@detectivehoag And yet Against All Odds he keeps coming back as one of the most popular Joes.

I mean he couldn't just let us walk away.......

@canprime 
We can thank his valiant efforts for giving us all Another Day in Paradise.

Just to piggyback on what Ace and Ru are saying; I think the Classified team actually deserves a ton of credit (although they don't read this so they'll never know) for the positivity in this thread. I don't think it's just what great people we all are. Early Classified brought a fair amount of negativity with it, given some of the bizarre choices being made early on.

But unlike many other teams in the toy world over many years, they Joe team really grew from that criticism instead of getting obstinate about it, or ignoring it, or whatever else. There's a lot of ways Classified could have gone, just in terms of fan reaction and general vibe. But the Joe team did such an amazing job pivoting away from what people didn't like and leaning into what they did like, that they really need to be credited almost entirely for creating this highly positive space. Because even when we don't like this or that decision, there's SO many good things going on in the line, and even the bad things mostly seem to be done with good intentions that some or others of us just personally don't like, that it's hard to stay mad about it. We just bitch a little bit and move on.

So yeah... again, not that they're reading this, but kudos to the Joe team for somehow managing to maintain a positive and happy consumer base in the world of toy collecting in 2025. Pretty sure that qualifies as one of the miracles you need to achieve sainthood.

Once the line has hit all the various ARAH inspired looks which generally gives way to the retro versions, I think alot of us who will continue will be primed for looks not seen anywhere else but created solely in Classifieds. Similar to what they tried with the first few waves, but even more cut off from their classic looks but hopefully in a good way. Plus all new characters specific to this line. Where’s my Samoan grenade launcher specialist, Pike Bomb and the Filipina field nurse, Ate Dee and other things like that?  

@leor yeah that's what is kinda funny... I'm really into figures like retro BeachHead for looking exactly the way I want, but also enjoy updated looks like the first Gung Ho (whom I prefer to the retro version, despite the hat), or even characters like Wolf Spider. I definitely want more of all three!

Posted by: @jayjonah

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I received the Iron Grenadier BATs from EE yesterday. I had pre-ordered six so EE sent me case of six. I really like the gold on these. I still like the Crimson BATs the most but these are probably my second which used to be the Arctic BATs.

You know what? I'd take a BAT in just about any theme and color scheme. Woodland camo, twilight, classic Cobra blue, Megatron colors, Easter, CoCo and Mindbenders Hawaiian vacation, I'd take it all. If the Black series gets christmas themes, why cant joes get something?

Classified team rocks for giving us such variety.  I know many people ONLY want the original 13, and I'd like to see them finished for their sake, but I'm glad they're giving us a wide range of original releases and new ideas.  Lotta people complain when things like Wolf Spider are made instead (not here but elsewhere), but you know what?  Wolf Spider is freakin' cool.  There's retro versions of classic characters, completely new characters, deluxes like Action Soldier... there's something for every Joe fan, while still leaving us wanting more.

My only real complaints are the limited torso/head/shoulder articulation lately on some figs, and the occasional terrible head sculpt or plastic.  If these "problems" are ironed out in 2025, I'll go back to buying virtually everything in the line.

I'll save y'all the "like" notifications and say you're killing me with these Genesis references lol!  And not a single person berated me for saying he looked like Phil Collins and not Peter Gabriel.

@spongyblue another gem of a Pursuit of Cobra design that needs a 1/12 update!  

Posted by: @vicious7171

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And not a single person berated me for saying he looked like Phil Collins and not Peter Gabriel.

I mean, he looks more like a Cobra agent to me so...

@vicious7171 I'd love the original 13 but I think I was a year or two late in starting to collecting so I never had the whole set as a kid--a lot of my nostalgia picks come from wave 2 on, so I'm REALLY enjoying how they're spreading it around a bit. 

The occasional dud head sculpt doesn't even bother me. My one complaint with the line was a bunch of dud hip joints early on, which they've done a pretty good job about fixing, and once they release retro Mindbender they'll have released a version of all the characters I have afflicted with that in a different version so my annoyance is way less now. 

Posted by: @docsilence

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My one complaint with the line was a bunch of dud hip joints early on, which they've done a pretty good job about fixing

oh yeah it was so bad.  I remember the first Destro I bought couldn't even stand.  He was looser than my garage sale o-rings from 1993.  The last figures that had hip issues for me were Tomax/Xamot, so it is nice seeing that aspect improve.  I'm so glad I'm not popping legs off and sanding the nubs anymore.

Side-note, if anyone is looking for Zandar and hates giving Walmart/Amazon more than MSRP, you can pay less over MSRP at BBTS ($26).  

@vicious7171 Now I wonder if I should try to pop and sand the nubs on a few of the older figures. I had two basically immobile Destros (I ended up buying one over the winter super cheap on eBay who had good movement but I'd basically given up on my favorite villain ever being posable) but I still have a Spirit and first version of Firefly who are basically scrap because of those stupid hips. 

If the rest of the line hadn't been SO GOOD I would've given up with all the duds I have, but they really seemed to do a good job listening. I've had some super tight knee joints but those always respond to some hot water whereas the hips were so easy to break if you put too much pressure on them. (Leatherneck's knees are a little stiff but blasted him with hot water and they loosened up fine.) 

I got the second Firefly but still sorta want that first one, probably to be a different character...

@ru1977 The second one one of my three favorite figures in the line just cos he is ridiculously fun. But stuck joint or no, the first one is really smartly crafted though, a very cool modernization of him that stays true to the character, and his head/mask is kind of hilarious because he looks juuuuust slightly unhinged. 

So I went to set up a Dreadnoks display last night and I don't know if I should display the first version of Zartan or the vintage. Can't decide which one will look cooler with the siblings. 

I'm not sure but I'd put one with them and one with Storm Shadow. I have the two of them with Firefly on the shelf, Zartan and Firefly just praying he doesn't learn the truth.