I'm not really sure what they mean by enabling and simplifying army builders for collectors. It's a smart move, but still kind of vague. Are half the cases showing up at Toys R Us in the future going to consist of army buildable figures? How would they do that without squeezing out the supposed emphasis on producing popular characters/vehicles while also adding new characters and vehicles while also appealing to both collectors and adults at the same time? I don't think it's necessarily impossible but this sounds like they're making some broad promises here by stating a plethora of broad goals for this year's line-up, and judging from the lowered standard with quality control in the past few years, I'm not sure how they're going to fulfill these goals. Is G.I. Joe finally going to be sold at more than two retailers again? Or is it still stuck at Toys R Us and Dollar General? Will they be making efforts to compete next Christmas with other military toy brands like Soldier Force and Power Team elite, or will this simply be more of the same? How are they going to solve the issue of "lost waves"? They would need to do something about these issues to achieve a lot of these goals.
Here's what I think they should really be focusing on doing. There are two basic things they need to do. First, they need to devise and implement a proper marketing strategy/campaign to promote the brand amongst kids and their parents. This inherently involves embracing the military aspect of G.I. Joe while also keeping it unique amongst the other military toy brands. In other words, less cyber ninjas and Master Cheif look-a-likes, and more soldiers. They also need to advertise the products! How many toys commercials aired for Pursuit of Cobra, the 30th Anniversary, and the Retaliation toy lines? None! Second, they need to create a consistent toy-line that doesn't have too many figures and too many waves. Pursuit of Cobra, 30th anniversary, and Retaliation all suffered from too much fluff, each worst then the last. POC was a strong line because its theme and aesthetic remained consistent until the final wave. However, POC was cursed with Arctic Destro, action gimmick ninjas, and having a hyper-inflated final wave that came and went faster then could be reasonably purchased. 30th Anniversary was like a melting pot of toy-lines. Like POC it started off with both new characters, and contemporary reimaginings of classic characters. Then Renegades hit. For whatever reason, Hasbro decided to release figures for the TV show that they already cancelled. Between doing modern updates, compound Z, Renegades, and classic styled characters like Sci-Fi, Life-Line, and Air-Tight, there was no consistent theme nor a consistent aesthetic. Once again, the final wave squeezed in way too many figures, and came and went like a mysterious ninja. Retaliation was probably the worst. It opened up with entire waves of figures that were almost entirely unrelated to the film. Entire waves were dedicated to inaccuracy and ripping off other franchises, like Halo (Joe Trooper) and Tron (Cyber Ninja). Why they would want to rip off Tron, a failure of a movie with a disastrous toy-line is confusing. Most of the figures that were dedicated to film accuracy were squeezed into a final wave with a bunch of figures that had no business being in the Retaliation line to begin with. "Ultimate" Cobra Commander, Storm-Shadow, Night-Viper, Crimson Guardsmen, Kwinn, and Invasion 3-pack Firefly should never had been in that line at all and instead saved for the 50th Anniversary, which is clearly meant to be (for the most part) a line dedicated to representing the classic character designs with contemporary construction. Instead, Hasbro needs to simply keep things simple.
Hasbro needs to stop smashing every idea, character, and universe together into the same lines and action figure waves. It's not working. It has harmed the brand. It causes poor retail performance, frustrates collectors, and perpetuates disinterest amongst kids. If Hasbro feels the need to have multiple G.I. Joe toy lines to be produced and sold simultaneously, then it needs to make them separate. Star Wars, Marvel, and Transformers, (and arguably with the addition of Dollar General exclusive figures G.I. Joe) already do this. A Joe toy line designed and marketed for a broader audience (collectors and kids alike) needs to have a consistent theme, aesthetic, and universe/time-line. The movie line is the best way to do this. Several characters who did not appear in the movie should not be in this line. It can still have army buildable figures so long as they are based on the mooks in the film, especially if they're Cobra. Rise of Cobra tried this with several old and new characters alike (some of them were really good like Agent Helix), but the anti realistic military aesthetic made many of them look like rejected Mass Effect characters while also making too many figures and too many waves, although that may not have been a bad problem. Mole Pods and unappealing vehicles plagued the line, thus establishing the recent trend of having almost no vehicles in newer Joe lines.
A line that simply aims to appeal to nostalgia by recreating classic character designs with new construction needs to remain a Toys R Us exclusive, or at the very least it's own toy line, in separate boxes with separate titles. The waves of both lines need to have moderate variety, not too few (below four figures) or too many (above eight). There should be no more than three waves.
I have reservations about Weber's ability to revitalize the brand, but the change in brand managers does show that the company has some interest in ensuring the longevity of the brand, and that's the most G.I. Joe has really got in the past few years outside of a couple mediocre films that don't really capture or visualize the spirit (or what everyone loves) of/about the brand.
That is FSS 3.0 13th figure! 
