It's been a few years since this figure was released. And, it's been completely forgotten. Despite the overall quality of the Riot Commando, the figure completely failed to make a splash among the pandemic era collecting boom. To me, this is utterly surprising. Usually, I'm not much one for 3rd party o-ring figures. But, I found the Riot Commando a really nice addition to the Joe line. He perfectly supplemented many other figures and could integrate rather seamlessly with vintage and repaint era figures.
But, my tastes, once again, prove eclectic. And, today, you don't see the Riot Commando much at all. This is really too bad. The figure failed so badly that it was offered at a discount for a while. And, the future o-ring offerings that were planned for the Eagle Force line never came to be. (Which is too bad as a couple of them were nice improvements that integrated with this figure.)
Fortunately, there's a bit of content out there that features the figure. Much of it was from the time of his release. But, a couple of people still manage to keep him around and in photos every now and again. I doubt I'll ever spark a Riot Commando renaissance. But, I hope a few people will check out the photos below and find some appreciation for the figure.
2021 RIOT Commando by atwooddan
2021 RIOT Commando by gen_liederkranz
2021 Riot Commando by saintsyn
2021 Riot Commando by Gigamach
2021 Riot Commando by gen_leiderkranz
2021 Riot Commando by toy_attack
2021 Riot Commando by atwooddan
2021 Riot Commando by GigaMach
2021 Riot Commando by u.n.i.t_gi.joe
2021 Riot Commando at atwooddan
2021 Riot Commando by gen_liederkranz
2021 Riot Commando by gijoe_guy
I did my part! I bought two as a result of your post from years ago. It's pretty fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI'm losing track of all the non-Hasbro o-ring figs from the last few years. This guy, the Skeletron guy, all the kickstarters I've paid for years ago and have already forgotten about because they're still not released, the ones that are somehow out already. Someone who knows more than me should do a round-up.
This is where YoJoe no longer being a resource really sucks. They would be the perfect entity to archive these lines...including the failures.
DeleteI don't do any kickstarters for this reason. I want to pay for product that's in hand and can be shipped right away. I didn't even pre-order things like the Ghostbusters figures for this reason. I'll take my chances that I can get them upon release without having to forget about them, update my address and all the other b.s. that comes with long pre-orders.
Exactly how I feel about these damn kickstarters! They're exploitative in the worst way. Want a product? Pay for them years ahead of time, sight unseen, and if you're lucky, years later, you might get something, after you stopped caring. Total BS.
DeleteThey look neat, but at $20+ each, you can't just build a 3 3/4" RIOT army. So he'd be a one off character hanging around Cobra or whatever, If I had one.
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten about this figure! Looks like they are at $15 dollars now so I might have to get a few. I had intended on making a small squadron a few years back but like Dan mentioned all of the other kickstarters distracted me completely from this figure. I can't see getting more than 4 of them but they do look undeniably cool, kind of a modified Iron Grenadier.
ReplyDeleteLove the photos too - the figure works very well with the Night Raven in the background. I remember that MLRS too! I wanted to get one for a time when they came out but I ended up disappointed with those Elite Force Mini APCs so I decided to pass.
I have my finger hovering over the Buy Now button on ebay rn. At $15 each, that's a good price! And the colors look like they would mesh well w the D17 Thunder Battalion figs and Skeletron Wolf Troopers -- they all went with black/gray/red base colors!
DeleteI had 6.
ReplyDeleteThese were really nice.
I enjoyed them quite a bit but life changes and I have to evolve.
Had no life changes occurred they would have still been a great part of an expansive G.I.Joe collection here. However, I would have eventually wanted to see more from the creator of these figures in this style. I'm not a "modern" or 4" style fan.
So in a way, still awesome figures and I highly recommend these but there isn't a follow-up or anything more to add that I could see. In a way, much like Hasbro in 2007, it's either buy something I don't really like and live with it or just walk away from it.
I bought a three-pack of them when they came out. I think they're great. They pair very well with the Skeletron o-ring figure (I have two of those, one for each head option) or the Delta-17 line.
ReplyDeleteI'm not 100% certain on the specifics. But, I think the Delta-17 guys and the Zica designs were intertwined in some way. Zica helped Delta or Delta helped Zica. Not sure how it flowed or who all was involved. But, there was some connection.
DeleteI didn't realize Zica had at least 2 failed o-ring Kickstarters. And, they came out and said that the o-rings were dead due to low sales. Cryptically, they mentioned that there didn't seem to be much market for o-ring figures outside of G.I. Joe characters. I think I get their intent behind this. But, while visually cool, they did take some of their Kickstarter designs to a far more fantasy place that even G.I. Joe tends to tread.
I somehow missed these back in ‘21 (navigating lockdown with a four-year-old will do that to you) as I was not really actively paying attention to Joes at the time. I tend to dismiss 3rd party anyway. I did break down and order two of these. They appear to be fantastic and are priced well compared to actual vintage figs. Too bad this is the only figure in the line. It looks great but I agree the helmet design is a tad overdone.
ReplyDelete