The Other Lines

[PJDonnell]

Hasbro's a frugal company. I'm sure by now you know that G.I Joe donated toy molds for several lines, and even imported a few, as well. Heck, we have a whole subset on our Action Figure - Not G.I. Joe page. I'm partial to the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat lines myself, but maybe that's due to my own arcade experiences blending with my primary hobby.

We here at YoJoe feel it's worth it to archive these things as well. Not only because there can be some confusion as to why these very G.I. Joe-like figures that are produced by Hasbro aren't in our archives, but also because it provides some valuable insight into how Hasbro functions. The G.I. Joe line does not exist in a vacuum. Hasbro will use these molds as often as they can justify it. But that's not necessarily a bad thing! I personally love the Hulkbuster Squad and even Nick Fury. Of course, we also have things like the Iron Assault Bike. Which brings us to this:



From the new Wolverine toy line, this "Shadow Strike Ninja" is pretty obviously Red Ninja (v4) in inverted colors. But he's been retooled to have the dreaded 5-point-articulation. We'll be archiving this figure, due to its G.I. Joe origins, but let's be honest: it's yet another ninja, with inferior movement capability. It's not exactly a figure I would recommend. But we make these sacrifices so you don't have to! If you want some more G.I. Joe like figures, to fill out your ranks, those Jurassic Park figures would make pretty good Dreadnoks. We'll be archiving those, too. Same with the Marvel Universe Professor Xavier figure, if I could ever find one....

[troynos]

The Captain America Quickstrike Transport (I think that's what it's called) looks to have started life as the unproduced Steel Wolf.

Captain America Ultimate Vehicle - Strikefire Transport - Captain America: The First Avenger (Movie) Vehicles
G.I. Joe Convention Coverage Day 2 – “The Concept Shelf” | Generals Joes - A blog about the importance (or unimportance) of little plastic men


And there's the 6" Dollar Tree knock off figure that started life as a Firefly




These would make great Joe vehicles:
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/p...53&mode=retail

[turner]

The professor has been maybe 17 shipped on ebay and amazon, not that bad considering they are 10 in the stores. I find these uses of joe outside of joe interesting. I noticed some of the marvel universe having some joe items, the hydra trooper with the snake eyes/stalker/breaker web gear, didn't mystique have the leatherneck gun?

[Falcone]

I still can't figure out how it was more cost effective to retool the molds then to just produce with the existing articulation.

[PJDonnell]

I still can't figure out how it was more cost effective to retool the molds then to just produce with the existing articulation.

Remember that report that called out how terrible the factories in China that Hasbro used were? Well, if you start paying them more, you'll want to increase the output to help offset that new cost. Assembling a figure with only 5 points of articulation takes less time than a figure with 14. It's not a big difference in time, but it adds up.

[vadersquest]

Very true and I believe Hasbro looked over at Mattel to see how they were doing. I blame Mattel for this 5 point crap as they started it lol. In all reality, it's a good business move.....5 points are cheaper and movie lines have a short shelf life. Definitely glad Yo Joe is adding these to the archive.

[Super Sport]

I still can't figure out how it was more cost effective to retool the molds then to just produce with the existing articulation.

Me neither...

Remember that report that called out how terrible the factories in China that Hasbrohpr used were? Well, if you start paying them more, you'll want to increase the output to help offset that new cost. Assembling a figure with only 5 points of articulation takes less time than a figure with 14. It's not a big difference in time, but it adds up.

...and now I know. I figured it was something like that.

I assume a regressive Wolverine figure still costs $10 at retail?

[Geek-Viper]

I assume a regressive Wolverine figure still costs $10 at retail?

Yes it does. Which is why I pretended I didn't see one until somebody else paid for it. I love the colors but that articulation makes me gag and the price tag makes me throw up.

[Super Sport]

Yes it does. Which is why I pretended I didn't see one until somebody else paid for it. I love the colors but that articulation makes me gag and the price tag makes me throw up.

Saw them at Hastings for $6.99. Still junk.

[Falcone]

Remember that report that called out how terrible the factories in China that Hasbro used were? Well, if you start paying them more, you'll want to increase the output to help offset that new cost. Assembling a figure with only 5 points of articulation takes less time than a figure with 14. It's not a big difference in time, but it adds up.

From the actual production cost standpoint I can see that. But how much are they going to lose in sales from such terrible figures? I would have bought all that I saw if they were full articulation. A it stands I won't buy any.