I got the impression that Vala is just a really competitive guy and he loves to go after the biggest dog in the room - which is Hasbro. Say what you want, but the fact that such a tiny company as valaverse can go up against hasbro and not just hold their own, but occasionaly even get out on top, is damn impressive.
And it is good for us. When two companies battle it out, the customer is always the winner. So let 'em fight!
Competition between companies is good for everyone, and no one is suggesting Vala not keep at it. But he's not picking fights with Hasbro - he's taking shots and they're ignoring him, so he's picking fights with random people online when they don't offer him unequivocal support every time he tries to make a point. And that's just kind of pathetic.
I got the impression that Vala is just a really competitive guy and he loves to go after the biggest dog in the room - which is Hasbro. Say what you want, but the fact that such a tiny company as valaverse can go up against hasbro and not just hold their own, but occasionaly even get out on top, is damn impressive.
And it is good for us. When two companies battle it out, the customer is always the winner. So let 'em fight!
He's not competitive, he's petty and small. He's attempting to take pot shots at the company that fired him and is acting like the ex girlfriend/boyfriend that can't let it go and move on. The pettiness is ingrained into the very DNA of his line since it's named after a Hasbro IP (and IP is something seriously lacking with his Action Force since he's said the novel is non canon, which also implies the comics are non canon since they were written by the same guy) as well as the Steel Brigade name. Meanwhile, Hasbro has been perfectly content to ignore him. There is no real battle here except for the one Vala and his fans percieve in their minds because Hasbro isn't participating in the BS.
I got the impression that Vala is just a really competitive guy and he loves to go after the biggest dog in the room - which is Hasbro. Say what you want, but the fact that such a tiny company as valaverse can go up against hasbro and not just hold their own, but occasionaly even get out on top, is damn impressive.
And it is good for us. When two companies battle it out, the customer is always the winner. So let 'em fight!
He's not competitive, he's petty and small. He's attempting to take pot shots at the company that fired him and is acting like the ex girlfriend/boyfriend that can't let it go and move on. The pettiness is ingrained into the very DNA of his line since it's named after a Hasbro IP (and IP is something seriously lacking with his Action Force since he's said the novel is non canon, which also implies the comics are non canon since they were written by the same guy) as well as the Steel Brigade name. Meanwhile, Hasbro has been perfectly content to ignore him. There is no real battle here except for the one Vala and his fans percieve in their minds because Hasbro isn't participating in the BS.
I think you and @h-bird have the right of it here. Hasbro never so much as mentions Bobby or his knock-off line in the same way they never acknowledged Lanard's CORPS figures even when those figures were straight up o-ring Joe knock-offs sharing actual retail toy aisle space with legitimate Joes.
Hasbro is a billion dollar corporation. Bobby? I imagine his company's worth is vastly inflated when he opens his mouth but even if he clears 1-1.5m per year in revenue, then he's taking home like what 60k in profit, if that? Vala probably makes less per year, personally, from owning his own company than many Hasbro brand managers make working their 9-5 (which is probably one reason Bobo is such a little bitch about particular Hasbro fellas).
But either way, Bobby doesn't 'go up against' Hasbro in any meaningful way. No more than Jada does, for example. They're just.. smaller toy companies existing in the same space as larger companies.
Also, we HAVE to acknowledge a basic fact about this bullshit Capitalism-cheerleader lie that these corporations are in competition with each other. For the most part they are not competing. Period. Sorry if that destroys anyone's illusions about how Capitalism actually works. The big companies have carved out niches for themselves where they don't HAVE to compete with anyone. If you want X type of product, you HAVE to buy it from Y company, regardless of whether or not Z company makes better toys.
If you want regular Barbie dolls, guess who doesn't have ANY competition for your consumer dollar? If NECA and Super7 were both making vintage toy Turtles, would anyone seriously be buying from Super7? If ANY company could make any type of Marvel product they wanted, would Hasbro still be guaranteed to be dominant in that sphere?
That's just the way it works. So to circle back to this; Bobby and Hasbro aren't really competing with each other. Bobby, in a smaller way, is more like a remora; one of those fish that clings on to a shark and eats its leftovers and the algae off its skin.
Do you own any of the toys? The weapon packs are great; the plastic quality, detail, and paint are fantastic for the price. I can't speak for the figures (I prefer Classified) but I'd be curious if you actually have tried any of the toys.
Nope. I was deadly serious that I would never give that clown any money, directly or indirectly. And even all those 3D printing companies can make good weapons, so that's not something I think tells us much. Fortunately, we live in a world where you don't need to buy things to know if they're worth owning. With the ludicrous and overwhelming number of toy bloggers, toy vloggers, toy websites, toy instagram channels, etc -- it's fairly easy to get a strong sense of a product without buying it.
Even among some of Bobby's -fans- there's a general complaint that his figures are suffering way too many breakages and problems. Some of the faces are absolutely terribly. Some of the weapons are scaled incorrectly. And one doesn't have to own them to see how derivative and awful many of the figure designs are. There's nothing here that I would call 'good' even in the sense of 'I'm interested in owning this.' It's just Bobby's unimaginative, sometimes outright idea-theft, trash.
And let's NEVER let it be forgotten that the only reason his figures are even as modernized as they are is because of people he complains about, like myself, that had to make posts telling him how to make these toys because his original designs were like 10 years behind the times in ROM/articulation. His toys will always be garbage because he's not an innovator or even a 'know what the current market is'...er. He can only survive in the industry by cultivating a bunch of angry right-wingers and convincing them that buying his shitty toys is owning the libs, and by having enough people around him to tell him what he should be doing because he sure doesn't know how to actually make toys himself.
That is all to say; 'garbage' is kind of a catch-all for a lack of quality control, a disinterest in taking care in the design stage unless specifically told to do something by potential customers, and just bland/bad designs. BUT, 'garbage' is also 100% a subjective accusation. If anyone else likes these things.. more power to them. Hope he only gets better in every way and you always get your money's worth out of your collecting.
I got the impression that Vala is just a really competitive guy and he loves to go after the biggest dog in the room - which is Hasbro. Say what you want, but the fact that such a tiny company as valaverse can go up against hasbro and not just hold their own, but occasionaly even get out on top, is damn impressive.
Considering how he raked the Street Humans stuff (regardless of the legitimacy of his gripes), he definitely does not limit himself to the biggest dog in the room. He's absolutely fine talking shit about anyone, even folks much smaller and less successful. He will punch down. And he insists on doing it in public while also throwing out his own merch. There's a conflict of interest there that I find really gross.
It's way beyond good natured competition between companies (see how personal he makes it when him getting Steel Brigade comes up). And as folks have said, he isn't competing with Hasbro. He's targeting a smaller niche within the market. He's doing fairly well at it, but he's not duking it out with Hasbro. He's ringside yelling "boo!" while they duke it out with other folks on the aisles.
It's all good. I've just bought guns and weapons from many companies, from ebay companies like liselome, to bigger companies like maruaders, and some etsy pages but the Vala weapons are the best quality for the price. They're great to use with Classified (I use them on probably 1/4 of my 100+ Classifieds). I can agree some of the scales are off; I do think they're getting better in this regard but certain guns (AK47 comes to mind) I don't ever use because they're flat-out huge. But the most appealing part, they're not gummy, no more noodle rifles and machetes. And the clean paint jobs...arming a Crimson BAT team with silver weapons looks so good. However, if the realistic look of Vala weapons doesn't do it for you, it doesn't matter how well-made they are; they won't replace a classic Joe blaster. As Hasbro fumbles with deciding between classic "realistic" designs and future war, I just like having the extra armory for figures that I think could use an upgrade.
Back on the Vanguard...the more I look at it, the more it's a pass. Like most of you, I'm more into the Classified vehicles, so money and space are an issue. But it's mostly that rounded SUV design. It really looks like my neighbor's KIA SUV. If it came in white, it would be a dead-ringer Karen mobile. Out of all the cool military SUVs, they could have done a HMMWV, URO VAMTAC, or lean into a future design like the Arquus Scarabee...but they kind of played it boring with what they're releasing. Comparing it to HISS in terms of size is so short-sighted; the HISS is stylistic as it gets and looks unique. At the end of the day, I'd prefer if my vehicles moving forward matched the HISS more than I'd want them to match the Vanguard. Charging extra for the missile battery might be the last straw.
I can agree some of the scales are off; I do think they're getting better in this regard but certain guns (AK47 comes to mind) I don't ever use because they're flat-out huge.
The new folded AK he just put out is a lot better in this regard. The new MP5 too. The first versions of both were way too hefty.
And am I to understand correctly that the 185 price being quoted does not even include all the things that are on the Vanguards in that picture?
Based only on how he's described it in the past, I think $185 will get you the Vanguard on the right with the removable gunner's turret and a generic but new driver figure (and coffee cups for the cup holders).
The missile pod is the only extra I'm aware of, but no price to that, yet.
The weird part is that $185 *is* a good value. There's no need to throw out versus comparisons. The price isn't what's keeping me on the fence.
Exactly, there's zero need for the comparisons. He should let his product and price stand on it's own. By implying that his offering is a better value than the Hiss Tank, he's asking for arguments, especially considering that if they had comparable loadouts the price would likely be a lot closer.
My biggest issue with how Bobby conducts himself online is that he simply cannot help himself when it comes to comparisons and picking fights. It just isn't enough for him that he succeeds, someone else must also fail. He'd make me so much less reticent to buy his stuff if he'd just talk about... his stuff. Even when he gives praise of his competition is steeped in irritation that he has to give them anything. And like, he could just... not talk about them.
A real shame, because I think he's got a solid line for the niche he's carved. The Vanguard seems like good value, but it's above my impulse buy price (so is the Vamp, but obviously much less so), so I need to like it a lot to take the plunge, and I'm just not sure the aesthetics are what I want. It'd be a good vehicle for the special agents coming out of Monster Force in a year or so, but it's not quite right for fully equipped military guys.
And 1/12 vehicles are, shockingly, becoming more common it seems. The Ramen charger is coming, the Roboskull is in production... there's no shortage of options. We're all going to run out of shelf space eventually.
ah, just get rid of that pesky, big, cold, metal box in your kitchen. It just takes up space, and holds nothing but food. Get that out of the way, and viola! Instant display space.
what? I’m helping… 🤤
It's all good. I've just bought guns and weapons from many companies, from ebay companies like liselome, to bigger companies like maruaders, and some etsy pages but the Vala weapons are the best quality for the price. They're great to use with Classified (I use them on probably 1/4 of my 100+ Classifieds). I can agree some of the scales are off; I do think they're getting better in this regard but certain guns (AK47 comes to mind) I don't ever use because they're flat-out huge. But the most appealing part, they're not gummy, no more noodle rifles and machetes. And the clean paint jobs...arming a Crimson BAT team with silver weapons looks so good. However, if the realistic look of Vala weapons doesn't do it for you, it doesn't matter how well-made they are; they won't replace a classic Joe blaster. As Hasbro fumbles with deciding between classic "realistic" designs and future war, I just like having the extra armory for figures that I think could use an upgrade.
Back on the Vanguard...the more I look at it, the more it's a pass. Like most of you, I'm more into the Classified vehicles, so money and space are an issue. But it's mostly that rounded SUV design. It really looks like my neighbor's KIA SUV. If it came in white, it would be a dead-ringer Karen mobile. Out of all the cool military SUVs, they could have done a HMMWV, URO VAMTAC, or lean into a future design like the Arquus Scarabee...but they kind of played it boring with what they're releasing. Comparing it to HISS in terms of size is so short-sighted; the HISS is stylistic as it gets and looks unique. At the end of the day, I'd prefer if my vehicles moving forward matched the HISS more than I'd want them to match the Vanguard. Charging extra for the missile battery might be the last straw.
I forgot who it was, but there's a company (that I believe Vala has whinged about), which Robo covered in his more recent play day, making 3D-printed 1:12 guns that are very nice. I've been considering those. But realistically, I just don't even own enough Classified figures to need them, especially when I'm fine with a lot of the Classified guns I have. Like, I have no need for a different gun for Lowlight. His rifle is great. And it seems like a lot of the newer figures are coming with better weapons than the older ones did. And I'm definitely in the camp that likes realistic guns but also fantasy guns if they look cool. So I don't need everything to be hyper-realistic anyway.
I think the gumminess issue is definitely nuanced. Too gummy and the weapons don't even hold up their own weight and that's definitely a problem. But too hard and the smaller things like barrels and bipods become extremely breakage-prone. This was a HUGE issue with old McFarlane stuff from his staction days and can still be an issue sometimes with guys like NECA that use harder plastics (but harder plastic holds detail better, which is why companies like NECA prefer it). So I can see both sides. Hasbro, ultimately, is meeting certain safety standards and working within those restrictions that other people like Vala or the 3D Printing crowd aren't. I definitely prefer a more solid accessory, but I don't necessarily hold it against Hasbro that they use softer plastic.
As for the Vangard.. no interest. I actually don't think the 'it's bigger than the HISS' is a selling point. "I'll take up even more of your finite shelf space!"
Don't need a mom van bigger than an iconic tank from THE sci-fi military brand. And really, I don't even think it looks all that impressive. I have a 14-year-old daughter, so I've seen a LOT of doll vehicles in my life and the Vanguard doesn't, to me, look appreciably better than stuff I was buying for 10-50 dollars even just a couple of years ago.
I collect Valaverse and Classified Series but Valaverse is mainly as random PMC/Mercenaries, SWAT, etc. If the lime was to die, I wouldn't lose any sleep. I do enjoy the figures but the attitude of Vala and his fans turns me off. I get that he has issues with Hasbro but just put out a superior product or at least good product and let it speak for itself. Too many times on his IG, I've seen him respond very rudely to fans who ask questions and the constant digs at Hasbro annoy me.
Don't get me started on his supporters. They always talk about guys like Boog-Nice, Shartimus, Dan Who, etc. for being Hasbro shills but they do the same thing when it comes to Valaverse. It got worse when last years Engine of Vengeance Haslab failed. You're becoming everything you say you hate but instead of it being for a giant corporation like Hasbro, your doing it for a smaller company.
As far as the Vanguard, it looks way too big and I'm on the fence on whether I'll get it or not. If it looked more like a Hummer then I would probably be more excited but it looks like an suv that some guys decided to make tacticool to do army reenactments or/air soft.
I still think the Rezvani looks kind of tall, but Bobby doubled down on it being to scale on 3POA. The Military Edition is about 6'8". The hiss driver's head line's up in the area of the white tampo on the hiss, that should be about 6' to 6' 6". I'm guessing the hiss would be around 9' tall, not counting the turret.
The real version has a button to shock the door handles.
The real version has a button to shock the door handles.
There's your Vanguard electronics upgrade kit.
I buy his figures but not going to buy this Vanguard. It seems like this guy has a hardon for Hasbro or the GI Joe brand in particular. He just needs to sell his product and STFU about GI Joe. I'm really tired of it.
Yeah he's weaponizing his fanbase, not by the quality of his product, but by turning them against Hasbro. KnightDamien is right, Hasbro isn't his competition. Post a picture of your product next to the Hiss, great, but then he's gotta run his mouth as well.
Back to the product, there's a new insta post clarifying that the missile pod will come with pre-orders but will become a separate purchase after the pre-order phase. I'd really like to see a video of the Vanguard features in action, whether or not I buy the thing, it would just be neat.
I forgot who it was, but there's a company (that I believe Vala has whinged about), which Robo covered in his more recent play day, making 3D-printed 1:12 guns that are very nice. I've been considering those.
I checked, they're Gridiron studios weapons, which are really cool but the prices are very high. They're a little closer to designer 1/12 figures in price. There's some great pieces though. If I were a rich SOB I'd be spending a small fortune on these things. There's a thread on Hisstank with lots of cool pics
Love this gas mask for Shockwave in particular (I don't think anyone really minds if this thread goes a little off-topic)
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