2022 Super7 Ninja Ku

Lots of energy has been spent on the Super7 G.I. Joe figures.  You still see the stale takes about them on various forums.  A few key points.  Hasbro is neither making nor not making 3 3/4" figures because of the Super7 figures.  Super7 fills a completely different niche in the collecting market than Hasbro.  These figures are designed for a specific type of collector.  So, things like articulation doesn't matter.  When I was a kid, I'd have loved a single figure type that encompassed multiple licensees.  Instead, figures from different IP's were not compatible and I ended up gravitating to the single property that offered the most diversity in play, which was G.I. Joe.  Super7 solves this by covering many different properties and putting them into a single, unified format that is based on the most popular standard of vintage toy: Kenner Star Wars figures.

I've seen Super7 figures described as not quite action figures but also not quite art pieces.  And, that's an apt description.  The sculpting is well done.  The paint masks are tight.  And, the plastic quality is far superior to Hasbro's current materials.  I have no concerns about the figure falling apart or breaking.  Sitting up on a shelf, the figure looks great.  It's meant as a display piece.  But, it doesn't come with the massive price tag of busts or statues.  They are a cheaper alternative for people who want to display pop culture characters but not spend too much and have a bunch of items that really don't look like they belong together.

Interestingly, Target has carried the carded waves of Super7 figures in the US.  So, both casual collectors and even just toy buyers can come across them at a retail store.  To make the figures enticing, though, Target case assortments include 1 homage figure to an obscure foreign release.  The first was Funskool Snake Eyes.  And, his appearance just showed how little the casual Joe collectors who joined in the pandemic actually care to know about the line's history.  Many derided it as "neon".  And, when it was pointed out to them that it was a vintage design from India, you got no further response.  That figure was followed up with Satan and, finally, this Ninja Ku.  The upside is that the figures are simple repaints of existing molds.  So, they aren't expensive.  But, they offer just something a little extra and make the overall Super7 offerings more diverse.

It's been about 18 months since Super7 announced the launch of their line and showcased photos of the first wave.  While that seems like a lifetime ago, the reality is that they've accomplished an amazing amount in a short period of time.  Since the launch, we've seen 4 basic waves of figures.  In addition, there are supplemental waves of army builder variants as well as some other, special, offerings.  From the beginning, Super7 has made it a point to include some things that are not available in any of the o-ring lines.  (Some of them might exist in Anniversary sculpts, but not all.)  Their focus has also been heavily cartoon centric.  This is a welcome update from the club dominated era of Marvel comic or bust.  And, it better represents fandom as it's always been an, at best, 50-50 split between comic and cartoon fans.  Comic fans just tended to be older and then quickly set up gatekeeping mechanisms to prevent the cartoon fans from getting too loud a voice.  (And, it was this way even in the beginning when Zartan's Domain was the most popular Joe website online and the club went so far as to fake Hasbro legal documents to attempt to discredit it.  Funny how that's been forgotten in the past two plus decades....)

But, in the first four waves, Super7 has offered: a cartoon Baroness, Kwinn in full Eskimo regalia, sailor army builders for the USS Flagg, Bazooka in a parka, Shock Troopers and GameMaster figures from the cartoon, a javelin wielding Lady Jaye, a Cobra blue V1 Cobra Commander with helmet (the fact Hasbro can't make this figure is just embarrassing), Cobra Factory Workers, female engineering troops, a proper Cover Girl with blonde hair, Cobra Paratroopers from the cartoon's opening sequence along with greenshirts in multiple flavors and female Cobra Troopers.  Just for fun, they've tossed in a sled with figure from the cartoon, some glow in the dark releases, tons of cartoon specific repaints of major characters, a couple of fun cartoon meme classics and Satan, Funskool Snake Eyes and this Ninja Ku.  Really, what they've done reads like a wish list from every fan who was online in the early 2000's: when things like this still seemed possible from Hasbro.  

Truth be told, I don't want Hasbro to be this prolific since just keeping up with one of everything would cost thousands.  But, Super7 seems to have found a way to keep new product coming out and providing fans with characters, paint jobs and oddball surprises that they like.  Sure, you see pictures from Toys R Us Canada with a whole wall of these figures just hanging there.  But, they seem to move well enough at my local Target store.  The fact that Hasbro has only released 6 carded figures in slightly less time makes you realize that the o-rings obscurity is a function of Hasbro's disinterest.  Especially when the figures Hasbro has made could be turned to simple, but highly desired, repaints with minimal effort.  I'd love a proper Hasbro Satan and Ninja Ku.  Cobra Troopers and Officers could get multiple color schemes that would be fun.  And, the fact that we don't have a proper dark blue Cobra Commander after 40 years just makes it seem that Hasbro simply doesn't care.

From what I've read, Super7's success rate with new characters and paint jobs is heavily a function of one of their high level executives being a legit G.I. Joe fan.  So, he's making the things he wanted when he was a kid.  Hasbro has lacked that brand insight since the vintage days.  They had a guy who was a 12" collector.  But, that's the closest we've seen.  Even the Classified team seems to have no personal connection to G.I. Joe as a plaything.  And, that's why we don't see fun and innovative stuff from them.  (And, the few times they do create relationships with collectors, they pick the same types of people: one dimensional collectors whose view of the line is stuck in 1984.)  So, you can bag on Super7's 5 POA model.  But, you can't attack them for the way they've approached the line.  Had Hasbro chosen the same figures and paint jobs from Super7's first four waves for the ARAHC back in 2000, the collecting community would be very different.  But, they didn't.  And, we're in a place now where crumbs are the best we can expect.

I only paid $5.49 for this figure as it was on clearance.  The Target exclusives have a different DCPI and were clearanced while the remainder of the figures stayed at the standard retail price of $17.99.  You see the $8.99 on the price tag.  And, I was fine with paying that price.  At $9, I'd probably buy a few of these figures.  With the quality and the gear, that price would be in line with the Spinmaster Batman and other DC figures.  The super heroes, though, have more articulation and include some low quality accessories and cloth capes.  At the $9 price point, I find the value between the two figure types to be equal.  The Star Wars Retro figures have risen from $10 to $12.  But, those have massive production runs, the Star Wars licensing fees and a gargantuan collector base.  But, $20 seems to be the current sweet spot for collector pricing.  We seem to pay it...for now.  We'll see what 2023 holds.

Ninja Ku includes quite a few accessories.  His complement is based on the 1984 Stormshadow contingent.  He has two swords, nunchucks a bow and wears a backpack.  The pack is hollow so you can store some of his gear in there.  I hang the nunchuks over the pack so there's room for the bow.  I have trouble getting the gear into his hands as they are somewhat stiff.  But, this is a me problem and hasn't been an issue for others.  

I really don't have a long term prognosis for the value of this figure.  I'm not familiar enough with Super7's other products to know if they tend to appreciate with time.  I'm sure some of the more popular licenses may have gotten more expensive.  But, I don't know how the G.I. Joe figures will age.  The first wave has been heavily clearanced at many retailers.  And, you can find later figures with some discounts.  But, there are a lot of characters in the line that can't be acquired in any other way.  So, those are the ones that will probably be the most desirable in the future.  

For me, these figures are interesting.  They are not something I wanted.  And, at their price tag, not something I'm likely to get into moreso than a figure or two that I can get cheap.  If these were in the $8 range, though, it's likely that I'd have many more of them, maybe even a full set.  But, that's not the model that's being sold.  Instead, these figures are a great way for collectors to scratch the itch on characters or color schemes that Hasbro will simply never do.  And, as a supplement to a collection, these figures aren't bad.  We pay more than $20 for a new o-ring figure and have to have it shipped to our homes.  So, being able to get some of these for that price is less out of whack for the market that I like to realize.  But, I do recommend that collectors try one of these, at least on a figure that you'll never otherwise see in production.  They're not vintage Joes.  They aren't meant to be.  But, they are a way to fill some holes in your collection and get some figures that will otherwise never exist.