The thing I love so much about Action Force is that I was able to get in on the ground floor on a brand new IP. I wasn’t around in ‘82 when ARAH launched so this is really one of the first brand new properties I have been able to experience from its origins
I'm 45 y/o. It'm not looking for new heroes and characters to emulate. These figures look great, but I have no connection to them. I guess it's a failure of my imagination. Then again, if I'm really imaginitive, I can create my own new characters and stories from the GI Joe Classifieds figures, right? How about a GI Joe movie in the present day, where the Joes are old senior citizens now? Something like the movies "Red" and "The Expendables". It could show how their characters developed over time, then pit them against Cobra Commander and Destro, once again teaming up to control the world governments through Xamot and Tomax Financial, Pharmaceutical, and Agricultral Industries (we'll think of a clever acronym later - NATO, pehaps.)
I am mixed on this. I understand and respect the sentiment completely but honestly I do want updated versions of those classic figs. The problem for me is how they milk us and just never deliver. I am slowing down collecting dramatically overall
After the Classified and MOTU Origins, I'm retiring, LOL. Tired of the headaches or FOMO or repaints. I used to have most of the O-rings Joes and He-Mans as a kid, then got back into it with the glorious 25th, 50th, POC, Toys R Us exclusives, etc. and now these two lines. I only buy the ones I truly know and love, I don't bother with the red ninjas, green ninjas, or Sun Man/PigHead from He-Man Origins (WTF was that about, LOL). My son (14) likes Fortnite but don't care for the Joes or would get into the hobbies with me to my dismay.
@@shogunfox7141 Ahhhhh man, I was rocking with you until Sunman, I love their addition to the mythos but I get it, you are a purist to the original stories and characters. I also don't bother with the CF ninjas....I could have cared less but thankful for a wallet break. I have a huge collection and want to sell at least 1/3 of it and have already started. Also reducing what I collect and being more selective, twice recently I went and removed preorders .
This is an incredible line, and not just for adult collectors. I know this may seem like sacrilege to some, but my twelve year old son LOVES this line. The price point is right in line with what you can find at your big box store, but you get far more value for your money and these figures not only have great sculpts and articulation, they stand up well to *gasp* play. Also, Bobby and crew are doing a great job of world building that a kid can get into as well. Part of this is by them including real life people that have served their countries. My son Jackson loves Desert Rat as much as I loved Snake Eyes, except my kid knows who Tony is and what his real life story is. He was heartbroken when he didn't get to meet his hero at Valacon (he got COVID) and I think this is another way thst Valaverse can appeal to the younger set even more: blur the lines between the fictional world of AF and the real world. It's not unlike how WWE and AEW blur the lines between the character on screen, but being able to see them in real life. The Valaverse crew also just seem to be better businesspeople (and people in general) than Emily and Lenny et al. I wish then all the success. They have mine and my son's loyalty.
I can't say I agree with you on everything you talk about, but I do enjoy, appreciate, and understand your stance on topics of modern day toys and collecting. I myself do enjoy some of these toys coming out like he man and gi joe for example. I can agree that the 1st wave of classified figures was not the greatest but I like that better steps for new releases are coming. I do agree with you about new products as well. I am loving valaverse and these mech toys from joy toy. They do have faults and they have have charm as well. Anyways, thanks for the videos.
There's no reason to qualify your agreement or disagreement. Just say what you're gonna say. Why is everyone always starting their comments on TH-cam these days with, "I don't always agree with you..."???? No human agrees 100% with another human. We used to understand this as default. But now everyone is qualifying their levels of agreement with disclaimers all the time. WTF?
The Ninja Turtles cartoons have never been in this trap. The four main cartoons all feel distinct from each other and work well together. The toys and merch is much more nostalgic, tho, mainly looking at the 80s and ignoring the excellent 21st century toons.
New is risk, and you can't rely on long-standing companies jumping to take that kind of risk when the numbers guarantee failure. Instead, what you have to do is let those companies fall to the passage of time. Because while they sit on the comfort of profitability someone hungry will push to take risks and while hundreds of these types of risk takers will fail trying, eventually one gets through and becomes the type of trendsetter that we all know and love. The only real solution is to be the best consumer you can be. Recognize the limits of nostalgia and get your fix where you can, but don't be afraid to jump into new things when the nostalgia runs its course and be okay with letting things go.
I disagree I LOVE the takes of the GI Joe 6 inch Classified series a mix of modern and old school. Valaverse is ok but I personally much prefer the Classified line.
That's perfectly fine, but it's not fine to dismiss the myriad of design and manufacture issues with Classifieds just because you know all their names from memory, and it's not fine to look down on collectors who value quality over nostalgia, and that's what's happening. It's like G.I. Joe fanboys are terrified of something new and different, and of giving their money to someone other than a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing concern, who can't even be bothered to hire actual G.I. Joe fans for the Classified marketing team.
Is that bc you grew up with GI Joe and they are familiar with them? And what about Valaverse do you not like? The scupts, the cartoon, or maybe the story?
Sorry, but I do not like how Hasbro is handling the GI Joe line at all. Every time they went to restart the line, they keep making the same few damn figures, and they spread it out for years... then quit before they ever make any new additional figures. How many do they make in a year? two? four? six? We used to get WAVES of figures yearly! Actually looking back, I feel Hasbro made major mistakes with several other lines too; 1. The Sgt. Rock figures should have been exactly like o-ring joes, just for Sgt.Rock era.. instead they screwed up and made the chests too big and stupid-looking.. 2. They never should have let Kenner control GI Joe.. why would you let a failing company that you not only beat into the ground, but bought out, run your most popular line? 3. Why didn't they make Visionaries in the 3.75" o-ring scale as well? If they had made more of their stuff in 3.75", they could have lasted longer in the minds of children as new bad guys or allies for GI Joe.. at the very least. More interchangeable play would have been a good thing. Remember all the other companies that made comparably sized figures? I'm sure as a kid you used to play with them all together, even though bo and luke duke weren't actually Joes, or the CHIPs figures.. Hasbro easily could have done that with several of their failed lines, like the inhumans good guy figures.. they were terrible looking, but use better proportions and make them 3.75" GI Joe scale compatible and maybe they would have survived longer. Hasbro's main issue is the same of all woke companies, they lack vision and imagination.. there's no real creativity there. How could would it have been if they relaunched the MASK line in 3.75" once they bought out kenner, and had VENOM be an offshoot of Cobra and the MASK figures special ops style group of GI Joe like Tiger Force or something? Hasbro didn't even think about crossovers until their brands were mostly failing...
@@blissfairchild7194 I agree with you on the Sgt Rock and Visionaries lines. My only beef with the Classified line is that they are so damn hard to find in retail.
I love how there is a story and characters to this line. I have young boys and when they were old enough to play with toys I went down the action figure line and found disappointment as it was all bland figures or figures from movies. My kids end up playing with nostalgia playing with my old Joes' and MOTU.
Nostalgia all the way for me. Give me all the rehashed 80s characters. That’s what I want to buy as an adult. New improved 3.75 and 6 inch versions of characters from the 80s media I love. Good luck to valaverse, they are great products, I hope they find a young audience that will look back on them and want to collect them in the same nostalgic way in 30 years. The way I do with Joe and Star Wars. But yes, create new ideas and icons for new generations.
I love getting updated toys of figures and characters I had as a child and loved at the time but aren't the quality I enjoy now in action figures. It's great having G.I Joe figures in 6 inch with better sculpts and articulation. Transformers in the last five years have been the best we've ever had and it's amazing to have such higher quality versions of those original characters. What I do find to be pointless nostalgia is these ReAction style figures where people buy toys that are Happy Meal quality like something from the 70s.
Love this line and Loving this breakdown. The fact Action Force and GI Joe Classifieds fit together so well is a big nostalgia win for me. I just need a bigger toybox than I had back in the 80's.
Can't disagree with you there. Yes, I was a victim of the Classified line and do have many of the major players in my collection. But in all truth; between hunting down those figures I wanted and the scarcity of finding them, I pretty much gave up on modern collecting. Action Force pretty much took that idea us Joe fans love and knocked it out of the park. I will purchase some of these figures in the future and proudly display them.
I had someone ridicule me for suggesting that a company like Hasbro should take risks on something new and possibly lose money. I'm glad this business artuer took time from explaining physics to Stephen Hawking to set me straight on how business and ingenuity works.
I enjoyed your straightforward delivery. Honestly, I enjoyed the first wave of G.I.Joe classified series figures. I played the video game from which the designs originated: OPERATION BLACKOUT and was pleased to have toys based on those designs. I wish the entire cast had been made into figures. I have been a fan since 82' and I believe that the franchise is timeless. In my head-cannon, G.I.Joe is a special unit in S.H.I.E.L.D. that is fighting a portion of Hydra that is designated Cobra. I agree with you for the most part but I disagree with your opinion about Classified not being inventive. Making 6 inch figures was a definite reinvention of the toy line and it was a good time to do it. The failure is not staying the course with the video game influenced designs. I don't know the sales numbers, but I don't recall seeing peg warmers of regular release figures. Every store sells out of every regular release in my area except for the Snake Eyes movie figures. ( I don't count those as regular release either.) The distribution is the other major failing of the brand. Half of the figures are late and they are never on the store shelves. In the end, I believe that there was a clear vision but the negative feedback from a vocal minority caused a " knee jerk reaction" within the offices. I was looking forward to video game inspired figures of Storm Shadow and Sci-Fi. Can we still get those please?🙏
Thanks, Tony, you brighten up every room! Great video, and really on point. There's just no sense in being played for a sap just because, Oh, they might not make anymore! Besides Desert Rat, the real standout for me is the Delta Trooper. When I saw the 2cT video on it, I thought, Hey, a hyper-articulated Green Army Man! I don't know if that's what Bobby intended, but the green mask and gear pack really suggests the soldier figurines we used to collect. A perfect troop builder all around.
I love GI Joe very different reasons. Not caught up in corporate drama. GI Joe is hot this Hiss is going for $300.00. The resale of figures are crazy. Hating on GI Joe is silly. We love GI Joe just like all great characters because they’re timeless. Hasbro has lost its way many times with GI Joe but have always found their way back. I collect both. And anyone who collects Action had to start with Joe’s. Just because Action Force is great doesn’t make GI Joe bad!! Go check reviews people love Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes etc. Yo Joe for life!
@@timothyward8695 saying that GI Joe is dated and has had it’s time. Also claiming hasbro is phoning it in on new line not true. Also if I’m keeping real go look up Flint GI Joe retaliation and you’ll look at Action Force differently. GI Joe is an iconic line that means a lot to me.
The fresh idea and clear vision, as shown by the comic, are proof of the quality of this product. It reminds me of 80s Joe. As Desert Rat would say, "Who Dares Wins." Valaverse dared. All that's left to do is win, bigger.
G.I.Joe has had some interesting attempts at a re-launch over the years, in the 90's with G.I.Joe Extreme & later on with the Renegades cartoon. The most radical being the Sigma 6 line, ahead of it's time as an 8" figure, which featured some cloth goods & amazingly customisable accessories.
I think there are many problems with GI Joe. The main two that come to mind is that since the late 80s Hasbro has been run by an executive board that isn't exactly military friendly, let alone US military friendly. Second, and this is the bigger one, since 2001 the world and especially the US has been dealing with actual terrorism. While I can't speak for all of my generation, 9/11 exposed those of us who grew up with ARAH to what terrorism really is, right in our backyards. I've read a few articles that there are mothers now who won't let their children play with war toys because they don't want them "Getting any ideas." It also doesn't help that the US military is looked down upon around the world, hard to sell a movie that way.
I must admit, I quit collecting figures many years ago. I’ve been out of it due to the recirculation of the same characters with new hats and nothing to be excited about. These are amazing figures so I got a few and am hooked. The background story of the current Action Force is very creative and welcome as well. Fantastic assessment Michael.
I think the big problem legacy brands have always faced, _especially_ brands that got as big as Transformers, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Jurassic Park and GI Joe did, is that attempts to innovate and push what they could be are generally pushed back against right out of the gate by the select group of older fans who only want what _they_ had as children, not what might appeal to kids _now_. The newest incarnation of Ninja Turtles is a prime example of this; it took a lot of risks and _tried_ to reinvent the brand in a big way...and fans who grew up with other incarnations loudly complained because it wasn't like what _THEY_ grew up with. It's a plastic ouroboros, with the public constantly wanting the same old stuff over and over, iteration after iteration, because it's safe and familiar...not realizing that by doing this, they're actively harming brands they claim they love. Companies and brands _need_ to change and evolve with the times if they want to maintain a thriving fanbase, but modern fandom culture puts so much value on nostalgia, especially in the film and toy space, that most companies won't want to even _risk_ trying to push something new...especially if that new thing is not tied to a pre-existing brand that they can rely on the built-in audience of. Like, Lego probably wouldn't even be a thing anymore if not for taking a huge risk with Bionicle and finding a smash hit as a result of that risk.
Actually if I remember it was Lego doing Star Wars that saved it. Which to be honest was still a game changer, Lego just didn't (or VERY rarely) did licensed sets. Now easily over half it's output is license and franchises.
awesome video, it's true, you can't look at the properties you grew up with fondly if it's been constantly remade for 30 or 40 years since it' original end, I'm tired of this practice. it's like it never went away, but a hollow version of it's former self that we didn't originally ask for, these things from yester rear aren't timeless if they are still here
Yeah but the modern action figures are the toys we wished we had as a kids. I still have all my vintage MOTU GI JOE, TMNT, Thundercats figures but they don't compare to the modern action figures we've gotten.
Another great piece of "infotainment" from Retroblasting. 😁👍 Valaverse Action Force is my new favorite. It gives me hope that other innovative toymakers will take note of Bobby's success and create some new "intellectual properties" of their own.
@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 Not really. Acid Rain World is a global multiplayer strategy game, so the toys are based on someone else's IP. JoyToy also makes licensed products from Japanese Manga, Warhammer, and other IPs, although some of their military and sci-fi figures are original designs, they don't seem to do much "world building".
A great toyline and an awesome new wave release. Another awesome review. I, too, purchased a Desert Rat. Heard the same thing about it being based on some former SAS bloke. Anthony Bobbs something-or-other from New Zealand?
Spot-on! Back when I was more active with JoeBattlelines I used to beat this drum over and over. Move forward-- don't just continually circle back around to the same concepts/characters over and over. It's LOOONG past time to move beyond the ARAH of the 80's/90's. You hit on the two most successful evolutions of classic IP's that I can think of-- Beast Wars and Star Trek: the Next Generation. Both took something familiar but took it in a new direction for a contemporary audience.
Even though I'm not really into modern military figures, I've been following the development of this line and must say it's all very well thought out. I have picked up one of the weapons packs so far (for my Deadpool figures) and am really tempted to get one of those Swarm troopers.
Action force is a new bag of fun for me. I do like gi joe to a extent(even will get a few classifieds), but I want something with new characters and stories in a modern military world.
As always. No one questions, and elaborates their opinion on the toy industry like you do. Mythic legions is also kicking down that Nostalgia door and is doing great things.
I hadn't given it much thought but I'm not into collecting toys for the sake of collecting the newest and coolest toys. While going through the toy isles looking for my Joe's and MOTU I sometimes I see some really cool looking toys. Some SPAWN, Fort Night, TMNT, Power Rangers, and others I have never heard of but look amazing. I don't buy them because I have no connection to them. I buy toys I'm nostalgic about and put them on my display shelf where they stay. It brings me joy to look at them and remember them from childhood if I had them or didn't have them but always wanted them. That's the whole purpose of my collection. I got really excited about Classified and ordered the first wave. When they came in I was really disappointed because the didn't look like original figures or the cartoon. That's what I wanted. The weapons were unrealistic and for lack of a better word goofy. I was fine if they had some realistic upgrades as long as the look of the original was there. I'm very happy with the new Classified versions especially the Gung Ho. Now they look like my old figures except all grown up. Although, I wish I hadn't spent so much money on all the other crappy versions of Gung Ho, Scarlette, Roadblock, etc. I think If I was a kid reading the Valaverse comic books and getting the figures I would really be excited about them. I would have all out wars with the action figures. But i'm not. I don't play with toys. I can't play with toys and I have tried lol. As a military man I appreciate the accuracy of the weapons and I have some select figures on pre order that look like modern soldiers. I also got the weapons pack to fit some of my classifieds however they are starting to come with realistic weapons themselves. I'm sure Valaverse had a lot to do with that. I do want to support Bobby and I think what he is doing is amazing and a dream come true for any old GI Joe fan. For those reasons I will pick up a few figures but I'm not really invested in the line.
I have Sgt. Slaughter, Duster (aka Tim Kennedy), and Trigger. Desert Rat is based on Tony Roberts. The "hosts" of the Hasbro livestreams annoy the crap out of me.
Though I do not agree with all of your criticisms all of the time, I do have to agree with the sad nostalgia trend. It seems every company in every facet is trying to claw its way to relevancy through nostalgia. Not only is it getting really really realllly old but it’s disinteresting. It’s like you said, companies really need to branch out and have fun. These are billion dollar corporations, they can afford to take a slight loss because a toy line didn’t do as well as they hoped. We just need companies to stop beating that poor rotting dead horse and venture into something new….. like Action Force!
There's no reason to qualify your agreement or disagreement. Just say what you're gonna say. Why is everyone always starting their comments on TH-cam these days with, "I don't always agree with you..."???? No human agrees 100% with another human. We used to understand this as default. But now everyone is qualifying their levels of agreement with disclaimers all the time. WTF?
HK and China are the new trend-setters in collector-grade toy-making. Japan was for a while too, but if you take a look at what they have to offer these days, it's mostly based on one media property or another. Bandai's still making Gundam kits and MCU figures. Medicos makes mostly cartoon and comic figures, with some live action figures sprinkled in. GSC makes almost exclusively anime figures. A few small studios try to make their own things, like Koto's mecha girls based on their own creations, but that's about it. HK and China on the other hand for sure also try to cash in on the popularity of media products like the MCU and DCEU, but since many smaller companies in those regions don't have the licenses, they end up selling unlicensed, third-party figures, then once they have their production pipelines ironed out, and customer based solidified, started to make their own original lines, free of nostalgia. Xesray is a good example. They first started to make generic 7in-scale gladiator figures that went well-received, and now they're branching out to more mythological figures like druids and minotaurs, etc. They're looking to turn into the Eastern version of 4HM studios, with better articulations. I think once HK and China gets a few more years under their belt with refining their production and engineering, we're going to see some very exciting, brand new figures come out from them.
It is nice that action force delivers product although its starting to be too much to collect them all. As long as it's not bbts. Still waiting on wave 1. Going to need a bigger display or purge some toy lines soon. Hope Action Force hits a home ran with the movie.
Not a 6inch collector but the design of the scrab and swarm figures got me and I had to buy a couple of each! I missed out on the earlier comics and now having a taste for the line, I hope valaverse does some reprints or a collection so I can experience the story! Great vid! Enjoyed the review!
Some good points. I love Action Force figs and what Valaverse is doing. I also, however, am a big fan of GI Joe Classified. Not simply for nostalgia sake, but because the characters and conflicts are still a whole lot of fun to play around with. Cobra with its high-tech, over the top units being taken on by (somewhat more) current-tech Joes. The fantasy conflicts might be more whimsical than if, say, the Joes had to fight groups of Taliban or something. But I think there's plenty of room for Classified to continue to evolve into an even better line. Hasbro seems to even listen to feedback as the more recent figures are far better tributes to the characters and the weapons have become more grounded in reality as well which was a big gripe I had with the initial laser blasters in wave 1. Thanks for the informative video!
I was a fan of the early GI Joe Classified figures.. They seemed to have a more sci-fi bent, and I could get behind that. As more and more figures came out, they started just making just 6 inch version of the original characters, rather than making them a sci-fi bent. When I look at the Valaverse line, the only things I really like are the swarm, as they have the sci-fi I crave. As more and more Classified figures come out, I see less I really want, as they are completely removing any sci-fi elements. I know I'm a minority, but I don't want modern looking troops.
The discussion of how to relaunch G.I Joe in a way that would connect to modern kids is an interesting one to me. It's clear the legacy stuff doesn't hold much interest with the newer generations but Hasbro seems to have no idea what to do and is just leaning on the adult collects for the time being. Even the 3rd parties are still focused on adults. I wonder who will crack the code or if the future of this IP isn't toys at all. Hmmm....
It's amazing how many years the Transformers line has been married to G1 characters and aesthetics. But it must have been selling well enough to continue. Now they're blending in Beast Wars nostalgia.
I must agree as much as I have a few of new things like masterverse and classified we really need some new characters and lines to be this generation's he-man,optimus and lion -o.figures this current group can look back at in the future and say "this is who and what we had in our time."it seems toy companies stopped doing brand new IPs after 1994 when Playmates released lines like SKELETON WARRIORS,EXO SQUAD and EARTHWORM JIM in an attempt to find a line to replace the declining sales of the NINJA TURTLES.when none of those lines did as well as the turtles had done in their time it seemed they and other toy companies gave up on making new pop culture characters and stories.they are indeed resting on their laurels but the bed is wearing out.
At least, Ghostbusters Afterlife tried something different in order to continue the story. They take that risk because if they don't do that, we're still going to had four guys that each year turn older with nothing to come in the horizon. I get your point about nostalgia, and I really hope the corporations stop telaunching the same characters every time they want to sell new product.
Hey Michael, I make my own o ring figures from scratch and when hasbro announced the new o ring line I was happy and excited. I am not really a modern toy guy, nor do I know about the bad things these companies do.... until NOW! When I got my wonderful cobra trooper 2 pack, the officer is improperly engineered. NOT a manufacturing defect, but an incorrectly engineered leg on the officer figure! His leg does not bend much. And also the figures come damaged from being shoved into an incorrectly designed plastic bubble. After all of that aggressive marketing, hype, and energy from the gi joe product manager and her team and replying to our happy fan comments, she now deletes, blocks and ignores anything negative said about these defective figures! They are full of shit and only talk about how great they are and how awesome their team is. But they can't make a simple o ring figure that works nor stand behind their product and acknowledge or correct any terrible defects! That's why I just continue to make my own figures!
But why does it have to be vastly different? I'm not a fan of complete reboots, either respect the source material or create something new. Silent Bob's animated series is a lot better than the Netflixs one aimed at kids. Nicer animation and the world and characters looks the way it should. The only thing that ruins it is the woke crap.
@@edstar83 it should be different because it’s a reboot for a new generation, what’s the point I doing the exact same thing over and over again? The new he man definitely respects the source material but actually changes it up and aims it at KIDS. Not adults, kids, who the series was actually made for in the first place.
@@megasystem8473 Again * * * * reboots. The new cartoon is a drastic change from the source matetial. Ugly animation and character desgins. Just like Thundercats roar and lesbian She-ra reboot that failed. Ugly and lazy animation.The original MOTU was also aimed at kids. There is no reason why the current generation of kids can't enjoy 200x or Masters of the Universe Revelations style animation without the woke sh*t. Marvel and DC characters haven't changed much over the decades since the 30's even Conan the barbarian is still popular today his design hadn't changed at all.
@@edstar83 ok I don’t think the animation is that bad, it’s certainly very stylised. Also I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say “woke crap”
I so want to bite the bullet and buy all the Valaverse Action Force line, but due to budget I really can't afford to. So instead I support them by watching the videos that promote them from Retroblasting, Analog Toys, and the Valaverse channel as well. Great looking toys that I wish I could afford. Sounds like me in the 80's with G.I.Joe ARAH.
You really hit the nail on the head with what is wrong with classified. I did have a lot of the original Joe stuff. And I was excited about getting revamped versions of those characters, but Hasbro caved on their almost-vision.
I would love to see valaverse in o-ring form. The characters look fantastic in 6" scale and I'm willing to bet they would translate beautifully to 3 3/4. With that being said thinking about the vehicles this line could have stirs my imagination. I would love to see Gi Joburg work their magic with these figures with a playmotion video.
EXACTLY. RIGHT. I support Bobby's toy line because I know he CARES about the fans and the product. He took the leap to do his own line and took a LOT of risk to do it. High risk, and (hopefully) high reward. Hasbro isn't risking anything. If Hasbro REALLY wanted to hit the sales heights they did with RAH (and the original before it) it is not that hard. Here's an idea, just off the top of my head: 5POA troop builders ("Grunts") at Dollar Tree. Just like Final Faction. And weapon packs, at the same price point ($1.25 to $3). More articulated figures at Target and/or Walmart. Price point for these: No more than $9. Have 2 to 3 vehicles for $30 to $40. ALL BASED ON REAL MILITARY VEHICLES. And make every articulated character based on a REAL WORLD SERVICEMAN OR WOMAN. And donate a portion of all sales to the USO or a veterans charity. I'd buy every one. And so would a LOT of people. If the initial line succeeds, then do deluxe sets based on classic battles and/or war movies. Big risk... But a big reward. But hey what do I know? I'm just a guy who makes playsets for fun. PS. Nice to see a certain freeze chamber in the vid. A proud papa is proud.
These are so cool, I don’t know why Ive been sleeping on them. I just want to build an army of swarm soldiers, and Im very curious to see what their leader looks like when they are eventually revealed/released
You just said the one word corporations and the people who lead and finance them hate almost as much as the word "Union", the word "Risk". They hate risks, and that hate is a cause for so much cultural decay today.
Oh idk Michael, its kind of a tired card to complain about properties piggybacking on big successes. I mean ok Hunger Games spawned divergent maze runner and such but are we really not playing up the Battlestar Galactica toys on this very channel? Or like, any of the endless Star Wars cash in properties for a decade. IDK man, every era forever will always have things that are a play on whatever is popular at the time. And through the lens of history people simply forget the "knockoffs" For every property you showed in "breaking the mold" those things all created entire GENRES of rip-offs. You showed the 3 basic pillars of modern genre storytelling, it's pretty heavy handed to compare the most transformative properties in pop culture to Action Force. Not every single thing released can change the world nor is that the only qualification for it being "great." You can be great and a bit derivative. Most of your other points are all in tact but I'd maybe punch this one up a bit so we don't oversell a military toy line or create unrealistic expectations, not being realistic in what one can do causes too many issues in either over spending or underthinking
Don’t forget easier to get a hold of and preorder with shipping in less then 1-2 years with widow box’s multi hands duel ethnic in troop builders except ? Garason figure also a whole wave of female figures and more bang for the buck with different hands and great paint with complete details not sold one color weapons unlike others
I've come by here to swing by and comment and respectfully disagree with you regarding some points you've made. Now I'm going to say first and foremost, I personally don't have as much to say on GI Joe and it's various lines per say. But yeah my thoughts will extend to Transformers. When you speak of how corporations lack how to innovate. Ok Transformers DID try new ideas for them. Yes they do tend to fall back on to established characters; even in the original series/G1 when they decided to implement new leaders, it was arguably not that well executed in all aspects(at least for Rodimus Prime) For Beast Wars as a line, it didn't fail, it actually did overall rather well, it just fizzled out, then got replaced by Beast Machines which was an example of innovation again with some badly executed potential ideas. Transformers does try some new ideas at times or shakes things up a little. Generation 2, which was just a comic run, toyline and renewed set of old and new toys was a low point. Beyond the original stuff you had Armada which had Minicons who became partners/helpers. Some could be weapons, some unlocked features and more. So yeah, the problem for GI Joe is by it's nature it's either stuck as an homage to older days(80s) or they try to advance things forwar and re-invent the series and take a big risk on things. Which I feel like they used to do, but not really tried for a while, there was a bunch of RAH lines that my friends have told me about. So my thoughts on this stuff are complex at least in regards to one series. They do need to find a new way forward and I do appreciate your thought provoking vids and discussion bits.
There's no reason to qualify your agreement or disagreement. Just say what you're gonna say. Why is everyone always starting their comments on TH-cam these days with, "Respectfully disagree!" or "I don't always agree with you..."???? No human agrees 100% with another human. We used to understand this as default. But now everyone is qualifying their levels of agreement with disclaimers all the time. WTF?
@@retroblasting Well my response to that is simply that I put that there in case someone takes a strongly worded opinion the wrong way. This was one instance I decided to do so! I don't ALWAYS do that when I submit an opinion hah! So I'm sorry if to you it confused you a little Michael.
that mythic legions templar looks great. i would love to have some historically correct knight (not fantasy) action figures. that one looks reasonable.
To be fair, Beast Wars didn't fail, it ended and Hasbro moved to the next iteration, Beast Machines, which did, indeed, fail. So badly that it caused Hasbro to lower prices on the next toy line, Robots In Disguise.
I do agree that GI Joe needs a refresh unlike transformers or even He-Man we're really the concept is timeless and you can still make new versions of the same story GI Joe's is one of those franchises that does better with a refresh
Beast Wars is hardly the version of Transformers Hasbro prefers to make. Only recently did they do tribute rereleases, whereas Optimus Prime and crew have been remade and remade constantly. Otherwise, good comment.
@@retroblasting how does that make beast wars a failure? Just because hasbro has only made 6 new mold toys of optimus primal (and they molds had several releases release and takara released the kenner primal several times and remolded to be more cartoon accurate) and Optimus Prime was had 9000 new molds and releases doesn't mean anything. It made money and was successful and the fact hasbro hasn't given it the respect it deserves is indictive of the company and not of beast wars (and a lesser extent beast machines)
I agree 100%, G.I. Joe is nothing compared to what it was. It is totally irrelevant today. The truth is they should be aiming to young kids as their main target. Of course, they could produce o-rings little by little to sell to adult collectors that are looking for that nostalgia. But they should do a continuation of how G.I.Joe has evolved and continue the history but with new characters, new adventures, new everything.
Not to bogart the Comments, but it seems like the big toy manufacturers are taking a page out of Midwestern FM radio's playbook: Don't be adventurous. Play the same loop of Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Styx, The Eagles, Skynyrd and Steve Miller day in, day out. Their parents may have copies of KISS's Destroyer album, (Read: Optimus Prime) but let's schill it to the kids they spawned! That lack of adventurousness persists. Wonderful as Action Force is, it reminds me of when The Black Crowes first broke big. It was something new and exciting instead of Janet Jackson and NKOTB but rooted enough in what came before (i.e., '70s Southern Rock) to be recognizable.
I don't like military figures, I had my joes back in the day. But if I'd like those kind of lines I would go with valaverse all the way. They are great. I hope to see something like that with other kind of stuff.
“Nostalgia isn’t a jet, it’s a glider.”
I like that analogy.
Yes that line had me as well.
Perfect analogy
The thing I love so much about Action Force is that I was able to get in on the ground floor on a brand new IP. I wasn’t around in ‘82 when ARAH launched so this is really one of the first brand new properties I have been able to experience from its origins
I'm 45 y/o. It'm not looking for new heroes and characters to emulate. These figures look great, but I have no connection to them. I guess it's a failure of my imagination. Then again, if I'm really imaginitive, I can create my own new characters and stories from the GI Joe Classifieds figures, right?
How about a GI Joe movie in the present day, where the Joes are old senior citizens now? Something like the movies "Red" and "The Expendables". It could show how their characters developed over time, then pit them against Cobra Commander and Destro, once again teaming up to control the world governments through Xamot and Tomax Financial, Pharmaceutical, and Agricultral Industries (we'll think of a clever acronym later - NATO, pehaps.)
I am mixed on this. I understand and respect the sentiment completely but honestly I do want updated versions of those classic figs. The problem for me is how they milk us and just never deliver. I am slowing down collecting dramatically overall
After the Classified and MOTU Origins, I'm retiring, LOL. Tired of the headaches or FOMO or repaints. I used to have most of the O-rings Joes and He-Mans as a kid, then got back into it with the glorious 25th, 50th, POC, Toys R Us exclusives, etc. and now these two lines. I only buy the ones I truly know and love, I don't bother with the red ninjas, green ninjas, or Sun Man/PigHead from He-Man Origins (WTF was that about, LOL). My son (14) likes Fortnite but don't care for the Joes or would get into the hobbies with me to my dismay.
@@shogunfox7141 Ahhhhh man, I was rocking with you until Sunman, I love their addition to the mythos but I get it, you are a purist to the original stories and characters. I also don't bother with the CF ninjas....I could have cared less but thankful for a wallet break. I have a huge collection and want to sell at least 1/3 of it and have already started. Also reducing what I collect and being more selective, twice recently I went and removed preorders
.
This is an incredible line, and not just for adult collectors. I know this may seem like sacrilege to some, but my twelve year old son LOVES this line. The price point is right in line with what you can find at your big box store, but you get far more value for your money and these figures not only have great sculpts and articulation, they stand up well to *gasp* play. Also, Bobby and crew are doing a great job of world building that a kid can get into as well. Part of this is by them including real life people that have served their countries. My son Jackson loves Desert Rat as much as I loved Snake Eyes, except my kid knows who Tony is and what his real life story is. He was heartbroken when he didn't get to meet his hero at Valacon (he got COVID) and I think this is another way thst Valaverse can appeal to the younger set even more: blur the lines between the fictional world of AF and the real world. It's not unlike how WWE and AEW blur the lines between the character on screen, but being able to see them in real life. The Valaverse crew also just seem to be better businesspeople (and people in general) than Emily and Lenny et al. I wish then all the success. They have mine and my son's loyalty.
I can't say I agree with you on everything you talk about, but I do enjoy, appreciate, and understand your stance on topics of modern day toys and collecting. I myself do enjoy some of these toys coming out like he man and gi joe for example. I can agree that the 1st wave of classified figures was not the greatest but I like that better steps for new releases are coming. I do agree with you about new products as well. I am loving valaverse and these mech toys from joy toy. They do have faults and they have have charm as well. Anyways, thanks for the videos.
There's no reason to qualify your agreement or disagreement. Just say what you're gonna say. Why is everyone always starting their comments on TH-cam these days with, "I don't always agree with you..."???? No human agrees 100% with another human. We used to understand this as default. But now everyone is qualifying their levels of agreement with disclaimers all the time. WTF?
@@retroblasting guy left you a nice comment. And you still got to spin a negative on it.
@@mattrepeatcollector173 backhanded compliment.
@@mattrepeatcollector173 it's because he's a condescending a****** and puts on this air of trying to be the smartest guy in the room.
@@truthskr7127 You've never seen me freak out. If you think that was freaking out, I'll buy you a teddy bear to hug.
The Ninja Turtles cartoons have never been in this trap. The four main cartoons all feel distinct from each other and work well together. The toys and merch is much more nostalgic, tho, mainly looking at the 80s and ignoring the excellent 21st century toons.
New is risk, and you can't rely on long-standing companies jumping to take that kind of risk when the numbers guarantee failure. Instead, what you have to do is let those companies fall to the passage of time. Because while they sit on the comfort of profitability someone hungry will push to take risks and while hundreds of these types of risk takers will fail trying, eventually one gets through and becomes the type of trendsetter that we all know and love. The only real solution is to be the best consumer you can be. Recognize the limits of nostalgia and get your fix where you can, but don't be afraid to jump into new things when the nostalgia runs its course and be okay with letting things go.
I disagree I LOVE the takes of the GI Joe 6 inch Classified series a mix of modern and old school. Valaverse is ok but I personally much prefer the Classified line.
ok
That's perfectly fine, but it's not fine to dismiss the myriad of design and manufacture issues with Classifieds just because you know all their names from memory, and it's not fine to look down on collectors who value quality over nostalgia, and that's what's happening. It's like G.I. Joe fanboys are terrified of something new and different, and of giving their money to someone other than a multi-billion-dollar manufacturing concern, who can't even be bothered to hire actual G.I. Joe fans for the Classified marketing team.
Is that bc you grew up with GI Joe and they are familiar with them? And what about Valaverse do you not like? The scupts, the cartoon, or maybe the story?
Sorry, but I do not like how Hasbro is handling the GI Joe line at all. Every time they went to restart the line, they keep making the same few damn figures, and they spread it out for years... then quit before they ever make any new additional figures. How many do they make in a year? two? four? six? We used to get WAVES of figures yearly!
Actually looking back, I feel Hasbro made major mistakes with several other lines too;
1. The Sgt. Rock figures should have been exactly like o-ring joes, just for Sgt.Rock era.. instead they screwed up and made the chests too big and stupid-looking..
2. They never should have let Kenner control GI Joe.. why would you let a failing company that you not only beat into the ground, but bought out, run your most popular line?
3. Why didn't they make Visionaries in the 3.75" o-ring scale as well? If they had made more of their stuff in 3.75", they could have lasted longer in the minds of children as new bad guys or allies for GI Joe.. at the very least. More interchangeable play would have been a good thing. Remember all the other companies that made comparably sized figures? I'm sure as a kid you used to play with them all together, even though bo and luke duke weren't actually Joes, or the CHIPs figures.. Hasbro easily could have done that with several of their failed lines, like the inhumans good guy figures.. they were terrible looking, but use better proportions and make them 3.75" GI Joe scale compatible and maybe they would have survived longer.
Hasbro's main issue is the same of all woke companies, they lack vision and imagination.. there's no real creativity there. How could would it have been if they relaunched the MASK line in 3.75" once they bought out kenner, and had VENOM be an offshoot of Cobra and the MASK figures special ops style group of GI Joe like Tiger Force or something? Hasbro didn't even think about crossovers until their brands were mostly failing...
@@blissfairchild7194 I agree with you on the Sgt Rock and Visionaries lines. My only beef with the Classified line is that they are so damn hard to find in retail.
That Desert Rat segment had me in stitches and another beautiful video from Retroblasting. Cheers!
I love how there is a story and characters to this line. I have young boys and when they were old enough to play with toys I went down the action figure line and found disappointment as it was all bland figures or figures from movies. My kids end up playing with nostalgia playing with my old Joes' and MOTU.
Nostalgia all the way for me. Give me all the rehashed 80s characters. That’s what I want to buy as an adult. New improved 3.75 and 6 inch versions of characters from the 80s media I love. Good luck to valaverse, they are great products, I hope they find a young audience that will look back on them and want to collect them in the same nostalgic way in 30 years. The way I do with Joe and Star Wars. But yes, create new ideas and icons for new generations.
I love getting updated toys of figures and characters I had as a child and loved at the time but aren't the quality I enjoy now in action figures. It's great having G.I Joe figures in 6 inch with better sculpts and articulation. Transformers in the last five years have been the best we've ever had and it's amazing to have such higher quality versions of those original characters. What I do find to be pointless nostalgia is these ReAction style figures where people buy toys that are Happy Meal quality like something from the 70s.
Love this line and Loving this breakdown. The fact Action Force and GI Joe Classifieds fit together so well is a big nostalgia win for me. I just need a bigger toybox than I had back in the 80's.
Very cool stuff. “Just keep standing there.. looking beautiful”
bruh my sides, I’m dying
**looks at 1981 Action Force shelf**
**Looks at 2022 Action Force shelf**
Ummm, tell me about nostalgia being "bad" again.........?
Looks at 1981 Action Force shelf and realises there is nothing there. Action Force came out in 1982
Can't disagree with you there. Yes, I was a victim of the Classified line and do have many of the major players in my collection. But in all truth; between hunting down those figures I wanted and the scarcity of finding them, I pretty much gave up on modern collecting. Action Force pretty much took that idea us Joe fans love and knocked it out of the park. I will purchase some of these figures in the future and proudly display them.
I had someone ridicule me for suggesting that a company like Hasbro should take risks on something new and possibly lose money. I'm glad this business artuer took time from explaining physics to Stephen Hawking to set me straight on how business and ingenuity works.
Nice video. A lot of on the nose remarks about todays action figure collecting. I have to ask though, would there be an Action Force without G.I. Joe?
Yes there would, Action Force came out two weeks before GI Joe in 1982
@@AnalogToys 🤣indeed it did
I enjoyed your straightforward delivery. Honestly, I enjoyed the first wave of G.I.Joe classified series figures. I played the video game from which the designs originated: OPERATION BLACKOUT and was pleased to have toys based on those designs. I wish the entire cast had been made into figures. I have been a fan since 82' and I believe that the franchise is timeless. In my head-cannon, G.I.Joe is a special unit in S.H.I.E.L.D. that is fighting a portion of Hydra that is designated Cobra. I agree with you for the most part but I disagree with your opinion about Classified not being inventive. Making 6 inch figures was a definite reinvention of the toy line and it was a good time to do it. The failure is not staying the course with the video game influenced designs. I don't know the sales numbers, but I don't recall seeing peg warmers of regular release figures. Every store sells out of every regular release in my area except for the Snake Eyes movie figures. ( I don't count those as regular release either.) The distribution is the other major failing of the brand. Half of the figures are late and they are never on the store shelves. In the end, I believe that there was a clear vision but the negative feedback from a vocal minority caused a " knee jerk reaction" within the offices. I was looking forward to video game inspired figures of Storm Shadow and Sci-Fi. Can we still get those please?🙏
Thanks, Tony, you brighten up every room! Great video, and really on point. There's just no sense in being played for a sap just because, Oh, they might not make anymore! Besides Desert Rat, the real standout for me is the Delta Trooper. When I saw the 2cT video on it, I thought, Hey, a hyper-articulated Green Army Man! I don't know if that's what Bobby intended, but the green mask and gear pack really suggests the soldier figurines we used to collect. A perfect troop builder all around.
I love GI Joe very different reasons. Not caught up in corporate drama. GI Joe is hot this Hiss is going for $300.00. The resale of figures are crazy. Hating on GI Joe is silly. We love GI Joe just like all great characters because they’re timeless. Hasbro has lost its way many times with GI Joe but have always found their way back. I collect both. And anyone who collects Action had to start with Joe’s. Just because Action Force is great doesn’t make GI Joe bad!! Go check reviews people love Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes etc. Yo Joe for life!
@@timothyward8695 saying that GI Joe is dated and has had it’s time. Also claiming hasbro is phoning it in on new line not true. Also if I’m keeping real go look up Flint GI Joe retaliation and you’ll look at Action Force differently. GI Joe is an iconic line that means a lot to me.
I’m so gratefully for just how amazing how the Action Force Line has been. They’re the main reason why I still collect 6 inch.
The fresh idea and clear vision, as shown by the comic, are proof of the quality of this product. It reminds me of 80s Joe. As Desert Rat would say, "Who Dares Wins." Valaverse dared. All that's left to do is win, bigger.
G.I.Joe has had some interesting attempts at a re-launch over the years, in the 90's with G.I.Joe Extreme & later on with the Renegades cartoon. The most radical being the Sigma 6 line, ahead of it's time as an 8" figure, which featured some cloth goods & amazingly customisable accessories.
I think there are many problems with GI Joe. The main two that come to mind is that since the late 80s Hasbro has been run by an executive board that isn't exactly military friendly, let alone US military friendly. Second, and this is the bigger one, since 2001 the world and especially the US has been dealing with actual terrorism. While I can't speak for all of my generation, 9/11 exposed those of us who grew up with ARAH to what terrorism really is, right in our backyards. I've read a few articles that there are mothers now who won't let their children play with war toys because they don't want them "Getting any ideas." It also doesn't help that the US military is looked down upon around the world, hard to sell a movie that way.
I must admit, I quit collecting figures many years ago. I’ve been out of it due to the recirculation of the same characters with new hats and nothing to be excited about. These are amazing figures so I got a few and am hooked. The background story of the current Action Force is very creative and welcome as well. Fantastic assessment Michael.
I think the big problem legacy brands have always faced, _especially_ brands that got as big as Transformers, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Jurassic Park and GI Joe did, is that attempts to innovate and push what they could be are generally pushed back against right out of the gate by the select group of older fans who only want what _they_ had as children, not what might appeal to kids _now_.
The newest incarnation of Ninja Turtles is a prime example of this; it took a lot of risks and _tried_ to reinvent the brand in a big way...and fans who grew up with other incarnations loudly complained because it wasn't like what _THEY_ grew up with. It's a plastic ouroboros, with the public constantly wanting the same old stuff over and over, iteration after iteration, because it's safe and familiar...not realizing that by doing this, they're actively harming brands they claim they love.
Companies and brands _need_ to change and evolve with the times if they want to maintain a thriving fanbase, but modern fandom culture puts so much value on nostalgia, especially in the film and toy space, that most companies won't want to even _risk_ trying to push something new...especially if that new thing is not tied to a pre-existing brand that they can rely on the built-in audience of.
Like, Lego probably wouldn't even be a thing anymore if not for taking a huge risk with Bionicle and finding a smash hit as a result of that risk.
Actually if I remember it was Lego doing Star Wars that saved it.
Which to be honest was still a game changer, Lego just didn't (or VERY rarely) did licensed sets. Now easily over half it's output is license and franchises.
awesome video, it's true, you can't look at the properties you grew up with fondly if it's been constantly remade for 30 or 40 years since it' original end, I'm tired of this practice. it's like it never went away, but a hollow version of it's former self that we didn't originally ask for, these things from yester rear aren't timeless if they are still here
Yeah but the modern action figures are the toys we wished we had as a kids. I still have all my vintage MOTU GI JOE, TMNT, Thundercats figures but they don't compare to the modern action figures we've gotten.
Another great piece of "infotainment" from Retroblasting. 😁👍 Valaverse Action Force is my new favorite. It gives me hope that other innovative toymakers will take note of Bobby's success and create some new "intellectual properties" of their own.
@@fillerbunnyninjashark271 Not really. Acid Rain World is a global multiplayer strategy game, so the toys are based on someone else's IP. JoyToy also makes licensed products from Japanese Manga, Warhammer, and other IPs, although some of their military and sci-fi figures are original designs, they don't seem to do much "world building".
A great toyline and an awesome new wave release. Another awesome review.
I, too, purchased a Desert Rat. Heard the same thing about it being based on some former SAS bloke. Anthony Bobbs something-or-other from New Zealand?
Close, his name is Tony Roberts
Spot-on! Back when I was more active with JoeBattlelines I used to beat this drum over and over. Move forward-- don't just continually circle back around to the same concepts/characters over and over. It's LOOONG past time to move beyond the ARAH of the 80's/90's.
You hit on the two most successful evolutions of classic IP's that I can think of-- Beast Wars and Star Trek: the Next Generation. Both took something familiar but took it in a new direction for a contemporary audience.
Even though I'm not really into modern military figures, I've been following the development of this line and must say it's all very well thought out. I have picked up one of the weapons packs so far (for my Deadpool figures) and am really tempted to get one of those Swarm troopers.
Another great assessment Michael, wish the powers that be at Hasbro would play this at a board meeting!
Love your channel. I first found it while searching about Final Faction.
Action force is a new bag of fun for me. I do like gi joe to a extent(even will get a few classifieds), but I want something with new characters and stories in a modern military world.
As always. No one questions, and elaborates their opinion on the toy industry like you do. Mythic legions is also kicking down that Nostalgia door and is doing great things.
I actually have a few mythic legions, but I am excited for their cosmic legions line up.
@@caliberjacket5871 me too!
Action Force is really becoming a solid figure line.
I hadn't given it much thought but I'm not into collecting toys for the sake of collecting the newest and coolest toys. While going through the toy isles looking for my Joe's and MOTU I sometimes I see some really cool looking toys. Some SPAWN, Fort Night, TMNT, Power Rangers, and others I have never heard of but look amazing. I don't buy them because I have no connection to them. I buy toys I'm nostalgic about and put them on my display shelf where they stay. It brings me joy to look at them and remember them from childhood if I had them or didn't have them but always wanted them. That's the whole purpose of my collection.
I got really excited about Classified and ordered the first wave. When they came in I was really disappointed because the didn't look like original figures or the cartoon. That's what I wanted. The weapons were unrealistic and for lack of a better word goofy. I was fine if they had some realistic upgrades as long as the look of the original was there. I'm very happy with the new Classified versions especially the Gung Ho. Now they look like my old figures except all grown up. Although, I wish I hadn't spent so much money on all the other crappy versions of Gung Ho, Scarlette, Roadblock, etc.
I think If I was a kid reading the Valaverse comic books and getting the figures I would really be excited about them. I would have all out wars with the action figures. But i'm not. I don't play with toys. I can't play with toys and I have tried lol. As a military man I appreciate the accuracy of the weapons and I have some select figures on pre order that look like modern soldiers. I also got the weapons pack to fit some of my classifieds however they are starting to come with realistic weapons themselves. I'm sure Valaverse had a lot to do with that. I do want to support Bobby and I think what he is doing is amazing and a dream come true for any old GI Joe fan. For those reasons I will pick up a few figures but I'm not really invested in the line.
Great video Michael! It's time for Action!!!!
Action Force is about as refreshing and excited I’ve felt in awhile for modern figures.
Since I can't do a double like on this video. . .
👍🏾👍🏾💯🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
OUTSTANDING!!!!
I have Sgt. Slaughter, Duster (aka Tim Kennedy), and Trigger.
Desert Rat is based on Tony Roberts.
The "hosts" of the Hasbro livestreams annoy the crap out of me.
Great video!! My absolute favorite toy line now!!!
Though I do not agree with all of your criticisms all of the time, I do have to agree with the sad nostalgia trend. It seems every company in every facet is trying to claw its way to relevancy through nostalgia. Not only is it getting really really realllly old but it’s disinteresting. It’s like you said, companies really need to branch out and have fun. These are billion dollar corporations, they can afford to take a slight loss because a toy line didn’t do as well as they hoped. We just need companies to stop beating that poor rotting dead horse and venture into something new….. like Action Force!
There's no reason to qualify your agreement or disagreement. Just say what you're gonna say. Why is everyone always starting their comments on TH-cam these days with, "I don't always agree with you..."???? No human agrees 100% with another human. We used to understand this as default. But now everyone is qualifying their levels of agreement with disclaimers all the time. WTF?
@@retroblasting relax man. It’s just a comment.
HK and China are the new trend-setters in collector-grade toy-making.
Japan was for a while too, but if you take a look at what they have to offer these days, it's mostly based on one media property or another. Bandai's still making Gundam kits and MCU figures. Medicos makes mostly cartoon and comic figures, with some live action figures sprinkled in. GSC makes almost exclusively anime figures. A few small studios try to make their own things, like Koto's mecha girls based on their own creations, but that's about it.
HK and China on the other hand for sure also try to cash in on the popularity of media products like the MCU and DCEU, but since many smaller companies in those regions don't have the licenses, they end up selling unlicensed, third-party figures, then once they have their production pipelines ironed out, and customer based solidified, started to make their own original lines, free of nostalgia. Xesray is a good example. They first started to make generic 7in-scale gladiator figures that went well-received, and now they're branching out to more mythological figures like druids and minotaurs, etc. They're looking to turn into the Eastern version of 4HM studios, with better articulations.
I think once HK and China gets a few more years under their belt with refining their production and engineering, we're going to see some very exciting, brand new figures come out from them.
Can't lie, those Xesray gladiators look great.
wish i could like this video 50 times at least, great speech on nostalgia
Tony getting an action figure may be one of the coolest things ever! Thank you Michael for introducing me to these incredible figures!!
It is nice that action force delivers product although its starting to be too much to collect them all. As long as it's not bbts. Still waiting on wave 1. Going to need a bigger display or purge some toy lines soon. Hope Action Force hits a home ran with the movie.
Not a 6inch collector but the design of the scrab and swarm figures got me and I had to buy a couple of each! I missed out on the earlier comics and now having a taste for the line, I hope valaverse does some reprints or a collection so I can experience the story! Great vid! Enjoyed the review!
A trade paper back is in the works for issues 1-8!
@@LaserPants excellent, thanks for the info! Definitely on my future purchase list! See you on the next 3POA!
Some good points. I love Action Force figs and what Valaverse is doing. I also, however, am a big fan of GI Joe Classified. Not simply for nostalgia sake, but because the characters and conflicts are still a whole lot of fun to play around with. Cobra with its high-tech, over the top units being taken on by (somewhat more) current-tech Joes. The fantasy conflicts might be more whimsical than if, say, the Joes had to fight groups of Taliban or something. But I think there's plenty of room for Classified to continue to evolve into an even better line. Hasbro seems to even listen to feedback as the more recent figures are far better tributes to the characters and the weapons have become more grounded in reality as well which was a big gripe I had with the initial laser blasters in wave 1.
Thanks for the informative video!
When i saw desert rat i thought "finally ,a joe a Quesada action figure"
I was a fan of the early GI Joe Classified figures.. They seemed to have a more sci-fi bent, and I could get behind that. As more and more figures came out, they started just making just 6 inch version of the original characters, rather than making them a sci-fi bent. When I look at the Valaverse line, the only things I really like are the swarm, as they have the sci-fi I crave. As more and more Classified figures come out, I see less I really want, as they are completely removing any sci-fi elements. I know I'm a minority, but I don't want modern looking troops.
The discussion of how to relaunch G.I Joe in a way that would connect to modern kids is an interesting one to me. It's clear the legacy stuff doesn't hold much interest with the newer generations but Hasbro seems to have no idea what to do and is just leaning on the adult collects for the time being. Even the 3rd parties are still focused on adults. I wonder who will crack the code or if the future of this IP isn't toys at all. Hmmm....
9:25 What about G.I. Joe: Renegades?
That lasted what? 18 months tops?
@@retroblasting Still, it was something new. I'm not even sure why it wasn't successful, or why no one talks about it these days.
It's amazing how many years the Transformers line has been married to G1 characters and aesthetics. But it must have been selling well enough to continue. Now they're blending in Beast Wars nostalgia.
I must agree as much as I have a few of new things like masterverse and classified we really need some new characters and lines to be this generation's he-man,optimus and lion -o.figures this current group can look back at in the future and say "this is who and what we had in our time."it seems toy companies stopped doing brand new IPs after 1994 when Playmates released lines like SKELETON WARRIORS,EXO SQUAD and EARTHWORM JIM in an attempt to find a line to replace the declining sales of the NINJA TURTLES.when none of those lines did as well as the turtles had done in their time it seemed they and other toy companies gave up on making new pop culture characters and stories.they are indeed resting on their laurels but the bed is wearing out.
You've always got an interesting angle on things. I've seen a ton of videos about Action Force, but none had a think piece as well. Nice job.
This and Final Faction are fantastic new lines. I'm also collecting the Jurassic Park Hammond Collection. Would love to see you do a video on that.
Ninjas will never not be cool
Great video... nuff said!
Will Action Force have vehicles?
There's something in the works. Bobby Vala has given multiple updates on the 3POA Podcast.
At least, Ghostbusters Afterlife tried something different in order to continue the story. They take that risk because if they don't do that, we're still going to had four guys that each year turn older with nothing to come in the horizon. I get your point about nostalgia, and I really hope the corporations stop telaunching the same characters every time they want to sell new product.
Afterlife didnt really take any risk. Especially considering the sarcastic nature of the first two.
@@redcomet_622 A risk was with the reboot and people wasn't happy either.
Was beast wars really a failure? It was a staple of my childhood. I don't think any of my childhood friends weren't into it for some period.
Hey Michael, I make my own o ring figures from scratch and when hasbro announced the new o ring line I was happy and excited. I am not really a modern toy guy, nor do I know about the bad things these companies do.... until NOW! When I got my wonderful cobra trooper 2 pack, the officer is improperly engineered. NOT a manufacturing defect, but an incorrectly engineered leg on the officer figure! His leg does not bend much. And also the figures come damaged from being shoved into an incorrectly designed plastic bubble. After all of that aggressive marketing, hype, and energy from the gi joe product manager and her team and replying to our happy fan comments, she now deletes, blocks and ignores anything negative said about these defective figures! They are full of shit and only talk about how great they are and how awesome their team is. But they can't make a simple o ring figure that works nor stand behind their product and acknowledge or correct any terrible defects! That's why I just continue to make my own figures!
That's cool. Do you post any of your work? I like following indie makers.
The last time Hasbro tried something new with GI Joe is how we ended up with GI Joe Extreme.
2:02 That looks like Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; truly, the stuff of nightmares. Hahaha! :)
He mans on the right track as there is a new MOTU series actually aimed at kids right now and it’s vastly different from the 80s original
But why does it have to be vastly different? I'm not a fan of complete reboots, either respect the source material or create something new. Silent Bob's animated series is a lot better than the Netflixs one aimed at kids. Nicer animation and the world and characters looks the way it should. The only thing that ruins it is the woke crap.
@@edstar83 it should be different because it’s a reboot for a new generation, what’s the point I doing the exact same thing over and over again? The new he man definitely respects the source material but actually changes it up and aims it at KIDS. Not adults, kids, who the series was actually made for in the first place.
@@megasystem8473 Again * * * * reboots. The new cartoon is a drastic change from the source matetial. Ugly animation and character desgins. Just like Thundercats roar and lesbian She-ra reboot that failed. Ugly and lazy animation.The original MOTU was also aimed at kids. There is no reason why the current generation of kids can't enjoy 200x or Masters of the Universe Revelations style animation without the woke sh*t.
Marvel and DC characters haven't changed much over the decades since the 30's even Conan the barbarian is still popular today his design hadn't changed at all.
@@edstar83 ok I don’t think the animation is that bad, it’s certainly very stylised. Also I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say “woke crap”
I so want to bite the bullet and buy all the Valaverse Action Force line, but due to budget I really can't afford to. So instead I support them by watching the videos that promote them from Retroblasting, Analog Toys, and the Valaverse channel as well. Great looking toys that I wish I could afford. Sounds like me in the 80's with G.I.Joe ARAH.
Totally down for the Kylie cameo ! 😂 It's Time for Action 💪🔥👊
Great perspective and script. I love your dialog and wit. Spot on!
Good points made in this video. Wave 2 looks good and fresh again 👍
you leave my Ninjas alone!! other than that all is good. GREAT VIDEO!!
You really hit the nail on the head with what is wrong with classified. I did have a lot of the original Joe stuff. And I was excited about getting revamped versions of those characters, but Hasbro caved on their almost-vision.
Great line great wave!!! And video!!
Love this line, it’s well done and solid! Onward and upward for this line!
I would love to see valaverse in o-ring form. The characters look fantastic in 6" scale and I'm willing to bet they would translate beautifully to 3 3/4. With that being said thinking about the vehicles this line could have stirs my imagination. I would love to see Gi Joburg work their magic with these figures with a playmotion video.
EXACTLY. RIGHT.
I support Bobby's toy line because I know he CARES about the fans and the product. He took the leap to do his own line and took a LOT of risk to do it. High risk, and (hopefully) high reward.
Hasbro isn't risking anything.
If Hasbro REALLY wanted to hit the sales heights they did with RAH (and the original before it) it is not that hard. Here's an idea, just off the top of my head: 5POA troop builders ("Grunts") at Dollar Tree. Just like Final Faction. And weapon packs, at the same price point ($1.25 to $3). More articulated figures at Target and/or Walmart. Price point for these: No more than $9. Have 2 to 3 vehicles for $30 to $40. ALL BASED ON REAL MILITARY VEHICLES.
And make every articulated character based on a REAL WORLD SERVICEMAN OR WOMAN. And donate a portion of all sales to the USO or a veterans charity.
I'd buy every one. And so would a LOT of people.
If the initial line succeeds, then do deluxe sets based on classic battles and/or war movies. Big risk... But a big reward.
But hey what do I know? I'm just a guy who makes playsets for fun.
PS. Nice to see a certain freeze chamber in the vid. A proud papa is proud.
These are so cool, I don’t know why Ive been sleeping on them. I just want to build an army of swarm soldiers, and Im very curious to see what their leader looks like when they are eventually revealed/released
Awesome set!
You just said the one word corporations and the people who lead and finance them hate almost as much as the word "Union", the word "Risk". They hate risks, and that hate is a cause for so much cultural decay today.
Oh idk Michael, its kind of a tired card to complain about properties piggybacking on big successes. I mean ok Hunger Games spawned divergent maze runner and such but are we really not playing up the Battlestar Galactica toys on this very channel? Or like, any of the endless Star Wars cash in properties for a decade. IDK man, every era forever will always have things that are a play on whatever is popular at the time. And through the lens of history people simply forget the "knockoffs" For every property you showed in "breaking the mold" those things all created entire GENRES of rip-offs. You showed the 3 basic pillars of modern genre storytelling, it's pretty heavy handed to compare the most transformative properties in pop culture to Action Force. Not every single thing released can change the world nor is that the only qualification for it being "great." You can be great and a bit derivative.
Most of your other points are all in tact but I'd maybe punch this one up a bit so we don't oversell a military toy line or create unrealistic expectations, not being realistic in what one can do causes too many issues in either over spending or underthinking
2:13 D-Day from Animal House or Franz Nicolay, The Hold Steady's keyboardist.
Don’t forget easier to get a hold of and preorder with shipping in less then 1-2 years with widow box’s multi hands duel ethnic in troop builders except ? Garason figure also a whole wave of female figures and more bang for the buck with different hands and great paint with complete details not sold one color weapons unlike others
I've come by here to swing by and comment and respectfully disagree with you regarding some points you've made.
Now I'm going to say first and foremost, I personally don't have as much to say on GI Joe and it's various lines per say.
But yeah my thoughts will extend to Transformers.
When you speak of how corporations lack how to innovate.
Ok Transformers DID try new ideas for them.
Yes they do tend to fall back on to established characters; even in the original series/G1 when they decided to implement new leaders, it was arguably not that well executed in all aspects(at least for Rodimus Prime)
For Beast Wars as a line, it didn't fail, it actually did overall rather well, it just fizzled out, then got replaced by Beast Machines which was an example of innovation again with some badly executed potential ideas.
Transformers does try some new ideas at times or shakes things up a little.
Generation 2, which was just a comic run, toyline and renewed set of old and new toys was a low point.
Beyond the original stuff you had Armada which had Minicons who became partners/helpers.
Some could be weapons, some unlocked features and more.
So yeah, the problem for GI Joe is by it's nature it's either stuck as an homage to older days(80s) or they try to advance things forwar and re-invent the series and take a big risk on things.
Which I feel like they used to do, but not really tried for a while, there was a bunch of RAH lines that my friends have told me about.
So my thoughts on this stuff are complex at least in regards to one series.
They do need to find a new way forward and I do appreciate your thought provoking vids and discussion bits.
There's no reason to qualify your agreement or disagreement. Just say what you're gonna say. Why is everyone always starting their comments on TH-cam these days with, "Respectfully disagree!" or "I don't always agree with you..."???? No human agrees 100% with another human. We used to understand this as default. But now everyone is qualifying their levels of agreement with disclaimers all the time. WTF?
@@retroblasting Well my response to that is simply that I put that there in case someone takes a strongly worded opinion the wrong way.
This was one instance I decided to do so!
I don't ALWAYS do that when I submit an opinion hah!
So I'm sorry if to you it confused you a little Michael.
Spot on mate!
*Harley-Davidson and the Mustang, are the future for Hasbro.*
that mythic legions templar looks great. i would love to have some historically correct knight (not fantasy) action figures. that one looks reasonable.
To be fair, Beast Wars didn't fail, it ended and Hasbro moved to the next iteration, Beast Machines, which did, indeed, fail. So badly that it caused Hasbro to lower prices on the next toy line, Robots In Disguise.
@9:21 That's not true... Hasbro tried reaching past ARAH with Sgt. Savage and GI Joe Extreme and they didn't work. They tried .... but it didn't work.
I do agree that GI Joe needs a refresh unlike transformers or even He-Man we're really the concept is timeless and you can still make new versions of the same story GI Joe's is one of those franchises that does better with a refresh
Beast Wars didn't fail. It saved the transformers brand. It even good a (bad) sequel it was so successful. Otherwise good video.
Beast Wars is hardly the version of Transformers Hasbro prefers to make. Only recently did they do tribute rereleases, whereas Optimus Prime and crew have been remade and remade constantly. Otherwise, good comment.
@@retroblasting how does that make beast wars a failure? Just because hasbro has only made 6 new mold toys of optimus primal (and they molds had several releases release and takara released the kenner primal several times and remolded to be more cartoon accurate) and Optimus Prime was had 9000 new molds and releases doesn't mean anything. It made money and was successful and the fact hasbro hasn't given it the respect it deserves is indictive of the company and not of beast wars (and a lesser extent beast machines)
Hey retro blasting have you seen the new Hasbro retro collection figures it completes the first 12 including R2-D2 and C-3PO.
I agree 100%, G.I. Joe is nothing compared to what it was. It is totally irrelevant today. The truth is they should be aiming to young kids as their main target. Of course, they could produce o-rings little by little to sell to adult collectors that are looking for that nostalgia. But they should do a continuation of how G.I.Joe has evolved and continue the history but with new characters, new adventures, new everything.
...wondering...🤔🤔🤔What if Gijoes would have taken the JoyToy route? Modern military figures, mechs, dioramas, vehicles...🤔🤔🤔
“Action Force… This IS #Ambition” 🎯
Those cut scenes are great. 😂
Not to bogart the Comments, but it seems like the big toy manufacturers are taking a page out of Midwestern FM radio's playbook: Don't be adventurous. Play the same loop of Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Styx, The Eagles, Skynyrd and Steve Miller day in, day out. Their parents may have copies of KISS's Destroyer album, (Read: Optimus Prime) but let's schill it to the kids they spawned! That lack of adventurousness persists.
Wonderful as Action Force is, it reminds me of when The Black Crowes first broke big. It was something new and exciting instead of Janet Jackson and NKOTB but rooted enough in what came before (i.e., '70s Southern Rock) to be recognizable.
I don't like military figures, I had my joes back in the day. But if I'd like those kind of lines I would go with valaverse all the way. They are great. I hope to see something like that with other kind of stuff.
Great video