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04-24-2009, 10:22 AM | #4981 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,754
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Yeah, Hama never wanted to replace the Joes with new ones. Hasbro wanted to make new figures so they could make new toys and make more money.
I incorporated them. I figured that it allows the Joes to run multiple missions at the same time. I never liked the idea of a couple Joes out on a mission and everyone else is sitting around doing nothing. So if I was "playing" with one group, the other group was off on another mission. Only having one machine gunner, that meant that there could only be one mission being run.
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04-24-2009, 10:55 AM | #4982 |
Hrafnadróttinn(Ravenlord )
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Öldugata 48, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
Posts: 557
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Yeah, taking the medical ones into mind, I also always thought that the Joes split up into minor groups that went on different missions, those teams would each need a medic(Life-Line would go with group 1 and Stretcher with group 2 and Doc would stay at the base, cause he's the General Surgeon of the Joe team).
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04-24-2009, 10:58 AM | #4983 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 2,157
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I'm not sure I understand why Hasbro cared one way or the other if a new figure was a new character or an updated version of an older one. The figure is still being produced and sold. In other words, if, let's say Sci-fi was actually a revamped Flash, but looked exactly the way we know Sci-fi to look, would it have impacted the figure sales one way or the other?
I guess in terms of the comic and cartoon, it may be better to have a bigger stable of characters to draw from for dramatic reasons, but I don't see what effect it would have on the toys themselves. |
04-24-2009, 11:03 AM | #4984 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,754
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Year 1 they could make a Flash, Year 2 they could make a Sci-Fi, Year 3 they could make Flash v2, Year 4 they could make Sci-Fi v2
Remember, back then it was unique characters. Nowadays, they do this multiple outfit thing, like they did for Sigma Six. Desert Duke, Arctic Duke, Underwater Duke It's a common toy theme. Back years ago, it was all about the unique characters. Nowadays, it's all about the outfits.
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04-24-2009, 12:18 PM | #4985 |
Bridge Layer Driver
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Ft. Wadsworth
Posts: 737
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I struggled with the replacement figures as well. When Roadblock first came out, I wondered why I would need a second machine gunner. What helped my transition was that Rock n' Roll's thumbs had broken off!
One cool thing about the annual replacements and updates was that, as time went on, Hasbro seemed to compliment their earlier figures. For instance, Breaker was removed from production...but then in 1985 the Tele-Vipers came out, as sort of Breaker's opposite number. Torpedo was pushed back, but along came his opposite numbers in the Eels. Alpine came out in 1985 and disappeared in 1987. But then in 1990, his got his opposite number with the Rock Vipers. The SAW Vipers played off against the multiple Joe machine gunners. So in the big picture, the figures seemed to compliment each other. Also, with the exception of the Gung-Ho/Leatherneck case, most of the new guys seemed to be slightly different than the old guys they were replacing. A few more replacements/updates: Snow-Job --->Iceberg --->Blizzard --->Sub-Zero (maybe the 1989 Stalker could fit in here) Clutch ---> Crankcase --->Skid-Mark Steeler ---> Heavy Metal Blowtorch ---> Charbroil Zap --> Bazooka --> Backblast --> Zap Airborne ---> Crazy legs Ripcord --->Freefall Tripwire --->Lightfoot (questionable) Snake-Eyes --->Snake-Eyes -->Snake-Eyes --->Snake-Eyes....
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04-24-2009, 12:47 PM | #4986 |
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
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I think so. I'm not very familiar with today's wrestlers, but I got the picture from a wrestling site.
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
I'm not sure I understand why Hasbro cared one way or the other if a new figure was a new character or an updated version of an older one. The figure is still being produced and sold. In other words, if, let's say Sci-fi was actually a revamped Flash, but looked exactly the way we know Sci-fi to look, would it have impacted the figure sales one way or the other?
I guess in terms of the comic and cartoon, it may be better to have a bigger stable of characters to draw from for dramatic reasons, but I don't see what effect it would have on the toys themselves. In terms of the comic, at least, I think a smaller pool of characters to draw from would have helped tighten the narrative immensely. One of the problems readers had back in the day was that Hama would occasionally feature a new character/toy in a particular issue (as per the conditions of Marvel's deal with Hasbro) and then they'd never be heard from again. Imagine if you were reading an X-Men or Justice League comic where a distinct, if somewhat non-headlining character like, say Colossus or Zatanna would be introduced in one issue, only to be shoved aside in favour of spotlighting a different character with a similar design and abilities a few issues later. |
04-24-2009, 12:51 PM | #4987 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,754
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Yeah, too many characters was bad.
But I think the idea was to also latch onto those that didn't like a particular figure. So you didn't like Gung-Ho, well here's the same "job" but a different character named Leatherneck for you to like.
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04-24-2009, 12:58 PM | #4988 |
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
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Quote:
Kidding aside, I see what you mean. From a brand-building perspective though, it just seems like a counterintuitive marketing approach by Hasbro. You'd think they'd want to capitalize on the familiarity and cachet that the earlier characters had already earned with the consumers, instead of introducing characters that could end up "competing" with their brethren and diluting the brand. I think that's exactly what happened in later years. While other properties like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Power Rangers had a consistently small base of characters that could be easily packaged, repackaged and marketed, Hasbro's GI Joe stable became too unwieldy, with competing characters cannibalizing sales within the toy line. Last edited by zuludelta; 04-24-2009 at 01:02 PM.. |
04-24-2009, 01:05 PM | #4989 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 2,157
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Quote:
Interesting point. I don't know how having Sci-Fi or Leatherneck being labeled and marketed as an updated Flash and Gung-Ho respectively, would have impacted sales of the toys, though (personally, that would have been my preference, but other kids might have been more interested in something totally new).
In terms of the comic, at least, I think a smaller pool of characters to draw from would have helped tighten the narrative immensely. One of the problems readers had back in the day was that Hama would occasionally feature a new character/toy in a particular issue (as per the conditions of Marvel's deal with Hasbro) and then they'd never be heard from again. Imagine if you were reading an X-Men or Justice League comic where a distinct, if somewhat non-headlining character like, say Colossus or Zatanna would be introduced in one issue, only to be shoved aside in favour of spotlighting a different character with a similar design and abilities a few issues later. |
04-24-2009, 03:43 PM | #4990 |
Canadian Viper
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia,Canada
Posts: 738
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Quote:
Interesting point. I don't know how having Sci-Fi or Leatherneck being labeled and marketed as an updated Flash and Gung-Ho respectively, would have impacted sales of the toys, though (personally, that would have been my preference, but other kids might have been more interested in something totally new).
I think the line would have died out if it was just constant updates. Quote:
Imagine if you were reading an X-Men or Justice League comic where a distinct, if somewhat non-headlining character like, say Colossus or Zatanna would be introduced in one issue, only to be shoved aside in favour of spotlighting a different character with a similar design and abilities a few issues later.
Last edited by TSHawkeye; 04-24-2009 at 03:48 PM.. |
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