Last weekend was ToyFair 2009 in New York. It was a busy weekend and we were deluged with announcements of upcoming merchandise. Fellow Poweteer and avid Joe fan, Tigerpaw32, sent in a full write up of GI Joe news:

Yo Joe! It’s that time of year again. Time for toy companies to show off their upcoming products and for me to do a write up of the G.I. Joe offerings. This year, the G.I. Joe line’s main focus will be on toys to support the upcoming feature film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Figures will be released in 12 and 3 ¾” formats as well as a brand new format: The Sigma Six-esque Action Battlers. The cute miniature Combat Heroes line will be continuing under the movie banner. Brand new role play, Mr. Potato Head, and todder toys will also be available. Add to this a few more non-Movie 3 ¾” items coming out before the Movie as well as a ton of other movie-branded merchandise and one huge Duke figure and you have a year filled with G.I. Joe action.

Our first order of business is to wrap up the rest of the 3 ¾” releases that will be hitting before the Movie toys come out. The remaining releases prior to the movie can be divided up into two sections: The Hall of Heroes and Online Exclusive packs.

Thanks to Rich for all the good news!
Really looking forward to that Cobra 7-pack and the Night Raven.
More after the jump.

The Hall of Heroes line is a set of 10 figures chosen by the fans to be made into the ultimate collector’s version of the figures. The figure selection was done via a poll on the Hasbro website, allowing collectors to choose from 25 figures previously done in updated form. The fact that the poll resulted in TWO Snake Eyes figures being chosen, one of which could hardly be improved upon (the all-black Snake Eyes v1), caused many collectors to be suspicious of the integrity of the poll. Nonetheless, the figures have been made and they are stunning. Highlights include the first Flint with original colors and corrected arms, a Viper with a CHROME mask, and Storm Shadow with feet more like the original 1984 figure.

The Online Exclusive packs take the remaining single and comic pack figures originally slated for 2009 and put them into two awesome seven-packs. The G.I. Joe: Assault on Cobra Island pack features several characters fans have been clamoring for:

Outback, Recondo, Zap (currently without mustache), Chuckles, Hit & Run, Wetsuit, and Spc. Altitude

Altitude’s name comes from an old Sky Patrol figure. The design of the figure, however, comes from the original Ripcord. Presumably, the name was changed so that those who aren’t hardcore fans wouldn’t confuse the character with that of movie Ripcord. The Cobra: Defense of Cobra Island pack also features fan favorite characters:

Dr. Mindbender, Range Viper, Alley Viper, Lampreys, a battle damaged B.A.T., Night Creeper and Strato Viper.

All 14 of these figures do a great job of updating their original line counterparts. Wetsuit, Recondo, Range Viper and Alley Viper should hopefully have their respective head gear once they’re released.

That’s all for old business. Now onto new business with the movie line!

12” Movie figures (Approx. Retail – Ninjas: $22.99 Others: $15.99)

For those of you who like your figures big or who caught onto G.I. Joe before the 80’s, we have the 12-inch line. Thus far, four figures have been shown: Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, Cobra Viper and Accelerator Suit Ripcord. All four feature at least some removable clothing, several accessories and strong resemblances to their movie counterparts. Both Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes have an electronic sound chip which makes battle sounds and is activated by pressing a button in their chest. The other figures are normal 12” figures without the chip.

Action Battlers (Approx. Retail Unknown)

The Action Battlers series appear to be very similar to the “Sixma Six” 8-inch style figures from a few years ago. These figures are more stylistic in sculpt and thus bear almost no resemblance to the actors. However, they are NOT true Sigma Six figures. Differences include fewer points of articulation, no cloth goods and less weaponry. They may also be slightly smaller than the Sigma Six figures. Characters shown are Duke, Cobra Viper, Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes.

Tough Troopers (Approx. Retail – $22.99)

Tough Troopers appear to be the G.I. Joe line’s equivalent of the Transformers Cyber Stompers. Big , bulky and durable figures with action features, lights and sounds. Duke and Snake Eyes are the figures shown.

Rapid Rollers (Approx. Retail Unknown)

Rapid Rollers are chunky G.I. Joe vehicles with sculpted on riders and pull back motors. Looks to be good way to get young children involved with the brand. Snake Eyes w/ ATV, Duke w/SUV and Storm Shadow w/ H.I.S.S. were shown.

Combat Heroes (Approx. Retail – $6.99)

G.I. Joe recently became the latest Hasbro brand to receive a line of miniaturized and cute looking figures. After starting out with classic renditions of characters, the line will move into the movie style with initial offerings of Duke vs. Baroness, Neo Viper vs. Snake Eyes, Cobra Viper vs. Hawk, and Heavy Duty vs. Storm Shadow.

Accelerator Suit Duke (Approx. Retail – $69.99)

Possibly the most ambitious effort of the movie toy line is this monster. The figure appears to be in the neighborhood of two feet tall. According to the press release: “When activated using an easy hand grip control, DUKE simulates his accelerator running motion, with motorized head, torso and arm movements as well as lights and speech with more than 50 phrases.” One plus for the figure is that for $70 it includes the four batteries needed to run the figure.

3 ¾” Movie Figures (Approx. Retail – $7.99)

Finally we get to the bread and butter, meat and potatoes of the movie toy line, the 3 ¾” product. Two waves of figures were shown at Toy Fair. Wave 1 consists of Snake Eyes, “Attack on the PIT” Baroness, “Desert Command” Duke, Neo-Viper and Storm Shadow, Breaker, Heavy Duty, Zartan, Cobra Viper Commando, Scarlett, Shipwreck and “Accelerator Suit” Ripcord. Wave Two will consist of “Reactive Armor” Duke, Trench coat Snake Eyes w/Timber, Deep Six, Cover Girl, Unmasked Storm Shadow and “Desert Ambush” Scarlett. In general the movie figures have good likenesses, which is a plus. Another plus is that the figures come with both large spring loaded launchers for the kids and enough ‘slug’ weapons to keep collectors happy. Deep Six is one of many “off screen” characters that will be in the line. At the panel for G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe Brand Manager Neal Hoffman and Senior Design Director Aaron Archer stated that there will be over 35 different single carded figures! In addition to the single cards, there will be a M.A.R.S. Trooper 3-pack that’s perfect for army builders.

3 ¾” Scale Movie Vehicles (Approx. Retail – Alpha: $15.99, Bravo: $24.99, Night Raven: $39.99)

What Joe line would be complete without vehicles? This time around there will be over 15 vehicles released. Most will fit into the “Alpha” or “Bravo” size classes, but a few will be in a class of their own. The Alpha class will start off with Mole Pod w/Terra Viper, Armored Panther Tank w/ Thunderblast, Snake Trax ATV w/Scrap Iron, and Rockslide ATV w/Snow Job. Snow Job, Scrap Iron and Thunderblast appear to be off screen characters with Thunderblast being Hasbro’s way of releasing a “Classic”-style Thunder figure. The Rockslide and Mole Pod are brand new molds, with the other two being retools of molds from the original Joe line.

Cobra Gunship w/Wild Weasel, Steel Crusher APV w/Nitro Viper, and Ice Dagger w/Frostbite will be the initial Bravo class vehicles. Frostbite and Wild Weasel may be off screen characters. Also, even though most pictures of the Gunship label the figure as being Firefly, comments made at the Hasbro G.I. Joe panel indicate that the figure will be called Wild Weasel. The Ice Dagger is a redeco of a Valor vs. Venom mold.

The last vehicle shown was the Night Raven, an updated version of a popular Cobra plane from the original 80’s line. The Night Raven will feature a pump-action missile launching feature and electronic lights and sounds. It comes packaged with Air-Viper, a redeco of the Strato Viper being released in the Cobra seven-pack.

The PIT (Approx. Retail -$99.99)

The first new G.I. Joe playset since the original line, the PIT measures 3 feet wide and 2 feet high when fully expanded. Featuring multiple levels, breakaway walls, a jail cell, an extending ramp, and electronic lights and sounds, the PIT appears to be full of play value. The PIT is also able to fold up into a moving battle fortress, and comes with an exclusive Hawk figure. The packaging of the set will include cardboard pieces which can be cut out and used with the base. One of them is a ping-pong table!

Role Play Items

Several role play items will be available for kids to use in recreating their favorite scenes. For approximately $24.99 you can get the Snake Eyes role play set which includes a mask, sword, scabbard and two throwing stars. Two smaller role play items, a Wrist Blaster and a Signal Light were also on display.

Other Movie Licensed Items

In addition to the above toys there are a number of other licensed items which were on display. These include: A version of the Battleship board game, the “Snake Fries” Mr. Potato Head, book bags, lunch boxes, shoes, shirts, sandals, school supplies, walkie-talkie set, posters, water bottles, party supplies, iPhone skins, something that appears to be a small camera in the shape of a dog tag on a chain, hats, and even a skateboard. No new info on the upcoming video game by EA, however.

Whew. Okay, well that wraps it up for this year’s look at G.I. Joe and Toy Fair. Many thanks to YoJoe.com and Toy News International for their coverage of the event, without which this article would not have been possible.

To see pictures of all the product shown at Toy Fair check out YoJoe’s coverage: http://photos.yojoe.com/showgallery.php?cat=625

An audio recording of the Hasbro G.I. Joe panel as well as Hasbro’s press release can be found at TNI

Panel: http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=9&itemid=14105

Press Release: http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=9&itemid=14084

Even more pictures can be found at General’s Joes: http://generalsjoes.com/

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