gijoe – Page 8 – European Joe's

Noblesse Oblige

When the Classified series was announced, I was very sceptical about the new size and how the figures would look. As soon as I received my first figure though, I was convinced that G.I.Joe was back on track to being a good selling toy line. Since those first figures, a lot more have made their way over to Belgium – see my previous posts. One that kept eluding me, however, was the Baroness figure with the C.O.I.L cycle. Yes, I wrote ‘was’, because here she is, in all her European Nobility.

G.I. Joe Classified Cobra Baroness with Cobra C.O.I.L.

To be honest, I was doubting if I was ever going to get one. They seemed to go up in price all the time and the online offers were very scarce, hence also awfully expensive. During one of the Fan Friday events, Hasbro announced there was going to be a re-release of the set and that did raise my hopes a bit, but still I wasn’t holding my breath. I did keep an eye out though and sure enough, it seemed more and more became available online. The prices were still high though. Eventually, I was able to strike a deal on eBay and after a short wait, I can add the set to my collection.

The head sculpt is really nice and the gold details on the glasses matches the golden gun and dagger handle nicely.

As with all the Classified Series figures, the artwork is top notch. The bullet (laser beam?) that pings of the windscreen is a nice touch. I also like the golden Cobra (I’m assuming the dagger handle) popping up from behind her.

On the side of the box is another great piece of artwork.

A nice addition to the collection. #13 in the set of Classified Series. If anyone at Hasbro is reading this. We could really do with a nice guide or checklist to keep track of them.

That’s it for now. See you again soon with more new additions to the collection. Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Talking about good versus bad

I’m definitely not bad at math, but I honestly lost count of how many Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow figures have been released. This morning, I got these two figures delivered by the mailman. The packaging was a bit banged up, but the figures itself aren’t really damaged, just some dents in the bubbles and some creaks in the cardboard.

These are from the new cheaper 6″ line that was released with the new Snake Eyes G.I. Joe Origins movie. They are less detailed and have less articulation than the Classified figures that will be released as well.

They are cheaper than the Classified figures because of the lesser features, but that makes these toys more playable and accessible to a new audience. It’s much easier for a parent to say “Yes” to their kids asking for the new Joe toys when they’re cheaper and so more kids can get to know and love the brand. I don’t think this was a bad move by Hasbro.

These figures should cost around $10 in stores, so compared to the Classified figures, that’s easily half price. Looking at it differently, you can have 2 toys instead of 1 for the same amount of money. Sure, they are a bit more basic, but they are really intended as toys, not as collectibles. I ended up paying a little over $17 a piece (including shipping to Belgium and taxes & import duties). Still almost double of what you pay in the US, but all things considered, still very reasonable compared to the prices in the local toy shops for similar toys (the Fortnite figures go for around €15 ~ $18 over here).

No checklists or other references on the back of the cards, just instructions on how to assemble the weapons and how to make the figure do his signature attack move by twisting the body.

Same story with the Storm Shadow figure. He does come with a bow and arrow set as well as 2 katana swords.

I’ve mailed and called to several toy store chains here in Belgium, but they all said they won’t be selling the G.I. Joe toys any time soon. That is quite sad if you think back to the 80’s and 90’s where we had such great catalogs, a number of exclusive toys and merchandise and a very well organized and lively fanclub. There really is a market for the G.I. Joe toys here in Belgium (and The Netherlands), it’s a shame Hasbro doesn’t seem to be interested in selling over here. The thing is, on the back of the cards, you can see that the contents, warnings and what have you are marked in several languages. Including DUTCH! So why isn’t Hasbro selling these toys here? On the bottom of the card (the cardboard in the bubble, what else could I call it?) there is even an address in The Netherland for the representative importer. I truly don’t understand.

With new tax rules and shipping costs ever on the rise, it’s getting increasingly difficult to keep collecting everything (I’m skipping on the Super 7 figures for instance). Sometimes you catch a break, like with these figures, and get something fairly priced, but most of the time the price we have to pay to get our hands on the toys is just getting out of control. Let’s hope that the new movie does well over here and Hasbro can get convinced that sales will be good here.

That’s it for now. Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Not a small feat for something so tiny

I did not think I’d be getting the G.I. Joe Prexio Miniature figures quite easily, but a while back I stumbled upon them on eBay for a very reasonable price. Well, when I say reasonable, I mean not too expensive. Considering these were selling in the US for a few bucks, I did pay quite a hefty markup, but hey, they’re here and they are small, but they’re Joe and so they’re cool!

3 Cobra’s and 3 Joes to have a completely balanced set. On Cobra’s side, we have Cobra Commander, Destro and a Red Ninja. The G.I. Joe team is represented by Duke, Roadblock and Snake Eyes. The figures are small. No other way to put it. No articulation as far as I can tell, I still have them on the cards. But surprisingly well applied paint and decals. They really do look nice. They do remind me of the kind of figures you can buy as cake decoration. Someday, I may just put them on my birthday cake 🙂

That’s it for now. I’m really glad to see a lot of different G.I. Joe related toys and products being released. Even though I won’t be able to get them all here, I keep my eyes open for that sweet deal.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Who’s a nice little wolf?

It has been a while since I added something new to my collection. Today, the mailman arrived with a small package from our friends at Funko.

It’s the Funko.com Exclusive Snake Eyes figure with Timber. The figure is modeled after the 1985 v2 Snake Eyes figure, with the slitted visor and the grey and black. The Timber wolf companion is just too cute.

Let me share some of the other art work on the box. On the side, you get a full frontal view of the 2 figures.

On the back, there is an overview of the other figures that will be released later this summer. Scarlett, The Baroness, another Snake Eyes (the classic look with the goggles and web gear) and Storm Shadow (the 1988 v2 digital camo version!).

The back of the box shows a checklist of the other figures.

That’s it for now.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Under the dome

As with so many of the G.I. Joe news, this was first brought to my attention through The Full Force Fancast. I’ve always been a sucker for everything Joe related, especially the products that are Joe, but not really the toys we know and love. It was no big surprise that I had to add these Jazwares Domez to my ever-growing collection. I can’t seem to find them on their website though, an update should soon come online hopefully.

They have been out for a while now, originally sold as blind bag collectibles. but recently they released this boxed Series 1 set that contains 4 Domez figures: Duke, Snake-Eyes, Cobra Commander & Storm Shadow.

They really do look like Christmas tree decorations. Maybe I should have a themed tree this year? 2021 has certainly given us a lot of G.I. Joe and Cobra news.

The art used on the box is the original card and comic book art of 1982. Needless to say that was a very good choice. Almost 40 years later and it still looks as awesome as then.

Cobra Commander is on the right side (for once)

I’m really happy that I was able to find them and get them safely across the Atlantic. Let’s hope the other ones will be equally easy to find.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!