G.I. Joe Classified Series (1:12)

[nacho]

Plus, the retro lines usually only go for one or two waves, then they change the card deco or discontinue altogether. While some people really go nuts for them, I find them to be a waste unless I really like the classic deco. I mean, it'll be good to get a motorcycle-less Baroness for those who didn't jump on the Target release... hopefully with better glasses.

Sadly, you'll never get a coherent display out of them, as the art is all over the place. It's a visual nightmare:

 

[ThunderDan19]

I wonder though, with the precedent of the original artwork, if maybe 6" Retro could potentially buck the trend on the cardbacks and keep one style or just have simple variations, like the originals did with the later digital "explosions."

As for number of waves for Joe, I suppose it will likely just come down to whether they are making money on them or not, as in, are there enough additional figs they could make money on to keep making new releases? I think Joe has a finite number of characters that are popular enough to sell up to the production level needed, at least in Hasbro's mind.

 

[nacho]

But just like the previous retro line, they'll get bored of it (or run out of already-produced characters to repaint) long before they reach any kind of critical mass for a proper MOC display.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Truly.

 

[nacho]

New cryptic Classified computer listings:

-TF Duke (Target) with vehicle (just my guess, maybe a TF RAM but probably a tiger force version of the baroness venom cycle since TF/PP saw most of the vehicles swap teams.)

-Trooper builder 2-pack (assumed to be like the ML and SW ones, Viper + Viper Officer maybe?)

-New figure with Pet deluxe set (Mutt&Junk? Law&Order? who knows...)

 

[ThunderDan19]

Oh, that's out of the blue. I have no use for a TF Duke w/ or w/o a repainted bike (or anything TF or PP for that matter). Back in the day I did end up with a "Tigerfly," but that was only because I had never gotten the real one... and I could barely stand it then. That sucker had a lot of yellow and white for a "tiger" camo paintjob...

I did end up getting the redeco Duke and a redeco Roadblock, but only because I was short of Joes, and those are less obnoxious than the originals. I did have to display Duke behind the others to try to hid that torso joint a little. Besides, he's less likely to get captured there...

The 2 pack sounds okay, but only if they are priced less than the cost of buying two figs. None of those weird, jacked up prices of the ML "Anniversary" sets. Greenshirts? Or those confirmed as Cobra?

Any chance they are just picking up Croc Master or SE w/ Timber on the figs with pets? Or have those been ruled out? Has there been any other scuttle about a Mutt fig? He was one of my original favs.

 

[nacho]

I had a TF Duke back in the day just because I'd broken the crotch on my regular duke, but I never liked the figure. His hair color swap was even more inexplicable than Hawk's. And I bought a TF Flint just because I liked the green pants. I swapped the green pants onto the black torso as a more comic styled "regular" flint, as I had no use for tiger-themed decos. I never owned any PP figures, such ugly designs. I understand the allure of repaints if you're a toy maker, but damn those were terrible. I was amazed when they made them, and I'm still stunned by the fans that like them. It makes me question all of their other life choices

Not sure about the troop 2-pack. One of the initial rumors months ago mentioned a viper officer, but I'm not clear if they knew something or were just wildly guessing. The Pulse Exclusive ML SHIELD 2-pack is only $32, so if it's one of those no-frills army builder sets, they'll be less than two regular figures, but if they come with all the accessories and such, they'll probably be in the 40-45 range. No clue.

I think these are listings for new stuff, as they still use vague codewords and such different from the SE and Croc listings, so it's assumed that the Character + Pet is one we haven't seen before. I too would prefer Mutt and Junkyard over any others I could think of. I'll always prefer '82-85 characters over all others, unless they're some weird 90's deco or something.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I like your idea with Flint if you didn't care for the camo pants. Thinking back, I may have gotten TF Flint at some point, as I'm sure I probably wore the heck out of the original one and he looks familiar. I believe I had a PP Viper at some point as well. I probably got him due to the limited options for new stuff later in the line (post the shark jump). Otherwise, it was just the Tiger Fly, which I don't remember even playing much with, as it was kinda gross.

The only thing I think I truly loved that late in the line was the Phantom X-19. Even though it was based on debunked (or were they? *cough" Aurora *cough*) concepts from a stealth fighter that turned out to be the F-117 and B-2 , it was still (IMO) the most epic vehicle since the Night Raven and Tomahawk. It would have been epic had it come out the same time as the NR to truly counter it. Anyhoo, memories...

 

[nacho]

It wasn't that I didn't like the camo pants... I didn't like that they were brown. The black/green comic version of Flint was always better than the shit brown 'toon version, and my hybrid toy was as close as I could get to this:




The Stealth Fighter was badass. I still have mine, largely intact/complete IIRC. It was certainly the best from the entire line post-'86.

Looking at YoJoe.com, I think the very last vehicle I bought in the ARAH era was the Arctic Blast in '89, but that was more of a whim purchase just trying to bolster the snow troops. I still bought a handful of carded figures in '89, but the X-19 and DEMON in '88 were the highlights of my last big toy-christmas before I outgrew such things. I was out by mid-'89 (i.e. the start of high school).... all the way to 200x, sometime mid-VvV, right before the DTC era began.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I guess I didn't mind the original colors of Flint's pants. I remember there being brown, but I always considered it the secondary color, and thus not clashing too much with the black shirt/beret. I did, however change out that shotgun to Airborne's carbine. A team leader in the field needed a weapon with a little more range! I actually replaced the Classified version of Flint's little stockless shotgun with Gung Ho's stocked version (ebay) and put the little one in his pouch in the back. As soon as they come out with a decent futuristic analog of the M4, he'll likely end up with that. I might even do Duke's original color one (since Duke has the subdued one now) if I run across one for the right price.

Yeah, the DEMON was the only real (kind of) highlight of the IG force. I had that red flying thing and the pirate looking guy with the silly bike too at some point, but never really got much use out of any of them, as I was beyond huge battles on the living room carpet by then as well. Had they not wasted time and resources on TF, PP, NF and Cobra Lalalalalala, they could have built the IG army into something of a significant rival to Joe & Cobra back before the line began to really wane. There was a ton of potential there as that was the coolest version of Destro for sure. I think that was an example of H'bro not having the right people with the right imagination and vision in place to keep the line fresh and of a reasonable, non-recycled quality.

If memory serves, I'm pretty sure running across YoJoe.com was a big reason I actually constructed a complete Phantom jet again from ebay purchases right before the 25th came along. I wanted it again, just because it was epic, and maybe because I never felt like I got to appreciate just how well it was designed as a kid "growing out of" my Joes by the time it came along. Having that nostalgia resurgence meant it was completely unfair of Hasbro to release the 25th when it did. Only the laziest versions of the lamest figures and vehicles (as long as they were not on sale ) did not entice me at that point.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I've been seeing a lot of listings for the BAT and Alley Viper up on Mercari and eBay. They seem to have potentially leapfrogged over the Spirit/SS wave. Has anybody run across them in the wild?

 

[nacho]

Well, they never had a set release date like the other wave, so I don't know that I ever had an expectation about which would come first. Definitely haven't seen any in the wild. Most of the people I've seen that have them got them first from Amazon and Pulse. Of course, mine were ordered from Dorkside and BBTS, so I'm still waiting.

 

[nacho]

Newly announced in today's livestream, no POs yet, just renders:

Classified 6"
Tomax
Xamot
Stalker
Viper Officer + 2x Viper (3-pack)

(announced and assumed to be 6" retro cardback WM exclusives)
Baroness (new face print... that looks just like the last one)
Destro (sunbow deco)
Gung-Ho (sunbow deco)
Lady Jaye (toy deco... that looks just like the normal release)

Retro 3.75" O-ring
Duke & Cobra Commander 2-pack (sunbow deco)
Cobra Officer & Trooper 2-pack

They all look pretty good. Not blowing my doors off, but certainly good enough to add to the collection. While it's utterly stupid, I kinda love that they gave sunbow Destro black eyebrows on the mask. It makes him look more like an evil genius and less like a metallic cancer patient.

 

[nacho]

Not feeling the grey viper officer with gold mask... too much like one of those old late 90's TRU sets. Officers in the cobra organization should always replace some red with silver, in keeping with tradition.

 

[ThunderDan19]

T&X look good and are likely a yes, but only work if they release some CGs (which would make more sense over Viper variants at this point - are those the same sculps? They look different in the pic than the one I have.). I also have no need for goldy. Stalker looks to be a definite yes.

That Gung Ho looks better than the first version, particularly for retro fans, but is still likely a pass for me. I never had him as a kid, so no nostalgia to overcome those weird color choices. I’ll pick up Baroness if she’s better than the bike version, but actually think the Kareness version is more lifelike and attractive, so will likely keep that if the repack is as homely as the original. I’ve go no need for eyebrows Destro, agua camo GH or LJ repack, unless they look totally awesome on their retro cards for MOC collecting. (And those definitely seem like weird first releases for that, but whatever).

 

[ThunderDan19]

As of now, I’m getting a little excited to get Spirit and SS, which both look great, if a little (more retro and) out of place amongst most of the previous figs in the line. I found a pre-order at GameStop, which claims they will be shipped on/around 2/1. If that happens, I’ll be thrilled, as that’s a full 5 months ahead of EE’s estimate.

I want to pre-order AV and BAT from there (2/16 arrival) as well, but BAT is out of stock (they strangely had it on sale already ). I can’t get the free shipping on that pre-order like I did the other, so will need to wait and see if AV comes into direst stock on 2/16 so I can order it with a Marvel Legends pack I have in my cart. But that would also be well ahead of EE/BBTS, so I’ll be on it if it does. And then I’ll just have to figure out how to get the BAT.

They seem to be showing up in plentiful numbers on eBay and Mercari, so i doesn’t seem like the delivery estimates are completely ludicrous, nor that they are held up any longer in the shipping backups. So, fingers crossed.

 

[nacho]

They managed to get one of the former brand managers back, a guy that actually understands Joe and its 40-something fandom. So the line is definitely drifting back towards classic/ARAH designs and away from the original weird faux-future videogame decos. The current stuff is making the first few waves look pretty wonky, IMO.

They're definitely going to quickly obsolete all the customs I've done... which is par for the course. The fastest way to get a character released is for me to try and make one

And FYI, the same rumors that correctly stated that the next wave would be Stalker and the crimson twins also told us that a Crimson Guard, Zarana, and Dusty would be the following wave. Everyone expects those to be announced next month, so no worries about the twins being orphaned without their entourage.

I ordered Spirit, SS, and the Officer from both Pulse and BBTS, but there's been no word from either of them. Pulse is going to ship my SE/SS new o-ring figs next week though. I'm anxious to see those in person and get a feel for how badly I want to collect those MOC now that the next ones have been announced.

---------------

Along those same lines... years ago, just before the 25th stuff dropped, I amassed a second set of ARAH figures assuming my son would need his own Joes. Both the 25th line and his apathy towards Joe have since rendered that effort irrelevant. Thus I decided that I'd find the best example of each figure in my possession, do any required touch-ups, potentially replace all the o-rings with silicon/nylon upgrades, and re-card them for my toy room display.

Thus, I dropped a huge wad last month ordering reproduction cardbacks and blisters for all of my classic ARAH Joes from Beggar's Canyon. Every figure, '82-'86 plus several cherry-picked ones from '87-'88 and every custom card they have designed for a bunch of vehicle drivers. Gonna be a lot of work.

... so get ready for Hasbro to re-release EVERYONE as soon as I'm finished in a couple of years.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Lol, so you’re the one... I was wondering why GI Joe had recently gained such momentum! Keep at it so the line can keep rolling!

 

[ThunderDan19]

I got a look at a few of those ReAction figures in person tonight. Wow. I couldn’t be less underwhelmed. Who would pay $17 for a cheesy colored 5 poa 4” cartoon figure with next to no accessories, especially when the 6” highly articulated and accessorized Classified figs are just $3 - $6 more? I suppose maybe a highly nostalgic MOC cartoon enthusiast? I don’t get it... at all. If those things sell, when even the articulated, accessorized, slightly cheaper retro figs warm pegs, I’ll be very surprised.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, even to collect MOC... they just look like shit. If you're displaying MOC toys, you want them to look like they *would* be fun if you actually opened them. These don't even accomplish that. I can't understand who would buy them as anything other than a joke. I didn't want 5 PoA when I was seven, which is why kids loved Joe so much to begin with. So why would I want toys as an adult that are substantially worse than their 1982 counterparts?

But they've done it with so many franchises, clearly there is a market for it. No question, it's definitely not the typical Joe fan buying these, but rather more casual collectors of wide-ranging pop culture stuff. It's not much different than people that collect Funko Pops or other themed/licensed nonsense. We're not the target audience.

Fortunately, the 7" ultimate figures look far more promising in sculpt, accessories, and articulation. Fingers crossed.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Agreed. It definitely looks like the Super 7s give you that cartoon nostalgia buzz AND offer a quality product. Not crazy about the price, but at least they give you a lot more for the money.

 

[Videoviper]

Super 7's model is to sell nitch stuff, Mostly to people in the short term collecting.

No idea how they pump out the number of products that they do. Must manufacture stateside???? Or own their own factory somewhere.

I get collecting the stuff, if its something that just wouldn't happen otherwise (Jaws, red dawn, ET etc) For GI joe its a classic case of we got the license run with it while it lasts. We are seeing something similar with Heman due to the copywrite holder change, (They pumping out everything & anything & seeing what shit sticks to the wall to continue business with the new owners.)

The shame is that a lot of this crap we would probably buy if it were back in the $10 range, but the partnership that started this has ended along with the cost savings that came along with it.

 

[nacho]

I read that all that He-Man prattle was complete bullshit. It's still 100% owned by Mattel, full stop.

 

[nacho]

Think Joe will be far behind? Practically guaranteed. So an increase of 25% in just 24 months. That's perfectly normal. No biggie, we'll just offset those costs with the 25% raise we all got during COVID, right?

----------------------------------

Another Year, Another Figure Price Increase Coming From Hasbro​

Jay Cochran - January 27, 2022
We've gotten word from a few difference sources that suggest Hasbro is going to be increasing the prices on their action figures again this year. For a standard 6" Black Series figure it looks like you can expect the MSRP to go up to around $24.99. Likely you will be seeing increases on all their figures so just add a few dollars on top of what ever figure or scale your looking at. I don't know exactly when the price increase will kick into effect and it may vary from retailer to retailer, but most likely you or your wallet will start to notice the increase by mid-year.

Another Year, Another Figure Price Increase Coming From Hasbro (jediinsider.com)

 

[ThunderDan19]

Yeah, Classifieds have gone up to $22.99 for the next wave and $24.99 at some vendors for the following one. I was surprised when I dropped into a Tarjay last night and saw figs for $19.99 - of course those were peg warming SE movie figs and leftover Flints, LJs, CCs and Scarletts. Honestly, I was surprised how affordable they had remained, as all the other Joe lines are all overpriced in my opinion.

 

[ThunderDan19]

So, I stopped fighting it and went ahead and got the BAT and Alley Viper ordered from eBay. While not too extreme, I paid more than I would have liked, but I had decided I needed to get them in hand to fight off the recent urge to go hunting for them at every opportunity. They kind of surprised me when they started popping up in such numbers, so I now knew they were out there. And I deserved a reward for doing the taxes (and getting us a pretty good refund) Friday morning anyway .

These guys look to be the best ones yet in my opinion so I figured I wouldn’t be able to stop looking until I got them. I should know Tuesday just how awesome they actually are live and in person, and will have to reallocate space in my display to put them prominently at the front of the Cobra team.

While I am very pleased to have them coming, getting those two and SS next wave, with only Spirit coming for the Joe side and with similar ratios coming, I am getting concerned that the disparity of numbers is beginning to grow again. I wish they had done a little better job producing more/better Joes of a similar quality as these Cobras. Instead of 4 SEs, 3 RBs, 2 Scarletts, 3 CCs and 2 Destros, 2 Baronesses, 2 very lame SSs, 2 Zartans and a wave worth of repaints, we could have had some of the other top favorites by now. Opportunity missed in my view.

Mini-rant over, now I’m free to enjoy the new hotness when they arrive.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Well, thanks to the USPS's insurmountable ineptitude, it appears that I will not be getting my action figures today, despite their "Priority" mail estimate. In all their brilliance, they shipped them from PA right into the storm zone (NY to NH to MA). Man, I hate their BS...

In other news, this popped up:

 

[nacho]

Yeah, USPS is strapped for both money and people at the moment. I had a package stuck in Atlanta for over a week. Usually once it hits ATL, I'll have it in hand within two days... but lately, I'm just lucky to get them at all.

That Baroness looks pretty good, but I don't know that it's enough different from the Target version to warrant another purchase. Seems pretty identical from the pics. I like the packaging, but unless I thought they were going to do 30+ figures in that style, I wouldn't want to collect them as MOC items. How does she look in person? Do you have the other version to compare to?

 

[ThunderDan19]

Oh, sorry. I didn't specify. This popped up on the feed of one of the channels I follow on Youtube. My bad.

Apparently it showed up at a random Walmart in the state of Washington. I think it looks okay, but the card back looks thin (similar to the 4" retros) and they decided to adapt the card art to the figure/weapons instead of making the figs/weapons more like the original card art . I just realized as well how much I miss that simple white band around the edge of the card. I knew there was something else that made it look less original.

Overall, it's not terrible though, but I'm not overly impressed either. If they are cheap - someone said $10.99 on the thread below the art (not sure if that is even reasonable to expect based on the other retro figs) - I'm not above picking up the better ones I don't have already to include in my collection. I don't see the card art being worth displaying them MOC though. And I wouldn't pay any more than the original $19.99 that the Class figs were.

That said, since I won't need the time to set up any new figs today, I might swing by Wallyworld on my way to pick my son up tonight from work to see if there is anything new... because why not...

 

[nacho]

I think you will never see these at $10.99, even on clearance. I fully expect them to be $22.99 when they hit Wally shelves, $19.99 at a minimum. Heck, they might be the test cases for the $24.99 price point in Joe, who knows. But ain't nobody getting these legally for $11.

My BATs and AV are still in BBTS/Dorkside limbo. They're scheduled for Q2 sometime, so I'm not frantic that they haven't shipped yet. I like them, I believe people when they say they're great... but I'm not willing to overpay just to get them sooner, especially when Hasbro said they made a ton of them. I can't imagine that both BBTS and Dorkside will let me down, and if those guys don't get them, then something went horribly wrong, and Hasbro will have to make more, or put them on the vintage cards or something. I refuse to get anxious over a neon orange figure that wouldn't make my top 50 favs from the original line.

I think by July, they'll be more than plentiful, and people will be complaining that they can't find the twins, just stupid Alley Vipers. Because that's how Joe fandom works.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I agree. I have Spirit and SS in a pre-order on EE for that same reason. They were offering free shipping so I jumped on it, and will be in no rush to get them as neither were/are particular favorites of mine. No stress on those. BTW, Gamestop changed their expected date back to September, so I cancelled the order with them. EE's is in July.

The whole roll out of these next couple waves was weird. Spirit's wave was leaked/intro'ed first even though it was coming after the other one. I got them squared away thinking the BAT wave was going to follow and then I'd do the same for those. Then the BAT and AV started popping up in hand vs. pre-order, and I was hooked.

Considering that those two were always favorites of mine, I figured I just needed to suck it up and get them at the best relative price I could find, since I'd probably spend the time and gas trying to snag them locally anyway. They aren't supposed to arrive at EE until July as well, and they aren't offering the free shipping on pre-ordering that they did with the other wave.

Yeah, they got me a little with those two, but I'm okay with it.

Oh, and yeah, I don't see the carded figures being that cheap either. Right around $20 sounds about where they'll end up.

 

[nacho]

Eh, I don't expect to ever find anything locally. Not counting movie figs, I've never seen anything but CC, Flint, and LJ at retail. The others would be simply rumors if I hadn't ordered online. If I want it, I PO. In the unlikely event I stumble on something in a store first, I may or may not buy it depending on price and the paint job.

Online has been good to me 99% of the time. If local becomes my best option, I'm in trouble. At that point, I'll either overpay on ebay or do without.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I've actually been pretty lucky with the earlier waves (which I didn't buy much of at the time) and still see LJ, Scarlett, Flint and CC + the SE figs hanging around. But I never saw the more in demand figs like BH, FF, Viper and the Troopers (Tarjay exclusives of course) in person.

I have a feeling that, with troop builders and thus scalpers running about, the AV and BAT will be at least as scarce, unless Hasbro made a lot more and the supply chain is somehow flowing very well again. I'd be happy to be wrong, but I imagine I would have to be very lucky (like I happened to be with MB) to even catch them on pegs. That wouldn't have stopped me from trying, as I'm always up for a hunt. I know my weaknesses.

I do expect to see the retros around some though. They are essentially just re-decos at this point, with no troop building potential. I will be on the lookout for those, even if I don't have a need for any of them, because the thrill of the hunt! I even got a little rush from the surprise of catching the way overpriced 5 poa crap figs at Target the other day, just because I really never expected to see them in the wild at all.

 

[ThunderDan19]

So they finally came today...

...and taken a prominent place in my little (but growing) Cobra display at the office.

They truly are among the best yet.

 

[ThunderDan19]

So I saw this tonight:
So it looks like the 6” Retros will not be cheaper than the Classified figs, and should start appearing in this next reset. I’m not sure these will fare much better than all those leftover CCs, LJs and SE movie figs at that price...

 

[nacho]

So it looks like the 6” Retros will not be cheaper than the Classified figs, and should start appearing in this next reset. I’m not sure these will fare much better than all those leftover CCs, LJs and SE movie figs at that price...

Yeah, I knew they would not be. None of the ML "retro" repaints were a single penny cheaper than any other standard ML figure. No way Hasbro wasn't following the exact same sales model.

In the case of Legends, you're actually getting a worse deal with the retro repaints, b/c the repaints typically come with less accessories and no BAF parts for the same price as the original.

In the case of Joe, I think we should be glad the price is *only* $22.99. The latest ML preorders went up this week and they're now $24.99.

 

[ThunderDan19]

So... last Thursday, while I was hanging out waiting for my daughter to finish up at her Civil Air Patrol meeting, I swung by a nearby Tarjay and ended up coming home with this guy (just finished setting him up here at work):

He was the only JoeClass fig there besides leftover SE Kareness and Akiko or whatever her name is. I wonder if he was a GH from the AV/BAT case (no sign of either of those there). Anyway, having seen the renders from the Retro card, I decided that I would prefer this OD guy at $20 over the sky blue GH at $23 minimum. My Joe ratio has improved slightly to 8:11 (not counting the giant Hawk statue behind).

My ratio may not be improving again for a while since SS, T&X, Zarana(?) and CG(?) will be outnumbering Spirit, Stalker and Dusty(?). Here's hoping the fig with a pet will be Mutt/JY.

nacho , are you going to attend the Hasbro Pulse 40th event later in the week? I hear they might reveal some stuff there.

 

[nacho]

That OD GH is the same as the first version, and it's repacked in the AV/BAT case. GH is the harbinger of being too late on that wave. The OD look was not to my liking, and thus why I did a custom job on mine... and why I'll gladly buy the sky blue version too. I likely would have held off on the custom had I known, but at the time I started it, Classified had not changed management and made a turn for the retro decos. It was still in the video-game phase, and I had no faith that a classic GH would ever come. Story of my customizing life.

I always try to watch those livestreams if I can. They're in the middle of the workday, so I never know what'll be happening in advance, and the nature of my business is that I'm likely to be interrupted mid-stream, but I catch as much as I can. My expectations for the event:

- Show off Classified retro cardback reissues
- Show off protos/testshots of Stalker wave
- Announce POs for the next two o-ring 2-packs (Duke/CC, Officer/Trooper)
- Update on Skystriker progress (probably not much to show yet)
- Announce Zarana, Dusty, CG wave of Classified
- Aaaaaaaaand hopefully a surprise or two?

I don't expect anything earth-shattering, but I'm secretly hoping for more deluxe and/or small vehicle SKUs like a sky hawk, trubble bubble, or maybe even something like a FLAK .

 

[ThunderDan19]

Watching the Pulse event (thanks, Videoviper!):
The awesome (I'm only interested in JoeClass. Don't care about any of the other stuff):
Tomax/Xamot + Crimson Guard - definite yes, probably 2x CG or will wait for officer to add
Stalker - looks soo good!
The good:
Dusty - may look better when complete, but I'm not overly impressed with the camo/kit of the reveal. Missed opportunity to modernize IMO.
Zarana - looks great, but suffers from the (truly, truly, truly) outrageousness of the original. Would love a toned down variant.
Viper set - looks cool, but I don't care much for the extra red/gold as the variation. Like the gunfire/explosions a lot!
Retros - they look cool enough, but I seriously doubt I'll buy any unless they go on clearance. Maybe I'll get a couple at retail if they do some of my favorites down the road.
The meh:
Anything TF or PP - hard pass until they release the regular versions. Am looking forward to seeing regular version of Recondo and maybe Bazooka (but I'm not sure the red shirt is any better). The only one (revealed prior) that might be serviceable as released is Outback. I think I can "fix" him with a Flint vest.
Kamakura - super hard pass.
Dr. Mindbender - why? I know, nostalgia. I don't have it for him, so nah.

 

[Videoviper]

Mindbender can be a fun character, but a lot of us have him linked to Serpentor, which kind of limits what people think about him.

In myverse, he is a clone (taken from the Marvel run) & is usually responsable for whatever is pissing off CC today.