[Josh Z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashtronaut8

You don't count Recondo v2 (1988) or Copperhead v2 (1989)?

You're right, I forgot about those. Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlintWO2

I totally agree with you. It is almost shocking that the Baroness only had 1 figure from 1982-1994. The Classified line started in 2020 and she has already had 3 figures with a fourth( Rattler Pilot ) coming later this year.

I think Baroness was a victim of Hasbro's belief at the time (perhaps backed by sales data?) that boys didn't buy female action figures. During the early vintage run, Hasbro only threw in one token female character per year. They stopped altogether after Jinx in 1987, until Ninja Force Scarlett in 1993.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EVILFACE

I like to reason some figures never got a second version is because that character died. It would seem odd that in their 12 year battle, no one ever got killed by the enemy.

Well, there was the S.A.W. Viper massacre in the comic that wiped out a bunch of less-used Joes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaggletooth

Serpentor. Not sure what else they would have done with him, but he was a huge part of the line for a bit there and never got a second look in the ARAH line.

Hasbro did in fact have a policy at the time of not making action figures of characters who had died in media. That's why, when they finally bothered to make a General Flagg figure in 1992, he had to be explicitly identified as the original Gen. Flagg's son, "James Flagg III."

Serpentor was killed off in the comic during the Cobra Civil War story arc, so there couldn't be anymore toys of him after that.

Hasbro ended that policy by the time of the Real American Hero Collection relaunch in the late '90s, which allowed for the v2 Serpentor figure in 2002.

[IzzyTipsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlintWO2

I totally agree with you. It is almost shocking that the Baroness only had 1 figure from 1982-1994. The Classified line started in 2020 and she has already had 3 figures with a fourth( Rattler Pilot ) coming later this year.

Eh, all the women save for Scarlett only got one issue. I guess that was the usual 80s/90s "Women characters don't sell". Which then resulted in the women figures going for crazy prices at toy shows.

I'd have had none if somebody at a flea market didn't sell my dad a Flagg plus HQ plus a box of all early 80s figures for $50.

[IzzyTipsy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Z

Hasbro did in fact have a policy at the time of not making action figures of characters who had died in media. That's why, when they finally bothered to make a General Flagg figure in 1992, he had to be explicitly identified as the original Gen. Flagg's son, "James Flagg III."

Serpentor was killed off in the comic during the Cobra Civil War story arc, so there couldn't be anymore toys of him after that.

Hasbro ended that policy by the time of the Real American Hero Collection relaunch in the late '90s, which allowed for the v2 Serpentor figure in 2002.

Is this why there were rumors that Overlord was to be Cobra Commander but since CC was dead at the time he was called Overlord?

[Josh Z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IzzyTipsy

Is this why there were rumors that Overlord was to be Cobra Commander but since CC was dead at the time he was called Overlord?

Possibly, but I suspect that Larry Hama had always planned Cobra Commander's death as a fake-out that would be reversed later.

Even if not (Hama often claims that he just wings the story and doesn't make long-term plans), CC was "killed" in Issue 61 (July 1987) and then returned in Issue 98 (dated March 1990, which means it was probably released to newsstand racks in January or February). Undoubtedly, Hasbro had a big say in that decision, and may have even forced Hama to do it.

The Dictator tank with Overlord was also released in 1990, so Hasbro had to have known by that time that it would coincide with the return of CC in the comic.

If the Overlord figure was originally planned to be the newly revived Cobra Commander, something else must have prompted Hasbro to change that plan and rename him as a separate character.

[Josh Z]

On that note, it does strike me as interesting how much "The Commander" in the lamentable Rise of Cobra movie much more strongly resembles Overlord than any traditional depiction of Cobra Commander.

[snaggletooth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Z

Hasbro did in fact have a policy at the time of not making action figures of characters who had died in media. That's why, when they finally bothered to make a General Flagg figure in 1992, he had to be explicitly identified as the original Gen. Flagg's son, "James Flagg III."

Serpentor was killed off in the comic during the Cobra Civil War story arc, so there couldn't be anymore toys of him after that.

Hasbro ended that policy by the time of the Real American Hero Collection relaunch in the late '90s, which allowed for the v2 Serpentor figure in 2002.

Good to know! I'm kind of impressed that they were willing to maintain that kind of continuity with the comic.

[AWOL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Z

returned in Issue 98 (dated March 1990, which means it was probably released to newsstand racks in January or February).

On the animation side, he had been restored to his humanoid form in Operation: Dragonfire in September 1989.

[books]

Count me as another vote for Baroness, with Zarana and Lady Jaye probably coming in at #2 and 2A....at least if you count the alternate head Zarana as a revision of the original and not a wholly separate figure.

Speculatively, we might have seen those two in 1996, which I guess would have meant Battle Corps Rangers or Star Brigade. After them, I would maybe say Clutch, Breaker, Flash, Grand Slam, and the original Dreadnoks. Perhaps Jinx as well, if you ignore the convention figure or decide it might have been mass released, especially given that Falcon got a Sonic Fighters version. Maybe Jinx v2 would have been Ninja Force, brainwashed Cobra? Or just a Joe gone bad, to balance Stormy turning good? You know, "it took only one date with Falcon for Jinx to switch sides..."