I completely agree that NF Zartan is a ridiculous version of Zartan. Having said that….I’d probably buy him and use him as a new character. I did that with green Firefly, that blue and orange Snake Eyes they made, I’m not as quick on the years they were made as they were before my time, and I recall a Conra Commander with a semi-translucent mask? I would never use it as Cobra Commander, but might use him as someone new. In the case of someone like NF Zartan, it really depends on how identifiable it still is as Zartan despite the Return of the Living Dead wardrobe.
As for Cross-Country, I’m indifferent to his flag, I get why it does bother people, but either way I don’t think there’s ANY chance it makes it out the door, at all. And Devil’s Due Shipwreck is another one I would have listed.
@valo487 Yeah I may not want NF Zartan and others, but I'm pretty sure I'll buy them when (if) they get released.
I'm the same with Cross Country. I'm not really fussed about the Confederate flag, but I'm also not American. So I'm good either way. However I agree that he isn't likely to see the light of day with the Confederate Flag.
However it is probably a moot point anyway since the original figure didn't have it. So they can easily do a release like the original toy and not include it and it won't be different from the original figure.
Having said that….I’d probably buy him and use him as a new character.
He could be Zartan's cousin, John Zarter (to play on the Edgar Rice Burroughs origin for Zartan's name).
I unironically love NF Zartan. Totally absurd and totally fun.
. . . which uncovers a mini-preference in the line for me: I am much more interested in the “fantasy” portion of the “military fantasy” than the “military” part. I literally don’t care if things are “accurate” as far as guns, uniforms, insignia, etc, as long as they are cool and fun. I don’t come from a military family or background so that part just isn’t a priority for me. I’m just here for weird fun toys, so Ninja Force, DEF, Star Brigade, Cobra-La and especially zombies and monsters are a feature for me, not a bug. And I am all good with villains looking villainous, which is why I prefer Cobra Commander’s hood to his battle mask. Like the only “nope” I have is Cross Country’s Confederate insignia (for non-Americans, it would be like putting a swastika or a MAGA hat on a supposedly heroic character, by which I mean: very not cool and a very big deal), and slightly to Salvo’s shirt slogan, just because “The Right of MIGHT” makes him sound like a jackass-macho “alpha male” jerk. I’d still grab a faithful Salvo, though, because statistically I suppose some of the Joes must be douchebags and maybe Salvo is the “Guy Gardner” of the team and the other guys just rip on him for his empty puffery.
Anyway: I want that full-spectrum Joe experience in Classified, and at this point the stuff I want most is the strange and unusual stuff. I think that of announced figures the three I am most looking forward to are Road Pig, SAW-Viper and Nemesis Enforcer/Immortal.
I unironically love NF Zartan. Totally absurd and totally fun.
. . . which uncovers a mini-preference in the line for me: I am much more interested in the “fantasy” portion of the “military fantasy” than the “military” part.
It's funny because for some characters, I'm absolutely in the same boat. Some of the Joes, I want to be very military-accurate, but with Cobras... I'm pretty down with absurdity and fantastic. I'm not quite at the point where I'm definitely getting Nemesis Enforcer, but I won't shock myself by ordering him eventually. (even though I'm WAAAAAY more of a Joe comics guy than a Joe cartoon guy).
That said, I still haven't gotten any Dreadnoks. I think most of my classified purchases so far (most of which have been in the last two weeks, since I just committed to the line and really went for it) are characters that aren't really any 'if I get this, I have to get that', that is usually my pitfall with collecting. I have Zartan, and could leave it at that. I also got a really cheap Zarana, and could leave it at that as well. If I get one Dreadnok though, I have to get the other two (and could leave it at that, skipping Road Pig and any going forward). Even Zandar I can be okay not having. So yeah, I'm holding out until I've gotten everyone else on my list, heh.
I’d still grab a faithful Salvo, though, because statistically I suppose some of the Joes must be douchebags and maybe Salvo is the “Guy Gardner” of the team and the other guys just rip on him for his empty puffery.
First off, you're right that some have gotta be douchebags like that, but also using Guy Gardner as a frame of reference was perfect for my nerd spot.
@aceofknaves ah man... Both compelling arguments for me as well!
There is no character or version that I don't want (although agreed CC could drop the belt buckle). That said there are looks I'd rather get first. We talked about Deep Six v. 2 in another thread. I'd have preferred '89 Stalker to a retro as the second version. Gold Destro is a must have. Gah! I want them all.
@chooch555 Deep Six v2 is absolutely my first Deep Six pick!
. . . I also want the Eco-Warriors version, with the dolphin AND the orca.
@canprime I should clarify that I don't really care about Ninja Force -conceptually-, or about getting the entire roster. I just think the Ninja Force version of Storm Shadow is, by leaps and bounds, the coolest-looking version of Storm Shadow and it's the version that has managed to get absolutely fucking shafted in two different modern Joe toylines now. It's goddamn criminal.
Besides that, the only Ninja Force Joe I really care about is T'Jbang. I will not apologize for how much I love that ARAH figure. Those are the only two Ninja Force figures I still own.
Although I also would love to get Slice and Dice on the Cobra side of things. I'd also take Zartan, but just for the pure 'omg, this is outlandish' aspect of it.
Ultimately, when I sit and think about what versions of characters I don't want (or care as much about) versus the ones that I do, I really think it comes down to age. I was at just the right age to miss out on being particularly attached to the 'first' version of many ARAH characters. That isn't to say I didn't own them, but many of them were from garage sales or hand-me-downs or trades. The first Firefly I got from a store was that green (? - I'm colorblind) one. And I LOVED it.
MY Sci-Fi is v2. My BAT is v2. MY Low-Light is v3. MY Wet-Suit is v3. MY General Hawk is v2. Guys like Salvo and Pathfinder mean way more to me than Grunt, Breaker, or Stalker.
I imagine if I were just a tad bit older, some or all of these things would not be true, and I imagine if I were a little younger that would also be the case. However, there's very few figures I'd say I don't ever want to see made or anything like that. Just that I don't care as much, and may not really be too interested in buying them versus the excitement of seeing 'my' versions get made.
@theknightdamien I get that, very much. Collecting these Joes is very personal for me too. I'm drawn to certain ones entirely because of my childhood. I got Snake Eyes and the Cobra trooper for Christmas one year, then Zartan for my birthday the following year. The year after that, my cousin was done with toys and trade me all his Joe stuff (which included the APC, Water Moccasin, Whale, Vamp, and maybe twenty or so figures from the first couple waves), and the first wave I really got into was the one with Alpine, Air Tight, etc. So, aside from Snake Eyes, that wave was kinda more meaningful to me. The first vehicle I got was the Snow Cat, and Frostbite was one of my favorite guys for some reason. I played with him so much that his beard wore off to look like he had snow stuck in it, so that worked out. But I wasn't quite the right age to get in on GI Joe at the beginning, even though I was lucky enough to get several of those early ones. But Snow Serpent, Eels, Alpine and Dusty were significant for me.
So yeah, a lot of my collecting on this line is based on favorites as a kid, or characters I connected with/enjoyed from the comics. I'm really hoping for a Classified Scarface.
I came around on Nemesis Enforcer when I made up my own concept of what he is, it’s sort of a riff on The Thing, and when he wakes up Cobra and Joe have to put aside their differences briefly to take him down.
Age is probably why I have such a fondness for Downtown, I never had Duke but Downtown seemed like a generic military guy, so he became the leader. And when Street Fighter came out, he became the placeholder for Charlie, Guile’s friend, so that figure got used a lot. Now that I know what his actual role was, it just seems…wrong, even though it isn’t.
There's nobody I actively hope they DON'T make, but, how's this for "collecting Joes is very personal": Ninja Force was right after I stopped buying the figures so I never really got into them (but my little brother? OBSESSED). Honestly, Classified does such a great job I can be talked into buying almost anything (I bought Nunchuk on a whim!) but if they don't get made I'm good.
but equal opportunity nerdiness - eco-warriors was in my PRIME buying age so would I buy Flint in a neon green eco suit? SURE. Is the entire team horrifically ugly? ABSOLUTELY. They'd get me for all of Battleforce 2000 too. I think I might still have Maverick, Knockdown, and Avalanche somehere. But that being said, if they didn't dive into either of those teams I wouldn't be heartbroken. (Deep Six with a dolphin though? I mean...)
If there's one thing I don't want, it's more classic characters modernized to look like right-now, living-breathing troops. Updates to make them look more high tech like Wave 1 is fine, but I actually find too realistic - Breaker and Clutch come to mind - is too much for my personal taste. I want comic book/cartoon figures, not toys who look like my friends and cousins. I will (and have) pick those up if they're the only version of a character but i'd rather a throwback or a tweak on the original of any character.
I forgot Cross Country had the confederate flag on his uni. I haven't seen his v1 figure in ages - could they do a version minus the problematic iconography and call it day? I don't NEED him but he was around a lot.
That Nemesis Enforcer bio, man. Yeah, they are weird and break theme and don't make any sense but if you're going to go weird with a cartoon, go BIG with your weird. I'm sold. I'd pick up Pythona in a heartbeat.
So want Classified figures of Slice and Dice! I loved those guys!
Heat Viper V1 is my favorite. I’d want him first. But I’d buy the V2 as well.
Love V1 BAT so much. But I’d also love to get a V2.
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