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What factors are making the 25th Anniversary line so popular?


imthebigdawg

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Based on SDCC news - the PDD sell-out first day, new waves, a movie, etc - I have to ask: why is GI JOE now popular again? I can remember 6 or 7 years ago when HASBRO tried to relauch GI Joe, there seemed to be no buzz. IMO, the line really did seem to lack focus. Yes, they were remakes of the old joes, but they didn't feel like it. Something didnt feel right about the line from the get go. However, this new line, does feel right. I know people have their concerns, but something is different. This is a line that i am very excited about. I cant wait for the new announcements and I check the forums every day hoping there is a new nugget of news. I just cant figure out why now? i didnt feel this way in 2000-2001. I didnt feel this way when they remade the RAh two figure packs. Why now? The one thing that keeps coming back is the packaging. The original relaunch drastically changed the packaging and filecards. It wasnt until HTS did they go back to what made GI jOE one of the greatest lines ever: the clip and save file card and the front packaging art. Even though it was different than the original, it was close. Now, the packaging is almost identical and I truly think it really adds to the excitement and popularity. What do others think?

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Hasbro gave up trying to re-introduce G.I.joe to the new kids of today (apparently they don't get into action figure toys like you guys did back in the 80's) so they've gone back and pulled out the ol' nostalgia gimmick, for the ARAH's 25th anniversary.

 

It's been 25 years since it's introduction, so it's only fitting of course, but that's where all the "buzz" is coming from with the older fans and collectors of their childhood toys.

 

It's not like you're going to get a response from some 4-8 year old here, as to why they like these new G.I.Joes so much. You're asking grown men, why they like these toys that look just like the toys they played with as a kid? @lol@

 

Not too difficult to figure out. Nostalgia!

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It's the original, RAH character designs, plain and simple.

 

Yes, there are other factors that are contributing to the success, but if you're looking for one overriding reason why these are grabbing people's attention, it's because of the characters. You could call that nostalgia, too, if you want, but I think this is a lot more specific - they actually LOOK like the Duke, SE, etc, that we all remember!

 

Hopefully Hasbro takes note of this and applies it to the TF line as well. The MP line is great but slow... I'd love to see more G1 characters and smaller MPs too, like Jazz and the others. Just imagine if they had done this whole 25th thing before the TF movie - maybe they would have gone with a more G1 look, who knows?

 

For that matter, maybe they'll factor in nostalgia a lot more for a GI Joe movie, because of this...

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Nostalgia & Cost.

 

Cost is another good point. I'm really happy with the SRP on these! Compare them to the $10+ Star Wars figures that are on "original" cards. Obviously that has to do with the cost of the Star Wars license, but $5 for these new Joes is just awesome!

 

#US1#

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I agree that it's nostalgia and the RAH character designs. Put a figure on the shelf and call it "Duke" and people other than devoted fans are going to say "Oh this is supposed to be Duke?" Put a figure on the shelf that looks just like Duke did in he 80s and people are going to say, "Hey it's Duke!" The packaging is another factor of course because they basically look just lik they did in the 80s.

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Hasbro gave up trying to re-introduce G.I.joe to the new kids of today (apparently they don't get into action figure toys like you guys did back in the 80's) so they've gone back and pulled out the ol' nostalgia gimmick, for the ARAH's 25th anniversary.

 

It's been 25 years since it's introduction, so it's only fitting of course, but that's where all the "buzz" is coming from with the older fans and collectors of their childhood toys.

 

It's not like you're going to get a response from some 4-8 year old here, as to why they like these new G.I.Joes so much. You're asking grown men, why they like these toys that look just like the toys they played with as a kid? @lol@

 

Not too difficult to figure out. Nostalgia!

 

 

You say Nostaglia and I agree, but why did it not kick off with the first, second, third reintroduction of the line? Is it simply the presentation of the figures? The design? The actual character itself? Does the comic have anything to do with it? Why did the same people who are gobbling up the 25th figures not go nuts over the previous lines? One thing i worried about when I heard about the 25th line was whether or not they were going to switch gears mid-stream. They seem to be going in one direction with a few curve balls thrown in (New design Zartan/Serpentor). BTW, I expected you to sink your teeth into this topic. Please dont disappoint.

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You say Nostaglia and I agree, but why did it not kick off with the first, second, third reintroduction of the line?

 

Not sure what you mean? What do you mean by "it"....the new 25th line or the return of G.I.Joe altogether back in say '00 or so?

 

 

Why did the same people who are gobbling up the 25th figures not go nuts over the previous lines?

 

All kinds of reasons! :) I believe most fans were getting into the ARAHC line, even though it was just rehashing old molds with new paint schemes (some good some bad) and most were older molds and consisted of lesser known or liked characters, even some new characters for added spice, but they changed up on us, and came out with T-crotch! #yuk@#

 

Then it was just a constant parade of one style attempt, to the next, and nothing was consistent or matched, and diaper crotches came along, pin heads, funky attempts at added articulation points in weird places that looked stupid. "Standard Buck" was invented and all it must have meant is SMALLER molds, because they looked like dwarfs up against the older figures. Sound attack and VvV and it's "monsters" seem to be the last straw for most the fans trying to keep up. Even the comic 3-packs had some flaws and aggrevations about them, with cheap plastic and paint apps to ridiculously small heads (new heads on old bodies) that didn't look to match all that well. It was just a major discombobulated clustf@#k of a G.I.Joe grab bag of goodies and turds.

 

 

One thing i worried about when I heard about the 25th line was whether or not they were going to switch gears mid-stream. They seem to be going in one direction with a few curve balls thrown in (New design Zartan/Serpentor).

 

 

I think that's the main thing here, that they're (the 25th line) a lot more consistent than offers and lines past, but there's still a few inconsistencies with them, and they go through different processes and handlers I guess, in the mold sculpting department. I think my Major Barrage is a much better G.I.joe toy than these new ones, but nobody will agree because..."who the hell is Maj. Barrage?" @lol@ He has no nostalgia value to him. A lesser toy, like what I think the new Flint is, gets all the love because why? N.O.S.T.A.L.G.I.A.! We all love Flint, we love him in his Black beret and shirt with green and brown camo pants. He can kick himself in the ass now, with those new hinged knees, but can't sit down properly because of his diaper crotch, but WHO CARES, it's Flint and his has his Black beret and shirt, with Green and Brown camo pants. Look at the complaints about longer sleeves and no gloves, because the two added missing features of short sleeves and brown gloves would have made him LOOK exactly like the old Flint, and that's what everybody wants most of all.

 

How many members here, won't even take the figure out of the package?

 

How many members here USE to rip the figures out of the package, barely salvaging the filecard and then went out and immediately put the toys to good use?

 

Those members just want a second chance to have that classic packaging again, and this time NOT rip it to pieces trying to get to the figure inside, and instead have a nice classice, visually pleasing, reminiscent generating fodder, for nostalgic sake G.I.Joe figure. :)

 

 

BTW, I expected you to sink your teeth into this topic. Please dont disappoint.

 

I'm chompin'! @smilepunch@

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It's the original, RAH character designs, plain and simple.

 

Yes, there are other factors that are contributing to the success, but if you're looking for one overriding reason why these are grabbing people's attention, it's because of the characters. You could call that nostalgia, too, if you want, but I think this is a lot more specific - they actually LOOK like the Duke, SE, etc, that we all remember!

 

I agree, it's the characters we know and as they should look.

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They seem to be going in one direction with a few curve balls thrown in (New design Zartan/Serpentor). BTW, I expected you to sink your teeth into this topic. Please dont disappoint.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure about the curve balls to be quite honest. The line is too new for those new designs, if you ask me. I'm not saying they're not nice, but although it's looking good at the moment, we don't know how long the line will last. It'd be a shame not to have original design versions of Serps and Zartan if the line was suddenly cancelled.

 

But, like my hope for a "proper" Flint, SE V2 and SS V2 (and maybe a unique mold Beachhead, from what we've seen... or is it Firefly? I haven't looked at the figures too closely to tell you the truth), if this line takes off like SW we could get other versions.

 

Now that I think of it, they should just replace the SW line with this. The prequel hype's over, time for something new! ;)

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You say Nostaglia and I agree, but why did it not kick off with the first, second, third reintroduction of the line? Is it simply the presentation of the figures? The design? The actual character itself? Does the comic have anything to do with it? Why did the same people who are gobbling up the 25th figures not go nuts over the previous lines? One thing i worried about when I heard about the 25th line was whether or not they were going to switch gears mid-stream. They seem to be going in one direction with a few curve balls thrown in (New design Zartan/Serpentor). BTW, I expected you to sink your teeth into this topic. Please dont disappoint.

 

The reason those other previous incarnations did not take off with ME was like mentioned before....Duke was not dressed like Duke. New Sculpt/T Crotch would have gotten me more interested if they had left the character designs alone and not made the changes in appearance that they made. But again that is just me.

 

The current comic sucks imho. I've read Joe since #1 and the current arc and art is about as interesting as watching paint dry at your mother-in-law's house. To me the comic ended when the Marvel Run ended...the rest is just fan-fic to me (and bad fan fic at that). Is that just nostalgia speaking? Probably. But you asked for opinions.

 

As far as "changes" or "Switching gears" on the figures..if it is little things like making sure they can sit down is the change...then I am all for it. If it means putting wrist articulation at the WRIST and not the forearm (where there is not a natural break) then bring it, if it is giving gloves and short sleeves to characters that originally had gloves and short sleeves, I don't have a problem. If we are talking about giving them see-through skin or action features or re-adjusting scale (see Star Wars from 95-now) or giving them uniforms based on DDP then yes I have concerns.

 

I would assume for as many fan that are in these forums you will get that many different answers.

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From a slightly different perspecitve I'd like to offer this:

 

To me it seems that folks are #1 excited about the chance to buy Joe at retail again. It's sucked sour frog a$$ not being able to buy Joe in my scale for the last however long it's been.

 

These are definitive versions of the classic designs. While they are not all perfect (the crotch issue, and the elbow problem being the most glaring) they are the closest fans have gotten in a very, very long time to the "good old days".

 

The community itself has generated a tremendous amount of buzz about these guys, and that is a beast that feeds itself. When people are interested, talking about and buying new product, only good things can happen.

 

Better communication from Hasbro. Whether it's actual or not, any interaction with the design team and appearance of feedback is a plus. This is something that has been lacking up to this point.

 

The last of consistency thru the last few iterations of Joe was one of the things that was a downer for me personally, but with this new line it seems that is a thing of the past, and because it's all shiny and new it's easy to get on for the ride.

 

As a guy who has made his customizing career re-designing classic Joes, I've got no issue whatsoever with the new design elements being used in this line. Some things are better left behind no matter how much you might love a bare-bellied biker guy, or a dude with a gigantic Cobra for a helmet. Don't be married to the past, but remember it fondly and keep an open mind on what's coming now.

 

Overall, I like the new stuff, and without a doubt will love it as soon as they fix the manufacturing problems so count me in for the long haul. Don't expect to see me doing too many new customs though, because it that department Hasbro seems to have deliberately cut that out from the end user making a playable/posable custom.

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To me it seems that folks are #1 excited about the chance to buy Joe at retail again. It's sucked sour frog a$$ not being able to buy Joe in my scale for the last however long it's been.

 

These are definitive versions of the classic designs. While they are not all perfect (the crotch issue, and the elbow problem being the most glaring) they are the closest fans have gotten in a very, very long time to the "good old days".

 

You totally hit the nail on the head Al.....I started buying up Joes again with the re-launch of JvC...mostly RAH stuff though. 2002 was like a Joe "gold rush" for me I started buying up everything I could, vehicles, bases, figures.... you name it, I either had it or was going to have it soon. JvC was cool and all....but it gave me like 25% of that feeling that I had when I was a kid. The only way that I could get my old school GI Joe fix was through the mail and paypal (you know what I mean). The MOTU line at the time kinda made me wonder what could happen if GI JOE got the same type of treatment. JvC just wasn't cuttin it my mind.....at least for that NOSTALGIA fix I was needin.........

 

Then the 25th figures came about.......when I first saw that Storm Shadow and that packaging I was back in 1985 at TRU/KB/Child World (Pre Wal-mart when toy stores meant something) with my Grandparents looking at the pegs getting new Joes.........then the ride home when I would plot out how my new Joe figures would fit into my Joe Verse when I got home.

 

To answer your question though........they make me feel like a kid again. Way more than JvC, Spytroops, TRU exclusives, anything in the past 5 years.....they are absolutly perfect in my eyes (some little complaints here and there).....Now If I can just get a Barbecue I can die happy.

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I cannot argue against the nostalgia driving this line--as its clearly dripping with nostalgia.

For my money, the appeal is in the better sculpts.

There's a maturation in the sculpting that makes these figures look better. The functionality is lesser, right now, but the over all fidelity of detail is very high. My first hands-on impression what that the sculpts were very crisp, lots of small details very well defined.

 

Now, if they could only do vehicles in this same vein.....

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for me its the scale on the vvsv line the shoulders were to big and the head to small it drove me insane these seem to have a better body proporsion and i was excided when they brought back the original molds in 2000 when i found the trouble bubble in tru i was so happy cause i never had one as a kid

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I'm going to agree with ARROW on this one. I really like the amount of detail that went into these, as well as the proportions. Heck, you can see the nylon mesh on the sides of the Cobra soldiers' boots- THAT's detail! We no longer have the muppet hands or oversized/undersized body parts (although some may argue about the head sizes). For me, these are the GI Joe Legends everyone's been asking for, but in the familiar scale we all grew up with.

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childhood memories.i bet that almost every gi joe fan on here remembers where they were when they got thier first gi joe figure and who that figure was.i am 34 and remember that my first one was flash and it was at a little store in cambell county,tn called super x.i had played with the 12 inch joe's,but to me they had nothing on the new rah one.the commercials were also awsome.

 

God bless,

john #US1#

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To me, as most have said, nostalgia is a big factor with the packaging, but one thing I LOOOOVE about 25th is the awesome, definitive versions of these characters. That Storm Shadow and Destro are great examples. It's EXACTLY like I wanted these characters to look.

 

I'm very excited about this line.

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They look a helluva lot better than whatever it was that Hasbro was trying to do with THESE...

 

lg12134888rh8.png

 

If somebody said there's a Duke, Gung Ho and Destro in there, (before I knew there was) I would have thought "yeah right...WHERE?" @lol@

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