As a tangent...

One of the big things I played with growing up, before getting heavy into action figures, and kind of miss today even though they still make them is race tracks.  The whole experience of opening the set, putting together the track and then racing the vehicles only to have them crash on a bend.   Then, if the set was good, taking it apart and putting it together in a different formation.

Fun times, but definitely not something that can compete anymore with gaming.

@canprime those things used to be huge!  (Literally and figuratively).  Do they even make them anymore?  I can't say that I've seen any in stores.  I remember the weird hot smell they would get after a while.  I had one that took up a huge part of the floor in my room so I could never leave it up for too long.

It’s interesting to see how many people on this forum were born in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I’m an ‘82 baby, and it seemed like that decade was the most common one among the toy collector community, but it makes sense how much the toys of the ‘80s would be especially popular with folks born in the ‘70s since they were old enough to be more aware of them. Kids born in the ‘80s had to rely on their parents to decide on what toys they would get, which was the case for me. My parents started out getting me He-Man and Transformers, and eventually TMNT and GI Joe. While I was really into the ARAH cartoon, I didn’t start getting Joe toys until Series 7 and 8 in ‘88 and ‘89.

I just got an Action Soldier that was on sale at my LCS yesterday.  I haven't really gotten to playing around with it yet because I had to go to a concert last night.  Has anyone tried putting one of the heads on Desert Commando SE?  Wondering what that might look like if doable.

Funny thing I discovered fixing my display last night - Doc stole Shipwreck's pants. I was wondering why Doc had an anchor on his belt buckle (I know almost nothing about real world military stuff but even I'm like "wasn't Doc army? Why an anchor?") and popped over to Shipwreck to compare. Same pants! 

Also, 'wreck showed up during a huge deluge of figures for me so I never really had a chance to fully appreciate him. What a great figure. I wouldn't hate if they re-used that excellent head sculpt and put him in his more modern look too, for variety. 

Yeah... I'd be super stoked for this version of Shipwreck to show up sooner rather than later:

@panthercult I'd love this...or even the green alt version.  Bringing classic Shipwreck first was a classy choice by Hasbro but personally it's not for me.  I want him to at least look a little modern to fit in with the rest of the guys.

Side note, this Polly scales well with Classified Shipwreck, too.

I'd love that version of Shipwreck, though I would also love to have him in a peacoat as well.

Y'know, blue sweater, green sweater, or peacoat  I'd take any or all three. I'm glad they did the original version first instead of making us wait but those others would be rad. I'd also love a flying Polly (standing Polly is great but Freedom got wings outstretched, why not Polly!) 

Another random observation - I was messing around with figures not normally on display and realized - is Falcon the only one we've got so far who didn't come with some kind of sidearm? Arguments about his face sculpt aside, does he feel a little... skimpy on gear compared to everyone else? His weird face has grown on me a bit but I was just surprised I'd forgotten he only comes with the backpack, knife, and shotgun. 

Hey, what's everyone's go-to Snake Eyes? I've been using the version that came with the all-white Timber for a long time now and I'm thinking of swapping him out. Not crazy about the Alpha Commando one but kinda debating who to put in the display with gray-furred Timber instead to change things up. Retro is appealing but I've always preferred V2's knight-style mask the best. 

@docsilence Kind of forgot about that about Falcon.

As for Snake Eyes.  I don't really have a go to version per se, but my current favourite is Retro Commando Snake Eyes.   He hits a lot of the sweet spots for me when it comes to Snake Eyes.   A Retro version 2 with Timber would probably knock him out of the top spot for me personally.

Most of the other releases to date have been pretty great as well.

@docsilence I don't think he's the only figure without a sidearm.  At a quick glance I see Bazooka is lacking one as well.  But Falcon felt like such a weak figure and missing a sidearm doesn't help!  At least a bad figure with cool gear is a cool gear accessory pack.

My favorite SE is still 00.  He gets his own shelf.  Retro is a very close second, he's probably the best figure of the bunch, I move him around to various squads bc he fits in everywhere.  The first mainline SE goes with the main group, he just feels the most like Snake Eyes.  Desert SE goes with all the other khaki/desert figures.  The one with white Timber goes with Tiger Force, to me he fits in just fine.  Alpha Commando I just pretend is a SWAT guy.

Falcon is one of my favorite Joes so when he came out I was pretty dissatisfied with his loadout and headsculpt. At least his headsculpt will be solved with the NF Falcon and a simple head swap provided the the skin tone is the same and the pegs will fit the swapped head. I didn’t mind his classic load out but he really should have gotten another automatic rifle and/or at least a sidearm. Every Joe should get a sidearm bare minimum to complement their main weapon. Heck they gave Tripwire a sidearm in classifieds and his main “weapon” is a metal detector. To solve this I gave  Falcon the (if I remember correctly) leg holster and sidearm of one of the three Cobra troopers that are the Fire team for the Hiss. 

My main Snake Eyes is the retro. I’m my head cannon, that is his all around suit. The Alpha Commandos is for war zones and heavy firefights. Just look at the way he is decked out in that figure. The visor versions are his sneaking suits and used for stealth missions were speed and invisibility are key. I also imagine the visor suits have anti thermal technology built in making him harder to detect. Lol. 

Alpha Commando is my go to Snake Eyes, but only because it came out before the retro and included Timber. I’d prefer the retro, but am not going to rebuy another Snake Eyes that’s essentially the same.

If they ever release version 3 or 4, that will be my go to. 

I use the first one released with the head of the movie figure, and the strap from Storm Shadow so he's not hindered by all the grenades. Honestly the movie body is also a really good figure if you like the Ninja look better. Not sure why it gets hate. I really like it.

Posted by: @salemcrow

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The Joes called in the Duke boys ... when they needed a specific set of skills they couldn't find it among the crew.

The Joes had a need to run moonshine past Cobra?