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

[nacho]

I completely forgot about prime day. The first couple were pretty solid, but the last half-dozen have been total duds. It feels like a Temu garage sale.

On a more positive note, Airtight and Hydroviper shipped from AMZ, will be here tomorrow... beating the prime-day shipping crush!

 

[ThunderDan19]

G.I. Joe Classified Iceberg, Toxo-Viper, Mistress Armada, Synapse And Duke Official Figure Images

Shown below are the official images for tomorrow's (6/24) G.I. Joe Classified figure pre-orders which go up at 1pm ET. Shown are images for the new Iceberg, T

toynewsi.com

Duke is the only ”must have” here, though I don’t think I’ll be PO’ing even him. Iceberg looks better than expected, but I can wait for a while to see if he discounts. Toxo-Viper is meh. I might pick him up at a discount down the road. Not at all impressed with the other two, and doubt I’d want the new gurl one for half price and wouldn’t want new cyborg boy if he was free.

Really hoping for a Lara Croft render tomorrow since she’s the only thing on my radar that I intend to PO. Also hoping maybe they tease a Thunder Machine yet for this year.

 

[nacho]

Synapse is a hard pass unless he appears in the comics very soon and does something really villainously compelling. I'm not seeing anything on the surface that would warrant a $30 purchase.

Armada... she's kinda in the same boat. I haven't seen her in the fiction in nearly 25 years, and even then, she was a footnote. But I think her body sculpt is pretty unique, even if it takes base cues from Baroness. And her face sculpt is arguably one of the best, if not THE best, female head hasbro has done in this line. I'll probably get one for the studio.

I'm likely going to pass on Rock-n-Roll... er... "rugged" Duke. Nothing about him is better than the retro, and he doesn't even look like the EU version. I think he's a swing-and-a-miss. He'll sell ok because "Duke", but by any other name, he'd be discounted pretty quickly.

Iceberg... he looks good, and he's a classic from '86. I will definitely PO a couple.

TV... I never had the original, but he feels like the Cobra counter to Airtight, so I'll likely get one or two. It occurred to me that I could use the original purple Molerats as the troopers and the Toxo's as the "officer" level hazardous specialists. They can send the molerats in to do the extra-dirty work... because expendable.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Yeah, I have no point of reference for Armada and her outfit to me looks backward to me. Normally you'd want to armor up the torso (where all the vitals are) and leave the arms and legs mobile. Pretty face or not, she seems to have misread the instructions. And the red gloves... that's a fashion choice... along with the battlefield cleavage. She's definitely bringing sexy back!

I was looking to see if maybe I could salvage an interesting character from her and Jody Shooter parts, but I don't think the high tops really work for her, and, even swapping out the silver arms and legs, the silver shoes are still a bit much, so that seems like a dead end.

I could maybe swap out her arms and legs with that of SE movie Baroness, but I would have to go all the way to the shoulder joints (not really digging the rolled up sleeves - also an odd choice - even on the current version). That's pretty tedious though and I wouldn't consider myself confident with the removal and replacement of complete arms. But the result seems like it would be a serious toned-down improvement, if actually reducing her "battle readiness." Her role would have to be much more espionage than battlefield lieutenant, but then what do I end up with when I'm done, ethnic Baroness?

I do need IG though, and in my guestimation it looks like that alteration might make her something of an infiltrator. Need to lose the shoulder things too, whatever those are. Maybe I'll take the plunge and go for it when she goes on closeout, like all the CS girls eventually do, particularly obscure ones.

As for Duke, to me this is the manned up, modernized version, less an under-armored (pardon the pun) pretty boy and more of a gritty, battle-ready Sergeant. This one definitely gives hybrid SF/Spook QRF. He will be displacing my previous "ultimate" and will inherit anything he still needs (helmet comes to mind) from him. I'm thinking he's gonna lose the light machine gun and inherit a more mobile assault rifle as well. Hit fast, hit hard!

Even after a couple more looks, IB and TV remain down my "buy them when they go on discount" list (pretty sure I got those two late in their run back in the day too), while Synapse still looks like a reject from a Mad Max flick. No thanks.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Did you ever get your Vala tactical gear tin set?

View attachment 17748

Still not crazy about the "service charge," but I finally made my order. Even with that and the not free shipping, it's still a heck of a deal for a habitual modernizer such as myself, particularly with today's prices on everything CS. Not sure I will find a use for every piece of kit, particularly since a lot of the Joes have been coming with their own modern body armor kit lately, but at least I'll have it when I need it.

It'll be nice to add another "green shirt" recruit to the team as well, adding to the Legacy SF guy and the Vala green commando girl already candidating for a full membership and a code name. I think the tin will come in handy too, as my spares and leftovers just keep growing.

Thanks again for the original heads up and the reminder!

 

[nacho]

Yeah, I have no point of reference for Armada and her outfit to me looks backward to me. Normally you'd want to armor up the torso (where all the vitals are) and leave the arms and legs mobile. Pretty face or not, she seems to have misread the instructions. And the red gloves... that's a fashion choice... along with the battlefield cleavage. She's definitely bringing sexy back!

I was looking to see if maybe I could salvage an interesting character from her and Jody Shooter parts, but I don't think the high tops really work for her, and, even swapping out the silver arms and legs, the silver shoes are still a bit much, so that seems like a dead end.

I could maybe swap out her arms and legs with that of SE movie Baroness, but I would have to go all the way to the shoulder joints (not really digging the rolled up sleeves - also an odd choice - even on the current version). That's pretty tedious though and I wouldn't consider myself confident with the removal and replacement of complete arms. But the result seems like it would be a serious toned-down improvement, if actually reducing her "battle readiness." Her role would have to be much more espionage than battlefield lieutenant, but then what do I end up with when I'm done, ethnic Baroness?

I do need IG though, and in my guestimation it looks like that alteration might make her something of an infiltrator. Need to lose the shoulder things too, whatever those are. Maybe I'll take the plunge and go for it when she goes on closeout, like all the CS girls eventually do, particularly obscure ones.

As for Duke, to me this is the manned up, modernized version, less an under-armored (pardon the pun) pretty boy and more of a gritty, battle-ready Sergeant. This one definitely gives hybrid SF/Spook QRF. He will be displacing my previous "ultimate" and will inherit anything he still needs (helmet comes to mind) from him. I'm thinking he's gonna lose the light machine gun and inherit a more mobile assault rifle as well. Hit fast, hit hard!

Even after a couple more looks, IB and TV remain down my "buy them when they go on discount" list (pretty sure I got those two late in their run back in the day too), while Synapse still looks like a reject from a Mad Max flick. No thanks.

Yeah, Armada is an odd duck for sure, but her impracticality doesn't bother me in a group that has a a hypnotist, a croc trainer, a bird-man, and a myriad of other characters and vehicles that are wacky and highly impractical. Imposing a different standard on her would be odd, so I'm probably down for one. Don't need her on the display shelf, but maybe she can hang in the studio with gold Destro and make Baroness jelly.

As for Duke, I can totally see why he would appeal to a "modern update" fan such as yourself. He's certainly more battlefield ready than the retro, but that's the exact reason he isn't resonating with me. The nostalgia factor is at zero, and I simply can't imagine when I'd use the figure in a display or photo shoot. If they had made him look like the EU version, I'd likely have talked myself into buying one, but as it stands, I can't see it.

Glad you were able to order the tin. I'm sure it'll provide endless fodder for modernization of you whole army.

 

[ThunderDan19]

2026 YoJoe June 4th And Final Fanstream Coverage

The fourth and final Hasbro G.I. Joe Classified Fanstreams for this year's YoJoe June event kicks off today which is being led by Hasbro's own BMac and YouTub

toynewsi.com

Almost caught this one in real time. I didn't mind starting a little late to run it at 2x though, as I wanted to get to the new stuff faster anyway!

No real change on my opinions of the stuff dropping for PO today. If anything, the studio light shadowing and pics of Duke and Armada were less flattering. I will be happy to wait until they drop before buying for sure and probably will wait for a sale/discount/closeout for all but Duke. Still a big nope on the weirdo.

I really don't get the compulsion to do all new characters when there are a ton of decent fringe toon and comic characters that would likely get more interest.

As for the new:

• Falcon - I feel like I already have that Falcon (old body/new head) with upgrades. No need to buy him again unless it's on sale, for wallpaper, assuming the package art isn't Flint-like
• Valkyrie - exactly the same as with Falcon.
• Flash - yes, of course. I think everyone will be buying that one. I liked BMac's little nod to future silver pad GS as well. Will likely be getting him as well down the road.
• Lara Croft - yeah, pretty sure I will, assuming it's possible in the exclusive realm of the convention drops.
• Crimson SNAKE - nah.
• Marauders - also nah.
• Triple T - I'll withhold judgement until I see the actual upgraded product, but I'm not holding my breath. Would have way preferred a Thunder Machine instead.

 

[nacho]

2026 YoJoe June 4th And Final Fanstream Coverage

The fourth and final Hasbro G.I. Joe Classified Fanstreams for this year's YoJoe June event kicks off today which is being led by Hasbro's own BMac and YouTub

toynewsi.com

Almost caught this one in real time. I didn't mind starting a little late to run it at 2x though, as I wanted to get to the new stuff faster anyway!

No real change on my opinions of the stuff dropping for PO today. If anything, the studio light shadowing and pics of Duke and Armada were less flattering. I will be happy to wait until they drop before buying for sure and probably will wait for a sale/discount/closeout for all but Duke. Still a big nope on the weirdo.

I really don't get the compulsion to do all new characters when there are a ton of decent fringe toon and comic characters that would likely get more interest.

As for the new:

• Falcon - I feel like I already have that Falcon (old body/new head) with upgrades. No need to buy him again unless it's on sale, for wallpaper, assuming the package art isn't Flint-like
• Valkyrie - exactly the same as with Falcon.
• Flash - yes, of course. I think everyone will be buying that one. I liked BMac's little nod to future silver pad GS as well. Will likely be getting him as well down the road.
• Lara Croft - yeah, pretty sure I will, assuming it's possible in the exclusive realm of the convention drops.
• Crimson SNAKE - nah.
• Marauders - also nah.
• Triple T - I'll withhold judgement until I see the actual upgraded product, but I'm not holding my breath. Would have way preferred a Thunder Machine instead.

Agreed, nothing seems to have changed on the new wave or the announced retros.

Crimson SNAKE... no thanks. That's a nod to the Red Shadows version, which is nice enough, but not for nearly $100 or whatever they will charge this year. I just bought a second Super7 snake on heavy discount, and it's a lot more fun. Not much articulation, but the nostalgia-factor is off the charts. I think they did a red version of that one too. This stuff is just too expensive and space-consuming for niche repaints.

Triple-T... money saved. I'm not spending a dime on anything else Slaughter-related, especially not his zero-turn lawnmower deathtrap.

 

[ThunderDan19]

But it sounds like he will be getting some kind of protective windshield or something from the livestream convo.

 

[Videoviper]

I had the triple T as a kid & really hates how impractical it was.
This from a kid who made croc master kinda cool. (He hung out with the SW bounty hunters, & it was years before he could be a stand in for Bane)

 

[nacho]

FYI, if you were planning to get any of these early in the cycle, entertainment earth has the Despoiler and the Grunt/WildBill/TechnoViper retro wave figures in stock and available with 10% coupon EARTH10. Free shipping over $79.

Faster and cheaper than Amazon at this point, why not. Saved nearly $30 on my order ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ That's like a free figure!

 

[ThunderDan19]

I have D&D "processing" there right now. I don't see where I can go back and add the code, so I wrote them an email asking them to add it. Let's hope they have excellent customer service there!

 

[ThunderDan19]

And... another "when it goes on clearance" item for me:

Hasbro G.I. Joe Classified Series Night Force Psych-Out Figure (Walmart Exclusive)

Shown below is a look at the new Hasbro G.I. Joe Classified Series Night Force Psych-Out Figure from Hasbro. Here?s your first look at Night Force Psych-Out m

toynewsi.com

Looks like the red energy/fire/whatever is intended to combat the DIRE stuff. Seems like Dial-Tone has taken over his original role of jamming/audio combat. At least they are being creative and not just reissuing the hand held transmitter from DT.

 

[nacho]

I always thought of PO as a psychologist first, warrior... fifth? He was a massive pegwarmer, and while I had the figure (probably an impulse buy when nothing else was available), he and his bulbous noggin was a regular member of the Slaughter Bullet-Sponge Brigade.

I do like the NF colors better than his day-glo green, so I wouldn't mind ordering one, but if it's like the last WM-con figure (250th Duke), it'll just get auto-canceled anyway, and I'll never see one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It clearly falls into the "nice if I can get one, no big whoop if I don't" category.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Yeah, WM and Target have both been really dumb about their exclusives. How hard is it to only allot POs for the number of units that H'bro has promised instead of overselling and having to cancel half of them? I mean, sure they still sell out (like almost immediately) whenever they finally come into stock later, but mainly to scalpers who immediately try to turn them around for profit.

It becomes a game of checking back every day and watching the news sites for scoops of them coming into stock, then jumping the second you see it. Don't dare be away whenever something finally drops or you definitely miss out. I guess they don't care so long as whatever they do get sells out, but it just frustrates the collectors and makes us want to shop elsewhere.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Super7 G.I. Joe ReAction+ Glow Patrol Figures (Joefest 2026)

Glow Joe! The exclusive JoeFest G.I. Joe Glow Patrol ReAction+ Figures drop now. Hurry to get this 3-pack of Duke, Snake Eyes, and Cover Girl. or B.A.T., Cobr

toynewsi.com

I don’t really follow this line, but aren’t these just more gimmicky repaints? Are there people out there actually asking for this kind of thing or is this just over-reuse and completist abuse? Seems to me that, if anything, this could be a bridge too far that could cause a collector to abandon completism. Just my 2 cents…

 

[Videoviper]

I never understood why these 5 poa figures appeal to anyone
(Hides the 3 cobra trooper I got on deeeeep discount)

Even as background characters they don’t really fit anywhere.

 

[ThunderDan19]

To be clear, these are the better articulated ones, but they apparently glow in the dark as a feature.

 

[nacho]

Super7 loves repaint/reuse even more than hasbro. This has always been their MO. They put out PP and tiger force versions of every character/mold, even those that did not have those decos originally. And they just put out a four-figure wave of America 250 decos. Like a sucker I bought them just for the novelty of it, but I'm not a completionist... as I buy zero TF, PP, or DiC decos. And now I won't be buying Glow Force either.

But on the other hand, I think a lot of these decos get one-off impulse purchases in places like Target, as they carry them, and the ReAction+ don't seem to ever hit clearance the way the 5POA stuff did. I'm not down for most of these goofy repaints, but if it helps them recoup the cost of the mold and keep prices at the low low MSRP of $25 , then I'm happy for other people to buy them to keep the line going.

Unlike Classified, with Super7 you never know. Every wave could be the last. So the more goofy repaints other people buy, the more sunbow and marvel rando figures we get in vintage o-ring style. Mara, Ramar the giant, the blind woodsman (he's 5POA, but who really cares...), and S7 beat Hasbro to the punch on Fatal Fluffies, Cold Slither Zartan, etc. Sometimes I think Hasbro sees S7's plans and decides to copy them, and I'm ok with that, as it's not like they're competing for the same audience (mostly). It's good if the classified team takes notes, as I'd rather get more comic and toon figures in classified than 90s nonsense or the current teams sorry attempts at new characters.

 

[nacho]

In other news, I opened up Dawn Moreno, Hydro-Viper, and Airtight.

Dawn is a nice figure, two very accurate portraits, and an overall good sculpt. Her arms feel a little thin and spindly, but I think the character is in her late teens, so it's ok if she's not particularly cut (even though that somewhat undermines her OP ninja status). My problem is more with the character, as "minority female Snake-Eyes" kinda reeks of mid-2010's girl-power nonsense. It's like Hama consulted Kathleen Kennedy before making this character. But that's not a problem with the figure. It's a perfectly adequate figure.

Hydroviper is similarly accurate and nice enough. But he also feels a little slim, as I always thought they were a bit mutated/roided-out compared to a basic Eel, so the slim build doesn't elicit the "oh damn" creepy vibe I always got from the original figure. He feels more like an Eel in a halloween mask than some kind of genetically altered ocean freak. But he's not a bad figure, just should have been given a little more ooomph in the sculpt dept.

Airtight... what can I say, along with BBQ, I never liked the character. He was a know-it-all yankee in the cartoon, and that was not in his favor. And a bright yellow hasmat guy with a dust-buster didn't really fit with a military unit except in exceptionally rare circumstances. He was always quick to die in my wars. So imagine my surprise that he's an exceptional figure, by far one of my favorites of the year. His suit looks baggy without looking like the michelin man... much better executed than the Molerats mold... really glad they didn't reuse that one.

The helmet and cords are a little fiddly, but nothing new for classified. But the helmet sculpt is great, and while it looks "correct", it looks far more sleek than the spherical Spaceballs noggin of the vintage figure. The head underneath is distinctly airtight, can't be anyone else. He really looks like an idealized version of the ARAH figure for the most part. If I had to nitpick, I'd point out that of course they gave him kneepads... can't have anyone without kneepads. Those break up the yellow suit... and I'm sure that some will argue that's a good thing, but I would have preferred they skip them. But overall he's really well done. I wouldn't sleep on this one if the character has any appeal.

 

[ThunderDan19]

While I’m not scrambling for any of the three, there’s no telling what could happen once they go on sale. C’mon 4th of July sales! (Though that’d be mighty early for those to go on sale). Zap is definitely the one on my radar right now, especially since I will soon have all the kit I need to bring him into the 21st century.

It’s interesting that you pointed out that Dawn and HV seem a little under-buffed. I thought both looked a little pumped up from the pics. Crazy how the camera can add or subtract.

 

[nacho]

Soooo.... Fury Force is coming from BBWS.



The spiritual predecessor to Joe, Hama's original pitch to marvel, where you can easily see how it morphed into '82 Joe. They look pretty badass. I will be hard pressed to skip them when they arrive in 2-3 years.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Ah yes. The 80’s, where MAC-10s reigned supreme…

While these definitely feel eerily familiar, they are very cliche for the time. Im glad the other folks at Hasbro pushed forward tech vs. looking back at the ‘Nam for inspiration.

 

[nacho]

It's funny... I had the opposite reaction. I love the 'Nam vibes. And I love the MAC-10. I mean, even if it was a substandard weapon, it's not hard to conjure up a mental scenario of it getting upgrades or new internals in a classic package. And I love not-Scarlett's briefcase computer that looks like something from "The Man From UNCLE"... I mean, it looks retro, but they couldn't fit a CRT monitor of any size in that flat case. It's almost like an alternate timeline where the tech progressed but the styling did not. I find that rather intriguing.

As for the cliche part... Hama created and wrote about what he knew. It's par for the course. They're no more cliche than the 80s X-Men were. They're just products of their time. And Hama knew a lot more about the military than 97% of comic writers at the time. But even in Larry's initial pitch, the villains were basically Hydra, so like Cobra that evolved out of that idea, they were some kind of hybrid WWII-style nazi-wannabe villains with some modern sci-fi tech thrown in. That formula never changed from the pitch.

Honestly, I think this sub-line for BBWS feels like a reaction to Vala announcing his WWII line. They knew Vala will rule the dubbya-dubbya-two space (simply by being "first" if not also a good product), and they wanted to get out front on the other likely viable military era. I doubt anyone is clamoring for WWI or Civil War figures, so 'Nam feels like the only remaining target. And with Hama involved, they're bound to get the attention of many Joe fans, a natural potential audience.

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

Back to the 'Nam vibes.... I love modern funtionality in retro wrappers. I just bought a new camera (arrives tomorrow)... a unit with flagship m4/3 specs in a 70's style body.



It is not better than my big, heavy, over-spec'd full-frame Sony gear (which is honestly far more camera than someone with my meager talent needs)... but it's smaller, lighter, and has some really cutting-edge creative features that should be very useful in toy photography.

And it looks like some ancient film camera... while that doesn't mean anything regarding the quality of the photos, I think it's badass.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Oh, I totally love retro-looking stuff that performs up to current standards. I had actually purchased a MAC-10 looking (barrel shroud that looks like the giant suppressor and everything) actual pew pew until I discovered it had very poor reliability and takes rare and expensive magazines. So I traded it for a short shotty instead. More timeless than retro, but no issues with reliability or mags with that one!

On the future vs. ‘Nam approach of GI Joe, I completely agree that we won the lottery on the realism thanks to all of Hama’s real world experience and extensive knowledge for sure - maybe a little too well as his dialog was and remains very clunky while he spells it all out in depth every time (but I learned a lot from it), and of course there are all those backstories and file cards (back when we had real ones for every character).

But the 80’s had plenty of ’Nam comics, movies and TV shows, many of which I enjoyed at the time but none of which have remained at nearly the same level of popularity as Joe has, so I’m glad Joe didn’t go that way. Plus Larry got to dip his and our toes with the LRRP flashbacks, so we got a taste even then. I don’t think Joe would have had nearly the same level of success had it looked backward instead of forward.

As another bonus, you should be able to do a pretty sweet set of LRRP team customs with those!

 

[ThunderDan19]

Laird James McCullen Destro arrived yesterday and I found a minute to open up the package to free him and his ride from their cardboard prison this morning. Overall, he looks great! This is my favorite version of Destro and he is right at home atop the Despoiler.



Right now he is the captain amongst just three. I would really like to fill out some IG ranks and add this faction as a reasonable shelf's worth of figures. I'm afraid that to do so I will need to acquire some of the the current and future offerings and modify them to make them less "out there" and more appealing - to become more of a fighting force and less of a clown car. And Hasbro needs to get on with making some dang IG foot soldiers!

 

[nacho]

Very cool. Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow, but I'm having it delayed to monday b/c I think I'm closing the office tomorrow... because 'Murica.

I have fond memories of this guy, especially the classic Cobra Civil War era of the comics. It really feels like when Destro became his own faction, not just an appendage of Cobra. My personal preference will always be for classic Destro as the right hand (and occasional usurper) of CoCo from the early years, but no doubt I'll find a place for gold-dome in the collection as well.

I have a few of the very formal IGs and a Darklon... but I don't know what to do about Metal Head. He's a dumb character with a lousy figure, and I mostly want to dismantle him to give his lower half to Mainframe. And I refuse to integrate IG BATs into my collection, because faction BATs irk me. The only exception is D.A.N.

But I 1000% agree that a retro IG trooper is long overdue. Ignoring that glaring hole and not taking advantage of the synergy of releasing along-side Destro v2 feels like a huge missed opportunity.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I'm seriously considering getting a Darklon when I find him cheap enough to not be able to pass on. However, I feel compelled to replace his lower half with a spare I have from a CI Major Bludd that was thrown in as a bonus item on a Mercari order I received recently. I think he will also get one of the more interesting armor kits from the Vala set to replace the weird sashy thing on his chest. Overall, that should tone down the bright weirdness a bit and turn up the intimidation a little from his original mismatched gym clothes look.

I haven't come up with a way to fix Metal Head as yet, so he shall remain unpurchased, unless he turns up at Ollie's or somewhere else to that level of discount.

 

[nacho]

FYI, I haven't forgotten about your MIM-23's or the exhaust project... just got sidetracked for a bit. I'll try to get back on that in the next week or two.

 

[ThunderDan19]

No worries! I‘m in no rush nor would ever want to cut line ahead of real life priorities.

Right now I’m just coming down from the high of YJJ, which might well have been the best one overall for new and interesting content. That was capped off by getting 250th Duke and D&D and now I’m already wondering what’s next. Spoiled, I know…

I was mildly disappointed not to see any real CS deals for Prime Day (the one year we would actually be able to take full advantage of it ) to direct me to anything specific. I‘m also not overly enamored by anything currently available so I’m stuck debating myself whether to just use play money and pay retail for the less desirable offerings or hold out for better deals (which requires much more discipline and patience). And Mercari is having a free shipping sale on a $50+ purchase this weekend, but I haven‘t found anything or any combo that gets me there, despite spending way too much time probing around there today.

Only time will tell whether discipline or new Joe withdrawal wins out in the end.

 

[nacho]

So apparently, the Classified Tomb Raider is a bigger crossover than just a figure. It seems she makes a cameo in the Hama ARAH series, and they just announced a crossover comic starting in Oct. Not sure if it's a one-shot or a mini, but if I had to guess, these types of crossovers are usually 4-issue miniseries. Makes more sense why the figure is being shown off at SDCC, which is when POs open. (It's not an SDCC exclusive, just previewed there).

But regardless, Lara is officially in the ARAH comic continuity, and the one page I saw had a pretty neat teaser (I won't spoil).

 

[nacho]

Dan, if you need another IG BAT, this guy has one on the cheap, complete, $18 shipped.

CHL's "Going Out Of Business" Sale Thread

*** NEW ITEMS XX/XX/26 IN BLUE *** *** FEEL FREE TO MAKE OFFERS *** *** PLEASE INQUIRE ABOUT SPECIFIC MARVEL LEGENDS, STAR WARS BLACK SERIES OR GIJOE...

www.tfw2005.com

I've bought from him before, solid guy liquidating his collection to cover medical bills.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Oh man, I would have loved to have bought from him if he still had anything I needed. I just bought Darklon, Heavy-Duty, Metal-Head (going to try to build better versions of Darklon and MH) and Zap over the past couple days.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Just a quick pic of my upgrading work from the last couple nights.



I ended up having to give Darklon Roadblock’s legs (they made him a hoss and neither of the other sets I tried fit him). I am very satisfied with the result and fortunately I had a fresh pair of oversized chocolate chip camo legs for RB from the two pack Sarge. Darky now looks like a legit field lieutenant (a formidable final boss even) instead of a big dork who can’t dress himself, let alone lead a company of IGs.

I’m also pretty happy with the modernization of ‘Ol Zap. He looks like he’s ready for the modern battlefield and now fits in well with my other modernized OGs. I’m quite satisfied with the lot of them now.

The third fellow is the latest green (and black) shirt that came with the tin. He is a very cool fig, obviously a night specialist, and fits in well with the female green shirt (also a Vala trooper) as probational Joes coming out of elite military units. Note: I didn’t realize he had lost one of his muffs until after I had taken the pic and had put him in his place on the shelf. He looks a lot better balanced with both muffs attached to his helmet.

Not pictured, I also did a little upgrading of Flint by combining what I consider the best of both versions to make my ”ultimate” version. Now he is again battle ready with at least a bit of body armor, and the improved face, rolled sleeves and gloves. He also better matches upgraded LJ now.

Now that I have a ton of kit to choose from, I will keep pecking away at Joes and Cobras who look under prepared for the modern battlefield. Stay tuned!

 

[nacho]

ARAH #330 Second Print cover:

 

[ThunderDan19]

I’ll bet you are loving those knee pads and shin guards on SE and Duke… And Lara is looking a little thick in that depiction. She must be eating well at the Pit.

Speaking of knee pads and shin guards, a quick pic of upgraded Flint (yeah, I know… but more battle ready! ):


My improved and a bit more reasonably armed Metal-Head (Thanks to parts from HD);


And my Heavy Duty - now with a bit more backup weaponry, color and flair thanks to Hasbro’s HD:


I still like this head better than the boring new one. I never had any connection to the original so he can be whatever I make him . No idea what to do with his rig and stuff, but at least I was able to get HD and MH on Mercari below retail with free shipping, so no big hit to just add it to the fodder/leftovers for now.

And… I’m not proud of it, but tonight I panicked and ordered Dawn and Hydro-Viper from Walmart (should be here by Friday). They had both gone unavailable at AMZ (at least from my saved search) and I had just locked in some new play money, so I flinched. At least I will have them and paid very little out of pocket.

Still holding out for a good sale and/or some more play money for Sarge’s remaining Renegades.

 

[nacho]

I’ll bet you are loving those knee pads and shin guards on SE and Duke… And Lara is looking a little thick in that depiction. She must be eating well at the Pit.

The kneepads and shinguards... Ugh... they all look like edgelord soccer players. For the love of pete, WHY?! WHY DO THEY THINK THIS IS WHAT SOLDIERS WOULD WEAR?!

I asked AI if this was normal:

"No, elite military operators (like Green Berets or Navy SEALs) do not typically wear hard-shell shin guards. While this gear is standard for riot police and some specialized SWAT units dealing with civil unrest, military special forces prioritize mobility, speed, and endurance."

 

[ThunderDan19]

Yeah, so much of it comes down to "gee, those legs look a little plain" and "what can we do to make them more interesting and 'tactical' looking?" That was definitely the approach in early CS and also in the comics to this day.

The AI is definitely correct in the tradeoff between armor and mobility. It comes down to whether an operator wants to be better protected against bullets, shrapnel and other impacts or wants to remain mobile enough to dodge/neutralize enemies more quickly to avoid taking fire altogether.

I think that is the difference between say Delta Force and Rangers. Delta is all about speed and accuracy to neutralize typically limited threats before they can even react. Rangers act in an environment where they may not be able to completely neutralize the (typically larger) threat before potentially taking fire.

So I would expect Delta, Special Forces or SEALs to use limited armor to stay very fast and nimble, using surprise and speed to limit threats of return fire. Rangers and below would want to armor up more, knowing that there is a much higher likelihood of taking return fire, as their opposition would likely be a larger, better emplaced force in most cases.

That is why the "holy grail" of body armor is achieving a high level of protection with low weight/bulk. I'm sure today's top operators get the best possible version of this. And then there is the other side of the argument where you try to achieve near "full" protection, but need mechanical assistance just to achieve relative normal movement. This would be your "Iron Man" concept, a la Rise of Cobra.

I would imagine the future will give us some compromised version of both. Until then Joe will likely continue to showcase a variety of approaches from light weight, operator-level kits to near riot gear and even the occasional power suit, depending on the role and "coolness" factor of the armor.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, I get all of that... but does it have to look so... "Starship Troopers"? I mean, the whole line seem captive to one former employee's highly skewed vision of "kewl". It's truly maddening.

I think of Joe as fictional-Delta, a very specialized rapid response team, not an entire military brigade. In my world, there are only 1-3 of each vehicle within Joe, not half of the entire military with unlimited equipment. This is a group that ostensibly fights terrorists, albeit highly weaponized terrorists. Joe responds to problems with limited equipment, limited personnel, and gets occasional support from the broader military... like having the FLAGG nearby as a staging/rescue base or hitching a ride on a C130 to somewhere remote.

They are just a tiny slice of elite operators, who may have come from SEALs or Marines or Rangers or whatever... but Joe isn't the brigade you send in to occupy Fallujah. They're the team you send to kill Osama or rescue the high-value hostage. So in that headspace, I find all of the armor bits to be comically out of place.

Joe should only get into major ground battles if things go extremely sideways. I take the term "Special Missons Force" in the strictest sense. Too often, Joe gets erroneously portrayed as "futurisitc full-size standing army", and they lose me when that happens.

 

[ThunderDan19]

You make a good point. I suppose I'm of a "we have the technology" approach with just a smidge of tacticool. Back in the 80's the military wasn't handing out bullet stopping body armor because it just wasn't practical yet, but you can bet this guy made any and all vestwork be miracle kevlar and as such "bulletproof" back in the day. Flash/Grand Slam, Shockwave and even BBQ come to mind. Best you could get in the real world back then was the old Vietnam era flak jacket that might stop shrapnel if you were far enough from the source.

Then the Gulf War brought an improved version of the flak jacket and Afghanistan and Iraq brought us lighter weight with ceramic inserts that are manageable enough to be able to retain most of that life saving, enemy surprising speed. And the MOLLE armor kit vests of today are usually pre-packed out with all kinds of other utilities like ammo storage and first aid. Paired up with a battle belt and you can jock up with all your gear, ammo and secondaries on in just a couple quick minutes.

More recently I have seen ultralight armor inserts claiming to be able to stop rifle rounds. I'm not sure if they are truly that capable or if they are still too cost prohibitive for general use, but in Joe's near future tech world, I can't see any of my "tip of the spear" level Joes not sporting that kind of gear at a minimum.

And kneepads do get a lot of use in SF units. They are very lightweight and reduce the impact injuries often sustained not just in combat, but even during ingress and egress. Heck, there are a number of high end combat trousers that have them built in or have pockets for inserts. That said, I have no similar justification for the shin guards. I'd say those would only come in handy protecting those shins when windmill kicking Cobra troopers!

Funny you mentioned a former employee's skewed vision of cool. I was thinking just last night that I won't miss the grosser elements like cyborg heads, energon crystal zombies and even the wierder DIRE stuff if all that dries up now. I'm pretty sure that was driven by one or a couple guys' interest in the weird and gross. Heck, maybe we'll even do a U-turn on recent the decline into the bright neon ninja force junk while we are at it. And don't get me started on that shark jumping Cobra-La business... NOT MY JOE!