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Author Topic: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?  (Read 318939 times)

canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #12 on: August 09, 2021, 12:43:36 PM »

Another lucky week.

Snagged both Firefly and Viper from my local TRU.  Someone posted the sighting on another board and I hightailed it there.  Supposedly they had about 10 each of Firefly, Bluud and Viper when the first guy saw them.  Once I bought mine (2 of each), there were about 5 of each left. 

Firefly is a great figure.  I love all the accessories he comes with, and I love the face sculpt under the make.  I still don't like the blast(?) vest they put on him.  I get why they did, but I don't really like it, I prefer the old look.  Which is what we could get if the vest was removable, but it isn't!!!  Well it is, but you have to do the whole remove his head and arms to stretch it over the body.  Still a pretty good figure overall though.

The Viper is a really great looking figure, but it has a bunch of small problems that really detract from the figure.  It is a great update to the Viper look, while still evoking the original look.  However the goggles are now a separate piece, which sounds like a good idea, but they don't sit well on the helmet and easily fall off with a slight movement.  The neck scarf is also a separate piece which, again, sounds like a good idea.  However you have to take the head off to put it on/off.  So I can see wear and tear being a concern a few years down the road. 

Hasbro has done a good job with accessories/storage for this line.  So while the Viper comes with a bunch of accessories, the big downside is there is nowhere to store his rifle on the body/backpack.  The backpack is huge and there is ample space to put the rifle on it, but for some reason Hasbro didn't bother.  So you have to either leave it aside, or he has to carry it all the time.

Finally the helmet has a bit of a scratch on the top, that I think came from the constant movement of the goggles.  As well there was a bit of a scratch on the face plate near one side that I didn't see when I bought him.

So like I said, both are pretty good figures (Viper is better IMO), but there are a few design choices that I feel detract from the figures.  Bludd is by far the best of those three I have recently picked up.
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Pete The Greek

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2021, 04:35:10 PM »

I will need to check out a TRU down the road.  It's been a while.
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canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #14 on: August 10, 2021, 08:40:20 AM »

I will need to check out a TRU down the road.  It's been a while.

Prepare to be disappointed.  LOL

I don't know what you'll find at your local TRU, but the Joe selection is pretty limited, and depending on the location they could be in the video game section rather than the regular aisles.
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Pete The Greek

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #15 on: August 10, 2021, 11:01:21 PM »

I will need to check out a TRU down the road.  It's been a while.

Prepare to be disappointed.  LOL

I don't know what you'll find at your local TRU, but the Joe selection is pretty limited, and depending on the location they could be in the video game section rather than the regular aisles.

So it would be no different than EB Games.  lol
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canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #16 on: August 11, 2021, 11:35:41 AM »

I will need to check out a TRU down the road.  It's been a while.

Prepare to be disappointed.  LOL

I don't know what you'll find at your local TRU, but the Joe selection is pretty limited, and depending on the location they could be in the video game section rather than the regular aisles.

So it would be no different than EB Games.  lol

Or Walmart, Amazon, etc.......lol

Found the Retro Blue Hiss at my local Walmart yesterday.  I picked up one, but man they are now asking $40 for the vehicles.  Definitely getting too rich for my blood, especially after finding the Retro Fang last week on clearance for $19.
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Pete The Greek

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #17 on: August 19, 2021, 09:54:41 AM »

I found found the 6" Scarlett and CC at at TRU in Pickering.  Wasn't a fan of seeing them in the video game section. 
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canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #18 on: August 25, 2021, 07:30:13 AM »

I found found the 6" Scarlett and CC at at TRU in Pickering.  Wasn't a fan of seeing them in the video game section.

I think it is a store by store decision.  When they are in the video game section it seems the store considers them more collector oriented product.  Whereas if they are just in the toy aisle it seems the store just considers them toys.  I guess it all depends on the manager.

Also I just received my Snake Eyes with Timber deluxe set (#30).  Man this is the best Snake Eyes released (so far) in the Classified line.  It is he commando version and hits all the right notes for that version.  Also he comes with a nice selection of actual guns, not sci-fi style blasters.  Just overall the best Snake Eyes to date, in my eyes anyway.  Timber is also incredible!!!!  I mean not only did they do a great job with the mold, but the articulation is crazy for a glorified accessory.  I would say, if I'm being honest, that Timber actually outshines Snake Eyes in this set.  However that is probably more to do with just how much effort they put into Timber, and less to do with Timber being miles better than Snake Eyes.

Just outstanding overall as a set and well worth the extra cost.
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canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #19 on: September 02, 2021, 01:54:14 PM »

Scored a Breaker w/RAM the other day at my local TRU.

Man this is one sweet pack.  Great 80s vibes, especially the RAM.

Breaker is a great figure overall, even with the plain green paint scheme.  Although that is accurate to the original figure.  The head sculpt is great, beard and all.  The helmet is updated to have a visor and electronics attached to replace the communications backpack.  So it gives him a bit of modernity while still staying fairly true to the original.  I kind of do miss the backpack but it is a small nitpick.

The RAM is where this set really shines.  This is a near perfect recreation of the original, just upsized for 6" figures.  The colour is great and the side car gatling gun is wonderful.  Especially because it can be opened, and the gun removed so that Breaker can hold it for free fire!!!!  If it wasn't so pricey ($57.99+ tax) I would get a whole bunch to give to my Joes.  However I will have to be patient and hope more show up down the line when I can afford to splurge on at least 1 more.  This is a much better offering than the Baroness w/COIL.  Both Breaker and the RAM are great additions and must haves, in my opinion.  Whereas the Baroness is a must have, but the COIL is not that great.

Now hurry up Hasbro and reveal some more of the line.
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Jon S.

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #20 on: October 04, 2021, 01:00:37 AM »

My Toys "R" Us (Yonge & Eglinton) never seems to have anything Joe except the Cobra Island Roadblock.

Almost everything I've bought so far has been from an e-tailer, so no TRU exclusives for me. I think the Classified figures are great, but collecting has become a bit of a drag. At least the things I can't snag from an e-tailer.

I've never seen any Joe stuff ever at Dufferin Mall Wal-Mart.

The only store that doesn't let me down ironically is EB Games who seem to always have what I'm looking for (Red Alert, Bluestreak, Pirate Deadpool)

It seems like anything remotely interesting is scooped up by scalpers. I saw a dude pushing a shopping cart just loading up one day.
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canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #21 on: October 18, 2021, 08:49:19 PM »

My Toys "R" Us (Yonge & Eglinton) never seems to have anything Joe except the Cobra Island Roadblock.

Almost everything I've bought so far has been from an e-tailer, so no TRU exclusives for me. I think the Classified figures are great, but collecting has become a bit of a drag. At least the things I can't snag from an e-tailer.

I've never seen any Joe stuff ever at Dufferin Mall Wal-Mart.

The only store that doesn't let me down ironically is EB Games who seem to always have what I'm looking for (Red Alert, Bluestreak, Pirate Deadpool)

It seems like anything remotely interesting is scooped up by scalpers. I saw a dude pushing a shopping cart just loading up one day.

Yikes, yeah I remember how tough the Dufferin Mall was for hunting some days. 

Ever since moving to Ottawa I have had a lot more luck finding in store.

Recently got the Amazon Heavy Artillery Roadblock (original S1 camo/orange combo).  That is a much better look for the figure than the first release.

It will be interesting to see what Hasbro reveals this week at Pulse Con since we haven't had much in the way of news for  quite a long time.
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canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #22 on: October 30, 2021, 07:16:59 AM »

Well those PulseCon reveals were definitely a step up from the past year.

I love how the Joe team really brought it after a year of disappointing reveals,and interaction with the fan community.  I know that the Hasbro Marvel Legends team was considered the gold standard for reveals, interaction this year, but I love that the Joe team was considered the best panel at PulseCon by a lot of the general fan community.

I also love that they seem to be getting away from the early days of heavily updated looks for classic designs.  Instead they seem to have taken that back quite a bit.  These new reveals seem to evoke mostly the classic looks with modern updates, but those updates are more about accentuating the classic look rather than the reverse.

So for the reveals.   I LOVED EVERYTHING!!!!

I was glad to see that Tiger Force and Python Patrol will be the Target exclusives this time.  I much prefer that store exclusives be repaints of existing characters, rather than the only way to get actual mainline characters.

The winners for me (well they were all winners really) were the BAT, Alley Viper, Spirit, Storm Shadow, Croc Master and Outback.

That BAT was everything you could want in a Classified update.  It retains all the great things about the original, but adds a few extra touches to update it for today.  I love that they thought of putting a removable protective panel on the chest.  Not only does it make sense, in a real world sense, but it adds a nice uniform look to the body.  All the attachments are great, as well as the battle damaged head.

The Alley Viper is straight out of the ARAH line.  I love the crazy, no reasonable rationale, colour scheme.  The shield is perfect, and the backpack load out looks great.  The only thing I am worried about is the body armour being a problem like with Firefly.  Again it makes sense in the real world, but it definitely hurts the figure's poses and articluation.

Outback is outstanding!!!!  That head sculpt is incredible, and they used a new body for him.  So now they have a body that is bigger than the standard joes, but not as big as Roadblock.  That should come in handy for future releases.  All his accessories really add to the whole "survivalist" specialty.  Also I think we all know this means a regular version will be along sometime, hopefully soon.

Spirit was wonderful to see.  I really though they would try to get away from his original look due to concerns about diversity, representation and stereotypical depictions of Indigenous people.  However they stayed with the original look and did a great job.  Again the minor tweaks/updates add to the figure.  I love that Freedom has 2 sets of wings to change up how you display him.  As well you can perch him on different parts of Spirit, and you can have him grabbing Storm Shadow's arrow in his talons, just like in the cartoon!!!  What a great little touch.

Storm Shadow.  CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!!!  Well done Hasbro.  This is the Storm Shadow I see in my minds eye when thinking of Classified.  It is such a great update to the classic look with, again, minor tweaks.  I just see this as a perfect modern representation of Storm Shadow.  You get the option of hooded, or unhooded, and all the weapons you expect.  I had to laugh that the team mentioned they originally had the bow and arrow able to shoot about 4 feet.  Then QA (Quality Assurance?) got ahold of it and told them it couldn't shoot.  SO CLOSE!!!  Oh well.

Croc Master.  I have Snake Eyes and Timber from Classified.  They did a great job with that set, so I didn't think they could one up themselves, but boy was I wrong.  This set is the next step up from SE/Timber.  Croc Master looks great, in all his cheesy looking glory, yet the update and little details make his figure just incredible.  The use of crocodile skin for his outfit, and the way they detailed it, really makes him pop.  The accessories are great.  The whip and meat hook really evoke that sense of "he is not a nice guy, especially to his crocs."  Then of course we get to Fiona and her babies (Diablo & Georgie).  WOW!  A nearly 12" long crocodile, with articulation and a bendable tail!!!!??  And she can carry her babies in her mouth just like a real life croc??!!  Man the team really went all out on the details for Fiona. 

Python Patrol BAT.  I love the look of this, especially since this is a never before released version of the BAT.  The PP colour scheme really works for the BAT.  Although I can see the complaint people have about how the torso paint scheme makes it look like it is wearing a shirt.  I also like that they put the PP logo right on the removable chest plate. 

Python Patrol Viper.  Not a big fan of this look.  I do like the subdued take on the colours.  It makes the yellow really pop when it doesn't feature as prominently on the rest of the figure.  However overall I just find it ok, definitely the weakest of the reveals.

If these reveals are any indication of the future it looks very bright.
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canprime

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Re: Thoughts on Classified and Retro lines?
« Reply #23 on: November 08, 2021, 06:24:18 AM »

So there are rumours about the next 2 wave of Classified.  According to the rumours they consist of the following:

Wave 9:

Lorenzo "Stalker" Wilkinson
Tomax
Xamot

Wave 10:

Zarana
Dusty
Crimson Guard

That would probably make up most of the rest of 2022's wave figures.  If so it would be a great way to end the year.

Stalker is always a give, and considering who they have already made they have the parts to do him pretty easily, and still look good.

The twins are also a given, but at least Hasbro had the sense to keep them together in a wave, rather than stretching it out and making it even more difficult to get them.  The question now is what do they look like?  Given the new Classified aesthetic of sticking closer to the original ARAH look, with only minor updates, does that mean we get Circus Gymnasts twins?  Could they be crazy and give us business suit looks?  Probably not.  However they could also go in a different direction and give us a more commando/mercenary look.  Who knows.

Zarana is great, but I really wanted the original 3 Dreadnoks first, oh well they'll get there soon enough.  I wonder what they will do with her hair.  It really was an 80s look and I would be good with an update for that aspect.  Unfortunately I think they'll do the whole "long on one side, shaved on the other" look that seems to be popular today when trying to promote "tough girl" looks.  Think Teela from the Revelations cartoon.

Dusty has to be, HAS TO BE, his first look, with the obligatory updates.  I don't want his second look, even though we would get a coyote with him in that case.  However his first look is just too iconic to not do first.

Crimson Guard.  Probably my favourite army builder.  This one hopefully sticks close to the original design with only minor updates.  Barring some ugly design I'll probably get 4 of this guy.  Maybe give us an alternate unmasked head.
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