2022 Stormshadow

So, it finally happened.  After a decade with no classic G.I. Joe releases, Hasbro finally acquiesced and bowed to the "retro" market pressure to create some new figures.  Only, they didn't create new figures.  Instead, they recreated two classics from the vintage line.  Sure, they are 100% new sculpts.  But, they are designed to mimic the original in nearly every way.  We can have different opinions as to if this approach is what collectors really want.  But, early sales showed that remakes of the 1983 Snake Eyes and 1984 Stormshadow, even at $20 per figure, were in line with the market's desires.

At its core, this is the 1984 Stormshadow.  It includes all the Stormshadow gear and is a nearly identical representation of, arguably, the Joe line's most famous sculpt.  There are differences with the most notable being the skin color, plastic type and the painted face on the figure.  With white figures, it's great to a brilliant version that hasn't discolored.  But, Hasbro's plastic from the 2000's is notoriously yellowing with aplomb these days.  So, there's no guarantee that Stormshadow won't face the same fate in 15-20 years.  But, until then, collectors get a mint Stormshadow figure whose thumbs won't snap and who doesn't look like he either peed himself or left his clothes out in the blowing desert sand for too long.

At some level, it's great to have a high quality V1 Stormshadow that I'm not afraid to use.  I have lots of fond memories of the original figure from childhood.  And, I'd love to recreate some of those moments in updated photos featuring a pristine figure.  So, this 2022 Stormshadow gives me that opportunity.  The problem, though, is that this figure, once in hand, felt like it had all been done before.  I got excited for a new Stormshadow in 1997.  Then, again in 2004 and 2005.  And, again in 2016-ish when the first factory customs appeared.  And, that's one of the main problems with a 100% homage line.  While it's awesome to get a carded Stormshadow for less than a car payment, the figure itself offers nothing that anyone with a collecting history doesn't already have in spades.  So, while the idea of Stormshadow is great, I've found that mine has been sitting in a book case, lying on the shelf since a few days after I got him.  Once in hand, the novelty wore off since there is nothing novel about the figure.  

It's extremely rare that any new figure into my collection isn't used in a photo within a week or two of acquisition.  Yet, I had to make a special set up just to get this figure into a photo for this profile.  I didn't have the urgency to do something with him since I have so many other options for this look for Stormshadow that I have acquired in the past 25 years.  And, that really sums up this figure in total.  If you've never had a V1 Stormshadow, this figure is awesome.  If you have multiples of the various releases of this mold over the years, though, it's blase.  I have no beef with Hasbro choosing this figure and Snake Eyes as the maiden releases for the line.  They make sense.  But, they aren't as exciting to me as if they were something new.  The upside, though, is that often means I'll find great value in these figures at some point in the future when I "rediscover" them after their newness has faded away.

The packaging of the figure is nice.  The cards are a bit flimsy.  And, even shipped inside the extra, special box, many collectors found the cards warped or bent when they removed them.  There was a small contingent of online butthurt about the international packaging.  But, as usual, it was a small group of people making a lot of noise about something they bought anyways.  For some reason, though, Hasbro didn't pack all the figure's accessories inside the card bubble.  Instead, there are a few of them tucked into a paper towel that is stuffed inside the bottom of the box.  

What has been interesting to watch has been the reaction to the Super 7 3 3/4" figures.  These 5 points of articulation releases have found some success.  They have a built in market.  But, at the same time, they have released nearly 50 figures in less than a year.  And, many of them are brand new characters and sculpts that have never been released anywhere.  Compare that to Hasbro where we know of a whopping 7 o-ring figures for 2022.  And, so far, only 2 of them are anything different than 100% homages to the original Joe release.  I'd love some of the diversity and fun that Super 7 offers in their line to slip into the Pulse line.  I doubt it will happen unless the o-ring line really takes off.  But, even then, the oddball and obscure new figures would be few and far between.

So, what do we call these?  Joe eras have been odd as there are often competing figure styles that can't fit under one definition.  I see the vintage o-ring era of Joe as 1982-1994.  The repaint o-ring era then spans from 1997-2011.  (And, there were precious few of them after 2006.)  This isn't the same as the JvC era which runs from 2002-2007 and features figures from that sculpting period.  The 25th Anniversary era runs from 2007-2016 and covers the figures in that sculpting style.  With Classified, it's easy.  It's just the Classified era.  But, that doesn't work for these o-ring retreads.  Personally, I'll classify them as the Pulse era.  We have yet to see any of the o-rings really appear outside of Pulse.  And, it's a good way to denote that these figures, while sharing a common sculpting style with the vintage and repaint eras, are completely new and appeal to a different type of collector than existed in 2000 and 2004.

Technically, this is the only use of this Stormshadow mold.  As it's all new, it has just this one appearance, so far.  I'd love if Hasbro were to make a red Satan homage or even fill in the all too obvious missing Cobra Blue Stormshadow.  But, I'd rather see repaints like that in an army building boxed set that offered a lower price point.  With sparse releases announced, so far, it's unlikely we'll see anything more from this mold for a while.  But, Hasbro's not really in the business of letting cheap repaints pass them by.  So, if the line holds out for a few years, it's pretty much a guarantee we'll see this mold dusted off, repainted and re-released in some form.  I'm OK with some repaints in the line.  If it means we get more frequent releases, they can be a good thing.  And, even with the 2000's era Hasbro repaints of the mold and the multiple releases done by Black Major, there's always something that can be done with the original Stormshadow that will attract collector interest.

Within fairly short order (a few weeks or so) the pre-orders for Snake Eyes and Stormshadow sold out.  This lead some to think the figures were going to be aftermarket superstars.  But, on the day that the pre-orders shipped out, Pulse restocked with figures that could be ordered that day.  At first, it seemed likely these were just leftovers from credit card declines and things like that.  But, the set stayed in stock for days, then weeks and then months.  In fact, you can still buy it from Pulse for original price, now.  What does that mean?  It's hard to tell.  The Cobra Trooper/Cobra Officer 2 Pack that is exclusive is also still available for pre-order.  And, while Pulse has sold out of the Hiss Tank/Baroness set, this was a shared exclusive that can still be ordered from other retailers for retail price.  So, the o-ring revival is either not as popular as the Classified series, or is produced in such greater numbers that it hangs around.  (My money is on the former, though.)  I'm not sure how that will play out in future months.  We know we're getting some additional figures.  And, the Skystriker's success will likely lead to another o-ring Haslab in late 2022 or early 2023.  

But, with figures not selling out, it does make you wonder if there really is a long term future in the format.  But, as we've seen with bizarre and collector oriented figures in the Star Wars line, Hasbro will milk something even for just a handful of releases each year.  That being said, it sucks to pay $20 for a brand new from the manufacturer figure.  Sadly, most vintage Joes that are mint and complete are heading for that threshold, though.  I don't know how this figure will play to the market in coming years.  We know there is a correction on the horizon.  But, we've also seen very common Toys R Us figures from the 2000's now command just ridiculous prices.  So, those who missed out on this figure might pay out the wazoo for this Stormshadow in 2037.  Or, there may be no market at all.  But, really, you can't get any high quality version of this mold with the full array of Stormshadow accessories for under $20.  So, there's no reason not to buy him now while he's still available.

My final verdict on these figures is that they are fine.  The toys are quality.  The designs accomplish their goal.  The price is too high.  And, there is too much packaging that I end up paying for.  But, we have vintage style Joes available, again.  This time, so far, Hasbro seems to be taking the line seriously and not treating it with the disdain that they did in the early 2000's.  So, that's a huge plus.  And, while I'd love more frequent releases, the $20+ price point keeps me content with fewer figures for now.  If we got back to the days of 50 or 60 new releases per year, the financial weight would be too great.  I'd love an option where collectors could buy duplicates in baggies, sans all the extra packaging.  And, we could save a few bucks.  But, toy openers are becoming scarcer.  So, there's probably little incentive for Hasbro to do this.  I do hope for some new paint jobs or even new sculpts to join the line.  And, as we've seen with the Skystriker, there might be at some point.  So, for now, I'm content.  All is well.  The line could be a little better.  But, it could also be a lot worse.  The Hasbro team seems to be aware of what collectors might like.  I'm just not sold that there's enough of us left to really drive this line to be anything other than sporadic nostalgia.