Prototypes I've held did not have removable rubber treads (like the Mauler or Mobat)...but the new missile launcher is just too much fun not to pick it up when it comes out.

_________________

That's too bad. I got my hopes up with that picture over at Generalsjoes. It looked like the back wheels were separate from the tracks. Oh well.

At least the prototype of the new Hiss that Richard showed us at the Con had rubber moveable tracks. We'll see if they keep with that or not.

_________________

No more on the 25th style Adventure Team either??

_________________

The Club is still working on it. Last news were they were working on the artwork and the pricing.

_________________

Also the Air Adventurer with yellow Fang, Land Adventurer and Dr. Venom will be available at the Convention for purchase.

Michael
Bulletman Big B

_________________

Man do I hope that's true. I'm looking forward to those more than any other thing the club has done.

I wouldn't mind that yellow FANG myself, really.

Finally got around to calling up some pics of G.I. Joe stuff from Toy Fair, especially the vehicles. A few thoughts.

I like the new color scheme of the AWE-Striker. Black with a tan roll cage. Can't say as I like the painted on mud splats on the tires and vehicle. Hopefully they don't put too many of the labels on first, because I think that AWE-Striker will be getting a "car wish" with a bottle of 91% alcohol. Takes the paint off just about anything.

The Cobra Ice Cutter is an impressive new vehicle. Definitely like what I see here.

The Cobra Doom Cycle. VERY nice design, but doesn't really strike me as something Cobra Commander would use. Dreadnoks, on the other hand, I think mine are going to have a new vehicle. And, it looks cooler than the Dreadnok Cycle from 1987.

The new VAMP may be a favorite new vehicle of mine. Although its resemblance to previous VAMPs is perhaps somewhat limited, it is nevertheless an extremely impressive design. I look forward to adding it to my collection.

The new HISS -- hmmm. You know, even seeing pictures of this, I'm just not sure. Might be cool. Might be a little too far removed from previous HISS designs. I'll hold off commenting until I see one in person.

Overall, though, definitely some things I'll be looking forward to!

Well, you're in luck, because it so happens to be a Dreadnok vehicle.

_________________

I've got to say, after the pics and lists that have come out of toyfair, I feel a little bit let down. Aside from the "Sniper Viper", all the things that I was most excited about seem to be gone, or altered drastically and considerably less cool for it. Desert Battle Ripcord and the cycle armor were the two items I was most looking forward to, and now there's no mention of them. I'm glad the ice cutter is still coming, I'm not terribly enthused about most of the other vehicles, even the mechs, and I'm a mech junkie.

I hate to say it, but the more I see of the new Hiss, the more misgivings I have about it. I'm sure I'll change my tune once I get it in my sweaty little paws, just as I did with most of the ROC toys, but right now, I'm all, "Meh."

Yeah, a lot of the early POC stuff, seems to have been canceled. There was no sign of City Strike Scarlett, or that jet pack not-Ripcord. I was hoping to grab both of those, when they came out. I had plans for at least two of that Scarlett. I'm glad we're still getting the Jungle Vipers, but what happened to that dreadlocked guy that was supposed to be their leader?

The new HISS looks better, every time I see it. And I was sold on it, the first time. That POC Alley Viper is the first Alley Viper I've ever seen that I actually wanted.

_________________

It does help that it's not Blaze Orange and Royal Blue.

Like I said, I'm sure the Hiss is going to be great in person, and I can see that it's got a lot of play value, but the "Heck Yeah!!" feeling I had when I saw it at Joecon has given way to "Not sure if want." It just seems a little too much of a departure from the original.

The kickass new mask under the helmet helps too, along with the Resolute helmet and goggles and the gas mask also included.


Aside from the fact that a bunch of the POC toys we saw at JoeCon seem to have been scrapped, I have very few grievances with what we saw at ToyFair.
Here's my nitpicky stuff:

Desert Storm Shadow: Using ROC Stormy's leather pants and sneakers... considering how freaking ornate the upper body and skirt are, they feel really out of place.

Ghost Hawk w/Tomahawk: Between Bench Press, Clutch and now Tomahawk, that's three figures set in "more or less" the same universe sporting the same noggin', and he's got the same hair color as Clutch too... That bugs me, because now I have to find a new head for him.

AWE Striker w/Night Fox: This is kind of a ridiculous complaint, but I'm not a big fan of the AWE Striker so I'm kind of mad they packaged such an awesome-looking driver with a vehicle I don't want. Like I said, ridiculous.

The stands: Looks like they're going back with to 25th anniversary stands.. but I liked the ROC stands better because the "grooves" hold some smaller (and more loseable) accessories more securely, and because the raised logos are a lot less in the way. Plus, the Cobra one had two foot pegs.

So yeah, that's about it. I'm not finding much to complain with what's coming out.

_________________

Early production Desert Ripcords are still on eBay, and for a pretty decent price considering we have no idea whether the figure will actually make it out or not. Given that the figure has been tooled, and produced in quantity, I'm fairly certain we'll see it released, if not this year, then early next. Probably with a different head though, and possibly with a different name.

Test shots of the Cycle Armor have also surfaced, so it's a safe bet that the tooling has been cut for that as well. Not a small investment, so I wouldn't worry about missing out on that either, it's just a question of when. I imagine the fate of these items is going to be one of the main questions for Hasbro at the con, so we shouldn't have to wait too long to find out.



I do agree that I'd prefer them sticking with the RoC stands, they just worked better. However, they may not want to spend the money to do another new Joe stand since the RoC one has the eagle logo. The display figures at the con seemed to have stands picked pretty randomly though, which makes me hope we may see a entirely new style, one that hopefully incorporates the improvements from the RoC ones.

Yeah, I was a bit bummed about CS Scarlett, Desert Zartan ,Shadow Tracker, Ripcord, and Jungle Stormy not coming. So I broke one of my collecting "rules" and snatched a Jungle Stormy off evil bay. I'm debating getting a Jetpack Ripcord. I really cringe at paying more than $10 for a single figure though. I don't care about the head too much, so I might wait. I really wanted to get CS Scarlett for her breather mask. That looks cool. Maybe they'll toss it in with Resolute Scarlett. I'm a little bummed about the HISS too. I'd really prefer the Resolute HISS.

Say, does anyone else think that Desert Stormy might make a good Night Creeper Leader custom?