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

ThunderDan19

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Not sure they’re gonna get any takers for that price. I used to consider WM’s web presence the worst, but Target has swept in and gotten worse, while WM seems marginally better than a couple years ago.
 

ThunderDan19

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Looks like Hasbro is finally ready to quietly(?) release the cop:
Not sure if the controversy (if that's what we're calling it) and delay will make it any more or less desirable than the firefighter.

I'm hoping for a female EMT in the future so I can get one for my daughter. I also hope the underperforming status of the other legacy figs doesn't prevent it from ever getting made.
 
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ThunderDan19

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I'm sure they'd tell you it's those skin tight long sleeved underarmor nylon dry fit shirts (because that's what all the cops are wearing under their regular shirts with the sleeves rolled up :rolleyes:). Yeah, there are better, easy ways of doing it.

This is just dumb and lazy design that will cost them full priced sales. Heck, I might have even picked one up on sale as an urban blue shirt had they just done long sleeves and gloves or extra hands like the other legacy figs. What were they thinking?
 

nacho

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Got around to opening BACC and Monkewrench last night... BACC is just not what I hoped for. The armor isn't as big, angular, or aggressive looking compared to the ARAH figure. He looks more like he stole the suit from Ironman. To me, he's a big dud. I look forward to a second sculpt that is less DIC and more Fred.

Contrasting, MW is sublime. He's really well done, not overly updated, excellent sculpt, glasses stay on once you wrangle them under his hair. Weapons are plentiful, both classic and newly imagined. The gas mask and scarf are cool accessories that I won't use much, but I appreciate their inclusion.

Oh, and I grabbed a single copy of the new Bludd. It's basically the same figure as CI, but now pinless and has a better face-print, IMO. The red accents really pop despite not being very ARAH accurate. Not a must-have figure by any stretch if you have the first one, but not a bad second iteration. Still wish they'd given him an armored arm rather than misinterpreting it as a robotic prosthetic. Whatchagonnado?
 
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ThunderDan19

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Looks like my Dial-Tone is processing from EE, so he should hopefully (finally) be here next week. No movement yet from DD on retro CG or TV or Budo, though I heard a rumor that Budo has been spotted at the (presumably west coast) port. I have also seen CG in the aftermarket and TV is in stock at BBTS. I guess we'll see who makes it to Illinois (DD) first.

Edit: I forgot to mention that DD also has retro Stalker on sale for $18, before any active coupons.
 
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ThunderDan19

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Finally made it to the Ollie’s email flyers. (That “theirs” price is hilarious). Hope to actually see them at some point at my cluster of a store. Dropped by there yesterday and nothing yet.

Not sure if I could find much to do with them, but I’d have a hard time passing up one of each if I saw them there for that price.
 
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ThunderDan19

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I was able to upgrade Grunt with the tan soldier and the “pilot” is my Ripcord, at least until we get a regular one, and I made the Marine be Bombstrike.

I was thinking maybe the ethnic version could be a better (no high tops) Shooter, but I have even less nostalgia for her (and her code name is lame) than I do for BS.

Other than that, I can only see them as green/tan (if that one is included) shirts and weapon fodder mostly. But, as you know, I’m a sucker for the hunt and 60% off. 😆
 
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nacho

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I just put MW on my shelf at home... and DAYYYUM, he's tall. He's the same height as RoadPig, a heavy 1/4" taller than all the other "regular" dreadnoks. He makes Buzzer look like a middle-schooler.

Not sure if they're just going for height variation to be interesting or if this is a broader trend with Classified. I saw a comparison pic of retro Flint vs the original, and he's substantially larger as well. Joe may be creeping into 6.5" Marvel Legends territory. I don't mind... other than not wanting all of the older figures to look out of place.
 

nacho

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I couldn't stand it, had to take some pics...

20250913_092836.jpg20250913_093007.jpg20250913_093108.jpg

New guys are definitely taller... but clearly BACC (not pictured) didn't get the memo. I just put him next to Serpentor, and Serpy d-w-a-r-f-s him... and this is a guy in an IronMan suit. When they redo BACC, he'll definitely need to be bulkier.

But retro Flint is a really great figure. He beats the old one, hands down... even my heavily modified improved original. The big knock I see online about the retro is the babyface, but in hand, that does not translate. I think the promo pics just use very intense lighting that washes out the details. In person, he looks just as old as the original, but the jaw is much more square... and he's generally more handsome. Retro Flint is one of my favorite figures in the line at this point, really well, done. Just gotta get him a better gun than the pump-action. And I'm really glad they abandoned the "joepro" devices on the gear. Those did not age well.
 

ThunderDan19

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I am softening on the Steeler/Short Fuse, despite still being a little salty that the MOBAT was passed over by Haslab for the Snow Cat. Those guys were two of my earliest as a kid, and, unlike Hawk, neither was ever re-released in a "better" version. I'd have to modernize them a bit with some additional kit, but they do look pretty legit, despite a ton of weapon reuse. Still definitely no PO, but for the right price...

As for the Ghost-Viper, not if they paid me. I know there is a segment that gets into the weird, fringe stuff. That's not me. The Zartan and the Dreadnoks are plenty weird enough for my taste. No need to go any farther than that.

It is interesting that these two opposite approach releases are happening at the same time - the more traditional OG13 figs, nearly as old school military as the CS has been vs. the out-there CB/DIRE themed new addition with lots of new tooling. I would have to see it as somewhat of a test of whether the line can support both approaches or which way it should veer in the future.
 

nacho

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I love the fact that they're doing Short-Fuse and Steeler (despite the crappy reality that tanks are not kewl enough... for a military unit?).

But I'm genuinely perplexed at the color choices. Steeler is far too dark (i.e about the color scheme SF *should* be), while SF has a two-tone color scheme, reminiscent of Steeler in the sunbow cartoon. But the top half, of SF is pretty much a dead ringer for the correct color of green for Zap. But you can't just swap SF and Steeler b/c Steeler has a different and unique torso sculpt.

At this point, it leaves me actually wishing for a future Zap figure that is all fubar with a correct bottom half and a mismatched top half that matches the lower half of SF. Then we can just swap lower halves and have them be relatively correct.

But I say all of this 100% knowing that they f#$%ed them up intentionally so they could sell us corrected retro versions in the future. So infuriating when they deliberately screw up a figure. That being said, I'm weak and will buy them and simply figure out a way to correct them myself. No way I'm putting 2-tone SF on my shelf. Hell no.
 
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nacho

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FYI, BBTS has Stingers on sale for $50. That feels crazy-cheap.

EDIT: and Scrap-Iron for $23... also the cheapest I've seen.

EDIT2: and I failed to mention DD's latest coupon, "LEAVES" for 15% off in-stock. They don't have much new, but I did grab a couple of retro Stalkers for fodder, as with the coupon, they were down to $15.
 
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ThunderDan19

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That's a fantastic price for the Stinger! I thought I did well at $70 from AMZ. Too bad the VAMP was never made in the numbers needed to even have leftovers, let alone discounted leftovers. Still hoping for a Mark II eventually to fill that hole.

CS SI is underrated. I was happy enough to get him at regular price and can't imagine too many legit collectors not picking him up before now at all the other levels of discount he's been on. Hasbro must have produced a buttload of him and the Stinger.

Somehow I knew you'd end up with some more Stalkers. I know you like that buck a lot.

Regarding the color issues on Steeler/SF, it's like you said, they know full well what color Steeler is supposed to be (mighty close to the color of his T-shirt), but chose to make him another color anyway. I still believe these figs were started assuming a tank was going to be the next Haslab (the timing is too specific). I wonder if they are still hedging bets in-case they end up making a MOBAT (or Mauler) at a later date and can simply offer the correctly tinted replacement with that.

As for SF, yeah, intentionally making him screwy so they can correct it for a later release seems to be the only explanation, since I couldn't find a single OG media image of him in two-tone. But that would only work if there is enough demand for a second SF. Like I said, I'm not sure the market will support the first one vs. the weird stuff. People only have so much space and so much cash to use.

If I do end up getting them (at Ollie's?) and am not satisfied with SF's look once I've added body armor, I'll probably try to use Grunt's buck, since I've replaced his with the tan from the 60th Trooper. I don't know that I would do anything for Steeler. At least he doesn't have the annoying two-tone greenshirt look.
 

nacho

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As for SF, yeah, intentionally making him screwy so they can correct it for a later release seems to be the only explanation, since I couldn't find a single OG media image of him in two-tone. But that would only work if there is enough demand for a second SF. Like I said, I'm not sure the market will support the first one vs. the weird stuff. People only have so much space and so much cash to use.

If I do end up getting them (at Ollie's?) and am not satisfied with SF's look once I've added body armor, I'll probably try to use Grunt's buck, since I've replaced his with the tan from the 60th Trooper. I don't know that I would do anything for Steeler. At least he doesn't have the annoying two-tone greenshirt look.
And that's why I'll be getting them in spite of the goofy color schemes. While I know they screwed the colors on purpose, who knows if they'll ever get around to the correct ones. So at least I'll have a base to start from, as well as all the gear.

Stalker is a good fodder figure, not only because it's a great buck, but if you remove the camo, he's very close to the correct base colors for Zap, toy-Steeler (just needing to sculpt a collar flap), and even a less-poofy Ripcord (just gotta add a tight blue-green camo pattern). I love figures that allow for customs that don't require painting joints. I can paint vests, camo, webgear, and hair... but painting joints so that they don't rub is doable... but it's a PITA. So any time I can skip that step, I get excited. I already have two for fodder, but I couldn't pass up a couple more. And if they get sub-$10, I'll probably get a couple more beyond that.

I'm actually still quite happy with my predominantly Valaverse O13 figures ( I vastly prefer my Clutch to hasbro's), but I also like the idea of having actual joes, even if I'm heavily modifying them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As for Scrap Iron, I actually grabbed a couple that I plan to head swap with some spare blueshirt noggins, thus giving the ranks some heavy armor nameless troops. I'll probably paint the vest something besides red, but they'll have a scrap-iron-trooper vibe.
 
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ThunderDan19

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Yeah, hard pass for me too, even discounted. They just didn't do a good job with that one on any level.

I needed some home items from AMZ the other day, had some hotel points credit and needed to get to free shipping (that combo always gets me), so I PO'ed Mainframe. With that, I got my essentials from the next wave locked in. WS will have to be a discount buy if at all for me. Otherwise a pretty solid wave.

DT should finally be here tomorrow. Just need DD to get CG, TV and Budo to me to have this wave+ wrapped up and I'll be GTG until January. Not much else I'm that interested in dropping until then. Gonna be distracted with other things coming up anyway I think.
 

nacho

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I've got retro TV and second copy of Crystal Ball coming tomorrow... MMS+Hawk, MASS Diver 2-pack, & Snake Armor in october... and AWE Striker, retro greenshirt, & retro BAT in december.

But I'm distracted with printing! I've got so much to show off and so much to build... I've got parts printed, just haven't had time to assemble everything. They're like printing model kits instead of finished products. Getting the parts out of the printer is just the first step of many.

But I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of this unit. According to the app, in two months, I've gone through 18 kilos of ABS filament and printed for nearly 1200 hours. 🤯 And I'm a long way from finishing "the list"... which keeps growing.
 

ThunderDan19

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That's awesome! You've put some miles on that printer. I can't wait to see how they come out. How would you gauge your satisfaction with 3DP'ed vehicles overall so far? I love how it offers so much flexibility, but so much rides on the material, the quality of the printer and the design being used.

I saw a Skyhawk and FANG on Mercari that both looked cool, but also appeared to be underscaled for the CS. The figs they showed were jammed in them and wouldn't have even fit with helmets on. That explains why they were selling them a little cheaper than most. Are there different sized versions of designs out there, or is it like a paper printer where you can basically zoom in and out on scale?
 

nacho

"Big Guns"
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That's awesome! You've put some miles on that printer. I can't wait to see how they come out. How would you gauge your satisfaction with 3DP'ed vehicles overall so far? I love how it offers so much flexibility, but so much rides on the material, the quality of the printer and the design being used.

I saw a Skyhawk and FANG on Mercari that both looked cool, but also appeared to be underscaled for the CS. The figs they showed were jammed in them and wouldn't have even fit with helmets on. That explains why they were selling them a little cheaper than most. Are there different sized versions of designs out there, or is it like a paper printer where you can basically zoom in and out on scale?
Overall, I'm happy with the 3D stuff I've made (I must be, I keep doing it...). However, I pretty much view them all as place-holders until hasbro makes an official whatever, but until then, I'm happy enough with the results. None of them are perfect, but they're ok for shelf displays and photos. Honestly, my favorite stuff is the things I know hasbro will never produce. It makes whatever you've printed feel special, rather than just temporarily filling a gap.

Each design is a collection of 3d CAD files, and any and all parts can be individually scaled easily. Obviously, if you scale up or down by orders of magnitude, things can go sideways by losing detail or looking janky, but within reason, you can scale up or down to your own preferences.

I bought one design (FANG) where the vehicle body and all the ancillary parts weren't properly scaled to one another. So I printed them all and realized the body was too small for the guns, seat, engine, etc. After taking a series of measurements, I determined that the body was about 6% too small. But I had all these parts... so I printed all the ancillary parts smaller and am (currently as I type) printing the body larger, and I'll just have an extra FANG that's more suited for female troopers. In the background of studio shots, it's unlikely anyone will notice.

So maybe that's the design you saw, and the Mercari seller had the same problem. Not sure why the designer hasn't corrected the files, as in the comments, others have noted the discrepancy as well. I simply didn't read all the comments before printing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's the same designer as the Devilfish I printed, which seemed properly scaled, so I had no reason to suspect a problem. But heck, until I get it printed, even the 6% larger one might be too small. Might have to scale up some more. Probably should have busted out a vintage FANG and taken some measurements to determine my own "proper" scale, but you assume anyone who has the capability to design the CAD parts understands "scale". Live and learn.
 
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ThunderDan19

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Well, I woke up late (vacation :LOL:) and decided to take a look. Target’s web presence remains a train wreck as usual. I had to use a link from Toynewsi to even find them. I waffled with it for a minute and, having 20% off right now, I decided to go ahead and PO the pair. Maybe I’d keep it, maybe cancel if I wasn’t feeling it later. But at least I‘d have them PO’ed for a discount.

Still in stock at about 10am? Yep. Walk through checking out? $46 out the door. Great! Purchase... Nope. Out of stock. 😑 Nice. As usual. Crappy website and not enough inventory. Deja Vu. I still think it’s ironic that cool, modern, trendy Target has worse online representation for GI Joe than WM, which is actually reasonably good these days. As per usual, they’ll probably come into stock again after my discount expires. Alanis Morissette rings in my head.

Target was the best back in the 25th era, though in fairness, it was much more of an in-person shopping time, with predictable discounts for any overstock. Somehow they’ve gone backward, and despite still having (slightly) more consistent, though small, in-store offerings, their web offerings for Joe are pitiful, at least in my experience.

Anyway, /rant off.

On a brighter note, a few of my family were down in W’burg for a couple days - where the good Ollie’s is. This morning, my daughter found and got me one more each of the Marine and “Pilot.” What will I do with them? Not sure, but for $26 for both, I’m sure I can figure 😝 something out…
 
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nacho

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Well, I printed the FANG body larger... the figures fit in the seat/cockpit nicely and it all looks scaled roughly the same as ARAH (the FANG was never a big chopper, always a little deathtrap anyway), but the rotors were still sitting too low, making it look like someone is about to get decapitated.

So I spent the afternoon in CAD cutting up the engine and rotor mount so that I could extend those parts vertically (without stretching the rest of the engine and actual spots where the blades mount). Then I put them back together. Overall, I think I bought about a half inch of headroom, definitely enough to make it look better without stretching anything to the point of absurdly. So I'll reprint those parts and hopefully get that build ready for final assembly. Fingers crossed.

Retro Televipers from AMZ arrived today too. It's amazing how much of a better figure this is than the one that came with the trubble bubble. Retros are easily becoming my favorite parts of the line, as they seem to be well done classic homages and these days are rarely just straight lazy repaints (unlike the original couple of retro waves a few years back).
 
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ThunderDan19

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Looking forward to seeing how that FANG turns out! I also just got my shipping notice from DD for rTV and rCG, which means they should arrive late next week (naturally). Glad to hear the rTV looks good. I’m really looking forward to putting him in the TB, since he’s so iconic there. Going to have to make some space for rCG to assume her new ID next to her cousin. Looks like (retro-ish) Breaker might get bumped.

I’m now truly starting to run out of space again. DT didn’t even make it onto a riser. Looks like my shelf cleaning/reorganization operation might need to happen sooner rather than later so I can spread out more. Not looking forward to the extra work, but it should provide some relief when it’s done.
 
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Cledus Hoss

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The black televiper forearms really ruin it. I'm not saying I wouldn't pick one up on clearance for fodder, but if they want it to be race-ambiguous, give him Stalker's sleeves or something. Jet-black bare arms is beyond bizarre as a design choice.
Maybe he's a Nigerian tele-viper 😂
 

nacho

"Big Guns"
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Heh, anything is possible where hasbro design choices are concerned... but when they include brown and causasian-skinned heads, the jet black arms are weird. I assume it's supposed to be some kind of skin-tight base layer... a "plausible" explanation except that no one has ever seen a cop looking quite like that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

ThunderDan19

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Nice! I had forgotten that was a thing. Seems like it had kind of been dwarfed a bit with all the other releases this year.

My DD package arrived yesterday. Looking forward to breaking those open when I get back!
 

ThunderDan19

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Having had the toy, I’m partial to that one. Man, that takes me back. Both look amazing though! Nice work!
 

nacho

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Having had the toy, I’m partial to that one. Man, that takes me back. Both look amazing though! Nice work!
The toy deco is more practical, but the red in the toon deco really pops. I'm quite torn.

--------------------------

WTH happened to Mainframe?! He's a midget!

Zarana's gonna laugh at his tiny... stature.

1758649276622.png

1758649284243.png

EDIT: It just dawned on me that they are reusing the Tunnel Rat mold. That's why he's tiny. Also might be worth grabbing a clearanced NF TR if you want to do an easy kitbash of Mainframe's toon look with darker pants.

1758650776663.png
 
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nacho

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Some TFW wannabe-hasbro-insider tried to convince me that TR (and thus mainframe) would translate to 5'11" based on his assumption that Roadblock would be 6'8". Pretty sure Zarana isn't 6' tall, and that TR (and larry hama that he's based on) are barely over 5'.

People mistakenly think Classified are true 1:12 scale, but they're far from it. They're closer to 1:11, unless you want to argue that the basic average Joe is 6'4". Hardly.
 
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nacho

"Big Guns"
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G.I. Joe Classified Series Retro Flint 6” Action Figure & Card - Hasbro Pulse

Apparently Hasbro has discovered how terrible their artwork is on the rFlint card and is actually looking to capitalize on it by offering buyers a chance to get one with a picture of Flint's grandpa🙄.
Fixed that for you.

Edit: I also cynically wonder if it's not to juice sales on retro Flint since pulse got their stock so late, everyone has bought this wave elsewhere. Throw out a few random chase art variants and get people to gobble up the stock for a 1-in-100 shot at *different* terrible art.

I think I actually prefer the AI mess of the standard one. But rumor has it that hasbro is very aware of the art mess and will be fixing it in future waves. We can only hope. I didn't think all the previous waves' art was bad, as most of them pretty much looked like upscaled arah art... but the Flint art is just embarrassing.
 
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ThunderDan19

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Funny, I thought you might like the alternate art. Shows how much I know I guess. I never saw Flint as nearly that gritty. He‘s always been a tough, but well kept type. Gotta keep LJ happy. 😆