Direct to Consumer 2005-2007

[John C]

I need most of that stuff.  I don't have my Night Watch set yet, but it's on the way.  I hope they end up putting wave 6 VvV on their site.  I missed out on most of it.  I want a Torch/Bazooka pack most of all.  It would also be nice if they took that Bazooka torso and gave us new versions of Flash and Grand Slam.

[Ben]

I found Sigma 6 Snake Eyes and Duke at my local TRU yesterday.

I almost bought Snake Eyes.

I thought these things were destined to fail, but ****, they're awesome. I wish the Deluxe ones weren't fifteen bucks. These things are pretty incredible, and I guess Hasbro should be applauded for trying to freshen the Joe property and still making the small Joes available.

[blaster_e11]

hi i've been collecting Sw toys since 1994 and i decided after drooling over eric's dioramas to collect gijoe toys,

i've been purchasing vintage joes and some modern one (cobra armybuilders most of all with the old molds)

[Ben]

I really envy those guys that have all those vintage Vipers, CGs, and Snow Serpents.

I can't imagine how much cash they laid out to get them. 

[blaster_e11]

eric from violentfix got a whole new chapter up from his latest

diostory

[Violentfix]

Say my name and I suddenly appear, well maybe not suddenly.

Always nice to stumble upon someone complimenting my site and the support is extremely appreciated.   Good to see you Blaster, I haven't been around ADC much lately, hope all is well.

[spiderpumpkin]

I really envy those guys that have all those vintage Vipers, CGs, and Snow Serpents.

I can't imagine how much cash they laid out to get them. 

All I can say is it takes a lot of cash to rebuild a GI Joe collection.  Then it's impossible to stop army building and expanding the collection beyond what I had as a child.

I really liked my Star Wars toys when I was a kid but in the end the 1982-1986 GI Joe toys I had were my favorites. 

I stopped collecting GI Joe toys in 1986 when I was 11 and then sold them all in 1988.  I did get back into toy collecting many different toy lines in late 1992 and that included the last couple of years of ARAH.  In 1997 and 1998 I remember seeing the GI Joe repaints but for some reason I passed completely.

Between 2000 and 2004 I bought the new 2-packs and then GI Joe VS Cobra/Spy Troops/VVV but for some reason I still didn't pursue the old stuff. 

My interest in the original 3 3/4" figures and toys was finally rekindled last year when I ran across the TRU Cobra Infantry set and comic 3-packs.  That was the beginning of my recollection of 1982-1986 and everything else I didn't have as a kid.  Then I bought most of the 1987-1991 toys and a few of the 1992-1998 things that I missed. 

Earlier this year I took a break from the ARAH line but then I attended the GI Joe Convention in Minneapolis and I caught the army building and collecting bug big time.

Now, I'm in the process of setting up my GI Joe collection and enjoying all these cool toys. 

Jim

[spiderpumpkin]

John, if you still want a blue hydrofoil deck kit from the con let me know and I'll bring it to the next meeting.  I bought a few off Mastercollector.com when they offered them and it's yours for $20.00 if you want it.

Jim

[John C]

Sounds good.  I'll take it off your hands.  Thanks.     It sounds like you've gone through a lot to rebuild that Joe collection.  I also collected from 82-86 like yourself.  Those were the best years IMO.  I kept most of my Joes fortunately.  I only sold off the 1982 stuff which doesn't bother me because I have 1983 versions of the originals I like, except for Grand Slam.  I'll pick one up eventually. 
The 1997 TRU stuff would have brought me back, but the Stars and Stripes set and the Commando set killed things for me when I saw we were not getting the 1985 SE and the actual originals shown in the prototype photos.  They gave us crap.  I did come back to Joes when the 2000 RAH two packs came out.  I've been back since and now I am waiting to see if Hasbro Direct gives us more than two waves of figures.  I have not seen the Sigma Six in person, but I won't be collecting that line.  I may buy them in a few years for my son if they are still around.

[John C]

There is a list posted at yojoe.com about the third wave of Hasbro Direct.  The ones I'm interested in are Grand Slam, the Cobra Trooper and Lowlight if that list is accurate.  I'll buy two Grand Slams and make one into Flash.  Two interesting Comic packs are also listed,  the DD fans choice #16 with Cover Girl, Spirit and Hannibal, and Marvel Issue 26 with SE, Stalker and SS possibly in their Vietnam gear. 
There should be a wave four also because we've heard about new sculpts for Falcon and Lady Jaye.

[Brian]

I found Sigma 6 Snake Eyes and Duke at my local TRU yesterday.

I almost bought Snake Eyes.

I thought these things were destined to fail, but ****, they're awesome. I wish the Deluxe ones weren't fifteen bucks. These things are pretty incredible, and I guess Hasbro should be applauded for trying to freshen the Joe property and still making the small Joes available.

An endcap of these has been at our local Target for a couple of weeks now, and they actually seem to be selling pretty well.  I have to admit, I was almost tempted to pick up a Snake-Eyes as well.  They do seem like pretty neat "toys" as far as that goes, with all the accessories, and the packaging being able to be turned into a "foot locker" of sorts.  Plus, I've always been a fan of Snake-Eyes.  At $15, I held off, but they did look kind of neat.  We're thinking about picking up a couple for our nephews for Christmas or birthday, I think they'd have fun with them.

[blaster_e11]

Say my name and I suddenly appear, well maybe not suddenly.

how surprising to see you post here too

[John C]

Pictures of DTC wave 3 are on ebay.  Brians Toys is selling them.  Larger pictures were posted at adctalk.com.  They are all made from previously used parts, but I am fine with that.  I like all of the figures except for the Cobra Soldier.  I will buy one each of Lowlight, Med Alert and the SAW Viper.  I may or may not buy Monkey Wrench.  I will buy three of Grand Slam.  He is my favorite figure from the wave.  One will be kept as is, one will be turned into a silver pads version and one will be turned into Flash by painting the gloves and boots brown and the knee pads and elbow pads red. 

[Ben]

I'm wondering if had these figures been available instead of most of the VvV range, if 3.75" Joes would still be at retail. This stuff is better than most (if not all) the GvC-Spy Troops-VvV crap.

Though I am glad to see Hasbro still make small Joes available regardless of the retailer's unwillingness to buy them.

[Jesse James]

Meaning the Sigma Six stuff IA?

I'm not a fan...  I like the packaging, it's probably the most innovative ever, and the gear's fantastic.  The sculpts just cannot do a thing for me though...  To me, an improved 3.75" line would've been a MUCH better received line, but that's just my opinion...  S6 seems to be slow selling so far but it's early in the top season.

I like the 3.75" line they're moving with now...  It's better.  Needs improved articulation I think, like a standard improvement to the line overall not just wrists here or boots there.  There's distinct collector effort there though.

The S6 packaging is so freaking great though.  I'd have killed for that kinda stuff with the 3.75" line when I was a kid.