Hasbro Q & A Round 5 Answers! Options

[Airborne Rigger]

1. G.I. Joe plays second fiddle to Star Wars mostly due to the constant media marketing by the Lucasfilm gang with a daily cartoon that airs afterschool and/or in the prime-time evening hours and it's continuous storyline with occasional arcs. At the toy stores Star Wars just seems to file off the shelf, even when it is slightly off main characters and gear. Star Wars has kept a very strong presence and been the same recognizable animal for decades. Back when it was Kenner Star Wars vs Hasbro G.I. Joe you seemed to care about being at the top of the game, now Hasbro seems to be less dedicated to their own core brand in G. I. Joe compared to the licensed/acquired product that is Star Wars. Why can't G.I. Joe as a brand learn from some of those market strengths and, I don't know, become as strong a player or stronger?

Hasbro is 100% dedicated to G.I.. Joe and it’s a major priority for the
company. We are always looking to learn and share best practices. As we
develop the brand for the future we are focused on building G.I.. Joe to
be a major franchise. G.I.. Joe has just had its first blockbuster movie
and a sequel is planned for the future.

2. In an earlier Q&A, you said that the success of the movie line would allow you to produce more anniversary style -- classic comic and cartoon inspired -- GI Joe offerings. Well based on the reports from the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal, that your third quarter profits are up, it would seem the line is indeed selling well. So, when can we expect to see some new comic and cartoon action figures?

Future plans will be released in the upcoming months. Stay tuned for more
news on the next chapter of G.I.. Joe.

3. There have been some growing concerns with the community at the lack of proper representation with certain iconic characters; either with wrong characterization, lack of unique heads, or needless race or gender changes. For example, at the con we were told a movie Reactive Armor Breaker figure wasn't planned when everyone else in the armor was made, Dial-Tone was turned into a woman, the upcoming jungle expert Recondo has no jungle camouflage and is bald, and Repeater; who was formerly Caucasian (both in prior figure and the new filecard art) is now another bald, African-American heavy machine gunner in the same vein as Roadblock and pre-movie Heavy Duty. Furthermore, we keep seeing the same heads being used for several different characters. Grand Slam shares the Flash and Ace heads, but he has never, ever been given his own unique face in the entire history of the 3 3/4" line. Gung-Ho’s head is also used for Cutter and Leatherneck, and there are more. Finally, we’re seeing different file names given to different people. Airborne and Air Raid have the same real names. Speed Metal has Heavy Metal’s file name instead of Rampage, but Rampage was supposed to be Heavy Metal. Yes, we understand some names can’t be used due to trademark or copyright issues, but these could have been new characters with new names, instead of trying to assign the same person several different codenames. Seeing familiar characters return and others updated are certainly welcomed, but there needs to be a continuity based around that character to make it work. Dial-Tone as a woman has no history, and therefore is not Dial-Tone. Roadblock-clone Repeater is not Repeater, and thus he has no history. He could have been Hardball instead, and no one would have complained. In the upcoming waves, can we please see new heads for each new character, and greater attention paid to adhering to the spirit of classic characters if they are to be updated?

Since 1964 GI Joe has constantly evolved and embraced the pop culture
world around it. As it evolves, characters change and likenesses may
change to suit the new story or situation. We need to expect GI Joe to
constantly change and adapt to the context and culture surrounding it.
This is the very nature of the brand and we want to keep it relevant and
fresh for every generation.

[Mongoose]

I don't even see why they bother taking the time to answer questions when their answers are worthless.

[MADMAC41]

Since we are a week away from the submissions and this hasn't been started yet I thought I would get the ball rolling.
1- Last round a question was asked and answered and I would like to ask a follow up question. Here is the Question in mention.
2. There have been some growing concerns with the community at the lack of proper representation with certain iconic characters; either with wrong characterization, lack of unique heads, or needless race or gender changes. For example, at the con we were told a movie Reactive Armor Breaker figure wasn't planned when everyone else in the armor was made, Dial-Tone was turned into a woman, the upcoming jungle expert Recondo has no jungle camouflage and is bald, and Repeater; who was formerly Caucasian (both in prior figure and the new filecard art) is now another bald, African-American heavy machine gunner in the same vein as Roadblock and pre-movie Heavy Duty. Furthermore, we keep seeing the same heads being used for several different characters. Grand Slam shares the Flash and Ace heads, but he has never, ever been given his own unique face in the entire history of the 3 3/4" line. Gung-Ho’s head is also used for Cutter and Leatherneck, and there are more. Finally, we’re seeing different file names given to different people. Airborne and Air Raid have the same real names. Speed Metal has Heavy Metal’s file name instead of Rampage, but Rampage was supposed to be Heavy Metal. Yes, we understand some names can’t be used due to trademark or copyright issues, but these could have been new characters with new names, instead of trying to assign the same person several different codenames. Seeing familiar characters return and others updated are certainly welcomed, but there needs to be a continuity based around that character to make it work. Dial-Tone as a woman has no history, and therefore is not Dial-Tone. Roadblock-clone Repeater is not Repeater, and thus he has no history. He could have been Hardball instead, and no one would have complained. In the upcoming waves, can we please see new heads for each new character, and greater attention paid to adhering to the spirit of classic characters if they are to be updated?


As far as the sharing of heads goes, throughout the history of Joe, the
sharing of heads has not been uncommon. Sometimes the limitations of
schedule and budget require the sharing of certain tools to help create
the most intriguing figures possible. As to your questions about the
characters...The line has evolved over the years and with it, it's
characters have evolved as well. The changes to the characters you have
mentioned were certainly not made with any intent to disappoint the
collector community. The Rise of Cobra verse has simply given us a new
universe where we can re-envision classic characters in a way that is more
relevant to a new generation of kids.

My follow up question is this, The collector community has been supporting this line for 27 years are you really sure you want to take a chance in losing that fanbase by changing the mythos,We are seeing quite a bit of product sitting on the shelves and with the recent news of the cancellation of Wave 3 Alpha Vehicles there could be more cancellations in the future don't you want the support of all Joe fans. I understand wanting to bring kids back to the line but the kids have nothing vested in the "Classic " aspect while the adults do. If you kept true to the origins of the characters how would loose anyones intrest?

This last part was my question. The funny this is Hasbro answered the exact same question 2 differant ways.

[Werecat]

I don't even see why they bother taking the time to answer questions when their answers are worthless.

Yup. I'm going to call them out on this on the next Q&A.

[Count Blacktron]

Stunning amounts of detail in those deep and meaningful answers! I think next time I'll just ask why Snake Eyes doesn't talk.

[M6D]

Stunning amounts of detail in those deep and meaningful answers! I think next time I'll just ask why Snake Eyes doesn't talk.

it'll go something like this

*...*

[Goldbug]

PoC Recondo looks more like Gnawgahyde to me.

[count-zackula]

Eh...I never take these Q&As seriously myself...do we even really expect a company to give us meaningful, human sounding answers and not corporate speak fluffer-nutter? I suppose it's important to let Hasbro know what we think and show concern for the product we love, but nowadays I don't expect them to really care about keeping up with the mythos.

I personally don't mind the name, race, or appearance changes for the movie-verse line. It's just that they need to get everything straight when coming up with backstories for characters. I honestly haven't even been saving the movie figure filecards anyway...no passion.

I don't care if they reuse parts as long as they look good, but they could at least build up a good crop of new head sculpts. To me (and probably just about every/anyone) that makes the character. Is making a sculpted, chick pea sized piece of plastic really that hard and expensive for 'em?...sheezus!

[Scrap Iron]

2. In an earlier Q&A, you said that the success of the movie line would allow you to produce more anniversary style -- classic comic and cartoon inspired -- GI Joe offerings. Well based on the reports from the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal, that your third quarter profits are up, it would seem the line is indeed selling well. So, when can we expect to see some new comic and cartoon action figures?

Future plans will be released in the upcoming months. Stay tuned for more
news on the next chapter of G.I.. Joe.

Wow, that's actually much more of an answer then I was expecting. I was expecting either a "we have no current plans" response, as I said originally, or for them to pass the buck to the GIJCC again, as they did my question last time about Alpine and the final MASS Device part.

Hasbro makes it sound like despite their claims at the convention, the PoC line will NOT in fact be the theme for all of 2010, and that some time, by the third or fourth quarter, we'll see a return to more traditional GI Joe. Of course I'm probably just reading too much into a corporate-speak response.

I agree about the repetitive lame response to the third question. Hasbro is just not going to give us a straight answer to the reason for the various race/gender/file name changes they've made in the movie line. They're never going to say it was a mistake, or done in the name of cost cutting.

Next time I think I'll try asking them to explain how exactly such changes make the characters more "relevant and fresh for every generation" when there a plenty of African American and female character in the GI Joe mythos who have not been represented in the movie line.

This post has been edited by Scrap Iron: Nov 18 2009, 08:20 AM

[M6D]

Just a roundup of my favs...

Joecanuck Asked:
Is there any chance of some more classic figures being slipped into the movie/post-movie line-up?
Hasbro Answered:
Yes! Look out for a S.A.W. Viper Crazy Legs, and plenty of others in 2010.

This will be interesting to see how they update the figures for the POC line. I'm looking forward to mowing down some Joe's Hama style.
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Preserve: Has wave 3 of the Alpha class vehicles officially been put on hold?
Hasbro: No, they will be released in early 2010.

good to hear...
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Q1. What has Hasbro learned from the clogged shelves of Collections 1 & 2, Waves 1 & 2, will this affect production ratios for any upcoming waves? Do you think that it is a case of too many of the wrong characters were made; meaning wouldn't it have made more sense to put multiple sought after figures — such as "City Strike" Snake Eyes in a case instead of more "Cobra Commander" types from a previous wave?

A1. This was our first movie year for the brand and we are taking many key learnings on board as we plan the future. Some characters always sell better than others and this will be factored into new assortments going forward.

I call BS on this one. You mean to tell me they couldn't look at the end of the 25th line especially when they went repack and repaint crazy and not come up with a model for what not to do?
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Q3. Was the Pit playset successful enough to warrant another large sized base or vehicle?

A3. We are very pleased with The Pit but we don’t have plans to release such a large scale vehicle in 2010. But we'll definably look at other options in the future.

sucks, I'd like to see a Whale or TTBP
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YoJoe: We received Reactive Armor versions of all the Joes who wore such armor in the movie, except for Breaker. Any chance of getting one, or do we need to pop the head off of our spare Breaker figure and find a spare Reactive Armor Duke?

Hasbro: There is no current plan to release a Reactive Impact Armor suit Breaker.

There are no current plans to do a simple headswap and add a vest attachement? Cause really that's all it'd take.
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Q.Rumors are running rampant about the future of Rise of Cobra movie toys as well as Pursuit of Cobra? Are we still going to see the products show at Both SDCC and JoeCon in 2010?

A.The Pursuit of Cobra product will hit shelves in the back half 2010. The
line looks fantastic and we are very excited about its release.

back half of 2010? Wonder what the plan from now until then is then? I've already seen the first wave at Walmart, but it doesn't make sense for the only presence to be the movie line toys we already have from now until next fall.

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YoJoe: Amazon.com is offering digital downloads of the canceled G.I.Joe Resolute Comics from the also-canceled comic packs. One such issue featured the "Iron Klaw Trooper" who looks basically identical to Iron Klaw from G.I.Joe Extreme. Combine that along with actual figure samples making the news over the past month, can we expect to see the Iron Klaw Trooper? It really is a spectacular figure that bridges ARAH and G.I.Joe Extreme. And while we're on the topic, how about those comic packs in general? We sure to miss having those on the shelves.

Hasbro: There are no plans at present but it's a great suggestions that we'll look into.

That answer doesn't really apply to the question asked. It's like they glossed it over, saw the word comic pack and went through their answer tree to come up with the typical response.

My vote for overused question of the Q&A is a tie between who is in the Resolute boxes and what are we going to see for combat heroes. Both were asked in various ways numerous time and both received non-answer answers

[Count Blacktron]

I think they look at us as a bunch of loudmouth toy geeks like Al of Al's Toy Barn in Toy Story. Granted, we have a few of those in our bunch, but for cripes sake man this isn't politics! All we want is the straight answer and the fact is that we love this storyline as much as fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series love their chosen universe.

Ah, who am I kidding? I am a raving fanboy and I want what I want and I want it NOW. Really, I think I and others expect to be answered in these Q&A sessions as if I am right now sitting on the board of directors for the brand. Just cause I gets on the internets don't mean I am the shizzle.

But I'd still like a bigger bone from Hasbro. I mean beyond all the awesome friggin' toys they make. I want to know what is being worked on, what processes make the goods and when/where I can find the next cool stuff I personally asked for.

And so do you. Be real, you know it's true.

[Billy T.]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not quite as active on these boards as I once was but, I have a question regarding the Q&A questions: were there ever any guidelines set forth by Hasbro regarding the questions that we submit? Perhaps I'm confusing this with another Q&A forum but, I was under the impression that we shouldn't expect much of an answer to multi-tiered questions, character-specific questions, or questions regarding leaked lists or future product that had not been officially disclosed(?) Some of the questions from this round seem quite verbose/complex as such, lend themselves to the types of responses that Hasbro is unable or unwilling to provide. For the questions Joesightings submitted, Hasbro could have given worse responses.

The question from another site about whether the cancelled wave 3 Alphas would be released at a later date was very concise and received a similar, corresponding answer. Also, the bit about POC coming late next year seemed very direct and informative. I'm guessing that round-about questions breed round-about answers(?)

Regarding the Joe brand "evolving" with the culture, I can understand that. I think Hasbro had done right by us via the 25th anniv. line. It makes sense to me for the line to move in the direction they're taking it. Hasbro is looking to move Joe out of the niche it's been in, more into the realm of mass retail media synergy that is enjoyed by brands like Star Wars and Transformers. It's been a while since Joe has been really significant in the world of boys toys. I think they see the ROC movie as the beginning of the comeback for Joe and, to make ROC and POC the new Joe for a new generation.

[Airborne Rigger]

Never got an update to one of our questions. Hunter PR never even responding to the email I sent. I've also been hearing rumor that the upcoming Jan. Q & A will be the last GIJoe Q&A session Hasbro will do for the GIJoe sites. Not really a surprise if it's true.