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Here are my take-aways:
The tiers: Voting seemed to fall into some basic tiers. This isn't entirely uncommon for the kind of ranking scheme, but it is interesting that there are essentially Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 picks in each category. For example, in the 30th, Flint and Kwinn are Tier 1 choices, Lady Jaye and Hit and Run are Tier 2 choices, and CG Immortal is just slightly ahead a broad Tier 3, which includes Heat Viper, Beachhead, etc.
This seems to suggest a sort of consensus at the top. The same is true in the POC rankings. Data Viper and Clutch form Tier 1, Grunt and the KAOS crew form Tier 2, and Cobra Infantry, Zartan and Heavy Alley Viper form Tier 3. Also interestingly, all the Tier 1-3 figures from the 30th and POC categories add up to 16 figures. SO, if Hasbro saw this as these as the consensus must-haves from these categories, it wouldn't take much culling to put together a pair of seven packs.
For example:
Pack 1: Kwinn, Flint, Lady Jaye, Hit n Run, Clutch, Beachhead, Grunt
Pack 2: CG Immortal, Heat Viper, Cobra Eel, Cobra Officer, Data Viper, KAOS Crew, Zartan, Cobra Infantry, Heavy Alley Viper. You'd only have to cut two figures from this pack to bring it down to seven.
A strong preference for classic characters: It seems the fandom is split pretty evenly on the message boards between people who profess they want something new from GI Joe, and those that say they'd rather have classic updates/ultimate versions of core characters. The polling indicates there's a lot of demand for core character updates, if done in the "ultimate" style (Flint, BeachHead), and not much support for updates done marginally better than before (BBQ), or that reinvent the character (Shipwreck).
I think this is why Zombie Cobra Commander and Toxo-Zombie did well in the Ninja/Zombie face-off. Not because people are clamoring for a Zombie CC, but because the rest of the figure looks like an ultimate CC that could be topped off with a classic helmet. Toxo-Zombie, similarly, is a classic character, though I wasn't struck by this figure in the case.
Ninjas beat Zombies, but both fall flat: I thought the Zombie pack brought more new stuff to the table than the ninja pack, but hardly anyone agrees with me. I guess the results reinforces that GI Joe is as much about butt-kicking ninjas as it is about sci-fi military action. I was shocked that Hollywood didn't get that the first time around with ROC, but it looks like they're trying to get it right with Retaliation and it seems like the fans want more sword-wielding, hooded dudes.
At the same time, the overall preference expressed by fans would be for Hasbro to put out more 30th/PoC figures. Zombies and Ninjas ranked below Renegades. But they didn't just rank low. Renegades, Zombies and Ninjas COMBINED are slightly more popular than POC and slightly less popular than 30th. That's a pretty clear message: most fans want more 30th/POC before anything else.
Steel Brigade? No thanks: All the Steel Brigade figures ranked at the bottom of their categories. I think this indicates that fans got enough of this concept with the 30th figure (and its variant).
We've got enough Dukes. Give us Flint!: Duke did poorly in every category he was in. In Renegades, he hit the bottom. In POC he hit the bottom (I actually like that training Duke figure... for parts). While Flint did well in every category (including the future prospects Renegades poll, where he and Lady Jaye formed a second tier with Destro behind Roadblock and Baroness as Tier 1 characters).
Ghost Ninja Henchman rules: This guy flat-out won the Zombie/Ninja poll. Hasbro knocked the concept out of the park and fans want this one, apparently.
In closing: Thanks to General Hawk for putting this together. It's a really cool thing. Hopefully some cool toys come of it. I'm pretty happy personally that my top 10: Flint, Lady Jaye, Zartan, Hit n Run, KAOS Crew, POC Clutch, Grunt, Eel, BeachHead and CG Immortal all made their respective top 10s.
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