G.I. Joe Classified Series

Got lucky and picked up Footloose at Target, threw in some Hot Wheels Monster Trucks to get up to $40 for the $10 off. I was going to pass on him but all the positivity in this thread regarding him made me want one. He's just well-done. And if you guys have never played with a hot wheels monster truck, I really recommend picking up one to try, they're like $3-4 and are tons of fun.
 
GIJoe fans already know about the police officer figure. And want the preorder to go live. Who exactly is Hasbro afraid of offending at this point? People who don't collect the line and don't pay attention to it? How exactly would they even become aware of it? Unless it makes it onto etailers "best selling" lists, nobody other than Joe fans will even know this thing exists. There was a moment/week when they planned to put it up for preorder but there were riots going on, so they held back. We're not at that time. Like someone suggested, they probably should just put the police figure up for preorder along with the next batch of preorder items, which will probably be around SDCC, and just hide it amongst other orders. Or just wait till it's actually in-stock. Hasbro putting a PR statement is such a silly move and would only draw attention to something which frankly won't get any media attention anyway.

On a semi-related note. I think the firefighter figure is imminent. Pulse warned me of it shipping soon. And I believe some people have been charged for it. I think we're suddenly going to be hit with quite a few items shipping soon. Firefighter. SNAKE. CLAW. Perimeter set. They all have a good chance of arriving this month.
 
yojoebro82 said:
I remember a couple years back there was a hot minute where people wanted to cancel Chase. Chase is the police dog from Paw Patrol.

There's nothing Hasbro can say that will change anyone's thoughts going in. Put me in the camp that says they should just release the figure with no comment.
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Okay, hold on though. Because I think you're glossing over something pretty important that is more to my point than yours. Paw Patrol first aired in 2013. It is, in fact, also -still- airing new episodes today. Most of the backlash to Chase was specifically in 2020.

For anyone that doesn't remember what might have been happening in 2020 - Ahmaud Arbery (black man) was murdered and his murderers were protected by the cops until an outraged populace made them relent and actually arrest them. Then Breonna Taylor (black woman) was murdered by police, in her home after doing, you know, no crimes at all. Then George Floyd (black man) was executed on a public street by cops. All of this was before Summer of 2020. Then the protests/riots blew up over police brutality. And, for those that don't remember, the George Floyd protests were pretty massive and was one of the most major things happening in the United States for months.
2020, particularly mid-to-late 2020, was a MASSIVELY charged time for anti-police sentiment. And yes, that included rethinking whether we want to teach our children that police are friendly good guys. Hence the backlash directed at Chase, who some people accused of being a vehicle to get black kids killed (totally fair assessment).

Then, to my point earlier, the public stopped caring so much and things settled down and Chase is still in the show to this day. Chase was also already an established character in a long-running show. If anyone here thinks Spin Master Entertainment would have INTRODUCED the character of Chase in late 2020, they're fucking insane. They just had to weather the storm because it was what it was.

Hasbro has no need to do that. They can just not introduce this character/figure into the line-up during a highly politically charged time for policing. Has policing been kind of a hot button issue fairly regularly? Yes. But I think it would be very, very disingenuous to pretend this is just always how 'some people are' and dismiss the situation we're going through right now as not being relevant or unique. To the earlier point about Playmobil Cops, as it were, I think that's also very relevant. Hasbro's figure is kitted out for riot and detention. I think if this were a street cop, it would be different. I don't feel that there's a huge swell of anti-cop sentiment right now generally. It's more directed toward the militarization of police.
Which is like.. exactly what the action figure we're talking about represents.


Point being, you can, if you want, be the kind of person that doesn't care about any of this stuff. But just because you don't care doesn't mean Hasbro doesn't care. They're a business. If they thought 'dropping the figure quietly and not saying anything' was the move that would make them the most money - they would. Clearly, they see the same pattern I just described above and are being wise enough to just wait a little bit rather than bringing unnecessary controversy right to their own doorstep. I mean.. why do that? It would just not make sense from a corporate perspective.

I guess unless they wanted to actively court right wing loons. Then they might go hard on 'We're making Cop Toys, you fucking snowflake cucks.' But I don't see Hasbro doing that so here we are.

Whether you agree with their doing it or not, I think the logic Hasbro is probably using is, at least, understandable.


Ashtalon said:
Who exactly is Hasbro afraid of offending at this point? People who don't collect the line and don't pay attention to it?
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Yes.
Well, I wouldn't say 'people who don't collect toys.' Maybe 'people who don't collect G.I. Joe.' You could certainly also offend toy collectors that aren't Joe fans. Those people are probably the most likely to see this in passing who don't currently already know about it.

Ashtalon said:
How exactly would they even become aware of it?
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The same way moms and dads find out about scantily clad lady toys that often terrifies Hasbro. Or guys with pentagrams on their chests. Stuff gets around. A single image floats to the wrong person and, in this day and age with social media and such, all of a sudden everyone knows about it and it's a big problem. And now you're weathering these attacks for no good reason.
Hasbro doesn't just make G.I. Joe. They do have to worry about their public image overall - not just to people that buy Joes. Riot cop toy is probably a PR nightmare right now - so why would any intelligently-run company risk it when they don't -need- to? Just to get like 12 toy collectors on the internet to stop whinging about it?
People like you or me are going to buy this regardless of when it gets released/announced, right? So Hasbro isn't risking -anything- by making us wait. Thus, they don't care about us. Us complaining about waiting an extra month for a pre-order is nothing to them. Especially compared to any potential backlash from louder, angrier, whingier people that might cause them actual problems. It's not like any of us are going to threaten boycotts or start massive anti-Hasbro social media campaigns because they made us wait a little longer for a toy.



I guess the short version of this whole thing is that there's a mountain of evidence that releasing that figure right now just isn't a great idea and exposes Hasbro to potential negative consequences. And the only reason 'for' putting the figure up right now is 'because I want them to.' So.. there you go.
 
yojoebro82 said:
I remember a couple years back there was a hot minute where people wanted to cancel Chase. Chase is the police dog from Paw Patrol.

There's nothing Hasbro can say that will change anyone's thoughts going in. Put me in the camp that says they should just release the figure with no comment.
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Well this documentary piece clearly shows the dangers of the Paw Patrol........... 😜


If production of the Legacy Police Officer is already underway, or can't be paused/stopped, then the decision may end up being out of Hasbro's hands. Why? Financials. They may have their hands forced to release it so as to not have to pay for storage or any other associated costs that would eat into the profit margin.

As others have said it may just be easier to stealth release him and hope for the best if they can't hold off until a seemingly better time period to release him.
 
canprime said:
If production of the Legacy Police Officer is already underway, or can't be paused/stopped, then the decision may end up being out of Hasbro's hands. Why? Financials. They may have their hands forced to release it so as to not have to pay for storage or any other associated costs that would eat into the profit margin.
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I mean... realistically.. they put up pre-orders (usually, not always) pretty far in advance of actual release. I genuinely don't think Hasbro is worried about pushing back the -actual release- of the figure. They're probably just holding off on the reveal and resulting pre-orders. Which has no affect at all on the actual release date anyway.
 
Yeah, I reckon folks like us are the LEAST of their concerns. In fact, if they stealth-drop the figure and it's already ready to ship? Collectors will be thrilled. What do you mean shipping NOW? Sweet! Sells out in 3.5 minutes and we're only pissed off because we were in a meeting and missed it. They're not gonna dump the figures in the ocean or something. It'll gets here when it gets here.

Only takes one TikToker to make it a crusade to ruin their marketing team's month though. 100% understand not wanting to stick a hand in the proverbial bear trap if you can avoid it.

Anyway, where the eff is my Footloose? Where is Darklon? C'mon Pulse, show some signs of life man! It's been a solid like three days since I got a new Joe, I'm impatient.
 
I love my crimson Baroness. I didn't think I would care a whit about the Rattler version, but man did they make that figure nice. Still the only figure I really want from that set is Wild Weasel.

Also, out of morbid curiosity I checked the final numbers on that Patriot Force kickstarter and it looks like it landed at just over 1/3 of goal... but never fear they are going to go a different route to get those figures made

Anyway excited for Law and Order to show up soon... and my Polar Bear w/ Snake Eyes accessory.
 
I'm excited about Law and Order too. I always love the GI Joes that come with animal companions. I love animals, and German Shepards are my favorite dog breed by far. I have had 3 German Shepards in my life, and they are the best dogs. Loving, fun, kind, but very protective and very strong.
Very intelligent too.

My German Shepard Bear, who was an all-white German Shepard, knew over 50 commands.
 
PantherCult said:
but never fear they are going to go a different route to get those figures made
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Oh good. My heart stopped there for a moment.



PantherCult said:
Anyway excited for Law and Order to show up soon... and my Polar Bear w/ Snake Eyes accessory.
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Law & Order looks really, really good. I feel like I have to get either him or Mutt & Junkyard because of how good the dog handlers turned out, even though they're actually both figures I never had as a kid. That would generally make figures a lot easier for me to just ignore -- the ones I did not own and didn't really event want. But they really do look excellent.

I just can't decide between Law or Mutt. I'm leaning toward Mutt, though.
 
yojoebro82 said:
No he did not. I'm just saying that if people are going to project their real-world thoughts and feelings onto toys, they're probably going to do it whether it's GI Joe or Playmobile or Paw Patrol.
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In my personal circle, the most anti war, anti military industrial complex, love GI Joe and Call of Duty just for the fun.

But I do double take at times off their takes vs interests.

So many things are performative these days. In gaming people will complain about companies and crunch culture and boycotts and then buy the thing anyway because at the end of the day, on our personal day to day - just trying to self regulate and get by. Yeah, my phone was made by kids in Asia. I'm sorry. I need it to post here and chill. I have no actionable solution.

So yeah, just put the toys out.
 
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