I was perusing the toy aisle last night, killing some time while waiting for an order to be ready elsewhere in the store. It seems like the toys that hold popularity with the kids are either the toys that reinvent themselves every year (like Power Rangers) or, even more popular, the battle/get them all games like Bakugan. A lot of these have electronic features built into them for scanners and what-not.
So, what if, instead of projectile launchers, sound attack, etc., we got "Friend or Foe" checkpoints or something. Maybe have chips built into the figure stands with their affiliation and file card info. Then you could get a handheld scanner (like you can get for Secret Saturdays, (I think) Bakugan, and several others) that when moved over the stand, displays the file card, affiliation (so we could have Oktober Guard, Action Force, or Dreadnoks, etc.) and either "Friend" or "Foe" or something like that. You could then get a Joe scanner or a Cobra scanner. Some vehicles could also have scanners built into them, or ID chips, or both. Then, depending on the affiliation of the figure placed on/in it (it would have a spot where the stand goes), it would either set off an alarm (for enemy contact) or behave in a 'friendly' manner. Imagine Zartan in disguise only to be found out when crossing Checkpoint Alpha.
Sure, it's easy to ID affiliation just by glancing, but you can say the same about the Bakugans, Secret Saturdays, and other toys like that. Once you know the toy line, you know who is whom. The scanning is just another play factor.

I'm all for any gimmick that can be easily removed from the figure. That's the reason I'm not too upset with all of the stupid launchers that come with the movie figures. Silly to collectors, cool to kids, but easily tossed aside and not displayed. Everyone wins.

One gimmick SW did a few years back was including "static posed" (non-posable) figures, though I don't remember what the specific slang for them was. Why not make Cobra Soldiers in attention/saluting/sitting-a-computer poses and throw them in with "real figures".

Maybe a "monster squad" gimmick where each figure comes with interchangeable monster heads/hands. Kids would eat it up, collectors could simply ignore it.

Speak for yourself!
I'd be all over that.

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Same here!

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Thanks, guys!

well, to play Devil's advocate:

A lot of these Ideas raise a certain issue, price point.

The Cobra/ Joe digital file card was done before, similar to the ID chip when Star Wars got re released in 1999, and the "Sound Attack" gimmick with Joe vs Cobra. The fear is that a gimmic like that may raise the price point of the figures up 2 dollars more. And people are arguing now that 8.50 is a bit much to pay for one figure. 11 bucks for one figure tfor a feature sme people wont like at all may be a killer for the line.

(this was explained to me by the hasbro marketing guys, explaining why they couldnt make a Big Lob figure. It isn't that they didnt like the character, but reading the boards, they couldn't justify selling 30,000 units of him. This gimmick would probably fall in the same catagory)

A second issue with the "static" figures... well...
reminds me of the Toy meeting from "BIG":
..."who wants to play with a Statue?"
The concept would work as a collector Item, but probably wouldnt work as a toy. It would fit PERFECTLY in the Collector's sales, similar to the Masters of the Universe statues that were the same scale as the toys.

...as for the joe heads with the monster head attachments?

Manimals?

a lot of people thought that this was the moment Joe jumped the shark (or was actually eaten by the shark!) This may also be a gimmic that may appeal to customizers, but not the general audience (Mom, why does duke look like the Wolfman?)

However, this could be a great gimmick as a way to sell official hasbro parts to customizers, sold alongside accessory sets or parts.

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If they were cool monsters. Yup.

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I remember the Star Wars static figures. It was shortly after episode 2. They sold them in three packs. 3 clones preposed and 3 Jedi preposed- which honestly if you remember the AOTC line, most of the figures were preposed and lacked even Star Wars basic articulation. I recall them being really hard to find but I was also transitioning out of SW at the time so I was looking to hard.

..you gotta remember though... GI JOE isn't Star Wars.

It's like a 1 to 10 ratio though.

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You want one sure fire thing to get kids interested in the toys. One that succeeds on every level and has helped just about any toyline including the ones mentioned. Get a cartoon on the air. Maybe with the Hasbro channel it will happen. Not having some programming on tv for kids to be entertained by and marketed to is what separates bad toys that sell from good toys that don't.

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I actually think the static figure idea would awesome, if there was a playset or something for them to go with.

For example:
if they made a TerrorDrome, they could then use static Cobras, as pack-ins, in sitting positions, for the console and cannon chairs, and some standing for either guard duty or performing tasks at the science stations.

As a kid I always wanted to outfit my TerrorDrome with all of the troops that it showed on the box, but thought it was a waste of a perfectly good Viper, to have him sitting in a chair instead of holding a gun and fighting. A static figure would be a perfect, and cheaper, solution to this.

Yep.

The movie has helped give Joe a boost with kids, but look what happens with almost every other movie line. Once the excitement of the movie fades, so does a lot of the interest in the toy lines, and they begin to linger on the pegs.

An on going show would help keep interest, now that there is interest.

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The monster squad idea is a good one. My kids would eat that up (And so would I! ) and I think a lot of others would too.

I'm really surprised there hasn't been some kind of "chip" in the figure stands with a scanner (Sold seperately kids!) that give filecard information or a secret about the figure or something. The ROC figure stand design looks perfectly designed for that.

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I'd say the biggest thing we need is a cartoon. A live action movie is good for selling figures when the movie comes out and a boost when the DVD is released but it's nothing like the boost of having a cartoon on every week even if some weeks are just a re-run.

Got to say I'd be all over the monster idea. Just not very many good monster figures out there with a fair price or good articulation in the scale I'm wanting. If you could make the figures into monsters or zombies because the packs contained extra heads and hands I'd have to buy a lot more figures. Heck if it worked it might encourage Hasbro to include zombie parts in their Marvel line since those figures really skimp on the gear.

Really kind of odd they haven't tried the Build-a concept with GI Joe yet. The oversized launchers are just something to throw away but if the pack included a part to Build-a-BAT or Build-a-weapon system I'd have fewer reasons to skip some figures.

well, the Mass Device was kinda a prototype to see if a Build -a project would work in joe.

what would be next? A SNAKE armor based off the mass device cartoon? the Broadcast energy transmitter? The Brainwave chamber?

As for the computer chips Viperlord,.. again,.. they've already been done.

actually theres a game right now where kids scan chips into a computer attachment and play against other "Chips" on computer. I cant think of the name of the game.

again, my issue would be rpice point. would you be willing to pay an extra 2-3 bucks per figure for those, or would they be marketed seperately? ( kinda like joe playing cards)

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How is the OP's idea any different from what star wars did with epsidoe 1 figures back in '99.

Honestly? I couldn't tell you. I'm not a Star Wars guy, other than when I find a figure that's good fodder, so I couldn't tell you what they did back in '99. However, this sort of thing hadn't hit quite then. Hitting a trend too soon is just as bad as hitting it too late or not at all, as far as sales go.
As far as pricing, electronics manufacturing and such has gotten much cheaper (some of these scan games I've seen have individual pieces that can be bought for less than $1 apiece), so it shouldn't drive up the cost that much.