ARAH, there are way too many characters/designs, vehicles, playsets; way too much nostalgia; way too many years of them pumping out iconic stuff that set the tone for everything we have now for this to even be a clean fight.

This is like asking if we like The Beatles or Lady Gaga better. You know the music icons vs the current one hit wonder. It really isn't a fair question because one hasn't had the chance to develop yet. New sculpt had some really nice figures mixed in with a lot of crap. I'd say they are like KISS. A whole lot of glitz and glam and everyone knows them, but they aren't exactly pumping out chart toppers now either.

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very interesting analogy.

As much as I like the new sculpts I would be forced to agree. Some New Sculpt molds are GREAT, whereas some sculpts are a little off, and some are just bad (GiJoe vs Cobra comes to mind)

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ARAH all the way !
The ultimate fig for me would be the ARAH figs/characters with swivel rists and removeable vests and headgear...and of course the updated back packs where the stuff actually is usable.

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Thank God, i thought maybe 25th would be first.

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here's a surprise, I had to vote ARAH - it had everything for everyone and after 25 years the toys still are as durable as the day they were made (well, all except Zartan v1's heel...brittle plastic bastards).

While most fans consider the neon 90s as a terrible time for G.I. Joe, I consider 2000-2006 the "dark ages". I don't know who was at the helm of Hasbro's boy brand, but the amount of garbage we were dished far out-weighed the good IMHO. There were some gems...few and very far between.

Customizing
I'm not a customizer, and losing apendages while cracking 25th torsos is not my idea of a good time. I have no desire to cut, slice, or dice my figures - give me a friggin back screw and an o-ring and I'll go to town swapping parts around. ARAH lets me do that.

Display
Modern era sculpts shows just how far toy sculpting has come in 25 years and they look pretty good on display. I proudly display my 25th loose collection for sure. However ARAH "mellon-heads" still display equally as good across my room, and that's after two decades!

Playability
Well hands down ARAH was much more durable, the toys are living proof of this. I really doubt the soft-plastic modern figures are going to age well. Sometimes too much articulation could be a bad thing, ARAH doesn't sport the mid-torso, but let me tell you that O-ring gave so much playability that I never noticed we needed mid-torso articulation.

You may or may not agree with my idea, but I think the next logical evolutionary step for ARAH should have been standardized wrist articulation:

Timeline: O-ring - kung-fu grip - swivel necks - swivel arms - ball-joint necks - swivel wrists - maybe, just maybe swivel calves.

That's all your really need for 3 3/4" army toys.

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yeah i think for arah to go with wrist articulation in the future would be way cool.

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