What joe or cobra character from the eighties do you think just will not translate at all to the modern era joes. Is there any character that stands out in your mind, that would have to be totally changed, look, bio and all in order to be viable now, if so who is it?

your thoughts?

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example:

1) Lightfoot

lets face it, the uniform is just silly looking, especially int he face of modern EOD uniforms. his would have to adapt to modern standards. he could keep the equipment, just update the look.

2) Raptor

Unless he's planning on Fighting Spiderman, change the look!

3) Mainframe (equipment)

I can understand the fan's need for nostalgia and accuracy, but THE DUDE HAS A FLOPPY DISC LAPTOP THAT TAKES UP HIS ENTIRE LAP! My MP3 player has more computation power (and hard drive space) than his equipment. I mean Ive seen DESKTOPS with 2 terabytes of space that are smaller!

Give that guy a high powered Laptop, with a backpack that holds is, and maybe a collapsible satellite uplink dish, and reconfigure the "original laptop" to function as a cooling table and hard drive attachment, and hold a modern laptop.

4) Torpedo
do navy seals really walk around in wetsuits ALL THE TIME? I remember how silly torpedo looked running around in the battle of Springfield in Marvel #49-50, with his flippers on!

he needs a LAND BASED uniform with a scuba gear, kinda how the ROC shipwrech looked.

5) Bazooka/ Big Lob/ Voltar

...cause every unit needs a soldier wearing a bright red jersey who can be seen and sniped from over a mile away....

and in Voltar's case, he is supposed to be a Iron grenadier general, why isn't he wearing iron grenadier colors?


6) Crimson Twins

can we get some in three piece suits please? or at least in a Crimson Guard uniforms. the New Sculpt versions were a step int he right direction.

7) Ninja force Night Creepers

they look like the aliens from "Space: Above and Beyond". can we let out ninjas just be ninjas? the original uniform was cool.

8) ... the whole ninja force for that matter...

...cause ninjas in bright orange, green, yellow, pink, and purple can be oh so stealthy...

9) Baroness

yeah I know this next statement may be blasphemous...

but has anyone else noticed that virtually EVERY other long term character in G.I.Joe has had multiple uniform changes ... EXCEPT her?
does she own ANY other clothing?

I mean, some characters have even changed their RACE and GENDER!!!!
baroness: "Hmmm, should I wear the skintight black leather, or the skintight blue leather?"
if it wasn't for Resolute, she would be come a cookie cutter character! Hell Chameleon was supposed to be a totally different character, and even SHE wore the same get-up!
at least make her in the arctic gear.

10) Skystriker Jet

yes i know everybody loves the skystriker jet.

...but lets face it, the world has moved on.
the American military has retired the F-14 tomcat design,and even sold the plane to third world countries. meaning potential ENEMIES would be flying the same plane our elite soldiers do?

Hell, Planes designed AFTER the skystriker have been retired. (Conquest, Liquidator, eve the Ghoststriker and Phantom X19)

Its time to move on from the Skystriker, and start embracing the Thunderwing.

11) Blowtorch/ Charbroil

Just because you SHOOT flames, doesn't mean you have to DRESS like flames. an OD green uniform, or the SAME uniforms they have in neutral colors would be cool.

12) Headman & the Headhunters

they seem just a bit too gregarious for drug dealers. If Headman looked a bit more Like Frank White from King of New York, and less like the Hamburgler, it would work. Also I would picture the headhunters loking more like Frank White's gang, kinda like urban dreadnoks.

Now that Gristle is in charge of the Headhunter's drug dealing business, Its time for him to be updated with a 3 piece suit.

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Scoop's gear needs to be updated. Who needs a radar dish strapped to his back while carrying a vcr sized camera?
He needs to look more like some of the 1/6 scale war journalist figure. Maybe exchange his yellow outfit for some jeans and a regular shirt.

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I would have to agree with what most of what you said, but this statement is totally in the wrong. They did retire the F-14, but no other third world countries will be flying it. Reason being in the mid 70s Iran pruchased 80 of them which not all was delivered because of an arms embargo imposed in the late 70s when relations deteriorated. US suspended all F-14 aircraft & parts sales to anyone, so parts would not be acquired by governments considered hostile to the US. Even all the retired aircraft are in a secure base until they can be recycled. There are only like 20 estimated F-14s that are operational in Iran and that was a few years ago, even if those numbers are correct being that those F-14s are 30+ years old now with no way to upgrade other than to part out the others they have. So other than those aging birds Iran has, the only other force to fly the F-14 is the US Navy and will only be.

Also it's still a aircraft to be reckoned with. It was a hard call to make pulling the plug on this bird, as it still had much more fight in it, but I think cost of operation is what forced them to retirer her.

momaw nadon

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Interesting topic but I'm dissapointed that your reasonings rely heavily on uniform. Its easy to change a uniform or swap out a computer for an iPad, but what specialties are outdated? And for that matter which have evolved to play a bigger role?

Bazookas were outdated before GI Joe came out, and where as in WWII you might have a "Bazooka man" the LAW Bazooka carries is something any soldier can fire. So Bazooka is outdated.

You mentioned flame throwers - since those are against the Geneva Convention and pretty much don't exist anymore I'd rule out those guys as well.

What's the status on mortars these days?

Meanwhile, Flash, Sci-Fi, and Mainframe would be like the Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Bill Gates of their military fields by now. They would be leading institutions of cyber warfare and laser guided weapons development. In the real world today we have the military putting laser weapons on the nose of planes to shoot down ICBMs and last year the US Cyber Command unit was established and is fully operational at an Air Force base in Bossier City. I liken the US Cyber Command to the early Army Air Corps which evolved into the Air Force. I believe one day Cyber Command will be a sixth branch of the US Millitary along with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. (Shame, I was hoping for space police in my lifetime instead)

Surprisingly after a good run in the 80s and 90s - its seems like Psyche-Out's roll has really fallen short. I remember seeing a TV show about a decade ago regarding psychological warfare weapons in development, yet with a decade of war we haven't heard of much use of it since Panama. Meanwhile with the high suicide rate of our soldiers, you can see where Psyche-Out may have shifted his talents to play a greater role as team counselor.

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I love the F-14 - it's still the only fighter in existence that can track 24 targets and fire on six targets simultaneously..

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Zap, we don't use bazookas anymore and haven't for a long time. I know that we don't use Flamethrowers either but I can give some leeway due to Cobra's use of strange technology so if the Joes face some bio creature ( outside of Airtight's area of expertise) Flames may be the only answer, but bazookas have been surpassed as far as I know with better technology.

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I don't get what you mean by "won't translate". Do you mean cannot be remade in a ROC/POC style, or just that the original toy just looks goofy by today's standard?

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Exactly what they want you to believe.

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probably a little of both, but moreso the latter.

I was thinking more along the lines of characters that needed equipment updates or (like Cabanajack illustrated) characters and vehicles that don't translate to modern standards at all.

I agree CJ that Psyche-Out may have transferred to internal Psychology rather than external (according to the comics, apparently so has Crystal Ball)



Hmmmm

I learned something today!

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Iceberg -That black face in the snow = target.

Stalker - Running around in pajamas and a beret = laughed at target. Ditto the arctic thing.

Roadblock - Ya know what, a giant guy with an earring and a strong love of cooking still has a place in today's army. We'll move on from there...

Gung Ho - gotta change the call name, women find it offensive. Also he can't register it on most message boards b/c of filters.

Deejay - needs a newer, goofier costume but still keep that same pink gun. Joes need a decoy.

Alpine - just needs new gear. Perfect mountain man.

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So does that mean Duke, Flint, and any of the others can't go on night missions?

All I'll say is: camo paint...

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Anybody else notice a pattern here?

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I take the "won't translate" just to mean would not work in today's ideas. The trouble is, it's a fictional world and any of the characters could be reworked. Yeah I know, that's being a wet blanket, hehe. But really:

Lightfoot - Just give him some better clothes and updated equipment. He can still be out there looking for explosives. Enemy armies haven't stopped using any and all sort of devices. Tripwire and lightfoot can even work as a team.

Torpedo - Yeah just give him some gear (make another figure) to reflect his land gear. Same with Deep Six, Wet Suit, and anyboy else like that.

Raptor - He could be an awesome enemy if he was reworked. Using that POC Zartan look and there you go. He doesn't and should have to dress like a bird.

The sports guys... Capt Gridiron, Big Lob, Fridge, etc. That still can work with just a little upgrading. I mean heck we go out in public wearing Cobra, G.I.Joe, Punisher, etc. shirts all the time. A military group that isn't really strict on what their unit wears wouldn't cry if the soldier designed their gear around a sport theme.

Flamethrower guys I figure still has a place in G.I.Joe. They might not be welcome in a regular army but they could be very useful in terroistic situations. Even if just to know some of the basic details of using fire and heat to weaken structures or something else. They would just have to be updated in the things they would know. They'd have to have full knowledge of demolition. More less they'd be like Torch was characterized back then where as he knew how to use flames to take down a structure.

Any vehicle can be written off to say that it's a G.I.Joe vehicle. G.I.Joe wouldn't have to say "Oh man, they retired my Skystriker". They're specially outfitted vehicles that are no longer JUST an F-14, or JUST an F-16. The B-52 just got extended for use until at least 2040. It's had various design changes but done straight on the plane it's self. That's easy enough to say that's what G.I.Joe does with it's vehicles.

Headman and the headhunters is still just as real today as it was back then. I live in a bad neighborhood and it's not uncommon to see drug dealers in full pimp looking outfits sitting in their front yard waiting for the next drive up buyer. I'm serious. Take it a step further and give them some power with a fictional army such as Cobra, and I could still see them running around with armed and armored troops.

But yeah, there are plenty of them that you couldn't just take as is and remake with the expectations that they'd fit in. Some work fine, even Bazooka was ok with his 25th style gear. I think Hasbro did fine with what they gave us and updated others well. There were a few lesser characters they still could have done, but they still might get to them too.

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Yeah, it seems we are seeing almost daily/weekly reports of IEDs in use. Somebody has to take care of them.



No brainer here...



Why not go all Bond villain like? Affluent guy with his own aviary, rare bird collector, etc.



Seems like there is enough gear ideas using protective armor and such that could help out the JOEs.



With all the nerve gases and bio weapons and such, sometimes flame is still the most affective way to getting rid of it. No one is saying Blowtorch is having a barbaque torching tunnel rats...



It's not just a F-14. It is a XP-14F. It's experimental and probably has been updates many many times. Same with a lot of the stuff in the order of battle.



Yeah, I read Mack Bolan books and there is all sorts of shady characters and villains and other such. Definitely can see them being viable today.

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