[DarthBrett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadFlava76

So seeing that 2022 was a wild up and down year for Classified, how would you rate it on a scale of 1-10?

It was a whirlwind like you said to say the least! I didn't even get my B.A.T. or Alley-Viper until April. So 2022 started off with a long drought for me (I had just caught up though, as I hadn't jumped into the line until Sep '21 and had to buy the first 30 figures or so in a 3-4 month span) but my wallet was sort of thankful!

Once June hit it seemed like a steady flow of figures though and the delays slowly started shrinking in time.

2022 ended up being kind of cool though because Hasbro was giving us over-estimations for 2023 releases on figures that were all supposed to be released this year. And then what do ya know, we did actually end up getting them all in 2022! It was a big victory for us and the Joe team at Hasbro!

Really looking forward to 2023 and a more normal, spread-out release schedule. Although 2023 will also give us a lot more figures and waves than 2022, so our wallets won't be getting as many breaks I guess.

[DarthBrett]

What's kind of crazy to think is that it took 3 years (2020, 2021 and 2022) for the line to get us up to about 60 as far as figure #s/releases are concerned. But 2023 will get us to 101 or higher!

Going to be an expensive year for us in 2023! But that's a good thing.

[wehrmanm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadFlava76

My Dusty should arrive from Pulse tomorrow. It might be the last Classified figure I get in 2022 unless any more surprises spring up before the month ends. So seeing that 2022 was a wild up and down year for Classified, how would you rate it on a scale of 1-10?

8-9 on figures alone. Serpentor alone merits an 11 on a 10-point scale. CG is incredible, BATs were another excellent adaptation from the O-Ring line. Tomax and Xamot are outstanding. Great sculpts, whether designers are playing it safe with updates and staying very close to ARAH (Twins, CG, Slaughter) or trying to offer more modern updates (BAT, Serpentor). Kamakura and Slaughter's pricepoints were a real kick in the groin, so can't go full 10 on figures - and the Retro cardback was just a big ol' mess literally every single one of us saw coming the instant we saw "Wal-Mart Exclusive." One misstep of hubris, one misstep of "wait, you mean literally NONE OF YOU saw this coming?" foolishness. Otherwise a stellar year with really long gaps in 1H.

Maybe a 4-5 for corporate. There were a lot of livestreams, but not much transparency. Emily/Lenny et al don't have to come here and post in the Tank as Emily did in the past, but the lack of corporate transparency over the year w/r/t releases was frustrating then infuriating. It's a tough year, and consumers can be pretty understanding (despite what it might look like). But if there's little to no communication to understand, there's nothing left but to be but frustrated. Price hikes, supply chain, Target getting exclusives and still just failing on a colossal level at their own comms and fulfillment - and whither O-Ring? The 4-5 are base points for a mix of good work from a promotion and enthusiasm standpoint (but credit your contractors who serve as sculptors the same way you do those who create the box art), and an extra point or two because it's surely been a TOUGH year. But a tough year doesn't mean we can't be honest about their corporate communications, which have simply been MIA. I don't expect it to change, but I will always comment that it *should* change.

[MadFlava76]

Totally agree that transparency could be better. It especially was lacking during those long droughts between releases. I would have like to have had more updates on the Skystriker HasLab even if they were going to be very small bits of news. I do hope updates on the HISS HasLab will be way more frequent that what we got for the Skystriker.

[marksman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadFlava76

My Dusty should arrive from Pulse tomorrow. It might be the last Classified figure I get in 2022 unless any more surprises spring up before the month ends. So seeing that 2022 was a wild up and down year for Classified, how would you rate it on a scale of 1-10?

For me, it started off with BATs and Alley Vipers arriving in January. Then a long drought until Spirit, Storm Shadow, and Cobra Officer finally showed up but in recent weeks it's been a crazy whirlwind. Retro Cardbacks, Blue Ninjas, Viper 3-pack, Stalker, Crimson Twins, Kamakura, Snake Eyes/Timber V2, Sgt Slaughter, TF Outback, PP Bats and Vipers, Dr. Mindbener, Serpentor, CGs, Zarana, Dusty. Have to say Classified ended the year really strong when I was really expecting most of the figures I got the past two months were expected to show up in 2023. Throw in the wildly successful HISS tank HasLab campaign as icing on the cake. I have to give Classified in 2022 a 9 out of 10, mostly due to the strong finish the line is having to finish out the year.

I appreciate your question and I like Wehrmanm's breakdown. I'll give the figures a 9. I'm thinking that my three favorite classified figures were released in 2022 (Cobra Officer, Stalker, and Serpentor). B.A.T., Spirit, & CG make my top 10. I don't have Zarana in hand but I think she'll be a favorite too. I'll also say that as a Joe fan and classified supporter I found the Haslab HISS reveal to be really exciting and gave me greater hope for classified continuing to be a thing for at least another couple of years

For corporate, I'm thinking 5ish. Again, I agree with much of what Wehrmanm mentioned. Going forward, I'd like to see better communication and a more even spread of releases throughout the year

[NaytNavare]

My Dusty from Amazon gets here, tmw, after they had previously delayed it until next week. Really not sure what is going on, there, but I really, *really* want my Crimson Guards, to the point that if they don't charge and ship by Monday or Tuesday, I will likely just buy some from someone online at a bare mark up. I can't afford much more than my pre-order, already, but eff it.

I shouldn't, though. I got bills to pay and debts to make good. But man, CGs are a need.

[DarkLordMordred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yojoe77

I just opened my zarana. My gawd what a figure!

Yeah, but how's the toy? ;)

[DarthBrett]

I forgot to rate.

Line Overall - 9. Almost knocked 1 point off for the delays, but that was not any of Hasbro's fault. And neither was Target getting their PP and TF stock and holding it until the holidays. Which is exactly what happened despite some not believing they were doing that.

Figure Selection - 9
Figure Quality - 9

Hasbro and Joe Brand Team - 8 (collect the SW line or Super7 and follow their brand teams and then tell me the Joe team is a 4 or 5. They are 1,000 ,000 times more transparent and honest and open than those teams are. And the SW team never goes into forums or message boards or YT streams like Emily or Lenny do)

[WilliePete]

On facebook, someone posted that they found Tiger Force Bazooka at target in Arizona already. Being skeptical as I always am, I entered a zip code for Scottsdale on popfindr and it has a couple of stores with him in stock. Just when I thought we were done getting anymore joes for this year lol

[wehrmanm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WilliePete

On facebook, someone posted that they found Tiger Force Bazooka at target in Arizona already. Being skeptical as I always am, I entered a zip code for Scottsdale on popfindr and it has a couple of stores with him in stock. Just when I thought we were done getting anymore joes for this year lol

Heck yeah, bring it on!!!! If you ship that wave and TF Duke, I think I might be dow to $200 in preorders. Can't wait!