SSC Firefly

[Silent December]

??? The Sniper
Maybe not cutting corners, but clearly a cash grab, hopefully to help further the line.

I don't understand why many still feel that the Sniper was a "cashgrab" by sideshow.

 

[King Darkness]

It grabbed my cash and it was well worth it

Sniper 's

 

[karamazov80]

I still can't help but be impressed that they're voluntarily cutting into their own profits on a sold out preorder with new R & D on a camo head.

Well, the edition size on the regular is still "TBD." They could still increase the number of figures produced if interest goes up due to the extra head (leading to additional people putting their names on the waitlist). I'm sure that their initial pre-order levels were disappointing, evidenced by the low edition size of the Exclusive. Plus, they will stave off further cancellations if they throw the collectors this kind of bone, I think.

I wouldn't call the Sniper a "cash grab." It is a move to save money by creating a minor variation of an existing figure. All companies should do this when possible or reasonable, in my opinion. I can't imagine how much it must cost Hot Toys to come up with all the different body types they've been using recently.

 

[Silent December]

I wouldn't call the Sniper a "cash grab." It is a move to save money by creating a minor variation of an existing figure. All companies should do this when possible or reasonable, in my opinion. I can't imagine how much it must cost Hot Toys to come up with all the different body types they've been using recently.

Exactly. And he was a choice that makes total sense (IMO)

 

[karamazov80]

I'm personally not interested in characters that don't have a basis in the comic or cartoon, and it got a tad tedious when it seemed that all Sideshow wanted to do was crank out trooper "repaints." But from a business side, it makes perfect sense.

 

[EVILFACE]

??? The Sniper
Maybe not cutting corners, but clearly a cash grab, hopefully to help further the line.

Nothing wrong with cashgrabs. They are making figure to make money. Pure and simple.

The only corner cutting I've see so far with the Joe line is using the awful Jedi Luke boots on CC. . . .

 

[Skiman]

I believe there's nothing wrong with the variants as well, if they wanna make them go ahead as long as we get some major names in there I'm fine. It seems that they are good about bringing the most anticipated and that was SE and SS along with hooded CC and Duke.

It seems that more and more companies are trying to make their own mark and become creative in the lines from the past. This is happening with MOTUC as well with releases never heard of characters or non big name characters.

 

[Deeznutz6]

Exactly. And he was a choice that makes total sense (IMO)

Agreed, but it was the timing, three troopers in 6 months in a line with only 5 figs released at the time.

 

[The Josh]

Oh I hope they go back and add the camo to FF but he looks pretty cool as is to me. Its not something I'm gonna get my undies in a wad over needless to say. I've got the regular coming from BBTS whenever he ships due to me not needing the Ex on this one.

 

[Khev]

They'd have to do camo paint eventually. Sure matching the color to the fabric might be difficult, but I'm positive they can at least get very close.

Especially since they already did such a good job with matching CC's blue and red two-toned painted hood to his costume. The Cobra insignia on his face is certainly more intricate than splotches of camo.

 

[samueljd]

Well, the edition size on the regular is still "TBD." They could still increase the number of figures produced if interest goes up due to the extra head (leading to additional people putting their names on the waitlist). I'm sure that their initial pre-order levels were disappointing, evidenced by the low edition size of the Exclusive. Plus, they will stave off further cancellations if they throw the collectors this kind of bone, I think.

Exactly, I'm sure the addition of a camo head will help increase sales of the Regular edition and create more interest in the EX waitlist too.

 

[samueljd]

Especially since they already did such a good job with matching CC's blue and red two-toned painted hood to his costume. The Cobra insignia on his face is certainly more intricate than splotches of camo.

True. The camo can easily be done. We seen much more intricacies done on other figures and heads. Especially Hot Toys and DiD lately, particularly on the Predator 1 figures. IMO, SS just wanted to cut costs on the camo and we held them to the classic look of FF.

 

[thenammagazine]

True. The camo can easily be done. We seen much more intricacies done on other figures and heads. Especially Hot Toys and DiD lately, particularly on the Predator 1 figures. IMO, SS just wanted to cut costs on the camo and we held them to the classic look of FF.

Again, I think what they said was true. Their worried about the pattern being reasonably duplicated in the factory, and based on the hit & miss history of QC, I don't blame them. He could wind up looking great, or wind up being this line's Pam Voorhees. As a company I'd rather have customers whining about leaving out something than about the poor quality of something released.

 

[EVILFACE]

I think SS just threw the camo paint out there as a excuse. It's clear they can paint heads however needed.

 

[The Craw]

i don't see how painting camo on every head can be any worse than painting a cobra logo on every CC hood or painting the tatoo pattern on every maul figure.

 

[The Craw]

......or they could just keep doing what they're doing cuz it seems to be working.

 

[EVILFACE]

......or they could just keep doing what they're doing cuz it seems to be working.

This. All the figures have been top quality for the price.

 

[Deeznutz6]

Referring to MH's post

Dont know about that, I think collectors of this line are Gi Joe RAH fans, and not military collectors as such. Therefore the quantities will probably never go up, just because there is a limited fan/collect base of GJRAH.

So that this point Im ok with the price as long as it keeps the line going.

 

[thenammagazine]

Given the nostalgia factor, I think GI JOE RAH could be far more marketable than some want to give it credit for. Yes, this is a niche hobby, but He-Man, Transformers, Macross, several lines from the 80s have made a come back.

At some level, it comes down to collectors who are in their prime earning years, even in a craptastic economy, who remember certain themes and lines and shows from their childhood.

GI Joe RAH, the way most of us knew it, will not be salient in the same way 30 years from now. The death of vintage GI Joe is a classic example. People who collected that stuff as kids are dying off or moving into a fixed income situation.

SST is already going against "classic" formats for these figures. Duke doesn't look like Duke from his 80s filecard and that's fine, so if that's going to be true, will genuine crossover appeal hurt anyone all that much?

I think it's the exact opposite. Sideshow is appealing to the RAH fans by marketing directly to them, but adding a Sideshow twist by putting small updates on them. I agree they might've gone a bit overboard on Firefly, but everything else we've seen has been a truer nod toward ROC and that's their main marketing base. How do I know? Because if they were marketing these to the newer Joe fans, it'd be entirely ROC garbage.

As for Duke, I'd say you're wrong. I look at that figure and, being a RAH fan, I know exactly who he's supposed to be. Glad they didn't go the silly grin look. It's really hard to display a badass soldier with a smiley face.

 

[The Josh]

I'm sure this will be taken with a grain of salt.

I think SS as a whole has done a good job of finding a balance between the classic GI Joe stuff I grew up with and using a modern twist as well. As far as the quality I think SS has matched HT for sure. Compairing the GI Joe figures I have and the HT Military figure I had.