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[Redmao]

I think Hasbro lost a bunch of money on the 30th anniversary figures.  With the amount of detail used and the articulation, they were the best figures ever produced for G.I. Joe.

If money was indeed lost, it's the awful distribution is what made them lose money. The toys were amazing, yet people had a really hard time finding them.
In Canada it was even worst. Look at how long it took for the Stalker wave to finally hit the stores. It felt as if Canada became the dumping ground for the Blowtorch / Cobra Commander wave.

[SnowHawk]

I think Hasbro lost a bunch of money on the 30th anniversary figures.  With the amount of detail used and the articulation, they were the best figures ever produced for G.I. Joe.

If money was indeed lost, it's the awful distribution is what made them lose money. The toys were amazing, yet people had a really hard time finding them.
In Canada it was even worst. Look at how long it took for the Stalker wave to finally hit the stores. It felt as if Canada became the dumping ground for the Blowtorch / Cobra Commander wave.

It's unfortunate that the later figures haven't come out yet in retail.  Lifeline is one of the best figures ever made.  The amount of accessories and details on him are amazing.  I can't see Hasbro making as much profit when they sell that figure for $10.99 compared to the profit margin for Retaliation Duke which has less accessories and is a lower quality figure.

[Redmao]

Well, I went to TRU today and got new toys.

Red Ninja: The figure being almost the same as the Renegade Storm Shadow, it's awesome. The new armored lower arms and legs are pretty cool. Gear wise, it feels a bit naked. It comes with two cool swords, but no sheaths to carry them around. It comes with the sash/belt combo that SS had and I would have liked the simple belt better.

Zartan: Surprisingly, it's a pretty fun figure. Very sleek and simple, it's a nicely designed suit. Might not be used as Zartan, but more as another assassin. The gear load is simple yet effective.
I played with it and I'd have to admit that I don't really mind the simpler level of articulation. All the Joe basics are still there, plus swivel wrists which makes it a more awesome figure than a lot of action figures that are on the market right now.
The glowing eye gimmick is nice, but the big "window" on the SS and Joe heads make them pretty useless outside the hood.

Snake Eyes and his bike: Yes I did get one of the bikes. I liked the design and I watch Street Hawk the other day, so I bought it and I'm not regretting it one bit. The crank and let go gimmick is something my nephew will love so I'll probably get him one. The figure is barely articulated as we all know, but the knees can bend which gives the figure a whooping 7 PoA. The bike has little pins that connects to the figure's legs which hold it in place once on the bike which is pretty cool.

Thank you Retaliation for giving us some pretty fun toys.

[canprime]

So I caved and bought a Ghost Hawk II today on sale.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This "thing" is garbage.  From the vehicle, to the colours, to the missiles, to the driver.  Garbage from top to bottom. 

THIS is what we get completely new from the line???  Remolds of every other vehicle, and the best the design team can do with the vehicle, which I know appears in the movie so they can't stray too far from it, is this??

The sad part is I have an idea for a custom that if I do go ahead and start, it will require me to buy another Ghost Hawk II!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and the Duke figure?  Congrats, you beat out the CC from the HISS as worst figure yet!!!  Great job. 

Honestly I hope kids like it because I can't see it moving otherwise.

[ARROW]

Got to look these over in the flesh this afternoon; bought two GIJOE Troopers ( tan cloaks), A Cobra Trooper, and a Ninja Showdown set.
That is more than I told myself I'd buy.
The Ninja showdown set is the best value for the dollar right now (with the TRU sale), and the Joe Troopers are a close second.

I like the look of the COBRA trooper, but I have no use for the parachute, and he comes with only one rifle and a pistol. very light on gear, which is common throughout the line. A pity. He doesn't hold his rifle that well, but I've not yet fully fiddled with him to find the sweet spots. Plastic is a bit rubbery, but not alarmingly so.
Detail-wise, the figures are good to excellent. Articulation is good in the ones I bought, with the exception of the Cobra trooper--he needs the articulation in the ankles. Its absence hurts the figure's appeal. I'm going to scrounge through my parts boxes to look for added gear to spruce him up. He's really just one or two more items from being a really nice looking figure.

The Showdown set has lots of gear, and the Snake-eyes therein is the best in the ( Retaliation) line yet. I bought the set because he comes with the vest, as the single carded figure does not. The vest makes this figure, imo.  Of note: the suppressor fits BOTH the Uzi AND the H&K MP-5K--and gives the latter a unique look.  I don't know if that has been cited before.
The red ninja here is a good figure, with two other character options via the extra head gear.

The Joe Trooper is a decent figure, but all that gear on the pack is both neat and a pain in the arse at the same time. I have apparently lost one of the small pistols taking the figure out of the package, and the rifles attach to the pack in a flimsy way. Its a good-looking figure one assembled, but sturdy is nowhere in its lexicon. I have loads of stands to fit these guys and found appropriate ones in my parts boxes.

That's all I'm going to get though, looking over the rest of the figures..........pfft......little else interests me. Having bought the COBRA trooper, I have zero interest in COBRA Commander as a figure, even though he LOOKS interesting in terms of details. The missing articulation is, as expected a buzz-killer for me.

[ARROW]

Some additional thoughts: The lack of accessories. Rather, the lack of well thought-out accessories.
The single carded figures are most plagued by this, but the 3-figure sets have it too. On the face of it, the Ninja Showdown set looks like it has plenty of gear.....but its a mish-mash of weapons and kit. The dire "need" to get the really stupid spring-launched grapple-line item into the set makes little sense, because that is likely to be tossed early on. Granted the small parts like the throwing darts will be easily lost too, but the set could have used some packs to hold some of the gear. Storm Shadow or the Red Ninja could have used.......say, POC Desert Storm Shadow sword-holding pack--a part that is unlikely to see much re-use over time. The Red Ninja's choice of head gear could have been spread between the 3-pack and the single carded figure.
Snake-Eyes is the only figure with a scabbard for his swords, something the others figures could use too.


The GIJOE trooper has a LOT of gear........I'd be tempted to say TOO MUCH gear, but no.........I like a lot of choice, and I'm okay with left overs.
The other single-carded figures just lack. Duke and RoadRock have very little except their gimmick weapons, and if they have any other accessories, they are integral to the gimmick.
The other big thing missing: stands. this is really a step backwards, because for about the past.........oh....10+ years, we been told by Hasbro that GIJOE has strong aspects of a collectors line, and this figures are meant for play, and display. The stands foster the latter, and their inclusion over many years supported that philosophy.
But now, with Retaliation......the philosophy is.........nope, going cheap this time, forget established tradition-cut cut cut to the almost-bone.
Granted, I've got baggies full of stands for 25th and newer figures. I can take a GIJOE trooper figure and place it with a "Steel Brigade" stand, or a "code name: G.I.JOE Trooper" stand. Not every collector has that kind of stockpile on hand though, and the stands are nice to have.
 

[Emags]

Thanks for your comments, Arrow.  This is exactly why I'm not spending my $ on this line.  It all just feels off, this is not my GI Joe.

[ARROW]

Thanks for your comments, Arrow.  This is exactly why I'm not spending my $ on this line.  It all just feels off, this is not my GI Joe.

The figures are okay.........if you are willing to make concessions.
If you have stands for them.
If you have extra gear, packs and/or weapons for them.
If you don't mind losing some articulation (ankles)--they can fit just dandy as vehicle crews, for example.
If you want to kitbash new characters, or paint some of the brightly coloured parts.

Most importantly: if you can get them on discount. Paying $10-$12 for these figures is not getting good value--exception for the GIJOE trooper.

I've bought all that I'm going to buy, until wave 2/3 appears. I'm sticking to my guns about the vehicles......none of them interest me, and those drivers.......whew. Uh-uh. I refuse to accept the reasoning for them, and I'm voting against them by abstaining with my wallet.
( I understand what is being said about how drivers need little POAs because they just sit in the vehicles. I get that, but I refuse to accept 5 POA figures as a product I will buy. I demand more POAs, not less.)

My emotional impressions of what I saw/bought:

The GIJOE trooper and NS Snake-Eyes fit right in. The trooper is an ideal other Steel Brigade operator, maybe a Alpha, Beta or Gamma. He's got a good design in line with the modern version of the green-shirts. He could have been a POC figure and no-one would have blinked twice.
Snake-Eyes in the NS set just feels complete, as he should. The single-card is missing chest rig gear. The other two ninjas compliment the set--great POAs, but a mish-mash of gear. They fit in just fine too, but Storm Shadow has a definite "new-era" ( Valor vs Venom etc) vibe to his look. I'm okay with that.

The Cobra Trooper, has most of the right elements, but the wrong colours. He's too bright......but I can live with that. Its not a deal-breaker for me. I'm sticking with the POC Vipers and COBRA soldiers for my army--this trooper is a specialist of some kind that I'll figure out later.

The rest of the figures......the ones I left on the pegs........their various warts and omissions.....kill them. The Rock......just trash with that molded hand ( one of the few things I do not have spares of is spare figures to cannibalize, otherwise I'd have done the hand swap. Beside, I'll just wait for wave 2.....), and Duke.......what he comes with it garbage, imo. The other figures I have in the sets I bought, or they just hit me with too much "meh".

There's no spark here, unlike POC which was just "wow" after "wow" for the most part.
In-hand, Retaliation is exactly what I thought it was from months ago....another timid movie-tie-in toy line.

[Emags]

Interesting to read your comments on the GI Joe Trooper.  I am kind of on the fence with ...I like the mohawk, but thought the cape and bright accessories were just wrong. 

I was concerned he might stand out, in a bad way, if i put here near Steel Brigade.  Though you suggest otherwise....have not seen him in the wild yet to form an opinion....

[ARROW]

Interesting to read your comments on the GI Joe Trooper.  I am kind of on the fence with ...I like the mohawk, but thought the cape and bright accessories were just wrong. 

I was concerned he might stand out, in a bad way, if i put here near Steel Brigade.  Though you suggest otherwise....have not seen him in the wild yet to form an opinion....

The only bright accessories he's got are the orange entrenching tool ( which is actually PAINTED orange), and the extra gas mask and cape, but the latter two items have a tan coloured variant. The entrenching tool is mounted on the back of the back and cannot even be seen from the front. Everything else is muted tones/colours.

[latinjoe22]

Went to my local TRU today, arrived in front on Retaliation toys. Was confronted to the dilemma of buying them or not. Could not find a good enough reason to buy any. There was no Hiss tank though. Overall somewhat disappointed. I think Hasbro was depending this time too strongly on the movie to build some hype around the merchandise.

My first and only impressions for now: Without a movie in sight to promote it further, it is clear to me that their current offerings lack the imagination and magic that the gi joe franchise has been known to capture. The bigger vehicles look better than the figures IMHO. I wouldn't mind the figure's generic lack of cardart, had it had better artwork...

[Emags]

Apparently, there is a store very close to me that had the Joe Trooper yesterday.  I am heading there tomorrow AM to check him out.  I liked the head sculpt with the mohawk, so I'll see.  I did not realize he was painted in muted colors....that could work better with the rest of my Joes.