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

[ThunderDan19]

I think a lot of the chaos we see now is a result of a very uncertain direction for the line at the beginning. They were trying to do too much with too little, modern vs. retro, etc. Once the line got its footing and seems to be thriving, the line bosses officially broke it into modern and retro (though in a lot of cases they aren't entirely incompatible), and now they are trying to make up for previous mistakes (i.e. Falcon's head) in the process.

What ends up happening is that there is an aftermarket for the corrected pieces, so there are a fair number of Mercari and eBay sellers that are buying whole figs and vehicles just to part them out, hoping to overcome their investments. As for Falcon, I'd have to believe a full retro version of him might be well down the list, since the original is at least 90% retro already and a simple head swap makes him a lot better.

For me, and for a while now, it comes down to constantly being on the lookout for aftermarket items (or even items that come with new figures I plan to buy anyway) that I can incorporate into "ultimate" versions of the characters I have. Unless the new version is 100% superior and probably over 50% incompatible, I am much more likely to buy the parts I need to upgrade than to fully re-buy a character I already have.

Whether I end up spending more on upgrades than I would to buy the new version has been hit or miss. I'm about to do my second round of upgrades on Roadblock and Heavy Duty so I've probably surpassed what I spent on the original figures, but I suppose that's part of the fun anyway. And the likelihood of a character re-buy does increase with the current discounts on the new figures, especially when add-on fees and shipping inflate aftermarket costs.

 

[nacho]

I love making "ultimate" versions with gridiron kits, but those almost always cost more than the figure itself. Vala gear is FAR more reasonable, but it's all pretty generic, nothing character specific. I keep thinking some of this stuff will end up in for sale in 3d-printer format so I can make my own resin parts.

Like, I can't outfit my Eels with retro-style backpacks... I'd need 10 of them, and that would get into three figures on gridiron or etsy. But we've already gotten regular and retro releases, so we're not likely getting another ARAH Eel release anytime soon. Whatchagonnado? Sometimes you just gotta take it as-is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[ThunderDan19]

It's definitely tougher and more expensive when you are trying to get as close as possible to the OG versions. I have spent the money for a couple things (a legit Eel harpoon/prod gun comes to mind), but it gets hard and expensive to chase a lot of that down. I came across a great copy/upsize of the original CG rifle (one of the best from back in the day IMO), but could only track down one. I have 3 CGs. I could get by with two, but having just one would just look wonky, so no joy.

Since I'm all about modernizing, I don't mind going with cool looking modern equivalents/upgrades that basically do the same job, i.e. Gung Ho should have something that launches grenades. Vala does a good job overall, but they have a real scale problem with their removable mags for anything in the AR family. Handling them a lot for real means I can't unsee their disproportion relative to the weapons, so I can't do their ARs at all. I'd rather they made the mags permanent and get them right than have them improperly proportioned as they are.

But yeah, when I see something that will work well for a particular character, I usually drop it in my cart in Mercari and then hope that seller has another item or two I can bundle and lowball to make for a "reasonable" overall price with combined shipping.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Walmart has dropped prices on a few more figs to sub $20. Included right now are: Alpine, SS v.2, retro Duke, Scarlett, Stalker and BH, others? Amazon has dropped prices on a couple of those to compete, but Wally is all over the place right now.

 

[nacho]

They had Night Creepers down to $17 this morning but sold out pretty quickly.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I ended up ordering retro BH for $19 from WM and NC for $12 on AMZ.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Naturally BH dropped a couple more bucks this morning, but at least I'm getting him shipped for free since my local WM couldn't fulfill the pick-up order. Ah, Wally and their distribution and inventory issues...

Love the price dropping on CS/Retro figs for the holidays though!

 

[nacho]

Viper set down to $36...

G.I. Joe Classified Series Cobra Viper Officer & Vipers Troop Builder Pack

 

[ThunderDan19]

Roadblock and Heavy Duty have been upgraded from space guns to miniguns! Unfortunately the Low-Light head upgrade has stalled due to the fig’s unexpectedly long neck. Retro Duke’s head sits up a lot higher than LL’s so he looks like a giraffe with it. That one‘s on hold until I can acquire a shorter neck for him.

I also received my retro Beach Head, but haven’t gotten up the nerve to open it yet. It just looks so darn retro-fabulous!

 

[ThunderDan19]

Low-Light has entered the 21st century! Thanks to spare RnR donating his normal length neck, retro Duke’s head, NF SW’s hat and drone and other kit from FF v.2. In addition to long range night sniping, he now has a FPV drone for recon and for calling out targets. Was considering a Barrett upgrade, but decided he has enough to carry as it is.

Much like Falcon, he has gone from a decidedly meh and rather outdated character to a modern favorite that now has a solid place in the collection.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Gave Flint and LJ an ”battle readiness” upgrade. Flint got a nice auto shotty and LJ got body armor, kit and a pistol from the female Iron Brigade. I wouldn’t necessarily call either an “ultimate” version as it looks like retro flint is getting a better head and torso from the look of it.



Retro Flint looks pretty cool, as does Tele-Viper. I‘ll very likely be picking them both up. Not so much the green shirt (looks like “Sparks” from the prototype), BAT or Cover Girl. I’m not too impressed with the painted hat version of an otherwise very plain looking CG and the BAT looks too much the same to repurchase. Maybe the finished versions will look better.

New G.I. Joe Classifed Retro Cardback Prototype Figure Images

New G.I. Joe Classifed Retro Cardback Prototype Figure Images

toynewsi.com

 

[nacho]

The BAT has yellow (not orange) gear and a red faceplate. That's enough upgrade for me.

I think the hatless covergirl looks 1000% better than the first release, and Flint is the version we should have gotten from the beginning. He's sublime. Televiper looks uber-retro, and I'll need a couple of those.

The greenshirt... without final paint it's hard to say who that is. The strap across the middle could be Zap, but no big gun. Shortfuze, but no mortar... Could be "Col Hawk" with an extra strap across the torso, but I assume he's destined to be packed with the MMS. If it's a rando greenshirt, he'll pegwarm. Sparks... he'll still pegwarm, but I'll be happier about buying him.

All-in-all, I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. Just have to wait until mid-forever-tober for them to get released.

 

[ThunderDan19]

I think the hatless covergirl looks 1000% better than the first release…

I fully agree that the painted no-hat smiling head is a huge improvement over the original Karen head. Not sure I’ll be swapping out the movie Scarlett head I’m currently using though. While this one is cuter for sure, movie Scarlett definitely has a better game face while still passing for a former model.

I’d have to imagine the finished retro CG will also have at least a little more color in the pants and jacket, like the original. Can’t know anything for sure from the purported prototypes, but this one looks way bland compared to v.1.

Apparently Hasbro is none too pleased that more and more of these are showing up online lately. Not sure if they are actually generating more interest or not, but they do keep our attention while waiting for forever-tober to finally arrive.

 

[nacho]

I think the green protos of retro CG are probably not that far off, as I assume it'll be a toon deco... more green, less brown, to go with the long blonde hair.

I used a ML black widow head on my brown CG, and she looks pretty awesome IMO, but I almost consider the long blonde version and the short redhead version to be two different characters... or at least two very different incarnations. I'm definitely down for both as long as that original head is disposed in a fire.

 

[ThunderDan19]

As predicted, improved Falcon head and British(?) knockoff Scarlett for almost half off:

Robot or human?

 

[nacho]

As predicted, improved Falcon head and British(?) knockoff Scarlett for almost half off:

Robot or human?

Good call. Although I read somewhere that since it doesn't use the same buck, the head isn't compatible with the v1 Falcon neck. Might have to transplant the neck too... or do some other neckball voodoo. I'm game to take a gamble though.

 

[ThunderDan19]

Nah, it fits no problem. I changed mine. You can see the pics from a little while back.

Found it:
Post in thread 'G.I. Joe Classified Series (1:12)'
G.I. Joe Classified Series (1:12)

 

[HUNMARINE]

ITs a big desire to "kitbash" the new head on V1 Falcon (I just repainted it) - but I have a great feeling - we gonna get "retro" Falcon, or more likely cartoon version with an improved head or the same like the NF set. We"ll see...