figure never got made, nor did he appear in any fiction. But S7 is making a ReAction figure of ST... sooooo he's "about" to exist. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯



The head on this classified figure looks like Wreckage, but neither has a black suit... but the camo color looks more beige than yellow or light green. I guess this is an alternate deco? I guess I shouldn't over-think it.

I'll probably get one for the new figure. I hate the TF vehicle deco, but I can see myself giving it a tan repaint over the yellow, make it a desert ATV.

Supposed to be on sale today at 10am.

 

[nacho]

Apparently it was 9am for premium members, and it sold out while I was checking out. But I think it's a Target excl product so they'll probably have plenty.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Yeah, that kind of came out of nowhere...

I have no interest in the Ferret repaint. The more I look at it, the less I like the Ferret design in general. Are those street tires? The original at least looked offroad worthy.

The fig... I mean he looks kind of cool for a glaringly obvious FF repaint, with only a SC helmet to add. I'm not sure I would try to add him even at a huge discount as, like you mentioned, he isn't really a character in the Joeverse, at least to me.

There's really nothing new here. I feel like TG is getting the short end of the stick yet again with TF repaints. I expect this'll end up as a clearanced item, just like the Ram/Duke repaint before it.

 

[nacho]

The fig... I mean he looks kind of cool for a glaringly obvious FF repaint, with only a SC helmet to add.

To be fair, the original figure was nothing more than an OG Firefly repaint, so that doesn't feel wrong or lazy to me.

I like the figure, and I don't consider him a TF guy simply because he had that deco first in a non-TF context. I won't cry if he becomes unobtainium, but he's a unique enough part of the lore that I wouldn't mind owning one. I'd certainly wipe off the weird mask tattoo (seriously hasbro, enough with the tattoos!), but somebody has to hang in the jungle with Recondo occasionally.

 

[nacho]

It's live at Target now...

G.I. Joe Classified Series Tiger Force Wreckage Action Figure and Tiger Paw ATV (Target Exclusive)

Read reviews and buy G.I. Joe Classified Series Tiger Force Wreckage Action Figure and Tiger Paw ATV (Target Exclusive) at Target. Choose from contactless Same Day Delivery, Drive Up and more.

www.target.com

 

[ThunderDan19]

Whaaaaaaaat? That’s pretty darn cool. I love the creativity and skill of these private fabricators.

Mercari: Your Marketplace

Mercari is your marketplace. It's the perfect place to declutter and discover items that are uniquely you. Say 'goodbye' to your old go-tos and 'hello' to one-of-a-kind treasures.

item.mercari.com

Mercari: Your Marketplace

Mercari is your marketplace. It's the perfect place to declutter and discover items that are uniquely you. Say 'goodbye' to your old go-tos and 'hello' to one-of-a-kind treasures.

item.mercari.com

 

[nacho]

Whaaaaaaaat? That’s pretty darn cool. I love the creativity and skill of these private fabricators.

I've seen a ton of ARAH vehicles 3d printed at classified scale, and they are impressive. But damn, the prices of this stuff. $500... might as well be $50,000. I'm just as likely to bite.

I just unboxed my Anycubic resin printer yesterday, still haven't printed anything yet. I'm definitely planning on working on a couple of the little playsets, kinda like the bivouac set offered by GridIron. If I get good, I'll put you on the prototype list... how big is your display space?

 

[ThunderDan19]

Likewise on the unlikelihood of my ever actually buying one of these, cool as they are. You can bet they all will be produced by Hasbro if the line continues to thrive anyway, and for a bit less. Not that I’ll be getting any vehicles anyway.

Lol, my current display space is a single shelf in my cube at work. I added those three tier display stands, but they are filling up quickly. Thus the unlikelihood of my ever getting 12 scale vehicles. I literally don’t know where I’d put even the smallest ones.

I‘ve started contemplating bringing the collection home once I truly run out of space at work as the figs continue to add up. If/when I do, I’ll have something like 6’x1’ way on the top of my desk shelf. It‘s currently occupied by Elite Force armored vehicles and McFarlane military figs, which will need a new home if they get bumped by the CS figs.

The reality is that my home office is also filled with various scale plastic and die cast planes, helos and armor. They cover all my shelf space (not otherwise taken up by books and souvenirs from my travels) and ceiling. So the future of all that is yet to be determined.

 

[nacho]

Everyone's been quiet this week... feels like the "nose to the grindstone" part of the year. Spring is upon us, summer feels days away, no holidays in sight... just working for the weekend.

When I started collecting Classified, I usually bought two of everything, one to open, one to keep in the box, and if the figure didn't match my mind's eye of the character, I'd often pick up a third to customize. But these days, the figures are coming out so good that they rarely need much customization aside from a better weapon or something. So I got to thinking... I've got a lot of "3rd" figures and far too many of the main army-builders... what if I keep a set at the office/studio to keep from disturbing the ones I have on display at home?

So I've been divvying up my collection into what amounts to two sets... of course , I didn't have a spare of everything, leading me to hunt down a few characters. I still don't have extras of the expensive ones like Serpentor, Mindbender, Haslabs etc (I didn't even buy extras to keep MIB, just bought a single of each due to the cost), and certain non-ARAH figures that are cool but don't fit a classic display (like Artic BATs, Molerats, Shooter,etc) will all just go to the studio. But I'm feeling good about the studio set being "complete enough", at least until some cheap reissues come along.

And along those lines, I've been buying up cheap S7 Ultimates to use as custom fodder in the event that the line doesn't have much left in the tank after W6 got canceled. W5 comes out in July, and after that, there isn't anything Joe even on the calendar. I can't find the pics, but I saw someone who had done a handful of customs with these figs, and they looked great! Duke, CC, and Flint are pretty easy to find on the cheap, but I'm waiting on Stalker to come down, as his mold is perfect for half of the O13.

Gonna dye all kinds of classified figs and gear this weekend. Every bit of PP stuff I picked up on clearance, anything that isn't grey or black is about to be... same with the tan gear from the Valk set. And I want to dye a $5 zarana's outfit black for a heartwrencher custom - although there have been rumblings about an official... I have to make the custom for it to happen ... and I got some improved cast heads/helmets for a couple of my Plague troops to finally put them into the finished category, and those need a dyejob too.

Gotta entertain yourself somehow in these doldrum parts of the year... it's a long way to Memorial Day!

 

[ThunderDan19]

It has been a very quiet week. My regular YouTube source hasn’t uploaded his usual update for long enough now that I don’t even recall when the next supposed reveal is supposed to be. I’ve been pretty much laying low on any kind of searches, other than the usual daily scan of AMZ and Mercari for any unexpected deals on characters I’m not willing to go full price for. But no recent hunts or purchases.

I have noticed some downward trending on Mercari. Not sure if it’s saturation, the seller fee moving to the buyer, or a little of both. I’ve had a couple Viper packs tempt me a little, before my senses return (I really have no need, but I love me some faceless Vipers ). Other than that, I’ve decided the currently available CSs and retros are easy enough to pass on, at least until I see them in person.

It also doesn’t help that the IRS has sat on my return for 2-1/2 months now . Without the padding of a healthy refund, I’m even more “frugal” (read: miserly) than usual. I still want to pick up at least one Valkyrie to upgrade a bit, but I generally balk when the seller wants $30 + shipping for one or $75 + for both. Maybe after the IRS finally does its job…

 

[nacho]

It has been a very quiet week. My regular YouTube source hasn’t uploaded his usual update for long enough now that I don’t even recall when the next supposed reveal is supposed to be. I’ve been pretty much laying low on any kind of searches, other than the usual daily scan of AMZ and Mercari for any unexpected deals on characters I’m not willing to go full price for. But no recent hunts or purchases.

I have noticed some downward trending on Mercari. Not sure if it’s saturation, the seller fee moving to the buyer, or a little of both. I’ve had a couple Viper packs tempt me a little, before my senses return (I really have no need, but I love me some faceless Vipers ). Other than that, I’ve decided the currently available CSs and retros are easy enough to pass on, at least until I see them in person.

It also doesn’t help that the IRS has sat on my return for 2-1/2 months now . Without the padding of a healthy refund, I’m even more “frugal” (read: miserly) than usual. I still want to pick up at least one Valkyrie to upgrade a bit, but I generally balk when the seller wants $30 + shipping for one or $75 + for both. Maybe after the IRS finally does its job…

Did you file electronically? It only took them about two weeks to get my refund back to me.

You are right, the amount of Classified heads and accessories available on Mercari has fallen noticeably. I bought a couple of cheap Ultimates after the new fees only because they gave me a $10 coupon. The fees are redonkulous. They really are like 13% fees, plus tax, plus shipping. If you're buying a $5 head, you likely won't blink. But if you see something that's priced $29 plus shipping, and when you're about to hit go, you realize you're paying over $50 for it..... aw, hell no. I see stuff priced exactly the same as on ebay, thus making the ebay item a substantial bargain.

And everything is returnable for any reason, but the buyer pays return shipping AND doesn't get a refund on all the fees. It makes it so that you're out half the total price if you send something back. Not that I return anything, but that's their big selling point of the new structure. Mostly they thought eliminating selling fees would increase traffic, but that dictates they lower their initial prices, which they do not. Thus everything is now much more expensive, leading to less traffic, leading to less listings.... it's snowballing downward. I think they miscalculated badly and shot themselves in the dick. Not sure how they recover, as another quick rejiggering of the fee structure would make them seem rudderless and unstable.

All my classified POs from Amazon are now scheduled for 7/16, so not much new on the horizon. I did get a notice that the SMS and black Techno-viper is shipping soon... but it's only going to make me want the Joe version even more.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Yep, filed electronically as early as possible. We get everything back though, due to a tax credit from our solar installation a couple years ago. I think they are either boggled by it or pissed by it, not sure which. Two (nearly impossible to get a human being and have it not disconnected) phone calls to them provided zero info, just new later target dates. They were a little late last year, but nothing like this.

 

[nacho]

No excuse for that shit.

 

[nacho]

While he's definitely not a favorite character of mine in Joe lore (I don't recall him being fleshed out in any meaningful way ever), the Big Boa classified figure is undoubtedly badass. I just got my "office" copy, and I am reminded how menacing he is. The helmet, the spikey harness... in person, he looks less like an escapee from a dominatrix basement and more like someone that would prefer to snap your neck over talking to you. He almost has a Bane vibe. I think he and Croc Master are going to be good buddies.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Lol, yeah. Those two always kind of looked like a WWF (not E back in the day) tag team! I never had BB so Crocky (crikey!) mainly ran with the Dreadnoks in my Joeverse.

So, over the weekend, my daughter sorted what 25th/ROC/POC/etc. figs I had left and sold them along with a bunch of old 12" figures I had left to a guy locally for $500. That's the end of an era for me on anything 12". Crazy that I got them all 20-25 years (half my life) ago! She just has some MIB/MOC 4" movie/Resolute figs left and a bunch of vehicles to sort/reassemble and then sell and that will be it for the 25th era as well.

She kept a couple dozen favorites for her to display but rest had to go. Slightly sad to see them go, but they've all just been taking up space in the attic since we moved in '17, and had only ever gotten moderate play since I turned them over to the kids prior to that. Those were some crazy good times though! Even crazier that in 3 years, it'll be 20 years since the 25th kicked off.

Having converted over to CS, it struck me just how tiny all those 4" figures are. I don't know how I ever successfully outfitted them with my big ol' ham hands.

 

[nacho]

Nice on the sale! I don't think I can ever divest myself of 4" Joe, even if it is no longer my preferred scale. I have probably 4k figures between vintage o-ring, new-sculpt o-ring, and 25th/ROC/POC/etc. And a whole storage unit full of vehicles. It pains me to think how much work that would take.

I haven't sold anything in a decade, but I got to looking at prices on stuff... and damn. I've got a ton of unopened MOTUC, and every one of those except for a few shelf-warmers is going for $100 or more. Castle Grayskull still MISB is over $1600! Holy Smokes! And I felt really guilty spending $295.27 on that thing at the time... My math says that's greater than an 18% annual return. Screw the stock market, I'm just going to invest in low-run toys.

We've really got to vote in some folks that will repeal the $600 rule for online sales. I'm not paying taxes (again) on Battle Cat and Jungle-Viper. Screw that.

 

[Videoviper]

Tax wise I was told - you paid more than you made- until they tell the accountants get formal guidance from the powers that be.

 

[nacho]

It all comes down to the burden of proof. I don't know how anyone is supposed to know what they paid for a collectible 15-20 years ago. Made money, lost money, how would I know, how would the IRS know? But if I have to prove it to keep from getting hit with a big stab, I'm not sure how that works. As I understand it, with the IRS, they're assumed right until you prove otherwise.

 

[Videoviper]

Without 20 year old receipts it really is a guess
Cost that may include
- ebay fees
- shipping fees
IRS isn’t clear on that or at least eBay isn’t since some people are paying tax on product & shipping costs.

Unless you are over a threshold that labels you a store. (Enough that it’s changing your income/tax bracket) It’s better to have the paperwork say you sold it at a loss.

The rules aren’t very clear, that will likely change after the next election to get rid or solidify the rules.

 

[nacho]

I'm hoping that the rules will go back to the way they were... 200 sales transactions or $20k, whichever comes first. If you're not doing that much, you're not operating a business. You're a garage sale... at best.

I blew through the limits in 2014 and had to scour paypal records, emails, and online store order histories from the previous decade to show what I paid. Since a lot of it was expensive comic art and MOC Joes that I had a lot invested in, I wasn't about to pay tax on the entire revenue. I managed to find purchase data on almost everything, except items simply bought at a brick-n-mortar store... in which case I used MSRP + tax as my cost. But the entire exercise was exhausting and seemed unnecessary given I was merely cutting back on some collectibles.

The current $600 limit... I could blow through that with a single toy or piece of artwork. I sell Castle Grayskull on ebay and the IRS wants to turn me into a business? Screw that.

 

[nacho]

So the Cobra missile system arrived today. The vehicle, like everything else at this scale, is yuuuuge. The missiles attach nicely, the whole thing is well-built. The tongue can change positions depending on the hitch height of the towing vehicle. The whole thing is pretty impressive, and I'm certain to like it more when we get a legit MMS repaint.

As for the black technoviper... the body is a nice combo of grey and black with a bit of red trim just to make it match much of the other HISS fire team (that I did not purchase). And then they put an obnoxiously red head on top of it. He could not look more stupid. While I wasn't likely to use this one-off repaint in any legit Cobra display, it is a bummer that it is so ugly. Maybe if I paint the head mostly black it'll fit with the body better. Either way, in my world, a blueshirt (or at least a Cobra officer) is capable of setting this thing up to shoot its... torpedos (?) at the enemy, not requiring a specialized flavor of technoviper to get that done.

And the final point is about those missiles that clearly resemble some kind of land-to-sea ordinance and not anything I would describe as an air-defense system. Not sure if Hasbro is out of touch or it's me who doesn't know what a modern MIM23 Hawk style missile might look like if they still existed... but I don't think it's this torpedo missile. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I can live with cobra having made some poor munitions choices or Destro selling them some janky weapon systems, but I'll be pretty pissed if the Joe repaint reuses these out of place missiles. There is no excuse for it, and Joe will deserve better.

 

[nacho]

Trying to make a more accurate OG Tunnel Rat. The black pants and lack of clod shoes makes all the difference to me.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I saw the first three retros in the wild for the first time at WM yesterday. I got a little nostalgia from seeing them (not sure I ever actually saw an OG Scarlett on pegs back in the day), but not as much as I thought I might. While they are pretty awesome, and I would likely have picked up all three had they been the ones released first, I passed. I can't justify paying full price for the characters again, not when I am satisfied with the versions I have.

Will I be able to pass them up if they go on clearance down the road? That is a much more complicated question...

 

[nacho]

I saw them at one of my WM, and I picked up the Duke despite having several already. I think he's 10000% better than the W1 figure. My only complaint is that he looks a little young. I might put the W1 head on him and use the retro head for a different character like Short-Fuze or something.

No knee pads, no soccer shin guards, no red or gold accents or accessories for no clear reason. That alone is worth the price of admission.

I like the scarlett just because her W1 figure was so ugly. Plus, the new head is a yuuuuge improvement. And I even found a marvel BW head I like even better. This combo is miles ahead of the initial classified look.

 

[nacho]

Just ordered a couple of el-cheapo 1/12 RC trucks off AE with the hopes of making them into dirty, broken down sandbox technicals. It'll take them a month to arrive, if they ever do, but we'll see. Cobra got a HISS and a flightpod, Joe got a VAMP and a Dragonfly, so I figured my middle-eastern tangos needed something to drive too. Fingers crossed.

 

[nacho]

Yo Joe June can't come soon enough... I've been back to lusting over hot wheels fer-petes-sake. There's only so many Rodger Dodgers and Dixie Challengers one man can own!

 

[ThunderDan19]

No kidding. The withdrawal is real and taking its toll. After weeks of trying to figure out the best way to execute it, I ultimately spent way too much today getting a Valkyrie buck and head and a Vala kit to make an "ultimate" Valkyrie. I'm excited to finally get this fig put together and added to the collection once the pieces arrive, but even that fix won't last too long.

Doc is supposed to arrive at the end of the month, but Torch is still inexplicably not supposed to ship for a while. When is the next expected pre-order release date supposed to be again?

 

[nacho]

Doc is showing for 5/31 as well as the next round of retros. I skipped the Eel, but I do have Beachhead and Snow Serpent coming with their improved decos.

It's funny that you're making an improved Valk... I'm planning to use the Ferret driver in light grey as a female Snow Serpent. I've got all the pieces and parts, just waiting on the base figure.

But yeah... Torch, Jinx, and Gnawgahyde are all showing mid-July. And of course, the Dragonfly is listed as "summer", although given the lack of updates, it's feeling like "summer in Australia" is more likely.

I saw a single QK at my local WM on one of the two lone Joe pegs. I guess that's good in theory that he broke through the Lady Jaye iron curtain. Not sure how they can expect it to sell if they leave the pegs empty. No other brand seems to have that problem. I've never said, "Huh, look at all those empty wrasslin pegs, or huh, seems that they sold out of pokemon, or wow, looks like a run on McFarlane figures." So either Joe is really popular or has really shitty distribution.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I think you're right that it's their distribution for Joe specifically. Out of the (only) three retros I saw at my closest WM a couple weeks back, the same single Duke and Recondo still occupy the same two pegs in the exact location I left them. I've seen no non-retro, non-deluxe figures at my nearest WM in months. And with those retros being non-first release characters, demand is always going to be marginal.

I don't understand why, but America's biggest toy retailer can't seem to get Joe on shelves/pegs in a timely fashion compared to literally everybody else. By the time they get anything on pegs/shelves, everybody has pre-ordered or found them elsewhere, so the only way they sell those is by somebody spontaneously grabbing one for their kid or nostalgia (if they are willing to spend $25 for it) or when they finally go on clearance.

I can't imagine that WM is getting so much business from their crappy website that they don't need some B&M sales, so I would guess that Joe has to be underperforming for them, not because it's not popular enough, but since WM is inevitably late to the game and everybody has bought elsewhere. These days it's less than 50/50 that I even see Joe at any given WM, and when I do, it's usually the dated or unpopular figs that have hung there for years.

General distribution for JoeCS has universally been weird and inefficient, from the beginning to today. Actual ship dates have always been all over the place for different retailers. WM is slow and clogs pegs with unpopular stuff. And Target mostly gets their less appealing TF/PP repaint stuff and ends up having to discount aggressively to clear space at times (WM could learn from them) so they can get new product in, whenever it becomes available. So the constipated surplus ends up at Ollie's (not that I'm complaining ).

Seems like the retailers and H'bro must be okay with the status quo though, because it never seems to change or significantly improve. Joe is supposedly a hot line right now. That's actually pretty amazing considering how poorly it has been managed.

 

[nacho]

Well put. I actually saw a full wave of retros (2x Duke, 1x Recondo, 1x Scarlett) along with the lone QK at the WM this morning. I was stunned! Four different characters to choose from?! But like you say, I didn't buy any because I've owned them for months... so hopefully some noob with nostalgia glasses and $25 will stumble upon them... to make way for something more timely.

 

[Videoviper]

Toys just are not a priority for B&M stores.
-high theft
-inconsistent product (They are good at restocking deodorant or anything else that doesn’t change. Toys are starting to be handled more like a seasonal item. & tough on that product if it doesn’t come on time or is “new” product that the system can’t understand that it’s different from what the system thinks is on the shelf.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Makes sense. I typically have everything critical to me pre-ordered on AMZ anyway. And, I definitely don't mind when they mishandle stock and it ends up discounted at Ollie's. That suits me just fine! Maybe next time they'll have some of the more desirable figures.

 

[nacho]

Toys just are not a priority for B&M stores.
-high theft
-inconsistent product (They are good at restocking deodorant or anything else that doesn’t change. Toys are starting to be handled more like a seasonal item. & tough on that product if it doesn’t come on time or is “new” product that the system can’t understand that it’s different from what the system thinks is on the shelf.

Yeah, treat them like seasonal... suck the best part out and leave the rest for dead. That's a corporate mindset that might seem good on paper, but it's lousy for the industry in practice.

If Joe had just released new stuff in Oct/Nov every year in the 80s, would we have been such big fans? Would it have lasted as long? Hell no. From Jan to Sept, we'd have spent our allowances, chore money, and birthday wishes on something else. You can't have any product momentum only giving a shit about holiday releases. Sure, you might get a one-hit-wonder like cabbage patch kids, but that wasn't a huge hit for long. It didn't captivate a generation. Grown men in their 40s don't sit around reminiscing about that christmas they tickled Elmo, but we sure as f#%$ know that time we got our favorite Joes, and it wasn't always x-mas.

It's just another product of MBA pricks thinking they have found some new cost-saving miracle while killing one of the most high-margin parts of their business and simultaneously reducing the fun of toys for generations to come. Congratz?

Truth be told, when I look at my toy buying habits these days, Joe is the one major thing I buy from the big domestic companies. Everything else I spend is largely on 3P, KO, or Japanese import stuff that hasn't forgotten their customers and doesn't need WM and Target to survive.

 

[nacho]

So my plan to make a 1/12 tactical hit a snag... literally, the one I ordered got destroyed and returned to sender before getting out of Chiner. So I ordered the same item from a different seller, and it has gotten further along, so fingers crossed (oh, and it was a snap to get my money back for the first one, Ali couldn't argue with the tracking info).

BUT, in the meantime, I also ordered a little shitbox flatbed RC truck that I might make into a hybrid tactical and/or cargo truck for the bad guys smuggling weapons, drugs, barrels of fissionable material, or other evil contraband. It already arrived, and it's exactly as expected... just a cheap RC ($37!!!), but it's big, reasonably detailed, and should work nicely. The doors don't open, but I'll probably slice them and reattach with magnets so I can get some tangos driving and riding shotgun. Overall, it's a smidge larger than the VAMP, but it's not supposed to be a large truck, so the scale seems spot on. I'm excited to mess with it when I get some downtime at work. It'll look good next to the actual pickup, if/when it ever gets here.