As you may know, the HQ here is located in a relatively sparse retail toy land. A tourist-y slogan adopted for the HQ's home city was the "Middle of Everywhere" for a relatively short time. That didn't stick, it would seem.
With no Toys R Us, K.B. Toys, Kmart, Shopko, and the like of retail brick and mortar stores that my older self would have been stopping at many years ago to look for new G.I.Joe stuff or toys in general, a lot of things have evolved at the HQ.
And of course, there was really no G.I.Joe to look for many years even if the locations still existed.
There is still Walmart and it is usually a place I do not frequent. On one of these infrequent trips I stopped in the toy aisle as I like to see what Transformers are there. I like the look of the non-movie Transformers that are easily the most popular ones at this store. All the "live" movie-based Transformers are the last ones to be bought as I've noticed. So does that mean old fans like me are digging the more 1980's-like designs and buying them or that the kids actually prefer the more 1980's-like Transformers? Either way, the HQ is doing better than years back and things are feeling more confident on that side of things, and while a Transformers collection is very tempting, I have been passing on purchasing any.
So on a second to most recent trip to the toy aisle here, I noticed a Masters of the Universe Prince Adam and vehicle package. That one box was instantly appealing to me but with the 1980's-like Transformers not that far away it felt like a trip to the old Suncoast store at a mall 25 years ago. Or even like that trip to a Hallmark store 20 years ago. The vibe was that marketed nostalgia, like at either the Suncoast or Hallmark, there were more deluxe-packaged movie figures or figurines. The Star Trek classic Enterprise Christmas collectible ornaments that have Spock's voice when you press a button.
Of course, this was modern Walmart, and the much smaller nostalgia vibe coming off the retail shelves was still surrounded on either side by slim-picking on pegs of things I have little interest in.
Anyway, the infrequent random stop produced the sighting of Classified Roadblock, Snake Eyes, and Destro. Three figures. I don't know what is shipping in a case of these so you can read into what sold out of what could have been there before I got there to see what is the more popular seller at this location.
Me? I was holding all three figures in my hand at first but then I didn't know if I would like them. I mean, we are not getting one of these in my A.W.E. Striker. But I did like the Sigma Six 8-inch figures, I somewhat regret giving up the few I had of those. Sure, they didn't fit my vehicles, but they were very solid figures with lots of accessories.
So to try out the new tall modern I chose Destro. Everyone has Snake Eyes and Roadblock had what looked like one gun. At least Destro had two guns and a case. And I am a bit more of an Iron Grenadier and Destro fan.
So the box is solid and the back has a lot of the same nostalgia and sentimentality of the mid-1980's in what feels like that Devils Due Productions G.I.Joe comic cover from around the year 2000. The Red Ninjas are what give that vibe to me. The Alley Vipers seem a little out of place, but these are those "later run" guys of old that the "anything past 1985 sucks" guys like. The same guys who hate the "neon-'90's" and were "out of G.I.Joe by then" but for some reason love the bright orange 1989 Alley Viper figures.
Other than that, the back of this box could have been put out on any package in the last 20 years and fit right in with just about anything that was put out on the retail shelf for G.I.Joe. It's cool but I feel like I've been here before, many, many, many times, right now.
The amount of vehicles flying around make me wonder besides us older G.I.Joe fans and collectors will recognize many of them. The kids that were buying the "25th" anniversary style modern figures and vehicles will possibly be jumping into nostalgia territory themselves now and a good number of those vehicles show up here.
The Wolverine, Bridgelayer, H.A.V.O.C., a M.O.B.A.T., and the weirdly added 1986 Night Raven pod haven't been seen in general for awhile. (That looks like the Rise of Cobra-era Night Raven to me so that is why that pod looks weird to me.)
This side bar is the most interesting part of the package to me. The new Cobra logo? The dollar sign with the briefcase seems more fitting for Lego but the top and lower angled Cobra insignia give me the most "I have something new" that I am buying vibe.
We didn't get universal choking hazard warnings like this back in the day, did we? I don't think we had any choking hazard warnings in the 1980's. Did we?
Worst case is I have a fancy classic Cobra backdrop to put behind any figures if I ever get anything out.
So this is the modern edge of toy design manufacturing in the larger detailed scale. A thing I liked right away was the absence of the tiny clear rubber bands that were posing so many figures in the packages over the last 20 years. One piece of tape over the gold gun.
The thrill of the new didn't hit me at all as I was opening this. I like that black pistol, new and familiar at the same time. The gold pistol gives a 1988 Iron Grenadier Destro nostalgia vibe. The gray ribbed details on the shoulder and upper chest area feel Devils Due Productions comic -era to me. The briefcase screams cheap Rise of Cobra accessory.
Back in the day for the kids that might read this, we had to check the upper inner thigh for a date stamp. I was looking for markings and the feet are where they are at today. Are these individually numbered? I wonder with the white number on the left foot, do I have figure #601?
The head is really nice. The camera snapped right onto the face here like it was a real person, this has not happened with any other toy that I snapped a picture of, so that was something interesting. Unlike most of the 2007-present "modern" format 25th-anniversary figures, I don't mind the way this head sits on the neck joint.
The forearm metal gauntlets, I guess we will call them, really remind me of the Wraith figure. Generals Joes has more on Wraith here.
I have that same vibe of these gauntlets falling off here that I do on that figure even though they are solid on this 2020 Destro. Weird, isn't it?
The larger holster and belt still feels clunky to me like most of these type of details that were on the 4" modern figures for years. That's a negative experience I had toward those years. I've found myself preferring the molded details that while may be visually disjointed by physical form to be much more usable in an action figure. Sure, they are dolls, as they were dolls back in 1964. I don't feel the need to have life-like hair nor do I really want flexible straps. Although the gun does fit the holster nicely.
I really was not a fan of the "25th anniversary" style of torso. For me it isn't just about the "o-ring" but the torso ends up feeling more generic any figure line super hero fits here with this style of articulation. The belt rides high and the hip bones feel like they were pulled down with that gap. More posing ability but with this it almost calls for fabric pants to make it feel less skeletal. One step closer to the original 1964 dolls, which could be a fun angle that we didn't get in the 1980's or 1990's. Interchangeable gear. And pants. Not since what, the mid-'90's Hall of Fame figures did we have that?
For some strange reason I had higher expectations but this briefcase leaves me feeling empty.
All-in-all, not a horrible thing.
I almost feel like I would have been happier buying one of the Transformers.
I had to try it out, though. It's got the flavor of stuff I did not like from the 25th-annivsary/ modern years but unlike those, this larger size with thicker joints might stand up to light casual shelf posing with out breaking. (Yep, I've had more "modern" figures not make it through not very rugged play compared to the classic old molds.)
What do I do with it now? I don't know if I want to buy more figures. Will I have more imaginary adventures if I get them all? Land of the giants vs 3 3/4 inch G.I.Joe missions?
