Over all I am happy with the 25th- I agree it that the articulation has room to grow.

The repaints do not bug me much, it's almost a nod to the customizers-


I do get annoyed with the way they can't hold thier guns and majority of the figures being Duke , SE and CC....but hey that's the way it is.

I also wish that the Star Wars, Marvel toys and Joe guys could get along at Hasbro and standardize some things

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I agree completely, but dont get me wrong, I still love my RAH, but only for nostalga.

Something else that I think is a huge plus for 25th over RAH that I havent seen mentioned here is wrist articulation.

The hit are figures with propper wrist articulation like SE, Stalker, Tomax/Xamot, Wild Bill, etc.

The miss is the obvious and way overused crappy Duke arms and the Viper arms.

But over all These guys will stay out of a plastic tub as long as I have any room at all to display them.

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I gave up on GIJoe from about ages 13 to 17/18. That's it. Really, I've been playing GIJoe all my life... I was there for the TRU repaints of 1997-98, ARAHC, GvC, ST, VvV, DTC, a little bit of S6, and some of the MC con repaints.

And my thoughts on the 25th Anniversary line echoes Dr. Bindy's opinions exactly.

The old sculpts don't do anything for me at all, there's nothing on any of them to get me excited though I used to love them. And next to anniversary line, the modern sculpts are only good for fodder parts to put on the 25A customs. I only collect and only customize the new line now and I'll never look back at either of the old styles. Is the 25A line perfect? NO. Have their been plenty of mistakes by Hasbro with the line? YES. But it's still the best GIJoe we've ever gotten IMO, I'm in for the long haul. The movie is going to be silver screen garbage but Hasbro's already promised the toys for it will be done in 25A style so at least the suckfest movie will result in more toys and more fodder.

I'm of the exact opposite opinion. I love seeing traditionally styled Joes on the shelves, but to me, the new ones are better suited for in-package display. The level of detail is incredible and really makes the old figures look dated when side-by-side, but they're just not playable enough for me, which is why I'm only buying the vehicles. Maybe I have bad examples, but when I compare the new AVAC and Wild Weasel to the old figures, my o-ring Joes can bend the same amount without the o-ring snapping them back. The double-jointed knees are a nice touch, though.

The bottom line is I play with my Joes and the new ones just aren't as easily compatible or movable as the originals.



On that, we agree.

Crap. Wild Weasel's arm just snapped while comparing him with the new version. lol

And just to be clear on my comment too, I certainly didn't mean to crap in anyone's Cheerios about what the old lines mean to them or to anyone else. I will always have a fondness for the original Joes (I was there from the start) though I have admittedly less fondness for the ones that weren't in my wheelhouse, so to speak.

I know full well my post is also just my opinion. But I did feel like voicing it. There are a lot of things I have great respect for and fondness of from my childhood. But I guess my point was that I wouldn't want to play with many of those things today. Yet I do want to play with/customize the 25th line. To me, playing with 25A styled Joes (vs what I had as a kid) is the low-tech equivalent of playing with the XBox 360 rather than making my friends play Pong with me, for nostaligia's stake.

But again, this speaks to my preference, not to any greater point. The work I've seen done on ARAH figures all the way up to VvV or JoeVCobra figs on this site, even currently, is impressive as hell, and my preference for focusing on the 25th line I hope isn't taken as any form of disrespect for those who prefer the other lines.

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I just want to address this, and no insult to drbindy, but the small number of O-ring figures I've had that "snap into a forward facing slouch" is probably less than a third of a percent, and it can generally be corrected. And it's not hard to switch out an O-Ring either (except on Ninja Force). I have had some trouble standing the few 25th-style figures I've got in a straightforward stance, and I wouldn't know where to begin to try to do any internal work on them if they needed it. Just a counterpoint, no offense intended.

It's funny this should be posted, as I wrote my article for the November newsletter a few weeks back, and it also is centered on the 25th line, looking back.

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If your RAH figure's "Snap back into place" it's got too tight of an O-Ring, all of mine can pose perfectly.

For the 25ths I gave them a try at first and a couple were cool and some were really bad.

The Cons I had:
Nothing new: A lot of figure were pretty much the exact same as they were 25 years ago, except with worse articulation or they were terrible revised uniforms (Zartan, Serpentor)

Poor torso articulation. The chest swivel looks bad and doesn't work like real anaotomy

R@RE INTERNATIONAL VARIANTS!: Ninja Ku is not a cracker.

1997 has more representation than 1989; Target Stalker is pretty much 1997 Stalker, PDD, the Greenshirts have Stars and Stripesesque colorschemes, 1997 Storm Shadow is in the new 5 pack.

If I want too get figures that look cool and don't have articulation problems, my collection would be an Army of EELS, BATS, and Divers and Comic Pack Firefly vs. Airborne, Torpedo, Snowjob, Snake Eyes, Flash and Tiger Force Flint

The Pros:

Poorly done figures get improved eventually.

Wrist Articulation is fun

Snazzy accesories

Really, the 25th figures are decent toys, not "works of art" or anything, and I feel Hasbro probably would have been better off standardizing the articulation, as well as throwing Classic sculpt collectors a bone and doing a couple of repaint sets a year

Hey don't forget that classic style figures are still avalibe. But they are exclusive to Master Collector, wich works great for MC and Hasbro, because MC get to be the only retailer for that nich and Hasbro gets some life out of those molds while they are not at retail.

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Trekker - no offense taken at all. The torso thing is actually a small matter for my like of one or dislike of another. But the torso of the 25th line is always under fire, and I've never taken exception to it. But I understand everyone likes the style they are most comfortable with.

Roland - I should probably clarify my view more too. I am mainly speaking in terms of actual construction of the figures, not about the character choices, or production schedule, or how true to form each character is. For me, I see each figure first and foremost as a customizer. And I just see more fun to be had customizng the 25th figures I get my hands on, more so than the other lines I've encountered.

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I have no real issue with the joint itself, but hasbro has proven with figures like Quick Kick, Destro and Storm Shadow that the joint can be made without the god awful hump in the middle. It would be great if they covered the ones with problems but most times they don't (Croc Master comes to mind again, should have been way easy to give him a vest to cover the bump, instead just made his chest part of the "scales").

Microman has managed for years to be able to make figures without such an estetic problem, The Star wars line has made a few figures before the 25th line was out that fit this idea (Darth Maul Evolutions). But when you stand Sanke Eyes V1 Next to Maul you have to wonder if the same company made the figures.

Actually stand SE V3 with SE V1 and you ask the same question.

But Duke really personifies what I am saying about the hump, its just an ugly design to me and really serves no purpose.

On the figs leaning forwards, I have had less of this than treker said, its very rare (I can only think of one off the top of my head to be honest, one of my range vipers).

My biggest gripe with the 25th items is I have no use for 90% of them (love the new characters/ old characters in outfits never before made - see: diver Baroness). Other than a scant few figures old pre-established characters, I have no need to re-buy them over and over and over again. I already have a larger than large G.I. Joe collection, and I love it. I don't really need or want to re-collect the same things over again. Other than those new characters, the only things with mass appeal (to me) are the redone vehicles. I'm LOVING the new detail/improvements made to the vehicles, but the people that know my collecting habits already know I'm a junkie for the vehicles and buy more than any sane person should. But I digress...

The added articulation, other than the double knees, is wasted on too many of the figures. Half the time you can barely get 25th figures to simply stand up straight much less contort using any of the needless extra articulation. And I HATE the head joints. Hasbro is doing the same thing with Joes that they started doing with the Marvel Legends in sculpting the neck and head bending way forward from the body. It look ridiculous and unnatural. Whoever approved that body design needs to buy a book on human anatomy. People's necks don't bend at that extreme an angle.

What I really do enjoy about the 25th items and will give props to them hands down over the ARAH style is the vast improvements in the accessories. Removable web gear and ammo clips mixed with the ARAH figures would be all I'd ever need for Joe collecting. Bar none the 25th kicks the crap out of ARAH when it comes to accessories and accessory detail.

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My opinion on the Anniversary line is VERY mixed.

On the one hand, I love new concepts and can grow tired of the "same old same old" and the Anniversary line has buttered it's bread on the "same old same old". But I do enjoy the fact that great pains seem to be taken to make the figures more media-accurate.

Iwas one of those anal retentive kids who resented the fact that my toys didn't look like my cartoon characters or my comic characters, and I'm really thrilled that Hasbro is at least going to some length to rectify that. Figures like the Weather Dominator Destro & Lady Jaye, the "Best Of" COBRA Commander and COBRA Trooper are all great, GREAT looking figures that I really enjoy.

But a lot of that is mixed with a very heavy dose of "been there, done that".

Combine that with a lot of inconsistency with articulation and design in the early days, and I was very trepidacious about the Anniversary line for a while. I've come around recently as the last few waves of product has been exceptional in my opinion.

However, like Stealth Viper mentioned in his newsletter article, the Anniversary has cured my "completism"...I just don't have the time or money to do it with the volume of product that is being released.

I love that new product is hitting and hitting hard. I love that the name "G.I. Joe" actually carries some weight in the collecting and toy world again after so long...I love the presentation of many of the figures and much of the packaged product, but there is no way on Earth that any of this stuff would ever replace my vintage stuff. That is always king. The Anniversary figures are great in their own way, and I'm having a blast setting up "Sunbow-themed" displays as well as other displays, but by far what I'm most looking forward to is the upcoming Resolute stuff, which is all new. The Anniversary has been great, it did it's job, but I'm ready for some new ideas and different concepts, and I'm really hoping we're getting that with the Resolute stuff.

That will really test how I feel about the new style.

Justin

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I agree with General Hawk completely. New ideas - bring em on. New molds, sculpts and characters? you betcha.

In fairness to this debate, I think I would also add that I'd resent the 25th line rather than enjoy it if it was causing me to doubt a large existing collection. The fact that I no longer have that childhood collection, and didn't get back into this as an adult until the 25h line means I don't have that dilemma.

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