We all know that 3 3/4 o-ring Joes have been a retail flop. Hasbro canned a planned 2 pack and we haven't seen any new packs in a couple of years. The Transformers crossovers are collecting dust at every retailer who was dumb enough to buy them. And, Amazon can't give away the Transformers sets for a fraction of the original retail price. What if, though, the issue with the vintage Joe style is not the 40 year old engineering. But, instead, it is the property on which the style is used?
Well, we're about to find out. Hasbro threw a curve ball at Wondercon on 3/30/24 that no one saw coming. They will be releasing a 3 3/4 o-ring set of the original Ghostbusters figures. Now, I won't pretend that I ever wanted Joe compatible Ghostbusters. But, for the right price, they are something I'll buy. From the mock up image below, the figures look decent enough. The heads will likely be a little overdetailed to be 100% matches for vintage Joes. But, the rest of the bodies look like they were stripped straight from a 1983 Doc.
It will be interesting to see how these do. The Ghostbusters Haslab funded almost immediately. So, there's a fanbase. And, since everything but the heads and Bill Murray's lower legs look like reuse of the same parts, Hasbro doesn't have a ton invested in the tooling. The proton packs look like 1982 Joe gear with the attached hoses. They should be more pliable than the old Hasbro accessories. And, I'm unlikely to be all that invested in their quality when these proton packs turn 40.
As a kid, I wished that every toy line and property was available in Joe construction. If Hasbro starts looking at other properties that could be ported over to classic construction, I wouldn't hate that. But, I'm also unlikely to fully support every product released in the style. But, if Joe isn't viable in the vintage style, I'm OK if other licensed characters are. I'll approach them much like I do Kickstarters and Factory Customs. If something's cool, I'll buy it. But, I'll easily skip anything that doesn't really speak to me.
I'll be very curious on pricing. If they price out at $22 each like the Pulse Joes, they will be a tougher buy for me. If they're in the $13 range, they're much more palatable. Supposedly, there is a compatible Ecto-1, too. Getting an all new 3 3/4 compatible vehicle will be nice. Though, the Ecto-1 is so iconic that it would be tough to integrate into a Joe collection. But, cool toys are cool toys. And, so far, these look OK and are a direction that isn't terrible for a company like Hasbro who has really struggled over the past couple of years.
(Update - it appears the figures will run about $44 for the set. If so, that's an amazing price. And, it also means that we paid $10-$11 extra per figure for the Pulse o-ring Joes....)
For me this is a resounding yes. I loved Ghostbusters as a kid and would often use my friend's Real Ghostbusters toys with GI Joes so this is certainly something I would have loved as a kid. The figures all look great and faithful to the characters from the classic 1984 movie. How will they fit into my Joeverse? No idea. I think the rumored price point isn't terrible either. The 1:18 scale Ecto-1 is also a nice reveal, I will be curious to see what the cost will be. I am probably going to get the Ecto-1 as well just based on pure nostalgia. With my collecting pretty much grinding to a halt this year so far, this will be a nice one off to look forward too.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that Hasbro could not offer GI Joe O-ring 4 packs at this price point or invest in any new or retooled vintage Joe vehicles though. O-ring construction being applied to toys that were 5 POA when originally conceived is a bit of an odd path to take. Perhaps if this o-ring is successful the Hasbro folks can revisit GI Joe and make note of this offering. I can only hope.
I am also curious to see how o-ring does with other Hasbro properties if they continue to go down this path. If Hasbro decided to release MASK O-ring figures as well as a limited line of the more iconic MASK vehicles in o-ring scale that would be incredible. If anything this news should serve as small jolt of excitement for o-ring enthusiasts as a whole.
I hadn't even considered Mask. I wasn't a huge Mask fan. But, there's some figs that would look cool in o-ring form. My mind immediately went to licensed properties like Marvel, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I'd love an o-ring Indy. Not sure how deep I'd go into Star Wars, though. There's just too much to start another line there. I'd pick up a couple of Marvel favorites, though.
DeleteThis price point makes the figures viable. Even for customizers to get extras. It will be interesting to see how these do. But, so far, I haven't heard any negative takes in the Joe world. Though, I avoid the FB groups.
If they made a 3 3/4 Joe-style O-Ring Marvel line, I would spend so much money on that. Granted, it would require them to actually commit to building out a line that could potentially encompass the whole Marvel Universe, not just make Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Silver Surfer and Venom with a new two-pack released every six months, but the concept of what could be makes my wallet hurt. I’ll be keeping an eye on how these do, even if I’m not a Ghostbusters fan.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if this is a test of o-ring viability as well. The problems with 2022 Joe offerings was the time between releases and a real lack of marketing support from Hasbro. Also, it was all re-hashes - Snake Eyes Ver 300, etc. Hasbro needed to do something really cool like releasing the 1995 Battle Corps Rangers line (figures and vehicles). Even haters of 90s Joes would have jumped for joy.
ReplyDeleteO-ring MASK would be cool too. I'm not paying $200 for Ramen Toys "Makina" stuff.
I'm really hoping it is. While I won't collect any other line to completion, I will pick and choose cool figures for sure. More o-rings are good. And, going down the Hasbro roster, there's a ton of properties that would be great in the format.
Delete"cool toys are cool toys.". AMEN! If Hasbro announces a MASK o-ring, I would cease trying to collect and restore the original (A lot harder than I originally thought).
ReplyDeleteI just about died when I saw these. Had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn't a fever dream. My absolute all-time favorite property, in my preferred scale. The fact these are in old school o-ring format to boot is just amazing to me. I hope we get repaints in GB2 dark blue and RGB cartoon colors as well, but I'm not holding my breath.
ReplyDeleteGB fans are mixed on these, most want more Plasma series instead of these. Those who do like these tend to also be Joe fans such as myself. I can see customizers picking these up to turn into pilots, mechanics, or other support personnel.
I hadn't considered additional series- MASK would be fantastic. Been waiting for that other shoe to drop since 25th Matt Tracker. Indiana Jones has never had a successful toy line but I would buy one in this format. Give me Michael Knight and KITT, The A-Team and BA's van, etc and I'll be able to finally retire from modern toy collecting.