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

Giga Bread

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The biggest issue with the Target exclusives is each figure is a case by itself. So first one there can take 6 troopers and have them on eBay before 9am
 

nacho

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That's an issue. I have more problems with target exclusives in general, as they're not as ubiquitous as WM, Gamestop, Walgreens, etc. And if they aren't going to put them online for a reasonable time (not 1.3 seconds like this round), or take precautions to prevent bots from buying them all in an instant, then they shouldn't be allowed to have exclusives.
 

ThunderDan19

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Agreed. It seems like they had way fewer of these than back in the 25th days too. :mad:
 

Giga Bread

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My SE isn’t as cool as Marauder Ruben’s but I’ll never get a BH to make it.
 

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Slaymaker

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My SE isn’t as cool as Marauder Ruben’s but I’ll never get a BH to make it.

Yeah - painting a BH took it to a whole new level - I have not seen anything but Kimbo RoadBlock around here so I did the same as you and popped your head on the wave 1 SE. Huge improvement I believe. Thank you for making it. What did you sling the SMG with? Is that a MP7 instead of an UZI?
 

Giga Bread

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Yeah - painting a BH took it to a whole new level - I have not seen anything but Kimbo RoadBlock around here so I did the same as you and popped your head on the wave 1 SE. Huge improvement I believe. Thank you for making it. What did you sling the SMG with? Is that a MP7 instead of an UZI?
1/16” double face corsage ribbon. The bits were all wire. The MP7 is a kit I found on HLJ. I don’t have the special edition SE, so I’m stuck in the Uzi department. The only SMG I have modeled is a P90 and that doesn’t quite seem right for him
 
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nacho

"Big Guns"
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Well, I'm sure his likeness deals with the wrasslin' folks either expired or allowed for him to license out to other companies too. Valaverse is looking like a step above some of the other 6" kickstarters.

I ordered a Sarge months ago. I always hated the character's inclusion in GIJoe, as I felt he took over when added to the cartoon, as if a fake-o loud-mouth wrestler could best the military's finest. But I mail-ordered one back in the day so the "real" joes could put him in his place, and that's what I'll be doing here as well.

And it doesn't hurt that the real guy seems like a solid dude, never heard anything bad about him. But his over-the-top character in Joe rubbed me the wrong way... bigly.
 

ThunderDan19

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That Destro is such a dirty dog... :p

I hope they release another Baroness with better glasses. Any new info on upcoming figure releases?

I haven’t seen jack on the shelves since release. At least they still have tagged hangers for them. Maybe for the holiday shopping season...
 
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nacho

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"Profit Director" Destro can't resist the ladies. He's only human...

The latest info:

W3 includes Zartan and a Cobra trooper (same as the target ver except less gear and blue shin guards) plus repacks of Scarlett and Roadblock. whoopity doo. Zartan looks great, not crazy about the blue shins on the trooper, but it's a great figure nonetheless.

New Target CI wave with Firefly and Cobra Viper. These will be made of 100% unobtainium. Firefly looks like ass with an ugly EOD vest on, while the viper looks great and gives all middle-aged joe fans a little wood... making the fact that we'll never ever see them in stores an extra kick in the jewels. They will be street-dated, and when the street date arrives, they'll already be sold out at 8am because they all went out the back door to ebay.

Lastest unconfirmed rumor today, based on an australian retailers pre-orders... is Flint, Major Bludd, and two different version of Lady Jaye next year. Large grain of salt required.
 

ThunderDan19

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Sucks that they apparently botched Firefly. Not really looking for a Zartan unless he really brings something new to the table. I guess I’ll try for a Cobra Trooper and a Viper. My daughter has been wishing for a LJ at this size, so she’ll definitely be on the list if that happens and I’ll want a Flint if he’s at all awesome.

Here’s hoping the RB will punish the scalpers again. I wonder who thought it was a good idea to repack the closest thing this line has to a shelf warmer (it’s an eBay warmer!).

Links to any pics or sites that passing the rumors would be much appreciated if you know of any. This is kind of the only GI Joe thing on the radar right now.
 

nacho

"Big Guns"
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This is the link to the rumors, but obviously, there are no pics or even confirmation that it's legit.

pics of zartan:

pics of firefly and viper:

Firefly could have been awesome as just a basic grey repaint of Beachhead, but they gave him a big bulky EOD vest that would have made more sense for Tripwire. It's not like Firefly is disarming bombs. If a saboteur needs a yuge f#%$ing vest to protect him from the explosives he's planting, he's not very good at his jorb.

And that particular buck looks really awkward without a vest, so just taking it off won't work. Maybe I can find a vest to steal off a different figure to make him look less stupid, but it's so frustrating to think that the people who make this line don't seem to actually understand Joe or how the characters fit in the narrative. But it's probably moot since it's a Target exclusive that none of us will ever see.
 
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ThunderDan19

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Thanks for those! I had long since lost my links to TNSI. Need to set those up again to follow these.

Yeah, that Firefly is a disappointment like that. I wonder if you could find/reproduce a pair of bandoliers (like Snake Eyes') and paint them gray to recreate the classic look? I've seen some figs parted out on Mercari. I might consider it if I see the bandoliers before I see FF. Doubt I would ever do the paint thing though. Black blends well enough.

Zartan is easily the closest recreation from the original to date. And that might be why I probably won't get him. He is an awesome tribute, but he was hokey back then and even more so now. I just can't see him or any of his siblings or the Dreadnoks on my shelf at work. Just a little too far out there.

As for the Viper... Yes! I know at some point I will end up sucking it up and paying scalper prices for him and a Cobra Trooper. At least they are releasing the CT again.

Still shaking my head at the RB re-release. He is easily the weakest fig from wave 1. I hope it's not a woke "we need a POC and a female in every wave" thing. That would make getting to some of the other good characters take an eternity, if they don't lose money with the peg warmers and end the line altogether.

They better hurry and get some product to the stores if they are actually intending to capitalize on the holiday season this year. Just having space on the shelves ain't gonna cut it.
 

NSA

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We were walking back the explicit militarization and Americana of the brand to make it more globally relevant.

... and I'm out (I was never IN on Classified, but Fuck off Joe)
 

nacho

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Founder
We've implicitly known this for the last decade. It's part of being a brand that is expected to have a presence in more countries than our own. TF gave them a taste of what that sweet international market was like, and there is no going back.

I don't buy these things for the boxes or logos. If the figure checks all the right boxes, I'll buy it, if not I'll think twice. I never expected classified to give us big-ass MOBAT, so I fail to see what difference it makes big picture. I share your disdain for their attitude, but it's not like this mentality doesn't have a precedent within this exact brand (I'm looking at you, Action Team).

I've been jonsing for 6" joes for far too long to get hung up on some mid-level brand manager's philosophy.
 

ThunderDan19

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Yep, I just want the figs to be awesome. A modern asthetic is a plus. The lore is irrelevant to me, as I wasn’t always 100% on board with the original. I have my own version of the story anyway.
 

NSA

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To me personally I'd rather giver Chiner the money directly and get sweet sweet Joytoy figs than give Hasbro/JOE another dollar.

I do agree I understand the WHY but I'm happy to take a stand when they remove REAL AMERICAN HERO for pretend profits.

And anyway 6" is for teh gays
 

nacho

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Bite your tongue!

As much as I thought 4" scale was the bees knees, the sweet spot for detail and still having vehicles... it still is. Except the 6" gives us a lot more detail on the figures and have an awesome shelf presence. And now that I'm down the rabbit hole on my Mega Joe project, I love the tiny scale for more vehicles, better scaled vehicles, and all that stuff I thought I was getting from 4". If I could only have one, I'd probably still pick 4", but I love the benefits of both the larger and smaller scales too.

I can't recall the last time I even touched a 4" figure. I have somewhere between 3k-4k Joes in bins not ten feet away, and it's been a couple of years since I handled one. The rubbery plastic and fragile feel of 25th Joes made me less interested in them for anything but MOC collecting. Remember when Joes were made of hard plastic, never had bowed legs or other random deformations, and could hold a pose? I do, but they haven't made those since DTC. But the big guys and tiny guys, they bring me great joy seeing them on the shelves and they're actually a pleasure to fiddle with.

Joy Toy looks good, but the prices are absurd. No chance I'll pay $30 for a 4" figure. And they have zero nostalgia at all. If I owned any, they'd just be OpFor or cannon fodder. Rando soldiers just don't blow my skirt up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

Giga Bread

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I’ve moved on from 4” scale Joes. I still make 4” stuff, but I realized the thing we all enjoyed about 4”, the vehicles, just isn’t going to get made anymore. Hasbro is just going to reissue the same vehicles we all have with different color decos if they release them at all.
My cowboy stuff I want at 4” because I want horses for them, but I’m cool with moving onto 6”.
 

pcsguy88

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Bite your tongue!

As much as I thought 4" scale was the bees knees, the sweet spot for detail and still having vehicles... it still is. Except the 6" gives us a lot more detail on the figures and have an awesome shelf presence. And now that I'm down the rabbit hole on my Mega Joe project, I love the tiny scale for more vehicles, better scaled vehicles, and all that stuff I thought I was getting from 4". If I could only have one, I'd probably still pick 4", but I love the benefits of both the larger and smaller scales too.

I can't recall the last time I even touched a 4" figure. I have somewhere between 3k-4k Joes in bins not ten feet away, and it's been a couple of years since I handled one. The rubbery plastic and fragile feel of 25th Joes made me less interested in them for anything but MOC collecting. Remember when Joes were made of hard plastic, never had bowed legs or other random deformations, and could hold a pose? I do, but they haven't made those since DTC. But the big guys and tiny guys, they bring me great joy seeing them on the shelves and they're actually a pleasure to fiddle with.

Joy Toy looks good, but the prices are absurd. No chance I'll pay $30 for a 4" figure. And they have zero nostalgia at all. If I owned any, they'd just be OpFor or cannon fodder. Rando soldiers just don't blow my skirt up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you handled a $12 Joytoy figure you would slap yourself for saying this. They have the same articulation and even better detail than any 6” Hasbro figure I have ever handled. It’s not even the same league.
9FE73370-B143-407D-96F7-0F57DE8D3FAD.jpeg08804AAF-2428-4A30-8199-153ADDBF361C.jpeg
 
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nacho

"Big Guns"
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I believe you, as I'm sure they're lovely figures... they just don't interest me. I like Joe for the characters and mythos. Generic soldiers simply don't cut it... no matter how nice they are. My gut reaction is 'meh'.

I got into non-Joe 1:18th stuff originally because "joe scale" vehicles bugged me, not because I wanted to recreate the Tet Offensive in my garage. I simply wanted more realistc Joe stuff. If I weren't old and lazy, I'd be the asshole who painted a spot-cat like a skystriker. ;)
 

ThunderDan19

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Well, I stopped by my local Target (which I have no use for otherwise) this morning for the release of the Viper and Firefly and found zilch. Two other dudes also lurked by. Here’s hoping they were filthy scalpers coming up dry. Stupid Hasbro shouldn’t do exclusives at all, let alone with way too little inventory. It’s a scalper’s wet dream... :rolleyes:

If anyone happens onto either (but particularly the Viper), I’d make it worth your while to get it into my hands. I’d rather pay one of the decent folks here than a scalper.
 

Giga Bread

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It’s looking like in a lot of places, the figures never hit the shelves. They couldn’t sell them because they were system locked until Jan 1st. so everyone is assuming employees are jumping in and scalping them. When you’ve got troopers going 500% markup on eBay, an employee can pocket $500 and worry about getting caught later.
 

ThunderDan19

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Yep, the employee theory is also backed up by both times I’ve looked at the stores. When I looked up the figs on their inventory stations, they reported multiple available (with 0 in back). The employees may be stashing them until closing, buying them at a discount and scalping them at a $100+ markup.

They’ve also completely disappeared from the website. I think Target is getting enough 1 star reviews complaining that they have no safeguards against bots snatching the figs the instant the come up for preorder that the are just pulling them down upon release. Typical lazy big box response...
 

Giga Bread

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They don’t actually want you buying them. They want you coming in and picking a couple things on the way to the toy/collectible sections in the back of their store.

6 each store is low. They just want the publicity that they’re company has the exclusive. They don’t want to physically have it.
 

Giga Bread

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Seeing as though there were a lot of Target closings and there were Targets here in MI that never got the exclusives at all, can you imagine how low the manufacturing run were on these? I bet whatever it was, it was the minimum. And I bet that’s why there’s been no restock because it’s not worth it to go back and make more when the reorder will probably yet another minimum.
There are 1900 Targets in N.America.
That means the run was probably 12k.
That is LOW.
 
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ThunderDan19

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Looks awesome! I realize you were going for "classic," but you gotta get him something besides that circa 1978 UZI. I really miss his green submachinegun. Too bad they didn't make him a futurized version like say a Kriss Vector in OD green... That would be an even better fit than the MP7 that Sideshow gave him IMO.
 

nacho

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I completely agree, 100%. I just couldn't give him that stupid future-gun that he came with. I have a MAC-10 I was going to outfit him with, but the handle is a bit big for his hands and I didn't want to wrestle with it.

I have a 3d printed version of his classic gun coming, but I didn't want to wait for it to get some pics up. I'm very pleased with the mods, as I wasn't sure if I could get the look I wanted or if I was just ruining an expensive figure.
 
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nacho

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These are the most ARAH figures in the line so far and easily my favorite despite historically liking blueshirts much more than vipers.

I'm not just saying that b/c these are the new hotness, they're really fantastic. Hopefully they'll release him again in a much broader fashion than the unobtainable target exclusives. This is a joe figure worthy of the expectations we had for the line from the very beginning.

20210119_223944.jpg
 

ThunderDan19

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Yeah, those are cool! I have no use for the scarves, but otherwise pretty epic! I've given up trying for the Tarjay version and hope they give them the same treatment as the Troopers. I have one of those pre-ordered (for *gasp* retail price) along with Flint and LJ from one of the online retailers due mid year or so in another wave. Maybe Vipers available for all by the end of the year?
 

nacho

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I have no doubt. I just hope they're not some wild repaint like Python Patrol or something useless, just a nice basic slight variant of the exclusive version.

There are (supposedly) pics already floating around of a version with some red on the boots that is speculated to be the mass-release version. But I have no hard evidence to back that up.

I didn't think I needed the scarf, but the neck is bare and looks oddly exposed to me, so I put them on and kinda liked it on them. I mean, I'm not sure what good a scarf would do on a helmeted figure, but it's probably more useful than the goggles on a helmeted figure... but that was odd in 1986 too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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nacho

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I got my zartan and blue trooper from BBTS yesterday. Zartan is great. If I had one niggle it would be the funky angle that his right wrist is molded in relative to the joint. It's a little odd and makes him seem like he's aiming to the left a bit. But that's very minor and overall a great figure. The mask is fine, and I think it's pretty clever how they get the hood to stay on - it's molded around his ears, as opposed to having a peg and a hole in his head or something unsightly like that. The backpack is classic in design, holds the mask, and mine stayed pegged in better than most classified backpacks I've gotten so far, so maybe there's hope that they're improving a bit. Fingers crossed.

Side note: the mask vexes me. While I'm glad they included it because nostalgia, I'm not sure what purpose it serves now any more than it did in 1984. As if anyone is going to see a guy dressed like Zartan and confuse him with Larry from accounting just because he has a mustache and no eye-black. Who is he fooling exactly?

Blue trooper is nice enough. I was fortunate enough to obtain a few of the CI version, and I definitely like the black boots/gloves/vest better. I'll probably end up painting this one to match just to keep from having an oddball with blue boots (WTF), but it's nice that the figure is out for those who didn't get a blueshirt b/c target sucks.

I'll post some pics for you guys this weekend.