I recently bid for (and won) a loose Rolling Thunder from 1988. You will no doubt be seeing an in-depth review soon after it arrives. It occurs to me that the year 1988 is significant as it was my jump-on point for collecting. So many of my initial G.I. Joe figures were from '88, and among them some of the enduring favourites such as Hit & Run, Shockwave and Hydro-Viper. The vehicles of this year also ingrained themselves as all-time favourites for a host of reasons. The Warthog entered my life shortly after my 8th birthday and it became my premier Joe armour. It saw so much use as a personnel carrier. I always loved the idea of a vehicle with a cavernous interior space where grizzled, war-weary Joes sat in cramped quarters, preparing themselves for a brutal land assault. It also seemed to be a vehicle that could easily fit in with a more realistic (therefore vintage) G.I. Joe motorpool, something that I appreciate as an adult collector with a love for the old-skool, olive drab aesthetic. Shortly after the Warthog, the BUGG arrived as a Christmas gift from ma and pa. Outlandish but definitively Cobra, this vehicle was great fun and is a treasure trove of memories for me.
Flash forward many years and I am cruising a flea market at Sunrise Beach, False Bay and I find a Skystorm attack helicopter mint in box! That alone adds a stamp of coolness to a vehicle and despite being maligned by a few (Mark Bellomo for example) I love this chopper. I have a great deal of fun and use for a small, sleek attack chopper that can turn on the juice with a jet engine. Such fun flying that craft about. Also quite late in the game, Christmas 2009 to be exact, I got a pair of Desert Fox's. I think as a standard G.I. Joe jeep, this puppy blows away the Vamp and Awe Striker. I don't even mind the flesh tone colouring, though I am eternally grateful that my buddy Paul airbrushed and excellent and very detailed matt green coat on one of mine.
This time last year I got my hands on a Phantom X-19 and what a beaut that is. The last of the good vintage jets, large, long and with an intricate working landing gear mechanism (well, mine kind of needs a bit of help, but it's an impressive design nevertheless). I think it's my fave Joe jet, as it turns out.
If the Rolling Thunder proves to be a winner (and I will be critical) then 1988 could well be my favourite G.I. Joe year. So hurry up and arrive! Getting big boxes from the post office is like, a reason to live.
Tuesday 26 April 2011
Thursday 21 April 2011
PART 2
So Hasbro learned the hard lesson that nothing they did was going to surpass their original run of ARAH product. So they moved into a bigger scale. Not quite Marvel Legends stature, but certainly more of a Superhero figure scale than Real American Hero. They were big and had an anime style to them. When I say that, I mean the figures didn't emulate realistic physiques and musculature like the ARAH Joes. They were stylised with angular features and tapered waistlines. This translated well in the accompanying cartoon and allowed the cartoon to ride the western/anime popularity wave established by shows like Dragonball Z and Pokemon.
The figures weren't bad. They came with interesting, unique accessories, [most of them] had unique molds and gimmicks. They were just big. Too big to be accommodated by what I deem to be the selling point of ARAH - the vehicles. If you haven't gathered by now, I am a huge fan of the vehicles. If you were to ask me what my favourite G.I. Joe toy is, I wouldn't put a figure on my top ten. Probably not even on my top twenty. And I'm not alone, this formed the subject of an internet poll that I stumbled onto. They eventually had to announced an additional, separate poll for the figures, as the vehicles were getting all the votes.
So what do you do when your scaling doesn't allow for a range of vehicles? Well I don't really know what you should do... But Sigma 6 remedied this by releasing a subscale. A set of vehicles scaled to a 2 inch line of figures.
I bemoan a scaling split. I just can't get my head around it. Do you play out your adventure with the big figures and when you call in some Dragonhawk air support, you switch down a scale? Unsatisfactory, especially for someone who knows better, someone who remembers an articulated soldier toy that could climb into a helicopter or tank or headquarters and look like he belonged.
And that my friends is why Sigma 6 had to die.
The figures weren't bad. They came with interesting, unique accessories, [most of them] had unique molds and gimmicks. They were just big. Too big to be accommodated by what I deem to be the selling point of ARAH - the vehicles. If you haven't gathered by now, I am a huge fan of the vehicles. If you were to ask me what my favourite G.I. Joe toy is, I wouldn't put a figure on my top ten. Probably not even on my top twenty. And I'm not alone, this formed the subject of an internet poll that I stumbled onto. They eventually had to announced an additional, separate poll for the figures, as the vehicles were getting all the votes.
So what do you do when your scaling doesn't allow for a range of vehicles? Well I don't really know what you should do... But Sigma 6 remedied this by releasing a subscale. A set of vehicles scaled to a 2 inch line of figures.
I bemoan a scaling split. I just can't get my head around it. Do you play out your adventure with the big figures and when you call in some Dragonhawk air support, you switch down a scale? Unsatisfactory, especially for someone who knows better, someone who remembers an articulated soldier toy that could climb into a helicopter or tank or headquarters and look like he belonged.
And that my friends is why Sigma 6 had to die.
Thursday 14 April 2011
A Real American Hero... New Sculpt... Sigma 6... Modern Era... PART 1
What do you consider to be real G.I. Joe? I omitted the 12 inch figures from the title. They are what started it all, and for all I know may be 'realest' Joes ever produced. But I've never owned one; their history is beyond my ken; and therefore beyond the scope of my blog.
I'm trying to sift through it all in my head. My room is swimming in ARAH and modern era Joes. I try and make the nu-skool guys work with the old-skool vehicles and it is unfulfilling. I can't deny that the modern era Joes have become the epitome of the Joe line, taking a figure design that remained largely unchanged for 25 years and improving on it. It's not without a few major and minor gripes though.
The major gripe I have is sadly not something that will be improved as it is totally dependent on the financial climate. New parts and sculpts are emerging all the time, but sadly they are intended for a handful of popular characters. While we are getting our fan-requested figures, nichey figures made, sadly they often get total franken-Joe treatment. My favourite example of parts reuse must be Hit & Run from the Assault on Cobra Island 7 Pack. Nothing new on that figure. Not even the head.
When we consider that vintage ARAH Joes were each uniquely sculpted (notwithstanding subsequent re-releases) it's clear that Hasbro had a great deal more $ to splash around.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is this - Joes who became fan favourites by virtue of having a sweet original sculpt and not because of their media exposure are relegated to the franken-Joe treatment. Characters who pop up in every rendition of Joe (Cobra Commander, Duke, Snake-Eyes) get all the new parts. While this makes economic sense, sadly those nichy characters who we loved because the were sweet figures now aren't even that. I'm referring to guys like Shockwave, Hit & Run, Tunnel Rat. My favourite vintage sculpt, Falcon has become a Frankenjoe so hideous I don't want to hit yojoe.com to take a quick reference squizz at the 25th Anniversary fig. What a shame. Even having Don Johnson do your voice can't save a 2nd tier, Flint look-alike.
It is with enormous pleasure that I announce three upcoming exceptions. The 30th anniversary figures of Airtight, Lifeline and Sci-Fi look incredible. New parts allowing design accuracy instead of approximation, even when the characters themselves are pretty obscure and largely left alone by current Joe media.
I just looked at Falcon. Looks like a Joe from the post-ARAH, new-sculpt era. Bad.
Getting back to the topic at hand. The road to the 25th Anniversary Joes was not always a clear one. When ARAH disappeared and reappeared and then disappeared, all Hasbro was doing was re-releasing old toys. Enter the New Sculpt. With a new comic title from Devil's Due Publishing, new Joe figures started hitting shelves. At first they were without elastic 'O' rings - the rubber band that holds a vintage Joe together and allows the figure to move at the waist along multiple planes instead of simply side to side. These figures also had the dreaded 'T' crotches that only allowed the legs to rotate forward along the same plane. The figures were also made of a softer, more durable plastic. This saved the new figs from the typical breakages that plagued ARAH like broken thumbs, crotches and elbow cracks. The 'T' crotch joint was a step backwards though, and made the new sculpt Joes slide into Star Wars figurine territory. Bad move. Mercifully they then moved into a hybrid design, reincorporating the 'O' ring, but retaining the soft plastic. After the initial excitement of new toys had died down, it became apparent these figures were horrible. Bad proportions, boring and sloppy paint applications, and, for a few, dreaded action features.
Hasbro had tried to better their original products and failed. I'm sure it showed in their sales. I quickly switched from buying New Sculpt toys back to buying the vintage figures on Ebay. Interestingly enough, towards the end of the New Sculpt line, Hasbro acknowledged this failing of their product and began re-releasing vintage figures cast in the flexible plastic and really going in for the kill with hit sets like the Viper six-packs, and comic packs with more comic accurate, new head sculpts.
But their attempt at putting out a new product was a failure. So how do you re-do Joe without being judged by the insurmountable standard of everything you have done before? Well, you switch scales!
And Sigma Six was born.
I'm trying to sift through it all in my head. My room is swimming in ARAH and modern era Joes. I try and make the nu-skool guys work with the old-skool vehicles and it is unfulfilling. I can't deny that the modern era Joes have become the epitome of the Joe line, taking a figure design that remained largely unchanged for 25 years and improving on it. It's not without a few major and minor gripes though.
The major gripe I have is sadly not something that will be improved as it is totally dependent on the financial climate. New parts and sculpts are emerging all the time, but sadly they are intended for a handful of popular characters. While we are getting our fan-requested figures, nichey figures made, sadly they often get total franken-Joe treatment. My favourite example of parts reuse must be Hit & Run from the Assault on Cobra Island 7 Pack. Nothing new on that figure. Not even the head.
When we consider that vintage ARAH Joes were each uniquely sculpted (notwithstanding subsequent re-releases) it's clear that Hasbro had a great deal more $ to splash around.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is this - Joes who became fan favourites by virtue of having a sweet original sculpt and not because of their media exposure are relegated to the franken-Joe treatment. Characters who pop up in every rendition of Joe (Cobra Commander, Duke, Snake-Eyes) get all the new parts. While this makes economic sense, sadly those nichy characters who we loved because the were sweet figures now aren't even that. I'm referring to guys like Shockwave, Hit & Run, Tunnel Rat. My favourite vintage sculpt, Falcon has become a Frankenjoe so hideous I don't want to hit yojoe.com to take a quick reference squizz at the 25th Anniversary fig. What a shame. Even having Don Johnson do your voice can't save a 2nd tier, Flint look-alike.
It is with enormous pleasure that I announce three upcoming exceptions. The 30th anniversary figures of Airtight, Lifeline and Sci-Fi look incredible. New parts allowing design accuracy instead of approximation, even when the characters themselves are pretty obscure and largely left alone by current Joe media.
I just looked at Falcon. Looks like a Joe from the post-ARAH, new-sculpt era. Bad.
Getting back to the topic at hand. The road to the 25th Anniversary Joes was not always a clear one. When ARAH disappeared and reappeared and then disappeared, all Hasbro was doing was re-releasing old toys. Enter the New Sculpt. With a new comic title from Devil's Due Publishing, new Joe figures started hitting shelves. At first they were without elastic 'O' rings - the rubber band that holds a vintage Joe together and allows the figure to move at the waist along multiple planes instead of simply side to side. These figures also had the dreaded 'T' crotches that only allowed the legs to rotate forward along the same plane. The figures were also made of a softer, more durable plastic. This saved the new figs from the typical breakages that plagued ARAH like broken thumbs, crotches and elbow cracks. The 'T' crotch joint was a step backwards though, and made the new sculpt Joes slide into Star Wars figurine territory. Bad move. Mercifully they then moved into a hybrid design, reincorporating the 'O' ring, but retaining the soft plastic. After the initial excitement of new toys had died down, it became apparent these figures were horrible. Bad proportions, boring and sloppy paint applications, and, for a few, dreaded action features.
Hasbro had tried to better their original products and failed. I'm sure it showed in their sales. I quickly switched from buying New Sculpt toys back to buying the vintage figures on Ebay. Interestingly enough, towards the end of the New Sculpt line, Hasbro acknowledged this failing of their product and began re-releasing vintage figures cast in the flexible plastic and really going in for the kill with hit sets like the Viper six-packs, and comic packs with more comic accurate, new head sculpts.
But their attempt at putting out a new product was a failure. So how do you re-do Joe without being judged by the insurmountable standard of everything you have done before? Well, you switch scales!
And Sigma Six was born.
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