I heard this name "Lockdown" as an upcoming Sigma 6 figure a while back, and of course my first reaction was "Who the ?!?" This wasn't a name that had been used before.

Well, the January 2007 issue of the Collectors' Club Newsletter provides pictures of him -- black and white though they may be.

Seems he's a SWAT ENFORCER -- no great surprise there with a name like that. Wears a bulky vest, helmet, and carries a BIG shield. Also comes with something called a "electric charged working battering ram".

Other new figures showcased in the issue are a new Kamakura with a ton of weaponry, a new Long Range with a HUGE gun, a new Duke called "Frontal Assault Duke" with a weapon described as a "Pulsating Wind-Up Blaster". Make your own jokes, people, I'm not even going to try...

There's also a new Storm Shadow dressed up in samurai gear. I thought ninjas and samurai didn't get along? There's an interesting bit of text on the Storm Shadow picture -- "The Shadow Master is on a quest to eliminate all ninjas, so Storm Shadow, as one of the most powerful martial arts masters in the world, gears up in a super-string samurai vest stocked with ninja gear." Um -- Shadow Master...? Stormy's still a Cobra, though, in the concept.

Looks like despite the fact that we're getting some new names -- Shipwreck, Grand Slam, Wet-Suit, Gung-Ho, Lockdown -- there's no shortage of remakes of existing characters. Mentioned in the newsletter are new versions of Cobra Commander, Heavy Duty, and Snake-Eyes (described as "Snake-Eyes Dojo"), as well as Zartan, Hi-Tech, Firefly (as a Cobra), Duke, etc.

I really wonder at what point all of these remakes are going to start seriously hurting the line, especially when there's any number of characters they could bring into the line. I don't need ten Dukes in my collection, thank you.

I really wonder at what point all of these remakes are going to start seriously hurting the line, especially when there's any number of characters they could bring into the line. I don't need ten Dukes in my collection, thank you.
Then don't buy them.

Seriously, I really don't see an issue with the coming remakes. Why? Because kids DO want core characters, so long as Hasbro doesn't "go Mattel" with the line, they've proven able to balance new and core characters.

Batman and Spider-Man are basically built around a single character, in 2006 alone we got 8 Optimus Prime figures in Transformers (more if count Optimus Primal and non-transforming toys).

This isn't RAH, Sigma Six is focused on a small team of operatives (Duke, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Heavy Duty, Long Range, Spirit, HiTech, Lt. Stone, Kamakura, Jinx), the mere fact we're getting characters like Shipwreck and Grand Slam, much less original guys like Lockdown, is astounding.

I really wonder at what point all of these remakes are going to start seriously hurting the line, especially when there's any number of characters they could bring into the line. I don't need ten Dukes in my collection, thank you.

Gotta remember that when we were "growing up" in the 80s the action figure industry was very much in its infancy. They've learned a great deal since then about what sells and what doesn't, and the established standard for over a decade has been "include the main characters in every assortment." There's hardly a boy's toyline where this isn't the case, and some (Batman, Spider-Man) take it to rediculous extremes.

Consider also that in today's market WalMart and other stores are driving the toys. Where in the past Hasbro could say "this is what we're giving you to sell", now the stores are telling the toy companies what they want, and that's going to be more Dukes and Snake Eyes. While we can quibble with the logic behind this, I have to assume that both Hasbro and WalMart (and other stores) want to make as much profit off their product as possible, and wouldn't delude themselves about their sales figures or marketing research.

Anyway, while I normally would agree with you about the 10 Dukes, there are two moderating factors at work for me.

First, all the Duke's save the first come with some sort of face covering, so they don't have to be Duke if you don't want 'em to be (though you may need to get them some hair dye to hide their origins better).

Secondly, all the Dukes, and I mean every single one of them, has been a rock solid figure. It pains me to say it, as I am not a fan of the character, or of incessent redecos, but there are damn good reasons to grab every one of them. I won't say the same for Snake Eyes - Ninja Battles SE and Jungle Boogie SE left a lot to be desired - but those Duke's got the goods.

Lastly, if we're going to be fair to the line, it is improving in the new character department. 2006 gave us 8 new characters (CC, LR, SkyBAT, FF, Destro, Stone, Zartan, HT), which was pretty easy given that the series had just started. We already have 5 confirmed and 4 proposed new characters coming in 2007 (Grand Slam, Shipwreck, Gung Ho, Lockdown, Wet Suit are confirmed with Flint, a Dreadnok, Overkill and a Cobra Viper proposed), and four of those are due out by April. With Duke getting put on hiatus, they either have to double up on another character, or start giving us some new figures. Based on the first few assortments, my bet is on the latter.

I'm looking forward to pics. I don't have any Sigma 6" (I don't count 2.5" vehicles I've converted to 3.75"), but I'm starting to think Sigma 6 is really kind of cool.

I'm a girl...I like choice (yeah, go ahead with the shoe jokes), but I do have to say that having 10 versions of Duke (or even 3) to choose from is torture for a mother waiting for her little boy to choose the one he likes best. :) Couple of examples...birthday money in hand, he decides he wants another Sigma 6 to go with the one he got for his birthday. Off we go to Walmart (that temple of evil commerce) where they had 2 versions of Duke. We spent ONE HOUR deciding which he wanted (because being practical, or maybe it's stubborn, I wouldn't let him get both). He ended up with the one with wings, but I would have chosen the other one. ;) Then for Christmas he winds up with 2 versions of Storm Shadow. *rolls eyes* Again, why have 2 of the same (we play with them...they don't sit on a shelf and look cool)? So he debated for maybe an hour and chose the one with the blinky light. Later he changed his mind and so I just sold the blinky light version on eBay (since we couldn't do a store exchange since it was opened) and got him Cobra Commander instead. I love shopping, but it doesn't take me an hour to choose my 15th pair of shoes! :)

That said...I think a few versions is ok, but like I said in another post, I miss the days when you got a figure, some sort of gun, a backpack, and a helmet and the rest was left up to your imagination.

On another note, I'm pretty excited about some of those characters debuting in Sigma 6! Can't wait to get Shipwreck (I might even let my kid play with that one....maybe). I'm curious to see Gung-Ho and Flint would be pretty cool, since my brother never had him as a kid (the GI Joes were his, but they were one of MY favorite toys...). IS there a Scarlet? I've never seen one and haven't explored every thread here enough to know.

"Firefly (as a Cobra)" I did notice that the Firefly that's out is part of the Sigma 6 team. I wanted to get him, but in my book, he's Cobra! Maybe someone can direct me to a thread that explains THAT one to me, because I obviously missed something in the 20 years I've been away from GI Joe!

"Firefly (as a Cobra)" I did notice that the Firefly that's out is part of the Sigma 6 team. I wanted to get him, but in my book, he's Cobra! Maybe someone can direct me to a thread that explains THAT one to me, because I obviously missed something in the 20 years I've been away from GI Joe!

S6 is a continuity reboot, much like the Ultimate Marvel comics or the new Battlestar Galactica.

In this 'verse, Firefly is/was a Sigma 6 team member who spied on them and later defected to Cobra. Hence the first figure was a Joe (albiet with a sinister sneer), and the new one is a Cobra.

Then don't buy them.

Seriously, I really don't see an issue with the coming remakes. Why? Because kids DO want core characters, so long as Hasbro doesn't "go Mattel" with the line, they've proven able to balance new and core characters.

I'm worried that they've ALREADY gone Mattel with these. Kids want the core characters? Tell that to all the Arctic Dukes taking up shelf space here.

I realize that SOME level of core characters need to be on the shelves, but there needs to be a balance, and I'm not sure it's there.

And, I don't buy them. But if their lingering presence on the shelves is part of what's keeping new merchandise from getting to the shelves, then it IS an issue for me.

I'm worried that they've ALREADY gone Mattel with these. Kids want the core characters? Tell that to all the Arctic Dukes taking up shelf space here.

I realize that SOME level of core characters need to be on the shelves, but there needs to be a balance, and I'm not sure it's there.

And, I don't buy them. But if their lingering presence on the shelves is part of what's keeping new merchandise from getting to the shelves, then it IS an issue for me.

I think they've got the message. I don't believe they were completely prepared for the line's success (at least to this degree), and they ended up tossing way too many Duke's out in 2006. If my memory is accurate, in late summer/early fall you could find 7 8" Dukes (Duke v1, SeaDuke, JetPack Duke, Artic Duke, Quad Duke, 'Chute Duke, Master Chief Duke) and 4 2.5" (Quad Duke, Glider Duke, Twin Gun Duke, Jet Ski Duke). This is why Duke is taking a back seat in 2007, with Frontal Assault Duke the last one we can expect to see for "awhile" (would like a translation of what that means to them - 6 mos? A year?).

Of course now they are risking the same thing with Snake Eyes - there are already 4 versions planned for the start of 2007 (Quad SE, Chute SE, Whirlypack SE, Dojo SE), which is already one more than was released in all of 2006 (though the first two SEs from 2006 were also readily available).

However, SE is generally more popular than Duke, and may be less likely to clog shelves, and his oversaturation may be offset by what seems to be a larger number of new characters. We'll see.

After reading this post, I'm very intrigued to this new figure "Shadow Master". If you are familiar w/ my site, Dansjoes.Com....many of you know about the character I created, "Shadow Master", and the background of the character.
Check it out!

http://dansjoes.com/html/the_history_of_shadow_master.html

http://dansjoes.com/html/story_behind_shadow_master.html