sol magnus wrote:As an aside about how "bad" the Baroness figure looks. I don't expect everyone to be toy experts in general, but that's a straight repro of 1984 Baroness, which of all the complaints one could levy against this set would be mine. Hasbro has decided based on (allegedly) fan feedback that 10+ years of modernized Joe figures with superior articulation and aesthetic to just...make O-ring Joes again. The only thing "boggling" to me is this new overall strategy. They're saying it's for the 40th anniversary, well these are 40 year old action figures. Literally. That Baroness is 38 years old. Last year they released a modern Baroness as a Walmart exclusive for a line new retro line that supposedly 'failed', yet you coulcn't keep the things on the shelf until the final waves when they got their act together and produced (more than) enough to meet demand.
Hasbro's Joe product strategy seems weird to me, but I think it fits with their other product lines broadly. Star Wars The Vintage Collection is their only detailed 3.75" line, while Marvel, Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and now Joe have retro designs. I'm sure from a cost perspective, the development and production expenses have to be lower for those, so the margins are better, and they can focus on their 6" scale. I'm surprised that demand is there since it's competing with ReAction, but they must feel they're unique enough because they're still licensing out to them.
Hiya Toys announced they're doing 1/18 Joes so similar toys will still be out there, but they'll be considerably more expensive.
The toy market is really weird right now with so many shared licenses, different scales, and different design philosophies.
More directly on topic, I plan to buy the Walmart Cobra Commander to go with my Megatron. I too much prefer that style of figure.