A Few Radom Joe Questions

[he-joe1980]

why are there not any joe logos on the new humvees?

 

why is it that stuff comes fully assembled now? you dont get to put togeather or put the stickers on anything any more, half the time the sticers are out of line.

 

 

Which joes have the most versions?

[Draven79]

We don't need big logo's anyway imo, so i am glad they are off.

 

I don't know, Officially its a cost move and the sa crap originally. But I don't buy the cost part and the SA is gone now. I think its just the fact kids are lazy and Hasbor is making it easier for them.

 

Duke, Snake Eyes, Shipwreck, Roadblock all have had quite a few. As far as Cobra, Cobra Commander himself, Destro and Storm Shadow are racking up too.

Draven

[Three Storms]

My best guess for why everything is assembled is because they think the coordination and motor skills of kids has decreased since the 1980's, and kids are no longer able to follow simple instructions.

[Straight Edge]

Actually, its the stores, not Hasbro, that demanded the the change. It had nothing to do with whether the buyers (children or us) are smart or dumb.

 

The Big 5 (Now the big three, I guess, TRU, Walmart and Target) want the product to be visible to the buyer, just like the figures are. So they demanded the packaging be more like a display case than a box. You can't exactly have the current box style, and pices twist-tied to the inside. It has be fully assembled, with stickers, to make any kind of sense for the packaging.

 

Just like Sound Attack, and Action Attack, the basic designs and ideas are Hasbro, but the execution, packaging, and prices are all determined by the Big Three, without who's orders, no mass-market toyline would exist.

 

That's why we'll never see single packs as the standard again. WalMart and Target like the 5-10 dollar price point for toys. A single Joe, on card, would only run about $4.50. But a two pack can work the pricepoint, and parents might like the idea of every single purchase providing a good and bad guy for their kids... no thought necessary on the part of the parents as to who's who in a toyline they know little about. It's spelled out for them.

 

Sound Attack was born out of the toy stores demanding that the vehicles be electronic. They felt that parents forking over 10-20 bucks for a toy would scoff if it didn't *do* something.

 

And Action Attack is largely the result of a Wal-Mart power-play, threatening to cease ordering the line unless the packages advertised some kind of automatic play feature. Personally, I think the resultant "Action Attack" was born of Andrew Frankel, and his obvious disdain for all we as Joe fans hold dear. Rather than packing "Action Attack" weapons and accessories like they did with Hi-Tech in Wave 1, and Night Creeper in Wave 4, he went ahead and put the damned gimmick straight into the figure. I firmly beleive that wind-up backpacks, or water-squirt guns would have ade Walmart just as happy, and would have been easily ignorable/disposable.

 

But it certainly wasn't like Hasbro was sitting around saying "Kids are morons. We can't expect them to actually *assemble* their own toys!".

 

In the 80's, it kept costs down to leave the vehicles unassembled, and allowed large vehicles to be packed in smaller boxes. It's a different industry now. This is likely how it went down:

 

Walmart: We want vehicles in display boxes, so buyers can see what they're getting for these outrageous prices we're charging.

 

Hasbro: Understand that the extra cost for what you're asking will require that you commit to ordering 2 million units more than last year, to guarantee our shareholders of a solid profit margin.

 

Wal-Mart: How about we order 1.5 million more units, and you split the other .5 mil between TRU and Target.

 

Hasbro: Sure, buddy (bends over).

 

... Walmart proceeds to order only 1 million more units over the year, and Hasbro shows a loss.

 

See, isn't business fun!?

[8speed]

... Walmart proceeds to order only 1 million more units over the year, and Hasbro shows a loss.

Good Lord, are you serious?

[T.A.P.]

kids are no longer able to follow simple instructions.

I know I can't! @dunce@

 

[DPrime]

That's why we'll never see single packs as the standard again. WalMart and Target like the 5-10 dollar price point for toys. A single Joe, on card, would only run about $4.50. But a two pack can work the pricepoint, and parents might like the idea of every single purchase providing a good and bad guy for their kids... no thought necessary on the part of the parents as to who's who in a toyline they know little about. It's spelled out for them.

 

You make some good points, but never say never. The big three may well change their minds and want to offer cheaper alternatives to parents.

 

I remember back in the '80s when my parents were buying GI Joe stuff for me, and they always complained that it wasn't assembled. I didn't care - I actually LIKED assembling the vehicle. It was one of my favourite parts of buying a new Joe or Cobra vehicle!

[pesatyel]

Based off yojoe.com, Snake Eyes has 21 versions, Cobra Commander 18, Duke 18, Storm Shadow 16, Gung-Ho 15, Roadblock 13, Viper 12, Destro 11, Alley Viper 10, Dusty 10, Wild Bill 10, Firefly 9, Flint 9, Frostbite 9, Grunt 9, Heavy Duty 9, Shipwreck 9, Wet-Suit 9, Neo-Viper 8, Nightcreeper 8, Tunnel Rat 8, Zartan 8 and Beach Head 8. Scarlett only has 7.

 

Is anyone REALLY surprised that Snake Eyes has the most versions?

[Straight Edge]

Good Lord, are you serious? >>

 

No. I was giving a hypothetical.

Not that I'm saying this sort of thing hasn't happened (it has), but don't sart quoting figures off that, or proclaiming that I said WalMart is the devil (tho they are).

 

So yeah, I was "serious", but not *serious*.

 

>>but never say never>>

 

Good point. That's wy we don't have single packs *now*, and why Hasbro's following the same trend with Robot Rebellion, but, as you say, anything can change at any time.

 

I personally don't see it happening, tho. Maybe when sales start to fall far and fast. But I'll be pushing for a 6" detailed collectors line by then, hoping to redirect the line to a different crowd before we experience another 7 year gap.

[Interpol]

I could never put on stickers. I'm so so so glad they don't make me any more.

[Nerd-Viper]

So if all this is true, then why does the Corps! get away with putting out single packs at walmart for such a low price?

[pesatyel]

So if all this is true, then why does the Corps! get away with putting out single packs at walmart for such a low price?

Those are T-crotches, for starters. That automatically makes them cheaper. Hasbro is one of the top toy companies in the world. Does anyone even KNOW what company makes Corps figures? @loll@ And G.I. Joe is one of the biggest brand names in toys. Also, I think the quality of Corps figures is inferior.

[RoyalZarak]

I could never put on stickers.  I'm so so so glad they don't make me any more.

 

I'm glad they don't make you too! @loll@

[Pit Viper]

Why does the Corps! get single packs but the Joes don't?

[Draven79]

Why does the Corps! get single packs but the Joes don't?

Cause they are cheap geniric crap.

Draven

[Card]

Cheap generic crap that walmart pays somthing close to 10 cents per figure and then take up Joe space with its unselling greatness on the shelf.

[8speed]

BBI single packs got for $7.99, so that's something to think about.

[Straight Edge]

>>Does anyone even KNOW what company makes Corps figures? >>

 

Lanard. Many years ago (something like 1998) they had a few reps join YoJoe.com's mailing list, asking Joe fans what they could do to fill our 3 3/4" figure needs. We suggested civilian figures for our Joes and Cobras to fight over. Later that year, Lanard started producing CORPS! Construction, Police, and Rescue themed lines, as well as the all-girl 3 3/4" line which I've forgotten the name of.

 

They were all in-scale, nearly identical to the vintage Joes we hadn't seen since 1994, and compared to the TRU exclusives in 1997, they were *high* quality.

 

Myself, and Eagle Eye Joe (the guy who does those Battle Briefings now) got the best surprise of all when one of the Police figures was named Eagle Eye, and a Construction worker got the name Straight-Edge, who happened to wear a baseball cap and sunglasses... the same look I sported in all my webpage pics at that time. Those Lanard Reps were nice guys while they hung around.

 

So yeah, there was a time when Lanard had a faithful following among GIJoe fans. They helped us through a rough time, when most of you guys weren't around. Now that GIJoe is back on top, it's sad to say Lanard has reverted the Corps to a rip-off, inferior line of largely generic soldiers, when they could have easily offered such companion figures as civilians, and civil servants that could've been used in tandem with the new GIJoe. As such, they've been relegated to custom fodder, mostly for weapons.

[8speed]

As such, they've been relegated to custom fodder, mostly for weapons.

Aren't the handles too thick for Joe figures? They are kick-ass weapon molds though.

[Straight Edge]

Aren't the handles too thick for Joe figures? They are kick-ass weapon molds though. >>

 

Maybe for vintage figures (and some of the carny-folk VvV figures). But there was a point when they fit well in the hands of characters like Shipwreck (the first new sculpt) and Roadblock. Could be I'm wrong tho. I don't have a WalMart in NYC that I can get to, and I haven't ever seen a new style Corps figure in person. Thank God.

[matt74]

Why does the Corps! get single packs but the Joes don't?

Cause they are cheap geniric crap.

Draven

amen!

[Draven79]

>>Does anyone even KNOW what company makes Corps figures? >>

 

Lanard. Many years ago (something like 1998) they had a few reps join YoJoe.com's mailing list, asking Joe fans what they could do to fill our 3 3/4" figure needs. We suggested civilian figures for our Joes and Cobras to fight over. Later that year, Lanard started producing CORPS! Construction, Police, and Rescue themed lines, as well as the all-girl 3 3/4" line which I've forgotten the name of.

 

They were all in-scale, nearly identical to the vintage Joes we hadn't seen since 1994, and compared to the TRU exclusives in 1997, they were *high* quality.

 

Myself, and Eagle Eye Joe (the guy who does those Battle Briefings now) got the best surprise of all when one of the Police figures was named Eagle Eye, and a Construction worker got the name Straight-Edge, who happened to wear a baseball cap and sunglasses... the same look I sported in all my webpage pics at that time. Those Lanard Reps were nice guys while they hung around.

 

So yeah, there was a time when Lanard had a faithful following among GIJoe fans. They helped us through a rough time, when most of you guys weren't around. Now that GIJoe is back on top, it's sad to say Lanard has reverted the Corps to a rip-off, inferior line of largely generic soldiers, when they could have easily offered such companion figures as civilians, and civil servants that could've been used in tandem with the new GIJoe. As such, they've been relegated to custom fodder, mostly for weapons.

I was around then and big in the Joe community so my thoughts are no bandwangers. I thought the Crops stuff sucked then, before then and still do today.

Draven

[hamsterboy]

What do some of you guys mean by no single packs? What the heck do you think places like Dollar General have?

[Straight Edge]

What do some of you guys mean by no single packs? What the heck do you think places like Dollar General have? >>

 

That's not Mass Market. The core toyline is composed of two-packs. The single packs are an off-shoot product, sold to smaller outlets.

 

You cannot collect every figure if you only buy the single packs. The single packs exist to get people who don't ordinarily go to chain toy stores to buy one for a cheap price, get a kid hooked, then have him/her *demand* more, which'll force the parents to make their way to the mass market retailers to look for more product.

 

 

 

And Draven, I'm well aware of how long you've been around. Always cool to know some of us stuck it out all thes years.

Hate to think what your opinion of the Real American Hero collection was, if you thought the CORPS was a bunch of garbage! LOL!

 

Man, I love my complete RAHC set, but those are some asses-ugly figures, especially 97.