G.I. Joe: Classified 6" figures

Joe Scorpio said:

Cobra Trench Viper and Bunker: YES! I think these will sell enough to warrant doing more mini playsets like the Watchtower and Bivowac. (Joe's are currently getting wrecked in the vehicles department). I might try and pick up 2, the full reveal will determine my choice.

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I'm thinking PAC Rats might come first. I watched a review on Scrap Iron and his missile drone last week, and something I observed is once you take the missle rack system off the tread bottom base, you could use that base for anything. They just have to make three new "tops" and now you've got PAC Rats. Or, in theory, they just just keep making different tops and expand the range of possible PAC Rats.

IIRC, the original 80s RAH was a missile system, a laser system and a machine gun system. They've already got the mini gun system from the Strike Cycles and Roadblock. Also the M2 50 cal machine guns from the 60th set and now the new outpost. They could reuse the gun mount off the top of the VAMP and the four missile launcher rack from the Cobra vehicle. They could reuse a lot of existing molds and pump out 6-7 different PAC Rats.

I guess it's interesting how they'd work it. Would they do a figure plus drone pack, like Scrap Iron. Then do three of them. Or just do a PAC Rat set, with one rolling treaded base and three tops and two big tripods, which would force people to buy three sets to make all three. Or people would have to try to salvage some Scrap Iron drones to use as treaded bases.

Watchtower and Bivowac, as you said, would also be awesome.

A little surprising that Retro Mindbender and Retro Viper are still up for pre-order on HP.

I picked up 1 of each and will pick up Retro Rock’N Roll once it hits retail.

Joe Scorpio said:

I had him as a kid and I have no excuse for that other than I was just a kid.

That being said, Classified has really upgraded and improved some of the more absurd characters like Serpentor, Big Boa and Croc Master. I’m legit scared to see how Classified Crystal Ball turns out.

I’m looking forward to picking up Raptor and Road Pig.

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Yes I agree that some of the more absurd Joe's have been upgraded to near acceptable modern versions. My own Joe's tend to be closer to real or near future military versions, with one exception. Serpentor. My favorite Classified with Retro Duke very nearly tied for the top spot. I never liked the Dreadnoks myself, even back in the day. Too Mad Max for me. But I know that people go crazy for them. I like Dr. Mindbender, but I never accepted his aesthetic of a shirtless mad scientist .

ragacin said:

Yes I agree that some of the more absurd Joe's have been upgraded to near acceptable modern versions. My own Joe's tend to be closer to real or near future military versions, with one exception. Serpentor. My favorite Classified with Retro Duke very nearly tied for the top spot. I never liked the Dreadnoks myself, even back in the day. Too Mad Max for me. But I know that people go crazy for them. I like Dr. Mindbender, but I never accepted his aesthetic of a shirtless mad scientist .

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For real, I tend to operate in the same way, although I will purchase this Mindbender since he's part of the Cobra hierarchy. But absolutely, dude needs a modern upgrade big time.

I did like the Valor vs Venom update to Mindbender that gave him a lab coat. Much more realistic than the Village People wizard attire

Hasbro revealed new renders:





I didn't include the Nemesis Enforcer image, I think that one has been shown before.

Name only reveals:



Loving the Retro reveals of Flint and Cover Girl!

Blowtorch is my MVP!
Psyched we’re getting Tele-Vipers without the Trubble Bubbles. That’s how to utilize the Retro cardback collection!
Cartoon Cover Girl isn’t my jam but anxiously await how she looks!
I never had Heavy Duty or Frag Viper before, but those are must haves!
I’m looking forward to the 10/27 presentation tomorrow.*

* Edit: Well, the 1027 presentation was just the Nemesis Immortal full reveal. Much like Once A Man CC, I have nowhere to put him right now but will be picking this one up tomorrow for sure.

Blowtorch was a favorite of mine and I feel disappointed by the Classified render. Blowtorch should have a lot more orange showing, it's a 50/50 orange and yellow. With the dark (black?) areas and silver discs, there's not enough orange. Always the possibility to fix the issue with a Retro, they should just give us that version first. I'll wait for better images of the actual figure for a final judgement.

I had a Frag Viper as a kid, looks better than the original with the stupid Jai alai glove thingy. One thing I remember about that figure was the tiny grenades and how paranoid I was about loosing one. Looks like Hasbro isn't including any grenades other than the effect version unfortunately.

Heavy Duty looks faithful to the original (why can't that be true for all Classified figures?) The gun rig is the typical stupid over-the-top RAH gimmick but looks okay. If I don't like the weapon rig in person, I'll probably switch it out for a realistic heavy weapon.

The Retro Tele-Viper is nice to see, It allows me to make the first version a generic trooper with all the head options. I wonder if any of those extra heads will be included with the Retro?

Retro cartoon Cover Girl is odd. I love that they're finally doing cartoon variants, and it allows me to switch out the original "Joan Rivers" head for a custom generic female tanker but, I didn't think it would be in the Retro series. My only hope is that it's not cartoon styled but a realistic portrait.

BTW, there have been reports of cases of the Grunt figure showing up at Ross for $5.99 a figure. I checked two this weekend with no luck. It's a awesome figure that's fast become my favorite of the Classified series because of the Steel Brigade head included for a nice Joe Green Shirt update. I highly recommend picking one or two up if you find them at Ross stores at that price.

screamingmetal said:

BTW, there have been reports of cases of the Grunt figure showing up at Ross for $5.99 a figure. I checked two this weekend with no luck. It's an awesome figure that's fast become my favorite of the Classified series because of the Steel Brigade head included for a nice Joe Green Shirt update. I highly recommend picking one or two up if you find them at Ross stores at that price.

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Good luck. Ross and Ollie’s have been consistent disappointments for me whenever I happen to go out hunting.

ragacin said:

Yes I agree that some of the more absurd Joe's have been upgraded to near acceptable modern versions. My own Joe's tend to be closer to real or near future military versions, with one exception. Serpentor. My favorite Classified with Retro Duke very nearly tied for the top spot. I never liked the Dreadnoks myself, even back in the day. Too Mad Max for me. But I know that people go crazy for them. I like Dr. Mindbender, but I never accepted his aesthetic of a shirtless mad scientist .

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I wasn't much of a fan of the Dreadnoks as a kid either and I can't really say why; I loved the Road Warrior as a kid. I think it was all the bright 80's colors they added, something not seen with that RW astatic that didn't click for me. Not surprising my favorite 'nok was Zartan with his subdued colors.

Joe Scorpio said:

Good luck. Ross and Ollie’s have been consistent disappointments for me whenever I happen to go out hunting.

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My general rule of toyhunting is I'll do it if it's in my normal pathway. If I am Target already for other stuff (obviously condoms, duct tape, coconut oil, shop towels, self help books, Gatorade and Pokemon cards, right? ) I'll swing by the toy section. I'm already there. Otherwise I won't bother unless I can get to a store at opening. When the doors open is the best odds. Obviously a place like Target might restock in the middle of the day too, but against the long haul, going at opening will probably generate the best chance at return. But how often can the average person get to a store consistently at opening? Maybe someone can do it on Saturdays and Sundays regularly, but at what cost of gas and time? The only workaround I see is if you have other local people helping you in the hunt. You hunt for you and them. They hunt for them and you. How often does that work out long term though?

What I think it comes down to is the collector has to enjoy the process of the hunt itself. The five minutes I spend in a Target, in the toy aisle, that's mine. I can revisit a simpler time in my life, as a kid, for five minutes. I don't have to share that with anyone else. When so much of most people's day is obligations to other people, it's nice to have something that's just mostly for you. I think that's why so many guys spend so much time at the gym. You need something to look forward to that's not your job, not your family, not your relationship, not your obligations. For people who love to collect but don't love the hunt, I can see how it would drive them batty. That's a lot of gas to spend on the hunt and gas in aggregate is not cheap. If you find a 7.99 Kamakura but it cost you 55 in gas across a span of months, then what kind of bargain do you have left?

Over time, I knew a decent number of guys who would only sign up for a gym because it was between their home and their work, and their commute made it much more practical to get there regularly. If they had to change jobs, or living situation, they often gave up that gym. I think brick and mortar toy hunting works the same way for most collectors. You hit that Target over there because it's next door to some other place you need to get to all the time. Or some Walmart because it's 3 blocks from your job's home base, etc, etc. There's a part of me that does understand why some guys sign up for Pulse, and just pay MSRP and wait for boxes to show up in the mail.

Nemesis Immortal is up on Pulse for premium members. Exclusive and in stock! Open to everyone at the top of the next hour.

I just picked up Nemesis Immortal and pleasantly surprised it’s in stock at HP!

Curious if they’ll do a second run if he sells out. Might be one of those he barely lasts until he’s available for non-premium members and then instantly sell out. Hopefully they knew he’s going to be popular and made a bunch.

Off topic Transformers question: Scrapper is currently sold out while Bonecrusher is still open for pre-order.

If both pieces combine to help form Devastator, why aren’t they both sold out?

Joe Scorpio said:

Off topic Transformers question: Scrapper is currently sold out while Bonecrusher is still open for pre-order.

If both pieces combine to help form Devastator, why aren’t they both sold out?

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Devastator is IIRC, the most commonly made Combiner out there. If you include third party releases. Maybe more people are belt tightening and just picking off the ones they like best, then hoping for future clearance on the rest.

I've heard, someone can correct me if I am wrong, that many want a Devastator that they can keep in his giant robot mode, then some extras of the individuals ( same brand or not) to keep in small robot mode. So they don't have to keep transforming some set in and out of Devastator mode to enjoy the smaller robots. Also odds are lots of collectors already have multiple Devastators, maybe they are OK with only cherry picking Constructicons at this point.

Buttmunch said:

Curious if they’ll do a second run if he sells out. Might be one of those he barely lasts until he’s available for non-premium members and then instantly sell out. Hopefully they knew he’s going to be popular and made a bunch.

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Maybe they don't have a choice. How can they reuse the mold? I almost feel they'd be trapped into putting him later in a two pack or three pack to justify his R&D.

On an aside, do you prefer using Pulse for regular releases? I mean, if a person has decided to pay MSRP anyway, why not save the gas and grief, and just order them online and wait for packages in the mail. And if someone is holding onto Pulse for the shipping benefit of HasLabs anyway, why not maximize the shipping benefit.

I'm in an area where distribution isn't all screwy, but other parts of the country are not in the same boat. Curious what your experiences are, as Classified toy hunting at brick and mortar is a more recent talking point here in this thread.

MeatHookGekko said:

Devastator is IIRC, the most commonly made Combiner out there. If you include third party releases. Maybe more people are belt tightening and just picking off the ones they like best, then hoping for future clearance on the rest.

I've heard, someone can correct me if I am wrong, that many want a Devastator that they can keep in his giant robot mode, then some extras of the individuals ( same brand or not) to keep in small robot mode. So they don't have to keep transforming some set in and out of Devastator mode to enjoy the smaller robots. Also odds are lots of collectors already have multiple Devastators, maybe they are OK with only cherry picking Constructicons at this point.

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Thanks for the explanation that makes sense. I had the OG Devastator as a kid and man, what an upgrade! Bonecrusher has since sold out as well.

Nemesis has also sold out, I hope everyone that wanted one was able to get it or they can restock soon. I’m still that it wasn’t a pre-order.

If the Trench Viper/Bunker set is $45-55, I’ll probably pick up 2. These things will quickly sell out as an HP exclusive so good luck out there!