G.I. Joe thread - 09/13/2024: Pulsecon - Dreadnoks, Dogs and Cereal
- Thread starter TriBlurr
- Start date
The X-19 holds a special place as the last GIJoe toy I ever got as a gift as I was mostly "too old" by that point (hah - showed them). It and the Tactical Battle Platform are also the only two Joe toys in my current collection (aside from basic figures) that I never sold off.
On a related note
G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout PC Version Is Shutting Down - HissTank.com
The publisher behind G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout video game has announced that they are pulling the Steam (PC) version of the game from the stores on December 31st, 2024. Game Mill Entertainment has issued an unusually small announcement with regards to the situation. “Product Removal...news.hisstank.com
Gamemill is yanking GI Joe Operation Blackout (the mediocre 3rd person shooter from a few years ago) from Steam on December 31. Possible that consoles will follow. I'm assuming this is just a licensing expiration.
Video Games - GameSpark News: Cobra Wins as G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout to Be Delisted, Plus More MMPR: Rita's Revenge
As the world prepares itself for the release of G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra in mere days, more news has come out about the fate of another video game adventure featuring A Real American Hero. Released in 2020, G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout is a team-based third-person shooter pitting six members of...
www.allspark.com
I’m not sure MOST modern games are actually on any of the discs anymore. Anymore, physical discs are simply physical “license keys” to tell the system “Yeah, I bought this game, here’s the proof”.
Did she at least come with her signature clarinet?
Obviously, Destro is sold separately.
Scarlett.
Specifically, the 2004 Valor vs Venom iteration that was released in the fall of 2004 to discount chains’ single card assortment.
Fans were robbed of more truly great stuff when the line was “refocused” in 2005 than they were in 1995.
TFCon put out this nice vid of Morgan Lofing interview clips as a tribute:
Man, I haven't seen such a back-handed swipe at Sigma Six in so many years!
FYI, Walmart has nearly ALL of their Night Force exclusives on markdown as part of a Christmas sale.
Tunnel Rat was about $10
Shooter was about $15
The RAM and Shockwave was $22 and change
Lt. Falcon and Quarrel $44-ish.
Tunnel Rat was about $10
Shooter was about $15
The RAM and Shockwave was $22 and change
Lt. Falcon and Quarrel $44-ish.
From what I heard at the time (the “He Tell Me” crowd) was that GI Joe was doing fine. IF anything, GI Joe ended up doing a bit “better” than Transformers in 2004, simply by virtue of not having PILES of overstock clogging down the line for most of the year. GI Joe was clearly doing well because those massive vehicles in DTC didn’t come from out of nowhere, they were planned for Robot Rebellion. And I recall Target actually giving GI Joe more shelf space in early 2005 than they had for the holidays.
The core issues Boiled down to the garbage 12” figure sales and corporate politics. Walmart, reportedly, wasn’t happy with GI Joe’s “solid, but not spectacular” sales and pushed Hasbro to move wholesale to the 8” figure line (which I firmly believe were developed as replacements for the 12” segment). Hasbro DID have a pretty healthy slate of products for 2005, building on much of the groundwork done in late 2004 (the mini-themes, the new pinless joints, Dwight Stall’s fantastic design and sculpt work).
Walmart said “we don’t want these old GI Joe figures” and Hasbro complied because Walmart was a big enough buyer to dictate that.
Direct to Consumer was Hasbro actually listening to collectors…who didn’t show up or weren’t numerous enough to carry the line like they claimed. All those amazing products released under the DTC label (aside from some of the kitbashed figures) were planned for a mass retail release.
Lol. It wasn’t intentional. I still maintain Sigma 6 was the last truly great action figure line we’ve ever seen. Everything we’ve gotten since have leaned heavily on established principles, legacy media and characters and penny pinching. S6 was reasonably fresh, with a fresh aesthetic, solid construction and design and really novel play features. While I stand by my statement, I will still defend Sigma 6 as the kind of amazing action figures we’ll probably never see at mass retail again.
BUT…I also maintain that by scrapping the 3.75” segment when they did, Hasbro just gutted a TON of momentum they had built between fans, retailers, and casual audiences. And I’d readily argue that Hasbro has NEVER been able to regain that momentum in the decades since. Hell, it took them until 2009 to actually make 4” figures that were even close to the quality we saw in 2005.