G.I. Joe Classified Series: The Chatty Pointless Thread & Performance Art

Well, I'm not typical of the average Joe fan, since ARAH came out at the tail end of my childhood, and I only got the early figures in the line. Still, to me, I thought of the "main characters" as Hawk, Snake Eyes, and Scarlett for the Joe Team. For Cobra, I viewed it as Cobra Commander, Destro & Baroness. Of course, the cartoon came along and shifted many kid's views by putting an emphasis on Duke, but I viewed the cartoon as being beneath the canon of the comics and file cards. Like I said, my viewpoint is far from typical, so I don't even know if it has any value in the "is Baroness a main character" debate.
 
I stopped getting notifications for this thread and missed all the convo about Baroness and who the main characters are. I feel robbed.

I think the thing with GI Joe is it's truly, TRULY an ensemble story. In the comics the main character shifts from moment to moment - I think Larry had his favorites who got MORE story, but it's not Snake Eyes' story. It's not Hawk or Grunt or whomever. It's GI Joe vs. Cobra, it's honorable military weirdos vs. greedy terrorist weirdos. The camera shifts focus all the time.

And then on the toy side, Hasbro didn't WANT a main character, they want you to buy whoever is new. Sure Sunbow wanted Duke to be our main character, but a) as soon as new toys came out Duke got sidelined and b) even in the MASS Device plot Duke is off on the B plot while everyone else is doing main character stuff.

Baroness is, I think, what I'd call a plot-pivotal character and probably in the top ten, because while she's not The Main Character she's always involved in doing something that is absolutely plot pivotal - disguising herself as someone, etc. I suppose if there's one main character, it's Cobra Commander, because he (mostly) never changes, though even he got almost replaced by Hasbro when they added Serpentor and then Cobra-La. Structurally, GI Joe is a mess because it's not a story as much as it's a commercial that got really fucking lucky by having really good writers write the commercial.

Anyway, that's my story structure soapbox. Hasbro should release the pilot Baroness in Blue and gold by June of 2026, get on it Hasbro, you know we'll buy her.

Also, adding my vote for a classic Jinx. I'm surprised they haven't reworked the female ninja from the two pack for her. New forearms and head and I think they might get to something useable.

vicious said:
Wolf Spider, Big Ben, and Shooter are such cool releases that don't get enough (public) love.
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These are three figures who are definitely NOT plot pivotal but every single time I pick one of them up I need to pose them for a while. They're GREAT figures and proof this team doesn't phone it in on anyone.
 
I always check the What's New listing so I see all the threads that have recent posts, but yeah some of you guys really snooze on good stuff!

Of course that's all well put and great observations. Hell, even CC got sidelined when he died for a few years. But seeing him as the main character and the plot all about his various plans and attacks and the Joe team countering him at every turn is dead on. And there's definitely a solid list of plot pivotal characters he kept coming back to, as did the cartoon. I'm glad you finally chimed in!
 
Ru1977 said:
I always check the What's New listing so I see all the threads that have recent posts, but yeah some of you guys really snooze on good stuff!

Of course that's all well put and great observations. Hell, even CC got sidelined when he died for a few years. But seeing him as the main character and the plot all about his various plans and attacks and the Joe team countering him at every turn is dead on. And there's definitely a solid list of plot pivotal characters he kept coming back to, as did the cartoon. I'm glad you finally chimed in!
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I think that's why our attachment to Joes (or Transformers, etc) varies depending on the age we were when we got into them. Snake Eyes Duke Flint Falcon all depends on your entry point. Or hell, your main character might be the action figure you loved the most and put in charge of everything.

Cobra Commander had the longest run but if your first experience with him was seeing Cobra La turn him into a lil bish, then he might not be your main character villain, either.

Honestly I love the chaos of this line because of this. Unlike, say, Marvel or DC (where the main character is usually either decade or market trend), everyone's perspective is very different.
 
docsilence said:
I think that's why our attachment to Joes (or Transformers, etc) varies depending on the age we were when we got into them. Snake Eyes Duke Flint Falcon all depends on your entry point. Or hell, your main character might be the action figure you loved the most and put in charge of everything.
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Heh, yeah. That Christmas, Snake Eyes was sold out so you grew up with Footloose as your main character. Which is really not a bad thing.
docsilence said:
Cobra Commander had the longest run but if your first experience with him was seeing Cobra La turn him into a lil bish, then he might not be your main character villain, either.
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And rightfully so heh.
docsilence said:
Honestly I love the chaos of this line because of this. Unlike, say, Marvel or DC (where the main character is usually either decade or market trend), everyone's perspective is very different.
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Or even Star Wars. You have OT people, and PT people, and now Disney people, all different generations with different favorites, while GI Joe fans are so much closer together but there's a massive difference in favorites between the 50 year old and the 48 year old and the 45 year old. Then there's cartoon fans who don't get the love for Snake Eyes, assuming they missed the first miniseries, or comic people who don't get the love for Duke. But even if you never or barely read the comic or barely saw the show, the toys were designed to kick imaginations off. I not only read every file card but literally clipped and saved them to refer back to. The Order of Battle mini was crucial for me, but seeing a lot of reactions from this community really shows how every Joe fan had such a personal and unique perspective on so many characters. They really really did something special, even for half hour and monthly toy commercials.
 
Going back to the Baroness for a sec. I found my old post of a screenshot during the closing days of the Haslab when all tiers were still in doubt. This is why I was thinking they might go arctic rather than blue. Tony throws some names out there.

B9rYFuE.png
 
mrboshek said:
Going back to the Baroness for a sec. I found my old post of a screenshot during the closing days of the Haslab when all tiers were still in doubt. This is why I was thinking they might go arctic rather than blue. Tony throws some names out there.
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Oh and I forgot about "Snow Bunny Baroness" (cringe) rumors. For a while some of us were ruminating over whether or not she would come with the Arctic Hiss. Now that we know that isn't happening, would be great to see a snow Baroness announced to release, presumably around that Hiss window. Sell me a white repaint in 2026 and the black outfit version I want in 2027, I dare you, Hasbro! Double-dog dare you to give us an Arctic Destro on a new buck at the same time. Nevermind that the PoC version was a famous shelf-warmer, lmao. I remember when Arctic Destro was the only GIJ at TRU for like six-months straight at my local store.
 
I always felt like the snow bunny baroness was a remnant of a much earlier classified leak that we were getting Arctic Scarlett. I recall there were even photos or sculpts going around but it was just some custom guy.
 
Spongyblue said:
And with all that omniscients, you still have so many wrong views. I'm sure you'll come around eventually.
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Technically, I am omniPRESENT. Existing in all places. Not necessarily omniscient - all-knowing. Although I am also all-knowing and you only believe I am wrong because you have not ascended to a high enough level of understanding to know how right I am. I will pray for you.
 
Damien said:
Technically, I am omniPRESENT. Existing in all places. Not necessarily omniscient - all-knowing. Although I am also all-knowing and you only believe I am wrong because you have not ascended to a high enough level of understanding to know how right I am. I will pray for you.
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Pray you get straight on Baroness or else you might start receiving He-Man gifs from like minded individuals.
 
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