Darren

I AM SELLING MY ENTIRE GI JOE COLLECTION. For those of you that know me...you know I had a lot and now it's time for it to go! Here are the auctions thus far, I will be adding more vintage and modern stuff during THIS week!!! Thank you! http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZdmital

I work too so it's tough to get these when they pop up. If anyone has any extras that they're willing to sell. I am definitely interested, PLEASE CONTACT ME! Or maybe I'll trade for a Wave 1 Snake-Eyes w/ Black Timber....hmmmmmmm.....

TOMMMMM!!! BABYS.......! THAT IS ROCKIN'!!! I LOVE YOUR CC AND VIPER DESIGNS!!!!!

The Dark Knight *new* suit Batman figure is NOT a final product. Note the disclaimer at the bottom mentioning that the product is NOT final and it is pending licensor approval as well. Hot Toys is indeed redoing the original Batman Begins suit for TWO reasons. 1) Yes, the first figure was crummy and definitely sub-par compared to the quality that Hot Toys does now. Obviously now they have a second shot at it and are knocking it out of the park with a home run. This is their way of redeeming themselves since the company's quality and work has improved ten-fold since their original release. The person who mentioned this before is completely right. 2) *SPOILER* SPOILER* In case you didn't know, Batman does indeed wear his "Begins" suit for part of The Dark Knight. So why not redo it? *SPOILER END* Hot Toys figures typically have 30+ points of articulation and the joints are based along areas of NATURAL human movement. Try looking up "Hot Toys TRUETYPE" to see their body style that is underneath the suit. Obviously, due to the rubber/plastic material for this figure you will not be able to do any extreme posing without damaging the outfit but you can still get him in some cool poses. I own a lot of Hot Toys figures and if you're on the fence..come on over..you will NOT be disappointed. I know the price is expensive but you'll be very happy with what you get. BTW - good luck finding the Joker...he's pre-order sold out on a lot of websites.

Well no doubt about that ARROW. If I didn't have the knowledge and insight into the 1:6 high-end figure field that I had then I probably would've balked at the price as well. Like I mentioned before, that focus is like seeing a far, distant island from TNI. You can see it, you sometimes hear about it, but you really don't know what it's about until you're there and you can study it a little bit more. Speaking of which, I'm only 25 but I've been able to afford my high-end stuff by actually getting rid of a lot of my previous stuff (aside from SOME GI Joe stuff, I also had other "retail-store" figures, some of which luckily fetched some nice prices on eBay). For those interested in Snake-Eyes, Sideshow sells "bulk sales" to various online retailers who actually sell Snake-Eyes for less (an amount negotiated and agreed upon between the store and Sideshow). In this case, the following sites have Snake-Eyes for $107.99 but Regular Edition only (Sideshow Exclusive is sold exclusively at Sideshow): CornerStore Comics AlterEgo Comics

I've been a 1/6th scale collector since the mid 80's, I have several hundred figures in my collection, and I have paid attention to the trends and offerings over the years even though I collect far less than I used to. I've been involved in many of the on-line 1/6th scale communities since 1995, and TNI isn't one I count amongst them. The stuff that Sideshow is producing, in terms of unit numbers is single-digit percentages compared to what Hasbro, Mattel, 21C, Formative and a few others were making just under a decade ago. They profit because they make enough to address a niche audience, not a mass one. The popularity you speak of is limited to those folks that wander into a specialty store (or on-line venue) to buy these, not a mass-retailer. Yes, Hot Toys, Medicom and Sideshow have diversified, but they are not addressing a clientele that is any larger than the military figure collector base used to be--and it was discovered that collector base is a LOT smaller than people thought. Sideshow is not selling these things in hundred units-per in collectible stores, they are selling maybe a dozen-per store. Hasbro still sold far more 1/6th Star Wars figures at TRU and Walmart but virtue of accessiblity. I think we were going two different directions here as I wasn't even speaking of the collectibles in stores like Wal-Mart, Target,etc. That's quite obvious that there are massive sales once those items hit that market. I was referring more to the items in terms of "collector popularity" and what I've seen throughout my experience in the field. I have seen a jump in popularity for those items that I collect and I know at its price point and target audience, they will NEVER be a Wal-Mart selling item.

Yes, and no. Yes, in that there's more being offered than that by Hasbro and Mattel--who are not offering much in 1/6th outside of Barbie in Mattel's case these days. No, in that the 1/6th scale realm has ( or is) grown by leaps and bounds--which is not the case. 1/6th has been on a steady decline since the year 2000. All of the major players have cut back their releases, Dragon, BBi, Dragon in Dreams, 21C etc--and some, like 21C have all but dropped out of the 1/6th game ( except for their weapons sets). Sideshow has maintained a presence in collectible specialty stores by focus on a very niche 1/6 clientele interest. That's why their stuff can be priced so high, its aimed at a very small market. I did 1/6th for a long time, and still have hundreds of figures--but I cannot afford the stuff coming out these days. I can kitbash a decent version ( to maybe about 75%) with existing mid-to-high-end accessories and such for about $40-$50. It would not be AS NICE, but it would be a heckuva lot cheaper. ARROW, it sounds like you haven't had a look at the 1:6 figure field NOW. You've mentioned BBI, Dragon, etc. who have cut down on their release, of course they have but that was because they couldn't keep up by just releasing military figures. The 1:6 figure realm has expanded much further than just military figures...it's gone into A LOT of licensing and to see where it shines you have to look further than companies like Dragon, BBI, etc. Sideshow took off like a rocket when they acquired the Star Wars license...and we know SW fans gobble EVERYTHING up no matter what. This perhaps turned those fans onto other offerings and products. Ever since getting Star Wars, Sideshow has added several other 1:6 licenses to their resume, LotR, Indiana Jones, and now even G.I. Joe. Then lets look at Hot Toys...I remember when these guys first unveiled their first couple of licensed figures: Superman Returns, Batman Begins, Corporal Hicks, Sgt. Apone and two Predators from AvP. Take a look at their website and look at their product selection (both current and coming soon) now: http://www.hottoys.com.hk/ Take a look at Japan's 1:6 company as well, Medicom. Now it terms of popularity, there's no chart or whatever we can pull up to look at that. However, I've been in the 1:6 figure realm more recently and I've seen a certain up-hill trend. Yet that may be a matter of my own perspective as you have your own. Actually there is such a HUGE LACK OF 1:6 FIGURE DISCUSSION here on TNI that it's "foreign territory" to a lot of people here. They may know OF IT, they may know WHAT IT IS, but they don't know all the players, they don't know all the products, etc. etc. I speak from experience because I had to find another forum where that discussion was much more plentiful. You don't really know what's going on with it from just being on TNI. Let's not also forget that the 1:6 figure market is also VERY POPULAR overseas as well in the Asian markets. You can probably credit them more for sales than the USA. Which in turn can give these companies more opportunities to grow and offer more product for us Western collectors. No need to debate price points, it's obvious the figures are much more expensive than they used to be. But the quality, licenses, and detail have certainly gone up 10-fold from what you may have known. It's a much pricier hobby.

A lot of you are probably unfamiliar with the 12'' figure field. It is not all about Hasbro and what Mattel and all them put out there. The 12'' figure realm has grown by leaps and bounds in popularity, detail and licenses thanks to companies like Hot Toys, Sideshow and Medicom. Take a look at all those products... Hot Toys' figures retail between $99-$150 on average with a few rare higher-priced piece (1:6 scale Power Loader) and $150 is a common price for Medicom figures. Sideshow was cheap before...but they won't be anymore. Keep in mind that the body designs underneath the suits also cost money to make and offer a wide variety of poses. Sideshow JUST RECENTLY announced a new figure body called the "Prometheus". Their previous body, the "Art S. Buck" was TERRIBLE and crappy and the ONLY way they could compete with Medicom and Hot Toys with that body style was their low prices. To give you some detail, the Buck body had limited poses on top of poor joint construction that made a lot of poses look "unnatural". It did not hold a candle to the Hot Toys' TRUETYPE body and Medicom's RAH Model. Because this new figure body has much more to it, it of course will cost more to produce and that cost will also be added to Sideshow's figures. Sideshow's Indiana Jones will be the FIRST figure to feature the Prometheus body, Snake-Eyes is obviously looking to be the second. Keep in mind too that Snake-Eyes has TONS of accessories that have never been seen with a Sideshow figure before. I believe no SS figure has EVER had this much stuff...and that costs money to develop as well. To stay afloat in the 12'' figure market, Sideshow had to develop a new figure body. They have some amazing licenses, but they would always fall short with that damn Buck body... now with Prometheus, they can step up their game but unfortunately that comes with a step up in prices as well.

Why is Hasbro so CRAZY IN LOVE with Heavy Duty? They've been pushing this guy hardcore ever since JvC's initial run in early 2000. Replacing my favorite black, rhyme-talkin', heavy gunner ROADBLOCK!!!! Ain't no way!!! @grumpy@ Now we know Hasbro has the name again since Roadblock showed up in Spytroops...yet they STILL push Heavy Duty on us and are trying to force out Roadblock! And now Heavy Duty is in the movie taking Roadblock's place? WTF, man? We had Heavy Duty in JvC, we had Heavy Duty in Spytroops (I don't care if I'm wrong, he was there somewhere!!!!), we had him multiple times in Valor vs. Venom and wasn't he in DTC as one of the vehicle drivers (I know his body was re-used!!!)???? We only had Roadblock ONCE during Spytroops with a few repaints! Where's all this love you have for Heavy Duty coming from Hasbro?!?!

Congratz on your find! I don't blame you on taking as much as you could. I would've!!! Like it or not, collecting is a selfish hobby with "me,me, and me" before anyone else! Where are you in Virginia? I'm in Northern Virginia, if you're around there...which Wal-Mart was this at?

Mattel never learns their lesson.....they should cut all this Chase Variant bullcrap out.

I'll be waiting for Sideshow's 12'' Joes.

Snake-Eyes look great except for the ugly-ass molded lips....WTF? He can't even speak. It's like the nipples on Batman...they're there for NO REASON. Baroness and Storm Shadow look awesome. I dig the RELOADED Stormy look...but I hope he wears a white mask during the movie at one point. Where's the COBRA logo? I hope it eventually pops up in the movie! I UNDERSTAND the idea behind the uniform costumes but come on... they could've done SOMETHING to make them unique to the character. Much like the X-Men movie and even Sigma Six...the costumes all were similar but the characters each had some unique colors to them. They could've left Snakes all black, and then given some riveting and/or piping some color on the other characters. Tan/gold on Duke, Green on Ripcord, Red on Scarlett, etc. Just like all the X-Men had their unique colors. Tatum looks good as Duke, but he should've colored his hair...or maybe this is an early 'test shot'....everyone notice the Sigma Six scar he has on his cheek? BTW - I think Marlon Wayans looks bad ass and tough, but he should be STALKER....not Ripcord. Hawk should have his bomber jacket...he looks more like Flint Cover Girl is hot, but I think they could've got someone who looked more like her....and maybe given her the traditional brown jacket. GET RID OF THE LIPS ON SNAKE-EYES!!! @grumpy@ I'm curious to see if Destro and Cobra Commander will redeem the overall look.

GREAT WORK TOM!!!!!! I dig them buddy and it has a very unique flair to them that only you can pull off.

The word going around is two things....Sideshow will either show their first GI Joe figure at SDCC.....SDCC is their big event because its right in their back yard (they're located in California too) and they also hold "on-location" pre-orders for the people there that want stuff. However, to generate interest...Hasbro MAY request for them to show something at the Joecon, but that would be because Hasbro wants them to...not Sideshow. All odds point to SDCC.