I have some serious conflicting emotions with these figs. They look fantastic even the repaint of Lowlight. However, only a few have the added wrist articulation. It feels like they are taking a step backwards a bit.

Geez, never thought I’d be complaining about too many Low-Lights, but here I am. I guess there’s not much choice if you’re going with the Slaughter teams, but… FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, FOOTLOOSE IS RIGHT THERE!

(yes, I know it’s probably an exclusive issue.)

That was Chuck’s complaint on the latest Podcast.

Yeah, sorry, but this is almost a worst case scenario. Not only is a Slaughters Marauders 7-pack about the most unappealing concept EVER, but the Noks look ugly as hell, what is with those head sculpts? They look like crap.

I’ll go to E-Bay or trade to get Mercer and Zanya, three or four others maybe, the rest you couldn’t pay me to put in my collection.

I was soooooooo looking forward to this. Completing a collection they said, original Joes completed or IGs maybe, even Renegades would of been cool. This blows.

They thought the Cobra island figs didn’t sell well???? Well, hold on tight.

Frankly this is great. I was hoping long ago that we would get the Sgt’s Renegades( don’t know why they had to call Taurus “Bull” but who cares. Red Dog looks a little funky ( I think the head sculpt looks a little like Anthony Calvillo ( quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian football league and now all time yards passing record holder in either the CFL or NFL)Lt Falcon ok since slaughter could not be used, Barbeque, Low-light and Spirit a passable homage to the green brown and blue . As for the Dreadknocks. Cool is all I can say. We get Zandar to complete the family like everyone wanted and we get some classic characters. Definite Buy hopefully I can scoop up a couple sets of each.

I think that they probably should have kept Low Light and Spirit, and Barbecue the way they were. But Lt. Falcon, Mercer, Taurus, and Red Dog are cool-looking. Although I think that instead of Barbecue they should have made another version of Sgt. Slaughter since it is Slaughter’s Renegades!
As for the dreadnok pack, I think is a fairly decent upgrade to some of the figures. I think it probably would have been better if they added zartan. lol

Many of these bodies look way too Anniversary to me, but I’d assume that’s what the nostalgic crowd wants, and yet most people are complaining. Odd.

I’m gonna order both sets, if only for custom fodder. I like most of the heads, at least. I mean, yeah, most of them are ugly, but they’re high-quality ugly. Gnawgahyde was after my time, but some of his gear would lend itself to an old school pulp fiction jungle adventure dude, and I’m always looking to make characters like that. I have PoC Spirit, but I’d been planning to get a second one to experiment with different colors, so maybe this one will serve that function, instead.

I love Taurus’s head. Road Pig’s gear is great; I hope they repaint the head eventually. Mercer’s head sculpt looks great (I always assumed they’d use the Resolute head for him or Road Pig).

Many of the bodies look under-articulated and cartoony, which’ll make them blend in with the mediocre Anniversary stuff. Still, there’s a lot here to love; anyone know what they’ll cost? I got spoiled on the other 7-packs; I scored all of them for something like $3.50 per figure.

A more full comment:

The Marauders are, to me, the more appealing of the packs since I’ve always hated the 25th Falcon (and therefore ANY replacement is a step up), needed a Spirit, and always had a soft spot for Mercer. A decently re-useable Barbecue and a mostly redundant Low-Light doesn’t dim my enthusiasm any; assuming the pack comes in around $40 – $45, I’ll probably buy it. Any more than that and I’ll wait.

Plus, it’ll be nice to have them filled in since their opposite numbers in the Python Patrol have gotten so much love over the years.

As for the Dreads… eh, not caring so much. I never really liked the concept to begin with, and expanding it past the ones that were heavily in rotation in the early years never really made sense to me other than the fact that the Hasbro designers needed something more esoteric for the bad guy ranks. But then I tend to overload on Joes* at the expense of Cobra anyway. I can see where people who want every character would be happy with this, and more power to them if that’s the case. I’ll probably buy this if it gets driven down to around $30 (that was my breaking point on the Resolute sets), but not until then.

But I just wish they’d done a SM Footloose. :( It is weird how original characters are turning into the focus of the online-exclusive stuff while the cases sent to stores at the moment (and possibly into the near future) are about 75% army-builders. That’s a distinct change from years past, when they had to use the Cobra Island 7-pack to push out army-builders.

I couldn’t be happier with these sets. Well, that’s a lie, if I had been able to get Zarana and Sgt Slaughter I’d be happier. But aside from that, these sets are exactly what I’ve been waiting for since the changeover in sculpting from the VvV/Spytroops era. I can’t wait to preorder these.

I’m kind of split on my opinion of these sets. I’m loving the Dreadnoks as that set does fill in quite a few gaps in my Anniversary collection. I just wish I could say the same about the Joes. The Renegades are nice but I’m not feeling the Marauders. A Joe Movie set with the Renegades, a better sculpted Falcon, Jinx, Big Lob and Law and Order would’ve been better IMO and actually completed the Raw Hides set.

I think you’re right on the money, Monte. It’s two-fold. First and foremost, these are online exclusive sets (BBTS specifically) so certain concessions have to be made in regards to tooling costs. That means reused parts. I think it would be tough for Hasbro to find parts to reuse with the added beef and articulation in the PoC line.

Secondly, many fans are looking to fill in their 25th Anniversary collections, and these Dreadnok figures will do that. Yes, some of them look weirdly frankensteined, and some of them aren’t 100% accurate, but that describes 90% of the 25th Anniversary line that everyone claims to love. Makes sense to me.

If given a choice, I will always go with the PoC/30th Anniversary aesthetic. Some classic influences, but with a much more modern, realistic, hard-edged twist. Tough to do that with the Dreadnoks, and I cannot fault Hasbro for marketing to a majority mindset.

Personally, I think the Noks SHOULD look ugly. They’re not the most attractive bunch!
I think Road Pig, Zanya, Zandar, and Thrasher are fantastic. They look very much like the source material and fit in seamlessly with folks’ 25th Anniversary collection. Zanzibar looks odd bare-chested… Gnawgahyde and Burnout may suffer from the PoC Recondo “foot-staring” issue…but by and large I think the figures are great, and I’m not even a huge Dreadnok fan.

To me the Dread set has personality, which is a big part of G.I. Joe. Road Pig’s sneering “Jacko” face sculpt is classic. His smashed in Alligator Alley sign/shield… great stuff. Zandar is an almost perfect replication of his classic look. Thrasher’s seriously got that Honky Tonk Man thing going on, and his new club is pretty massive and sick. I’m amazed at the level of detail in Zanya’s head sculpt. So much stuff to love.

Perfect? No. But certainly a lot more good than bad (in my opinion) and they’ll fit pretty nicely into an already imperfect 25th Anniversary collection, which is what many fans want.

Of course. But customizers don’t have to work with tooling budgets, production machines, or safety regulations. For a customizer if a certain set of arms don’t fit, they can shave down those arms and make them fit. For Hasbro that means cutting entirely new tools, which costs several thousands of dollars. For a customizer if they want more paint somewhere or a torn shirt, they can cut around some figures, glue them together, or put some nice paint on the belt buckle. For Hasbro, that means an additional paint op, which means either another one gets cut, or it blows budget.

Comparing customs to actual items produces is apples and oranges. You cannot compare the two, there are way too many differences.

The only figure I’m excited about is Falcon, though I’m not crazy about his being a part of the Marauders. His blue beret makes him look more like he’s a part of the U.N. instead of being a Green Beret. I’m OK with it since blue is the color of the Marauders. The picture I saw of him is too blurry, so I’m looking forward to a better one. Like other comments I’ve read on various forums, I’m hoping, too, that Falcon eventually gets released single carded with his more traditional green colors.

Probably true. On the other hand, I wouldn’t have a problem paying $20 for a PoC w3 Snake Eyes or PoC Low-Light or 30th Sci-Fi (just to name a few) so maybe a MOTU like “Masterpiece” line may be something worthwhile looking into.

The figures are THAT good. Hasbro just isn’t capitalizing on them because they throw them together with lesser releases and charge the same amount.

I think one of the best things you ever said was that putting a PoC figure next to a 25th figure has the same effect as putting a 25th figure next to an ARAH figure. You are dead on with that comparison.

So I’ll take you at your word and just say these sets are not targetted at me (even though I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on 25th Joes) and just leave it be.

Unfortunately, I meant ugly as in crappy sculpting. I fully agree they should look like street thugs. But let/s take SDCC exclusive Zarana. Many complained she was ugly, I praised the sculpt, and still think it may be the best head sculpt ever done for Joe, because it is beautiful in how it is accurate to what she SHOULD look like.

Gnawagahyde? Big, round, balloon like head…..not good. Zandar? Looks like he was just stung by a dozen bees……not good. Road Pig? Looks like he has hair and THEN the rest of his hair was put on top of that like a block….not good. Just some examples. Zanya looks good though. Also not a pretty girl, but she looks biker tough.

But again, just my opinion.

Not sure why you think Gnaw and Burnout will suffer from the Recondo foot stare I think Taurus will have that problem since he is the one using the recondo torso!

I may look into that ebay thing–maybe. I”m guessing the same isn’t true for Zarana. But I do love this Renegades/Marauders set. Just saw the press images and I love all the Cobra gear Mercer comes with. Gonna pre-order a set ASAP.

And how much are you loving seeing a Spy Troops character revisted? I’d love to see Scalpel and the Stall family return as well.

I want to say it’s because Ford has the name locked up, EG Meister / Jazz from the Alternators line, but that was likely more because it turned into a car.

What toy line has used the name Taurus recently? I can’t think of any DCUC or Marvel Legend that would fit….

I hear you. In a perfect world, everything would be in a PoC style and G.I. Joe would just be able to survive and thrive off of that aesthetic alone, but I think there is a segment of the collectors population that is in love with the vintage style, even if that means sacrificing some of the hyper-detailed coolness of the PoC. And I definitely stand by my opinion that comparing PoC to 25th is striking. I do think the Dreadnoks can fall somewhere in between, and I definitely have room in my collection for them alongside the newer stuff.