G.I. Joe Classified Series

AceofKnaves said:
I’m gonna guess that major single-card ARAH guys like Iceberg and such won’t be locked behind a HasLab: the team has said they won’t do that.
Now Frostbite is a given for sure. Beyond that, if the Dragonfly is any indication, we’ll get alt-versions of characters and maybe an international/niche figure. Dragonfly was Night Force, but Snow Cat seems even more obvious: Arctic themed alt-costumes. Interestingly, the comic and cartoon give us some options that are fan-favorites:
-Arctic Snake-Eyes from the comics. He was a mainline release in the 25th line. Easily done with existing parts.
-Arctic Quinn. Assuming a “safari shorts” version will be more widely available.
-various Sunbow-style Arctic Joes. Most of them dressed in winter gear in various episodes, I think Duke, Lady Jaye, Gung-Ho and Shipwreck would all be good choices, and more as well.
Now here is where it gets interesting:
Arctic Cobras.
Now they may want to save these for an Arctic Cobra HasLab, but I’m not really sure what they would be. The Wolf? Anyway, Cobra has *iconic* Sunbow Arctic looks:
-Cobra Commander
-Destro
-Dr Mindbender
All three of those have very popular cold weather looks from the cartoon, in the case of Mindbender some folks prefer the big fur-lined coat to the bare chest. Depending on how they do the parts, Mindbender could mostly be a “pre-paint” of a mainline “lab coat”/Devil’s Due comics version of the good doctor.
Click to expand...
I really like Arctic SE as an option. They could just literally re-paint Desert SE and I wouldn't complain a bit. Personally I'd be happier with just Frostbite and not even bother with extra figures though. Throw snow gear into the mix. Bonus skis, maybe a small vehicle or something. Polar bear repaint.

After posting the list I found myself thinking: if they're smart, they announce a few waves with snow-themed guys during/after the Haslab to keep people thinking about it the whole time.
 
Last edited:
I really think doing some theme waves would be so great.

Also, will they include an alt head to do ROC Frostbite?

s-l400.jpg
 
akajomiha said:
Great conversation. My love of GI Joe stems from watching the cartoons and collecting the figures in the 80's. I also read just a handful of the Marvel comics around the same time, and that's pretty much where my knowledge ends. So, I have a question regarding lore. What is the best source? I'm assuming the original GI Joe ARAH comics run by Hama? I want to dig in so I appreciate more of the characters I'm unfamiliar with and also learn more about the ones I already love.
Click to expand...
I agree with pretty much everyone else that this is subjective. The comics/file cards tend to be more violent/willing to kill off characters. The original cartoon is obviously an '80s cartoon with color-coded lasers, so if you like something more light in tone, that's your ticket. And, of course, there's actually other continuities like the live action movies, the Resolute cartoon, or Sigma 6.

Personally, even though I was a total '80s kid growing up on He-Man and TMNT and ThunderCats and Joe... I didn't watch a TON of the Joe cartoon, and I didn't retain a lot of what I watched. Most of what I understood came from the file cards and, more specifically, the trading cards. I read the backs of the trading cards religiously.

After that, it was the comic continuity that stuck with me. But it's all good. I'd say the entire original comic run, the bios, the trading cards, and a good 60% of the original cartoon still hold up today. So yeah.. just depends on whether you want it a bit more grounded and serious, or color-coded lasers. There is no wrong decision.
 
I think Snake-Eyes and Duke are popular enough to have arctic variations at retail. Same with Scarlett, Baroness, Cobra Commander, and Destro. Stalker as well, since he has that v2 look they can make. I'm not sure who I'd want packed in with a Snow Cat other than Frostbite. Maybe some other snow vehicle drivers, like Cold Front and Avalanche? Sub-Zero? Characters who may not really come out in the line for a while if at all. I feel like Iceberg could get a retail release next year. As well as a Snow Job retro or re-release.
 
Buttmunch said:
Zoom in, it’s there.
Click to expand...
I.. don't think it is? Not to be argumentative, but I zoomed in as much as possible on the glamour shots and there's nothing there. That's a red figure with a big ugly black smudge around the waist and those incredibly stupid "we gotta put -something- here" black patches on the sides of the legs. But he definitely does not have the full pattern from the vintage figure. And even if you -could- see it under a microscope, it should be visible immediately.

canprime said:
With the way they are doing the line now I could see them doing the Classified version first for Slice/Dice and Desert Scorpion. Then we get Retro carded versions later with the original looks.

Personally for the Desert Scorpion I am hoping for a robotic scorpion. Something akin to the 25th/ME release.. A real scorpion isn't big enough to be a "pet" in the line (in my mind's eye). I know, I know it could be a mutated scorpion, or lab created hybrid. However save it for the Retro release and give me a robotic version instead.
Click to expand...

I really doubt Slice and Dice are popular enough to warrant retro card releases. I still expect we'll probably see one for v2 Storm Shadow eventually, though. And yeah, Desert Scorpion definitely had a mutated scorpion. That thing was huge in the ARAH line. But I dig the idea. I like to think he's got it trained to sneak up and sting people while he's distracting them. Or it hides somewhere and he drives an enemy toward it. Super cool. Way cooler than a dumb robot. Robots suck.
 
Stalker v2, aka “Tundra Ranger Stalker”, aka “kayak Stalker”, is an absolutely badass design and accessories, and is ripe for a Deluxe or even a “with pet” release: that kayak is BIG. Definitely mainline.
 
Damien said:
I.. don't think it is? Not to be argumentative, but I zoomed in as much as possible on the glamour shots and there's nothing there.
Click to expand...
I think there was miscommunication here: you are talking about the black star pattern on Slice’s gi, and it definitely isn’t there. I think Buttmunch is thinking of the “fencing mask” patterning on the classic mask, which initially appeared not to be there but definitely is.

Fencing mask mesh? Yes.

Star-pattern on gi? No.
 
AceofKnaves said:
Stalker v2, aka “Tundra Ranger Stalker”, aka “kayak Stalker”, is an absolutely badass design and accessories, and is ripe for a Deluxe or even a “with pet” release: that kayak is BIG. Definitely mainline.
Click to expand...
Stalker v4 used the same mold, but the uniform was more white and he was bundled in a mail-away set of 3 or 4 arctic-themed figures. To be fair, that set of four figures would be a really neat thing to include with a winter/arctic-themed HasLab. I like the synergy between mail-away and HasLab, and it means not making core ARAH figures into HasLab exclusives - which is bullshit.


AceofKnaves said:
I think there was miscommunication here: you are talking about the black star pattern on Slice’s gi, and it definitely isn’t there. I think Buttmunch is thinking of the “fencing mask” patterning on the classic mask, which initially appeared not to be there but definitely is.

Fencing mask mesh? Yes.

Star-pattern on gi? No.
Click to expand...
Oooh. Got it. Yeah, I'm talking about the black pattern on the gi, not the fencing mask having texture.
 
If they give us arctic versions of the non-arctic Joes I really hope it’s Flint and Lady Jaye although I doubt it will be them.

What I would do if I was Hasbro is two of the unlockeable figures would be generic arctic outfits (two different style bucks) and each figure would come with a few different heads and possibly hands that would let you have a few options of which character you want to display. That would probably help lesson the complaint of getting a simple retread and it could encourage buying multiples.
 
Damien said:
The comics/file cards tend to be more violent/willing to kill off characters.
Click to expand...
I was just reading about the Rock Viper filecard... for some reason:

1990-rock-viper-fc-1000w_orig.jpg


Apparently the original draft of that made it a little more clear that 50% of the Rock Vipers don't make it off the mesa because they figure out they need to kill the other half of the guys to have enough rope to get down, and that was too far for army toys. (Also... OR, they could agree to work together and both climb down the tied ropes? I dunno. I obviously wouldn't make it in the Rock Viper Corps.)
 
Damien said:
mail-away set of 3 or 4 arctic-themed figures.
Click to expand...
Arctic Commandos!
Oh wow that would be an ambitious add to a HasLab, but “prepaints” of Blizzard, Stalker v2, frigging DEE-JAY and also that cool Snow Serpent v2? All figures that could then be released in the main line complete with their many accessories (COBRA SNOWBOARD!!)? This would be a really, REALLY good idea.
 
Damien said:
even though I was a total '80s kid growing up on He-Man and TMNT and ThunderCats and Joe... I didn't watch a TON of the Joe cartoon, and I didn't retain a lot of what I watched.
Click to expand...

Same. I wonder if there was a time-of-day difference that blocked G.I. Joe from me but kept me glued to MASK.
 
AceofKnaves said:
Stalker v2, aka “Tundra Ranger Stalker”, aka “kayak Stalker”, is an absolutely badass design and accessories, and is ripe for a Deluxe or even a “with pet” release: that kayak is BIG. Definitely mainline.
Click to expand...
I think the only problem with Stalker V2 is the size of the kayak. I was watching the "Circle of Jerkz" live stream and one of the guys had a 3D printed kayak for Stalker and it was surprisingly large. Like COIL/RAM size at the minimum. That doesn't lend itself to a deluxe or figure & pet offering. So you are pretty close, but I would think if they ever do it it would have to be offered as a figure and vehicle which creates it's own problems on pricing. Would a Stalker with a kayak really be worth it to us at the same price as the Baroness/COIL or Breaker/RAM?

I would say yes based on the possible size of the kayak, but definitely not at the price point of the Tele-Viper/Flight Pod, which is the new lowest price for a figure/vehicle I believe.
 
I'm thinking the team will stick with the newer model for the Haslab that they used for the Rattler. Three figures total and some cheap tier offering (please no more patches). Going off what they have offered in the past I think these are the most likely options for figures with a Haslab Snow Cat. I'm not saying what pattern they will follow, but these are the options they'll pull a figure from:

Frostbite (obvious as the driver of the Snow Cat).

Then any two of the following:

Arctic themed generic troop builder
Arctic themed named character
Subteam variant of already released character
Alternate look of a not released character
Brand new character (most likely generic support figure)

I'm hoping they do something interesting for a non-figure tier (again not patches!!!). I know if they do that kind of tier it will not be something big or expensive to make. However maybe they could draw from existing molds and give us some kind of weapons pack, or maybe Snow Job's gear (Skis, etc) with some kind of case to attach to the Snow Cat. Or have a part of the Snow Cat be storage for the gear.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top