Hasbro has a long Yo Joe! Last Tuesday’s June fan stream, I was so busy with work that I didn’t have time to watch all the shows, so I didn’t have time to write down my thoughts until today. I need to get them out, so if you still want to bask in the warm glow of the toy reveal from a week ago, read on.
The first interesting development is that Emily did not appear on the show because she was too busy with preparations for SDCC, and BMAC took her place today. BMAC seems like a great addition to the team, although I do miss Emily’s unique energy. On a related note, they announced that their HASLAB will be unveiled at this year’s SDCC. They mentioned that some of the monitors would have to be resized to show off, so, combined with the Diamondback logo on the BMAC t-shirt, I’m even more confident that we’ll be seeing the much-rumored Diamondback at SDCC. I dread knowing how much a large aircraft of this size would cost. Hopefully not over $300, but that would require a lot of plastic, so I don’t know if that’s realistic for Hasbro.
The two renders featured in this Fanstream are Dial-Tone and SAW Viper, both of which look great to me. I find it interesting how Dial-Tone’s classic costume looks compared to the bulky tactical look of the SAW. Dial Tone does make some modern concessions, with a funny little phone holster on his gun and belt, and what looks like a throat microphone hanging around his neck. It was interesting to buy a cell phone with him because a lot of people on the Internet are talking about circuit breakers, dial tones, and mainframe devices being replaced by cell phones in the modern era. The actual SAW on the SAW Viper also looks like it has a detachable mini chainsaw and a different style of trigger than I’m used to seeing with that weapon. The chainsaw is positioned on the nose in an interesting way, and I imagine the lower hanging weapon may have been necessary for the character to hold such a large weapon and all the bulky gear. I just came home with a cutout between the chest plate and the waist so he has more mobility than the Alley Viper.
The Alpine is the first of a new wave of four-digit standard retails, and for the most part he looks pretty good, in my opinion. I do think it’s weird that he doesn’t have a backpack, but I like being able to thread the grappling hook through the loop on the front of the belt and how the climbing hook is stored on the belt loop on the back. I could go with his more climbing style grips.
We heard confirmation of the Iron Grenadier BAT from the All Out Monthly Podcast a few months ago, and I have to admit that I wasn’t too excited about the prospect of another BAT repaint until I saw it. The vibrant gold makes the color scheme pop, and the clear chest part is long overdue for an official BAT release.
I originally thought the Iron Grenadier was more of a classic all-black trooper, so when I first saw the leaked image of the card I was a little disappointed that they went with a more modern version. That said, the leaked images didn’t show the helmet’s presence, and the action shots from day two have me 100 percent sold on these guys. I’d still like to see a more classic standard soldier look with more t-shirts at some point, since these guys wear SS-style jackets and ties to feel more like officers. It does kind of fit the original brief at the time, IG being a mix of commando and salesman, albeit with the sci-fi helmet and all the gold stuff, I was reminded of some of Ming’s troops in The Flash. I also really like how they look in the group shot, especially how the BAT’s head and hands interchange easily with the Iron Grenadier’s. Interestingly, these guys and BAT are already sold out on Pulse. Although they are now available on Amazon.
The last regular wave of releases was Storm Shadow 2nd Edition, and this one gave me pause. I hated it in the original packaging photo that leaked the day before. It looks stiff and bulky, and the super-low hood tucked into the tray looks particularly dull. However, it looks pretty good in this awesome action shot from @shootingthegalaxy . I still have some reservations about the look of the bulky skirt and sword, like they’re facing the wrong way and on the wrong side of the body, but the action pictures seem to indicate it’s still pretty flexible. The consensus I’ve seen online is that they will release a retro version of the card without the red accents. I’m happy with this, but I also wanted a simplified belt without a skirt or sword.
Speaking of retro card characters, they also revealed a wave of characters starting with Rogue. Now that I’m used to the more subdued green color scheme of the first S.T.A.L.K.E.L.D. version, I’m not clamoring for this, but I do like that they paired the camo pattern on the uniforms and berets with the original cards The way art matches. This is very neat. I’m not 100% sure I need it, but I think I might grab it.
I have a ton of the first two Cobra Trooper versions, so I don’t think I’ll be building this repaint with Stalker accessories. You can tell the blue is brighter than the original, but I wish they had a few on hand so we could see the difference better. I do like the freer articulation afforded by the S.T.A.R.K.E.R.’s cyber-gear, although it looks a bit out of place in certain poses. I think the secondary blue in there might combine well with the existing soldiers, but I’ll have to see some comparison pictures. I’d definitely like to at least give it a try.
I originally thought the rumored Cobra Commander retro figure would be a re-release of the HISS figure, with just a fixed Cobra symbol, so I’m happy to see they’ve done a little more work here with new gloves and paint, to Get more Sunbow cartoon style comprehensive. I also love vacuum metal heads, so this is a must-have. I haven’t opened my HISS Cobra Commander figure yet because I think it’s pretty much the same as the retro version, just with a new symbol, but the changes are enough to make me kind of want to open my HISS figure. I have no idea. It’ll probably be replaced by him on the shelf when this guy shows up, so maybe I should put that on the cards…
There are also some exclusive repaints that include Spirit and Lowlight in their Slayer Raider color schemes. I think the interesting thing here is that they repainted Spirit’s eagle Freedom into a new bird in the golden eagle color scheme. It’s also interesting to see some remixing of accessories, with Spirit getting some weapons and backpacks from Outback, and Low-Light getting Tunnel Rat’s backpack and goggles from Deluxe Zartan as well as a sci-fi style sniper rifle. This package is exclusive to Pulse. I’m not really excited about these two, but I already have the BBQ, and I think I’ll get the sergeant, so I’ll probably get the team done.
The Sergeant has also been repainted in Predator colors and has some accessories chosen from Constrictor. Oddly enough, the inclusion of a soft goods duffel bag is probably the biggest draw for me. It’s great for storage and fun for photography. He will focus on fan channel retailers and Amazon.
The final reveal is probably my favorite, the stinger!
The VAMP is an amazing toy, so I’ve been looking forward to a Cobra version joining the line, and I really like the way it looks so far. I don’t have much to say about it other than I need it! Oh, I do wish there was an explosion effect on the missile launcher so you could make it fire forward. I was wondering if I could cut a dog bone peg shaped hole in it to achieve this. This will be available on 6/18 and is also a Fanmazon exclusive, so there will be more locations to get it than VAMP, which I think is a good thing.
They also ended by revealing only the name of the upcoming character “Footloose”! He’s not one of my favorites, but I see a lot of requests for him in the community. They did mention that there will be some inspections throughout the month, including VAMP unboxings, but that’s just this month’s reveal. I believe there is much more to see at SDCC. What do you think of the Yo Joe June fan stream? Do you prefer a big news dump earlier in the month, or smaller feeds throughout the month like in previous years? I figured now that so much was known, breaking the big news all at once seemed like a good approach. Let me know in the comments!
