Author Topic: Direct to Consumer 2005-2007  (Read 32482 times)

Offline Paul

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Direct to Consumer 2005-2007
« on: February 19, 2005, 03:35 PM »
Well just in from the Fan Club....Hasbro is killing the 12 Inch and 3 3/4 inch lines after this spring for their crap-anime style 8 inch figures.

I just get back into Joes and they kill the line....be careful folks or I'll collect your favorite line too....
« Last Edit: March 6, 2010, 03:07 PM by Scott »

Offline Vator

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2005, 03:40 PM »
I reeeeeeeeeally hope this isn't a trend. How could Hasbro kill off two staples for something that is destined to fail!
- June 22, 2004 12:13 AM -

Offline Paul

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2005, 04:07 PM »
The wisdom or lack thereof of the big H never ceases to amaze me....I was really looking forward to this year too, with all the 6 packs and comic sets...

Offline Ben

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2005, 08:41 PM »
I thought just the 12" line was dead.

Well, ****. I thought they had a good thing going with the comic 3-packs and the TRU 6-packs.
don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk

Offline Jesse James

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2005, 03:59 AM »
And with that, every step I took TOWARDS Joe I can now take 2 back.

Any love for the line I had is gone since it's not being supported anymore.  **** Hasbro and their ill-fated decisions.  You can't tell me the 3.75" line didn't do well last year, even with repaints/reshipments. 

The 12" line was the anchor and it deserved at least being scaled back.  It's just not gonna last in the uber-competitive market that they were trying to compete in.  They didn't have anything beyond $1 store knock-off quality in comparison to Dragon or Sideshow.  They lost that war themselves.

To kill 3.75" though is stupid.  It's one of the only toylines I see relentlessly replenished...  To me they should've kept it running alongside the new scale, but whatever.  One less thing to be tempted by at least.
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Offline Ben

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2005, 10:05 AM »
I'm beginning to think they're just killing 3 3/4" so the fans have nothing else to buy but the 8" ones. And when those fail (as they should) 3 3/4"will be back on the shelves faster than you'll ever get an apology from Hasbro.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2005, 04:12 AM »
Oh I have no DOUBT that's the plan.

Hasbro:  "OK, so we'll off the 12 inch and 3.75 inch G.I. Joe brands, that way the market we have is focused on one scale we wanna test out with this new Sigma 6 Cartoon for the G.I.  Joe license"

That's completely plausible (maybe not the exact wording, hehe) in my mind.  The 3.75" line was really not doing poorly at all...  12" is competing where it has no place, but like 12" SW figures they need to stick a fork in it obviously.

They don't want fan attention separated from this 8" line though,a nd I do believe it's doomed to failure, and when it does we'll see a resurgence of the 3.75" line at least, and perhaps the 12" line in a maybe more limited format (IE: aimed squarely towards collectors of the vintage line).  At least that's my opinion.

Those 8" figures suck though.  Hideous things they are.
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Offline Brian

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2005, 08:47 AM »
I was quite surprised to read this this weekend.  Although I was initially excited to hear that there was a new GI Joe cartoon coming back, the figures look to be the suck.  Especially the fact that they are in an 8" scale, which doesn't make sense to me.  I was really surprised to see that they were putting the 3 3/4" (and 12", for that matter) lines on hiatus, which seems like an excellent ways to tick off collectors.  Parts of the Joe line have always been tempting (the comic packs in particular), because after SW, Joe was pretty big with my friends and I when I was a kid, but like Jesse mentioned earlier, this just makes me want to get further away from it.  Hopefully we don't see Hasbro pull the same stuff with the Star Wars line in the future.

Offline Ben

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2005, 01:50 PM »
I think if this Sigma Six nonsense was in the 6" scale, featured ML-level articulation, and used ARAH-styled uniforms, this would go over a lot better.

But it's one of those things you know is destined for failure, like WB's Loonatics.
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Offline Brian

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2005, 02:04 PM »
I think you're exactly right HMI.  If they had gone the Legends-style, RAH appearance versions, people would probably be going crazy about how "cool" this line would be....aside from the fact that they are putting the 3 3/4" line on "hiatus", I don't think that would go over very well regardless.  I'll admit that I'm not as up on Joe news as others are, but to me that definitely seemed to come out of nowhere.

Offline Ben

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2005, 12:27 AM »
I know I'd buy every one of them if they were 6" and used RAH styled uniforms. I don't necessarily need or want 40 points of articulation, but it's still a nice touch.

Maybe another reason for the "hiatus" is that Hasbro doesn't want to compete with itself with Star Wars, since the basic figure's MSRP if $6.99, and the price of a Joe 2-pack is also $6.99.

Maybe once the ROTS line comes to a close in 2006, 3.75" will be back.

But that seems like a pretty ****** way to do business. And honestly, since Hasbro's putting all its eggs in the ROTS basket Star Wars-wise this year, this type of decision wouldn't shock me now.
don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk

Offline Jesse James

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2005, 01:03 AM »
MSRP is $5.99, but that's just splitting hairs...  I could see that being a reason...  The 3.75" Joe line outclassed Star Wars for many, many years, however I think Star Wars is much superior this year...   for once.
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Offline John C

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #12 on: March 9, 2005, 04:19 PM »
Be on the lookout for Ice Sabres and Quickstrikes at your friendly neighborhood Target.  I found them today.

Offline Ben

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #13 on: March 11, 2005, 02:38 PM »
Found a Quick Strike at Target, but didn't go for it.

I found wave 7 at Wal-Mart and got the packs I wanted from that wave- Snake Eyes/Swamp Rat, Bombstrike/Croc Master, and Gung-Ho/Cobra Viper. I thought about picking up Duke/Overkill, but Overkill didn't really look that great.

It's too bad this is the last series of 4" stuff for a while. Hasbro was really going somewhere with this line finally.  :-\
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Offline John C

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Re: G.I. Joe Toys Thread
« Reply #14 on: March 23, 2005, 01:39 PM »
I was pretty underwhelmed by the pictures of the Imperial Procession and Winter operations TRU 6 packs.  The Crimson color is overused now.  The Winter set figures should be all white or off white IMO.  Why would you paint SJ with blue?  And I am sick of SE being everywhere.  He's my least favorite character.