25th Anniversary Line

[spiderpumpkin]

I found a Storm Shadow V2, Snake Eyes V2 and Cobra Officer at the Anoka K-Mart on Tuesday.  They were on the top shelf behind some of the new 8" GI Joe figures.  Luckily, these three all had tweaked packaging and were not sold yet. 

I opened them up and I like the figures on display standing up and holding their weapons.  Luckily these few hold weapons quite well but I've hear most of the time this is not the case.

Unfortunately, the elbows don't bend 90 degrees except for one of Storm Shadows elbows.  The Cobra Officer cannot hold his rifle with both hands which severly limits army building these or displaying them in a fighting position.  Also, the legs don't bend at the hip at 90 degrees directly forward and therefore they have the spread eagle look and don't sit properly in the many Cobra vehicles.

All of the ones I bought have near perfect paint jobs and no ugly seams between parts.

Snake Eyes is a darker gray then I thought it would be in person but I still wish it was a deep black.

The Cobra sigil on the Officer chest is way too small. 

[Brian]

So, has anyone else seen these at retail yet?  We don't have a K-Mart around here anymore, but it sounds like that might be one of the places to check out.  Otherwise, I'm guessing Target won't have anything until their next reset, Wal-Mart just seems to be a mess here right now, with just gobs of movie toys taking up the aisles (and last year's Star Wars).  Our TRU seems to have empty pegs waiting for the single packs, but I haven't heard of them showing up there yet - and haven't visited ours any time recently.

[iFett]

I found a lone StormShadow at Kmart.  Jeff found all of the carded w1 figs at another Kmart.  I also spotted 2 SnakeEyes last night at TRU.  I refuse to shop at WM unless there's an exclusive I need.  I really don't like how thin the cards are as each sample I've seen have some degree of warping.  They're still not showing up in Target's back rooms yet out here, but they'd better step it up if their reset is in the next week or two.

[Brian]

Answering my own question - I stopped by TRU around noon today and found two 25th figures on the pegs - a Flint and Cobra Officer.  I picked them both up.  I was hoping to get the v2 Snake Eyes (my favorite figure as a kid), but the rest were already picked over.  Oh well, it sounds like he is fairly well packed in these cases.  They also had one of the 5 packs - Cobra - laying on the shelf below, but I believe the price was $30.

Also, as others have said, the cardbacks on these individual figures are pretty thin.  It would definitely be tough for someone if they wanted to completed a MOC set.

[Ben]

I have a set of the singles headed my way from smalljoes.com. Now to just locate the 5-packs...

[iFett]

I opened up my new H.I.S.S. over the weekend and I was glad to be able to put some of it together - I really miss being able to apply all the stickers though.  I also really miss the back pull out feature.  I used to keep all my Vipers stocked in there, but there doesn't seem like enough room, plus the sides open instead. 

Still a great - intimidating looking vehicle just like I remember as a kid and I look forward to opening the rest of the newer vehicles I got on clearance from HTS.  The Night Creeper dude kinda sucks (the other drivers look sucky too) so I'm hoping for better luck with the 25th figs.

My Targets still don't show these as being in the back which I find very odd as their reset is supposedly next week.   

[Brian]

I was just reading this morning that Hasbro will be giving away a "freebie" deck of 25th anniversary cards at their booth during Comic Con.  Kind of neat for a freebie, and you can see some pics of the cards in the deck HERE.

[Neal]

I finally picked up the Joe 5-pack today at Wal-Mart.  They had one Joe 5-pack, two Cobra 5-packs, and one carded Snake Eyes.

[Ben]

NEW PICS!

Forgive the all caps, but Beach Head! Shipwreck! Lady Jaye! Stalker! Zartan! Buzzer! SERPENTOR!!!



Alas, most of the figures shown are Hasbro "Customs" and won't be made. Which is really too bad, since I'd pay money for that Sgt. Slaughter, Shockwave, and Airtight.

[Jeff]

I like the "custom made by Hasbro" figures - kind of like a look at "what if" they continued the 25th Anniversary idea to all the figures.

[Ben]

You guys weren't going to have Joe pics, were you? I refrained from posting that site's Star Wars pics in the 30AC section, but I figured GI Joe was fair game.

I just don't want to steal the thunder from your guys who are already there.

[Paul]

Wow.  Just... wow.

I did not expect to wake up this morning to the great pics we saw today, both here and at other more Joe Specific Sites.

The customs are really good, but should perhaps scare the people who hate the re-use of figure molds.  Because that Sgt Slaughter is scary good and the Leatherneck looks like it could be a production figure.

Can I just say that if the Stalker looks half as good painted as it does sculpted...I'll overpay on Ebay for him.

The Cobra 5 pack looks as expected, but I was not anticipating the Jet Pack (from the JUMP set).

Now the things I don't like:

Waiting till Sept to get Beachhead...and Oct to get Stalker

The Closed Fist they are putting on Shipwreck.

What is that in Serpentor's Hand?

Gloves on Buzzer (or glove)


That being said...I'll take them all!!!  Really impressed with this line so far.  It looks like Zartan has legs that might "Sit", so perhaps as the line continues we will get that design flaw fixed.

[DarkKnight2k4]

After seein gthis coverage I am so stoked... more than I am for any Star wars product of its kind.

Thank Hasble for getting this one right ! Keep it vintage style for me !!!

[Mikey D]

Beachhead looks awesome and is probably my favorite from the new ones shown (although that might change once I see Shipwreck painted).

I wish some of those customs were coming.  They look great.

[DarkKnight2k4]

I agree. Beachhead is perfect ! I remeber him being one of my faves when i was a kid. Gonna need two fo them !!!