Just wanted to officially report, for any who haven't yet had the displeasure, that all of your worst fears about the new Major Bludd figure are true. He is teh suck.

I'd been a fence straddler on the relative merits of the design, preferring to hold one in my hand before rendering a formal opinion. But you don't necessarily need to hold the poo to know it's dirty and smelly. Now I know. This thing really has no redeeming qualities.

The closest thing to a plus it has going for it is the newly sculpted armored arm. But the cool factor of that wears off quickly once you start moving it around and realize it's got essentially the same lousy articulation as version one's did. I thought the point of this line was classic designs with increased articulation and detail?

The removable helmet many of us saw online before the figure's first delay had been another plus, but that never saw production. This guy's helmet is glued on.

And I had thought I'd be okay with the Zartan torso, but painted in flesh color that neck is ludicrous. It makes Bludd look deformed, like he's been wearing one of those collars made of rings that certain tribes in Africa used to use to stretch out their necks. And it's so thick that the dog tags won't even sit normally against his chest.

Then there are those horrible legs. They really are just god awful and probably the most irritating part of the design because they would have been the easiest to fix How tough would it have been to mold some brown CG legs or slap those boots on some brown Duke uppers? Or, better yet, give us a brown version of Red Star's?

I'm probably one of the biggest fans of the 25th line you'll find, but this was just a waste of a good character on a bad repaint and, because he happens to be my favorite character, really kind of took the wind out of my sails.

Anyone else have a favorite character you were really looking forward to in 25th style and just found yourself profoundly disappointed with in execution?

I would have to say the CG. I know I am in the minority but his helmet is not even close to the original's design. The helmet has angles which it shouldn't. The facemask sticks out too far. Plus most are non-removable. Then they give him a six shooter instead of the mini shotgun. His boots ride too high. Not to mention he is rather tall.

Yeah brutha, I was stoked when I 1st heard o' th' 25th figures. I couldn't WAIT ta get Duke, (1st Sgt. Hauser bein' my favorite 'JOE character,) then I got th' 5-Pack. I was bummed. His arms are a drag. He looks awkward tryin' t' hold his rifles. He doesn't have his boot knife. Why does he have that pocket on his right thigh? Where was his backpack & binoculars?

Th' 2nd figure I was bummed about was Firefly, (my favorite COBRA character.) At 1st I was excited, then I saw th' prototype pics & realized it was jus' Beachhead with th' bandoliers crossed over his commando sweater. It really brought me down. Some folks might think I'm nitpickin', but I can't help th' way I feel. I want accurate renditions of these characters.

I gave ideas on how these two could be fixed in my "Top Ten Wants" post.
I even mentioned Major Bludd & how Hasbro should give 'im Red Star's legs.

The ONE figure that I'm VERY impressed with however is the Armored Cobra Commander. I was hopin' they'd make 'im & Hasbro DELIVERED!

Serpentor. Don't get me wrong, I actually kinda like the version we got, but I really, really wanted a v1 styled Serpentor. I think I was most disappointed by the one from the Air Chariot/Armadillo pack, though. At first it disappointed me that, yet again, we weren't getting a v1 Serpy. But I was going to be happy with the copper repaint that was shown in the early photos. But now it turns out we're getting a version that looks like the first release, only with no cape and LESS paint apps. Bravo, Hasbro.

Edit: I was just reading the various Hasbro Q&A's...came upon this answer regarding Bludd's crappy arm



....I absolutely refuse to believe that 50% of GI Joe fans are happy with an arm that has no elbow joint.

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Oh... I don't know... off the top of my head? Let's see, there was Duke, Roadblock, Baroness, Flint, Serpentor, Firefly, Grand Slam, Spirit, Wild Bill, the Vipers & Major Bludd.

See, I love GIJoe & I look forward to all new figures. But when a new figure comes out and it isn't as good as the rest of the figures from the same wave, it just really disappoints me. Everybody knows about the problems with the aforementioned figures. But also note that all these figures I mentioned are iconic/major characters in the GIJoe mythos. I mean, seriously, the HISS Driver is even better than the Viper! I really wouldn't mind if the disappointing figures were minor or lesser known characters but figures like Major Bludd? Major Bludd deserves an entirely new sculpt! We get a Battle Armor Cobra Commander but not a unique sculpt for Major Bludd?

I'm really disappointed with the last two waves (7 & 8/ 2008 waves 3 & 4) and the excitement of getting new figures is starting to quickly wear off for me.

- JM

I signed on to post a thread saying almost exactly the same thing. I found Bludd yesterday and opened him last night, going through the same stages of reaction as you. I can understand that the arm is a one-use thing, and I can understand wanting to reuse existing everything else to help offset that. But I honestly would've been happier with a reuse of the HISS/GS/Flash body over the Zartan one. In fact, just going off existing parts, they could've gone: HISS driver body, either Snake-Eyes or Cobra trooper left arm, Duke thighs, Wave-4 Snake-eyes lower legs, then still used the gimped arm and head with glued-on helmet.
I thought I could deal with the near head-to-toe Zartan reuse, but upon seeing the execution, it just doesn't work right.

I'm trying hard to keep an open mind on the figure until I have it like you did. But from all of the negative feedback from this figure, I find it hard to believe that I will like this figure at all.

I think the only character that I really like whose figure I didn't like was Roadblock. And from the pictures I've seen, I'm afraid I won't like the second version, either, considering it's basically the same figure but with a huge green vest on him.

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Can you imagine Bludd with a HISS driver torso and Red Star legs? He would PWN

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I'd have to say I am most disappointed with the execution on the 25A Mindbender. What a tragic waste...




Oh yea, I almost forgot - Matt Trakker and Red Star can SUCK IT!

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Must be a lot of Joe fans out there that we don't know about because those numbers seem way off. Even if it was split though there is a pretty simple answer to that. You could always super glue the arm or just not move the arm to have it like the original but if you want to put movement into that arm then you are going to have to put in a good bit of work.

If it was just the arm maybe they could get a bit of a pass, but the figure is just so poorly done you have to wonder why they would shove something so bad off on the fans. A poor choice of parts when much better parts are out there. The poorly designed dog tags that seem a cross between rap star Bludd and I'm attempting to choke myself Bludd. Low of the low ranking troopers get a removeable helment but Bludd doesn't. In the very first wave he would have been a bad figure but this late in the line and after being held back it's just a darn shame for something this bad to have the name Major Bludd.

What will they do to the poor guy next change his name to I.P. Bludd?

You know, that's what I did too, and its really not that bad. Yeah, the leg's are a disappointment, especially since it would have been so easy to do with Red Star legs, but in hand, it doesn't look nearly as bad as I was afraid it would. I really find this to be a LOT of people up in arms about what is really a very minor detail. Regardless of how easy it would have been to do it right, in the long run this is just nit-picking. The armored arm (NOT robotic!) really doesn't bother me either. I'm less than thrilled with it, but it IS an homage to the original figure that it's based on. And the figure still has more articulation than the original, so still, no big deal. The dog tags look odd in the package, but once you open it and simply push them down they look just fine.

Really, it seems there is a LOT of quibbling over this figure. I can find something I dislike about every single figure, old school and new. Just because it is not absolutely perfect for each and every person does not make it "a pile of fail" , or phail, or teh suck, or whatever. (I also hate new-age net-speak that makes everyone sound like an ignorant, illiterate teenager!)
Okay, maybe I'm just a grumpy old bastard!

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I have to disagree with everything you say except maybe your last sentence ( ). I really did try to keep an open mind about the figure. When I heard it was going to be Zartan's body, I thought "well, that's not too bad" and after looking at Zartan for a bit, even thought, "yeah, it could work." But with the paint apps the figure recieved, it just does not look like Bludd at all. I mean, they didn't even paint the torso to make it look like armor over a shirt. It's just a bland black blah. I actually like the dog tags, and the helmet is nice. I don't even mind the helmet is glued on. I'd really prefer the right arm have some articulation, but I'm willing to sacrifice that for the sake of homage, especially since they'll never be able to reuse the arm for anyone else. And it could've been worse; they could've just slapped a BACC right arm on there, painted black. But the body just does not work at all.
Look at the detail they did for Spirit, or the HISS driver. Yet Bludd, who we were told was held back a few times, winds up being a repaint of another figure with only a new head and arm. If they're going to do that, they could at least pick a figure whose sculpt somewhat represented Bludd's original figure better.

What was it that bothered you about Firefly? He was a let down to me too. (Web gear chokin' him out an' all. Sweater instead of a jacket or button up shirt... grrr.)

I'm a huge Rock 'n' Roll fan and I was mildly disappointed that he was made up of Duke/Snake-eyes parts. Especially those Duke arms. But at least he got a new headsculpt which is more than I can say for other classic figures.

As for Major Bludd, I don't have him in hand yet but I'm really bummed by the right arm articulation. I can get over the non-removable helmet and the reused Zartan parts (even though mine will be getting a major overhaul) but that one little joint is a major disappointment.

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I agree, I flatly refuse to think they got the '50%' from any place other than their ass where it was lodged next to the Bludd figure itself.

Really, if they thought the percentage would be that close, what was there to stop them from simply putting a friggin' poll up so they'd at least have *some* justification for going either way. The Internets are Serious Business, so frickin' USE it, Hasbro!

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