So who did Hasbro do right, and who did they drop the ball on?

Well, now I have just about all of the 25th Anniversary figs (aside from the ones I didn't want), and honestly feel Hasbro did a stellar job on some, and have completely disappointed me on others.

*** Here's who I think they did a great job on:

Snake Eyes V1 (from the 5 pack) - This is the guy that got me into buying all of these 25th Joes in the first place. I love the charcoal grey too, over the solid black of the Single Pack (which I have too).

Torpedo - I loved playing with the original Torpdeo in my pool as a kid along with the W.H.A.L.E. nearby, and this fig makes me wish I could go back into time.

Scarface - Don't know why Hasbro didn't call him by his name (unless it had to do with Marvel Comics), but he was one of my favorite characters in the comics, and having him as a figure fills that childhood need I had all those years. Many thanks Hasbro.

Cobra Trooper and Officer V1 (not the comic book versions) - I think these guys are simply awesome, especially the officer.

Hooded Cobra Comander - The helmet the other versions come with are always warped, and I can't stand it, but the hooded one looks just like he should.

Gung-Ho - Not crazy about his Grenade Launcher (I know its more realistic M79 than the original), but the figure itself captures Gung-Ho like the original.

Storm Shadow V1 (from the original Cobra 5 Pack) - I didn't think they could ever top the original Storm Shadow, but they did. No matter what pose he is in, he looks awesome.

Other noteables: Snow Job, Wild Weasel, Firefly, Destro V1, Dreadnoks, Cobra Commander in Battle Armor.

*** Here's who I think they did a crappy job on:

Breaker - Can't stand his head, head gear, and recycled Flash backpack. Love the chewing gum, but will mod this guy as soon as I get better parts.

Rock N Roll - Some of him is cool, but I hate the arms both he and Breaker share, as it limits his posability with two-handed weapons. Plus his MG3 is way too freaking big. Why does he have an MG3 anyway???

Ace - I think we all think this one is horrible.

Other disappointments: Stalker's MP40 (which I'll never understand), Zartan, Serpentor, Lady Jay, Snake Eyes V2's head, Tomax and Xamot's guns (???).

The rest of them fall into "average" for me.

I wanted all of the original joes in 25th form, and it just seems that after Hawk and Flash, that I am just going to be disappointed. I've seen the pics of Grunt, (he's an old favorite of mine) but I hate it. It looks like I'll have to do a ton of customizing just to make many of the figs close to my standards.

It is amazing that the same company is producing all of these figs. I hope they don't screw up Short Fuze and Zap.

he's not even out yet and i think Hasbros cost cutting on Bludd is shameful...

Best of the line (so far);

Crimson Guard
Snake Eyes & Timber
Flint (minus the fact he doesn't have ANY GLOVES!)
Storm Shadow (v1; although he could have been more "white")
...and I'm sure I like others alot, but those are the ones that pop into mind right now.


Worst:
Serpentor
Lady Jaye (I can live with the body, but the face makes her look like Corky's girlfriend)
Shipwreck (what's up with the Popeye arms?)


Shockwave

here are my choices in the order i like or dislike them
Best
1.Crimson Guard
2.IG Destro
3.V1 carded snake eyes
4."88" Storm shadow
5."87" cobra commander
6.Wild Weasal

worst
1.Serpentor
2.Duke
3.Shipwreck
4.Major Bludd
5.Ace
6.Cobra Air Trooper

AS for the last i chose it because there have been Waaaaaaaaaay far to many variations on the 25 cobra basic soldier already we need more vipers.

Best so far:
1. IG Destro
2. V1 Storm Shadow
3. Tomax and Xamot - who cares about the gun
3. Snow Job
4. Wild Weasel
5. Beachhead

Worst:
1. Sepentor - Is it really him?
2. Lady Jaye - Love the body, hate the head. I am glad that they redo the head and repaint the pants.

Things that really bother me:
1. serveral figures are not as accurate as I would like to be. For instance, Flint gloves and rollup sleeves. Snake eyes V2 - this is mine 2nd favorite figure, but Hasbro is trying to save money and screwed up the figure.
2. I wish that they use screw on the back of every figures - just like the old days - so it makes easy for me to custom.

I does seem like on some figures they have a killer design team for and others they have a guy in a closet from a community college doing the design. Like was stated before it is hard to think such different figures come from the same company

I think the serpentor is the version when he is in Kryo stasis so his face has no expression. I have faith hasbro will release a more traditional serpy in the future that will knock our socks off and make him look like the evil genious he is.

There is a thread that discussed that Hasbro pay 1K for person who create new figures - this indicates there might be many people working on the figures and it is not neccessary a professional. And there is a group of people try to create a new figure based on reused mold.

None of the figures are really bad to me. However, Serpentor and Zartan were very big disappointments for me (I would rather have the classic versions of these guys, instead of the new visions of the characters we got).

My feelings on Major Bludd - the figure isn't bad (he grows on me everytime I see it, but I am still yanking off those Zartan legs and putting some Red Star legs on him). But I feel like the design team could have done a slightly better job on him.

I liked most of the figures so far. But if i had to chose a few that were not so great, it would be Lady Jaye and Serpentor. I thought the Crimson Guard and the IG Destro were excellent figures...