2024 Ghostbusters O-Ring Set

Two years ago, Hasbro made a surprise announcement at the 2024 Wondercon.  Here, they showcased a new set of vintage style o-ring figures of the 1984 Ghostbusters.  They were to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie.  Their appearance was startling and amazing.  Fans of the franchise had a different scale of figures to collect.  G.I. Joe fans had a new avenue to add to their collections.  And, everyone suddenly wondered about the immense possibilities this development could lead to.  Were o-ring Mask figures on the table?  Indiana Jones?  Marvel?  Or, even Star Wars?  Sadly, we now know that the possibilities will not be explored in any meaningful way.  But, this Ghostbusters set seemed a solid test case for possible future products.

At its core, the Ghostbusters "Plasma Pack", as the set is officially named, is a great product.  For $44, you got 4 distinct figures, a nice supply of gear for each of them and packaging in a nice window box that is the same size as a DVD collector package.  The box was designed to fit on a home video shelf and could be used for easy storage.  The figures themselves feature all newly sculpted parts.  Sure, a lot of the body parts are reused among the figures.  But, the Ghostbusters didn't have a lot of variety in their movie jumpsuits.  And, the heads are close enough to actor's likenesses to know who they are without treading on those pesky likeness rights that would have ensured performer compensation.

In short, it's just a nice presentation for some movie homage toys.  It's not overdone.  It's not cheesy.  If fits that perfect middle ground for someone like me who liked the Ghostbusters but wouldn't call himself a full fledged fan.  

One fun thing about non-Joe content is that it gives me a chance to reminisce about other childhood moments that didn't involve Joe.  One such occasion occurred in the summer of 1984.  

In the '80's, we lived relatively far from my school.  Now, the distance seems paltry.  But, as a kid, most of my friends lived a long ways away.  Part of this was that there is a canal that ran between my school and my neighborhood.  Most kids lived on the same side of the canal as the school.  I was one of the few who did not.  So, while some friends lived only a couple of blocks away, that distance was doubled or tripled by the fact that I had to go out of my way to get to a bridge to cross the canal (and the major street that ran along it) before I could go back down to their street.  As an adult, this hurdle doesn't seem insurmountable.  But, as a 10 year old, my options were limited.

There were just three of of us who lived on our side of the waterway.  Both of the other two lived, literally, as far away from my block as you could.  Their side of the neighborhood was blocked in by a river.  We were on a little spec of land that had once been a single farm: bound by the river and the canal.  My one classmate named Erik lived in the original farmhouse on the land.  Now, it was determinable only by the home's architecture.  He had a normal yard and was on a standard block like all the other houses in our area.  We first met in early 1983.  It was here, at his house, that I saw my first Sears Cobra Missile Command.  I just didn't believe it was an actual Joe toy since it was crappy cardboard and didn't appear in the catalog.  The remnants of it were strewn among an ocean of toys that defined every kid's playroom in the early '80's.

We played together a few times.  But, as 1984 dawned, I was able to more easily bike to his house.  And, we began a long running adventure that also included our third classmate, Matt who lived a few houses down from Erik.  Erik had an amazing collection of toy guns.  One day, we found a note that had been written by Erik's younger brother, detailing some plans that he and friends had.  Matt, Erik and I created a "detective agency" to decipher the plans.  That idea was then expanded into fictional adventures where we were dedicated to toppling the ultimate bad guy: Frank Lupo.  You might recognize that name.  Lupo was a credited produced on the A-Team.  (Among a slew of other shows.)  I just saw the name and thought it was cool.  So, he became our fictional bad guy.  

We'd then all load up with various guns and run around the neighborhood, chasing the imaginary Lupo and his goons.  When we got tired, we'd retreat to Erik's basement where it was cool.  As was par for that era, his dad had a bar in the basement sitting room.  We'd sit there and plan out the next phase of the story.  One particular detail I recall of this was that Erik's basement was always stocked with food.  Notably, several huge boxes of Honeycomb cereal.  My mother wouldn't buy us Honeycomb.  (She'd buy us Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies and all sorts of other sugary cereals.  No idea was Honeycomb was off limits.)  So, I remember the boxes, sitting on a shelf that was in a room opposite the sitting area where we'd listen to cassette tapes of the Police or RATT and plan out our next adventure.

The other thing Erik had in his backyard was an old VW van.  Oddly, another friend named Eric, who lived closer to school, also had a VW van in his backyard.  The two families weren't connected.  It was just one of those Doofenshmirtz coincidences.  But, we could play in this van, shooting at other cars and pretending to drive maniacally as we either pursued Lupo or were being chased by him.  It's somewhat surreal to think back about how we could play during the '80's.  We'd run all over the neighborhood, through people's yards, onto the public levees along the river and even go into stores all while carrying very realistic looking toy guns.  At any given moment, none of our parents really knew where we were.  But, they knew we were in the general neighborhood, and that was good enough.

One day in the summer of 1984, Erik's mom decided to take us to a movie.  Or, more accurately, drop us off at a movie for a couple of hours.  I suspect she just wanted some quiet time.  It was me, Erik and another classmate named Damian.  Damian's parents shuffled him around various friends over the summer.  So, on the day he was at Erik's, we went to see Ghostbusters.  Erik's mom dropped us off at a local theatre.  (Years later, after that theatre closed, my childhood comic book store moved out of my neighborhood and into the theatre.  No idea if it's still there today.)  We each had a couple of bucks and bought a drink, some popcorn and went into the most empty theatre to watch the movie.

One of the things that's been lost in recent years is the fact that movies were always meant to be cheap entertainment.  They were designed to be a cheap way to entertain lots of people.  In the past 10 or so years, though, that's changed.  But, back in the '80's, it was a cheap way to spend an  afternoon.  We sat about 1/2 way down the theatre and enjoyed this crazy movie.  In the latter half, my drink caught up with me and I had to use the restroom.  I missed the "dickless" joke while I was out of theatre.  And, of course, that was the one line from the movie that was most discussed upon our return to Erik's house.  It was quite a while later before I'd see an uncensored version of the film again and catch what everyone else thought was the funniest part of the movie.  We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing at other scenes and  just roaming around Erik's block.  All of the blocks were bisected by alleys which ranged from fully overgrown and impassible to perfectly manicured.  We'd wander up and down these, looking for things to do.  It was a pointless existence that was tons of fun just due to the weird things people discarded back then.

If you fast forward a couple of weeks, my parents were going to take my brothers and I to an ice cream social at our school.  It was weird to be at the school during the summer.  But, it was a good chance to see my friends who were otherwise cut off from me.  While waiting for my familty to come to the car, I was out there, listening to the radio and playing with the cigarette lighter.  I managed to burn the circular pattern onto one of my fingertips.  I did this when I was distracted by the Ghostbusters theme that came on the radio.  I remembered the song from the movie.  I never thought I'd hear it again.  I wasn't aware of movie themes being radio hits.  So, hearing it was novel.  We went to the event where I told some friends about hearing the song and burning my finger.  I had to keep the burn secret from my parents or they wouldn't let me play in the car any longer.  But, those two items are forever "burned" into my memory.

I'm not a huge Ghostbusters fan.  But, had these figures been released in 1984, I'd have bought them.  And, they'd have found a home with my Joes.  The failure of '80's TV and movie 3 3/4" figures was that they were always straight arm, knock off type toys.  Or, they were done in a scale and style too far astray of classic Joe for the other figures to be compatible with my collection.  While I desperately wanted the A-Team to be in my Joe world, the crappy Galoob figures just didn't work.  They were shockingly cheap when compared to Joes and just weren't fun to play with.  Cool figures like the Secret Wars products were too tall and lacked the articulation necessary to be useful.  I'm left with childhood daydreams of every property being in G.I. Joe style.  I'd have loved to have had a Batman, Spider Man, Indiana Jones, and the Clash of Titans characters done up with full Joe articulation, accessories and production quality.  

In the adult collecting era, we've finally seen some of this consolidation.  If you get 3 3/4" figures, they are all articulated and designed like anniversary Joes or are 5 POA ReAction figures.  If those are your thing, they work.  But, most of the scale compatibility has come in the 6 inch arena.  If you collect 6 inch figures, you can get IP from pretty much every property you can imagine.  So, you see collections of superheros, TV personalities, Star Wars and other pop culture figures all intermingled in one giant collector diaspora.  If 6 inch figures are your bag, they sky's the limit.  My childhood dreams of o-rings just aren't going to happen.  The format works.  It's just not popular enough.  Maybe we'll see occasional one offs like this Ghostbusters set.  But, my reverie of all things being in the best format will never come to be.

We need, though, to really look at the quality of this release.  Each figure includes the plasma pack and wand that is attached to the pack by a hose.  You get Ray's goggles, Egon's little detector thingie and a single ghost trap.  Not a bad complement of gear.  The backpacks are cheaply done and don't have the Joe peg construction.  The hoses on the wands are less brittle than I thought they'd be. I'm not sure how they or the overly large shoulder rivets will hold up over 30 or 40 years.  But, by then, who cares?  Each figure appears as he does in the movie.  You can't ask for much more than that.

A couple of years ago, I showed my kids the Ghostbusters movie.  They enjoyed it.  It wasn't the cultural touchstone it was for my generation.  They laughed at the "cgi".  (They call all special effects, cgi.)  They never watched the second one.  They had no interest in it.  But, chronologically, my showing them Ghostbusters was same as my Dad showing me Casablanca.  So, that puts the cultural references and such into better perspective.  They'll have their Ghostbusters movie story moment over something that was an age appropriate new release for them in the 2020's.  And, I'll shake my head in disbelief at the movie that creates an indelible experience for them.  

It's tough to know how well the Plasma Pack did at retail.  There is a large Ghostbusters fan base.  But, historically, they've been more into the cosplay elements of property appreciation.  The price per figure suggests that Hasbro did a decent production run on the figures.  And, they found a solid audience in Joe fans.  The set, though, has been in stock at Amazon for retail price for well over a year, now.  Amazon has done various discounts and it's fairly easy to get it for around $35.  Every few months, Amazon cycled through a heavy discount phase and dropped the set to 1/2 price.  At $22, the set is a no brainer, even if it's just for one moment of admiration.  Since the Plasma Pack's release, Hasbro has offered no other o-ring products with the exception of some reused Joe molds in the Void Rivals SDCC exclusive set from 2025.  So, it seems the Ghostbusters may have been a one off.  

2024 Sgt. Slaughter

I was wrong.  Back in July of 2024, I wrote up a blurb about the recently announced Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck Transformer Cross Over.  I was not overly kind to the announcement of the new figures.  The initial image of the figures made them look like barely repaints that offered collectors nothing new.  As more, clearer images appeared, the Sgt. Slaughter figure looked like it might have something more to offer than my initial impression.  And, as collectors began to get the figures in hand and actually photograph them, I realized that there might be some value to the Sgt. Slaughter figure.  He was a lot more different from his vintage counterparts than he had first appeared.  And, while he still didn't fundamentally change the character's appearance, the figure ended up being the best Sgt. Slaughter that any company has ever made in o-ring form.  And, he might be the best figure of the Pulse era.

The one thing I did do with this Sgt. Slaughter set was wait for discounts.  Unlike the Hiss Tank, which dropped in price by almost 75% for a while, the AWE Striker and Thunder Machine never dropped below about a 30% discount in any sales.  (Though, cheap Thunder Machines were available at Ross around Christmas in 2024, just in limited quantities.)  I waited through the holidays of 2025, hoping that the Triple T set might show up at Ross, too.  Instead, they appeared, for full price, at Wal Mart stores for a collector's promotion.  Not all stores got it.  But, many previously internet exclusives were dropped into these endcaps that encompassed many collector friendly brands.  My local store didn't get any, though.  Not that it mattered.  There were no reports of widespread clearance on the items.  Online, the Triple T dropped to about $60 on a couple of occasions before it would return to full retail.  Finally, it dropped back to that price and I decided to bite the bullet and add the final Pulse o-rings to my collection.   

In hand. the Sgt. Slaughter doesn't disappoint.  He's got several points working in his favor.  The first is just that he's got a flesh colored plastic head.  Gone is weird head paint that's ruined so many of the Pulse figures.  In fact, all of his flesh is the plastic.  So, all his various flesh tones match up.  There's none of the mismatched skin colors we saw on the Baroness or Zartan.  It's amazing how much this helps make a figure work.  It was such a simple idea, too.  I still can't wrap my head around Hasbro's fascination with fully painted heads...especially on figures like Duke or Ripcord where they are supposed to wear helmets.  I'm glad they finally got it right.  It just sucks it was so late in the process and so many figures were lessened by it.

Sarge's colors are also vibrant and powerful.  The browns are rich in a way that we haven't seen since 2005 or so when they were used to simulate leather pieces on Toys R Us figures.  The green color is deep and isn't a common hue we seen on Joe figures.  It's all offset by a flat black tank top.  And, the final palette is accentuated by a white belt and a golden whistle.  The color additions allow this Slaughter to transcend the vintage versions.  He features a full 7 different colors.  Even when compared to figures from the height of the vintage line, this is an abnormally high count for different colors used on a figure.  The fact that they are both a combination of accentuating and contrasting colors shows a level of design that was missing from most figures.  And, again, it's those little details that really allow this Slaughter figure to stand above his contemporaries.  Even more than a year after his release, you still see this Sgt. Slaughter figure used in photos and dioramas.  He appears far more often than "more popular" characters...a testament to his quality.

Slaughter's only accessory is his eponymous baton.  This version is larger than the vintage versions.  It also features a string on the end.  It's closer to the accessory used in the Anniversary era than the vintage.  But, it works well for Sarge as you expect him to include it.  Had this version been released with the vintage figures, it would be less rare than those '80's versions are now just due to the larger size.  It's actually a little big for his hands.  But, the larger size of the figure allows the bigger scale of the accessory to still work with the figure.  I wouldn't have minded an M-60 to be packed in as an homage to the comic.  But, we did get a spare one with one of the other Pulse releases.  (I think it was in the Cobra Trooper/Officer pack.)  So, I've got some spare weapons with which to outfit Sarge when the baton isn't appropriate.

As a kid, I used Sarge's baton as a cross between Captain America's shield and Spiderman's webshooters.  He could throw the baton an incredible distance and it would always return to his hand.  I imagined it had a rope inside that pulled it back to him after every throw.  This allowed Sarge to scale buildings, take out far away enemies and grab onto fleeing vehicles as they sped away.  It also was the also humiliation for the BAT.  I hated BATs, even back then.  I thought robots were dumb and the figure was lame.  The BAT filecard mentions they burst into flame when hit from behind.  So, when Cobra would deploy them into a battle, Sarge would just sneak around behind the line of BATs.  He's then run down the line of robots and tap each of them gently on the back with his baton.  They'd then burst into flames and be instantly eliminated without doing any damage to the Joes.  It was the most degrading way for BATs to be defeated.  And, was the main use I found for Sgt. Slaughter when he wasn't manning the gun tower on the HAVOC.

With the Pulse era of o-ring figures now over, we can assess each figure against his peers.  When doing so, it's tough to place this Slaughter anywhere other than near the top.  I'll argue that the Ramp Rat is a better character and a more useful figure.  But, he features almost no paint applications.  And, his overall appearance is definitely below this Slaughter.  The Cobra Commander from the Duke/CC two pack is the only real contender against Slaughter.  He features the paint applications, brilliant colors and needed update that are tough to beat.  But, Sarge being firmly in the top 3 is pretty impressive.  Especially when he beats out stalwarts like Duke, Zartan and Stormshadow.  Again, I got this one wrong from the get-go.  But, I'm not going to let my initial mistake hold me back and prevent me from liking one of the best figures we've seen in the past decade.

You all know that I'm not a fan of the Transformers Cross Overs as a product.  I won't beat that dead horse.  The one thing I do wish, though,  was that Hasbro had been more creative in their vehicles.  The Triple T isn't really a collector favorite.  It's easy to acquire and cheap on the second hand market.  Really, it's not that interesting.  Instead, I imagine a world where the Transformers had turned into the Earthquake, Bugg and the Skystorm.  I doubt those products would have fared worse at retail than the classics.  And, collectors would have gotten some vehicles that were outside the standard molds Hasbro has reused many times since 2008.  I'd have even liked something like a green and purple Hiss Tank or a bright yellow AWE Striker to match the Transformers characters.  Anything to have made these products a bit more appealing.

With o-ring Joe production shifted to Super7, there is a very real possibility that this Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck are the last o-ring Joes that Hasbro will ever produce.  The Pulse era of o-ring Joes has been interesting.  It lacks the total duds that we'd get all too often in the repaint era.  But, it also lacks the sheer home runs that the repaint team would trip into every now and again during that time.  The figures are solid.  But, they lack any flair.  The best new figures are safe.  And, that's fine.  During the repaint era, there was a type of fan who believed we should "love" everything Hasbro made and buy it to support the brand to keep it going in hopes of, eventually, getting something good.  I was the opposite in that I was overly critical of Hasbro in hopes of holding them to a higher standard.  Neither approach worked.  I had high hopes when the first Pulse two packs of figures were showcased.  The Skystriker lead me to dream that we might get two or three of the vehicles of our fantasies from childhood.  Those hopes were unfulfilled.  Instead, we got a solid crop of figure updates.  That's not terrible.  It's just that we wanted more.  It does seem that Super7 is starting to get it, though.  And, their first showcases for 2026 show a lot more promise than their 2025 figure lineup.  So, there's still light for collectors.  Just in a different format than we'd have ever imagined as recently as 3 or 4 years ago.

If you go back to the 1995-1998 era of G.I. Joe collecting, Sgt. Slaughter was equivalent to the Fridge in terms of Joe fans' affections.  Both were considered joke figures that somewhat sullied the brand's reputation.  Over the next decade, though, perception of Sgt. Slaughter changed.  Part of this is that the 1985 and earlier die hards began to lose ground to fans who grew up on the cartoon.  To them, Slaughter was a key part of the team.  Even Larry Hama treated him well in the comic.  The real turning point, though, was that Slaughter embraced his G.I. Joe roots.  While I'm sure that the appearance fees at conventions were a big draw for him, he also seemed to genuinely embrace the sheer silliness of his cartoon persona.  And, this endeared him to fans.  By 2006, he got a convention figure and was the headliner for the entire show.  He began to engage with fans on old Twitter and would follow most Joe focused accounts.  He's call people "maggots" for their birthdays.  And, the photo of an out of shape Joe fan trapped in a Sgt. Slaughter headlock became the staple of every Instagram account who attended a toy show.  Sarge just seemed like a guy who got the joke and really appreciated that so many people had grown up with him.  You can now make an argument that Sgt. Slaughter is one of the top three or four characters most associated with the G.I. Joe brand.  That's quite a turnaround.

Above, I mention "any company" for versions of Sgt. Slaughter.  The reason for this is that are quite a few different Sgt. Slaughter releases from all  over the world.  The mold upon which this 2024 is based originated in 1986.  Here, it was first released as a mail away.  And, later in  the year, as the pack in driver for the Triple T.  Slaughter appeared in a new mold in 1988 as the Warthog driver.  (I'd have loved the 2024 color scheme on the 1988 figure.)  Then, things get more interesting.  In 1989, the Slaughter mold went to Brazil.  There, it was painted in the Slaughter's Marauders paint scheme.  Some of those figures were exported to North America and released.  Others were released in Brazil.  The figures are the same.  But, the packaging is different.  The timeline is murky.  But, I suspect that Slaughter then went to Argentina.  It's possible the Plastirama figure pre-dates the Estrela Marauders.  But, Argentina release years are tough to pin down.  Regardless, the original mold was released in Argentina as Sgto. Slaughter.  This was the best paint job of the original Slaughter mold.  The mold wasn't done, yet, though.  It then made its way to India.  Funskool released Sgt. Smasher (a Slaughter mold done in colors based on the 1989 Slaughter's Marauders version) for a while.  They also used the head to great affect on the Supercop figure around 1994.  The mold then disappeared.  The club resculpted a head based on the original for the 2006 convention set.  But, it was given an entirely new body.  So, there's a LOT of Slaughter figures for any fan to track down.

The Triple T set with Slaughter is still widely available for retail pricing.  Dealers have tried to split the figure out and you'll see a lot of them for sale in the $45 range.  But, they just don't move.  At that price, you're much better off just buying the whole set when it drops to $60.  Pulse figures just haven't taken on any aftermarket appreciation.  If we look back at the repaint era of 2002-2006, the o-rings from that time didn't really start to gain any traction until over a decade after their release.  Now, some are very desirable.  I doubt the Pulse figures will follow the same trajectory.  But, I also predicted the TRU figures would never experience great demand, either.  At the end of the day, this is the best Sgt. Slaughter figure.  If he's a character that matters to you, buy one at retail and call it a day.  

The Top 10 - 2024

So, here is the top 10 most viewed pages on the site for 2024.  The main takeaway is that Cobra Commander is always popular. (Different photos of him made up 2 of my top 9 Instagram photos, too.)  People also like to read about terrible vintage figures: especially from 1987.  Posts made in the first half of the year dominate the most viewed.  Traffic really fell off in the second half.  But, big social media sites now deliberately throttle posts with links to outside websites.  So, that limits who can see any promotion I do.  But, there were still 260,000+ pageviews and over 600 comments left last year.  So, that's really cool.

2023 Failsafe - 1008 Page Views

This 1 year retrospective of the Skystriker Haslab garnered a lot of views.  There was some good discussion on him, too.  In short, Fail Safe is an ok figure that works in the context of post vintage ARAH style releases.  But, the Skystriker has also fizzled out on the secondary market: largely due to oversaturation and the general banality of the figures.  

1984 Hooded Cobra Commander - Around The Web - 999 Page Views

The first Cobra Commander on this list.  Around the Web features tend to do about 1/2 the traffic of profiles.  But, this one exploded.  Cobra Commander is awesome and this iconic look got attention.

2024 O-Ring Ghostbusters Debut - 686 Page Views

These figures were a complete surprise.  Reaction to them was overwhelmingly positive.  The figures have just started shipping in recent weeks.  I'm hoping to get a set to profile at some point in 2025.

1987 Raptor - 565 Page Views

Raptor is a terrible figure.  Larry Hama made sour lemonade out of lemons, though, and got him a more memorable run in the comic than the figure certainly deserved.

1987 Taurus - 545 Page Views

Taurus benefits from his 1987 release year and association with Sgt. Slaughter from the cartoon.  So, a poorly designed (but well sculpted!) figure has its fans.

2004 Night Force Short Fuse - 478 Page Views

Another theme is that figures from the 2000's tend to do fairly well when it comes to views.  Night Force is a collector friendly theme.  And, Short Fuse is uses a great mold.

2005 Clear Cobra Commander - 477 Page Views

The second Cobra Commander on the list is also a 2000's era figure.  This clear figure is a gimmick that works.  

1985 Snake Eyes - 454 Page Views

The 1985 Snake Eyes might be the best figure in the Joe line.  And, this was my 25th Anniversary profile.  

Rarities - 1986 Promotional Poster - 429 Page Views

This promo from 1986 is full of pre-production figures.  That's one of the most popular years of Joe figures.  And, it was my most view Rarities post of 2024.

1994 Star Brigade Sci Fi - 420 Page Views

Star Brigade (and 1990's figures in general) have gotten more popular in recent years.  I'm going to revisit my favorite figure from the subset in 2025.  Need to get some pics of him!

We'll see what 2025 brings.  We should see some decent Super7 figures.  (Unless their venture capital overlords do them in first.)  Black Major has some amazing stuff coming and is always good for a few surprises.  LadyJayeToys has teased some Jinx and Pilot Scarlett/Ace figures, too.  So, there should be a lot happening in the world.  What resonates is always surprising, though.  So, it will be fun to see what captures your attention next year.

What's Left?

Recently, General Liederkranz undertook a project to photograph the remaining figures in his collection that he had yet to take out for a photo shoot.  It got me to thinking: what figures do I have left to profile?  There's over 1600 posts on this blog...most of them showcasing a G.I. Joe figure of some sort.  So, who do I have yet to look at?  

It's a tough question since you can put various boxes around it.  Do I just look at the vintage run?  Do I include the repaint era?  What about convention figures?  Funskool was easier to get than many of the Toys R Us exclusives during the early 2000's.  So, do I add them to the list?  I went with 1982 through 2001.  Mostly because I don't collect JvC figures nor do I collect anniversary figures.  And, starting in 2002, you also get themed waves.  I also sold off most of my 2002-2005 figures, especially convention figures.  So, I'm missing a ton of figures there that will, likely, never again call my collection home.

Below is the list of what I haven't profiled.  Figures in red text are figures I currently own.  You'll notice that most of the holes are figures that are not part of my collection.  Outside of these figures, I've already written about most of the foreign Joes that call my collection home.  And, those aren't easy to buy any longer.  So, it's doubtful my roster will expand  there, either.  This list is a start, though, and gives some perspective on what's still out there for me to cover.

Original 13:

I don't collect straight arms.  But, I'll count the swivel arm versions of the original 13.

Scarlett, Short Fuse

1984: 

Duke, Cutter

1986:

Mail Away Sgt. Slaughter

1987:

Big Boa, Gung Ho, Steamroller, Golobulus, Avalanche, Fridge

1988:

Astro Viper, Armadillo, Ferret, Skidmark, Tiger Force Duke, Night Force Falcon, Night Force Outback, Night Force Tunnel Rat

1989:

HEAT Viper, Windchill, Slaughters Marauders BBQ, Slaughters Marauders Footloose, Slaughters Marauders Low Light, Slaughters Marauders Sgt. Slaughter, Night Force Charbroil, Night Force Spearhead

1990:

Sky Patrol Airborne, Sky Patrol Drop Zone, Sky Patrol Static Line, Cold Front, Major Storm

1991:

Snow Serpent, Dodger, Lampreys, Tunnel Rat, Sky Creeper, Major Altitude

1992:

Wet Suit, Dojo, Slice, Stormshadow, Cobra Commander, General Hawk, Overkill, Ninja Viper

1993:

Alley Viper, Cross Country, Iceberg, Mutt, Snow Storm - Both Versions, Wild Bill, Bio Viper, Monstro Viper, Mega Marines Gung Ho, Blast Off, Bushido, Red Ninja, BAAT, Duke, Heavy Duty, Ozone - Both Versions, Star Brigade Roadblock, Armor Tech Hawk, Pretty much all the Street Fighter figures, Major Altitude, Dee-Jay, Stalker, Big Bear, Big Ben, Budo

1994:

Alley Viper, Carcass, Effects, Lobotomaxx, Space Shot, Bushido, Nunchuk, Slice, Stormshadow, Action Pilot - Blue Version

1997:

Blizzard, Iceberg, Snow Job, Gung Ho, Viper, Duke, Breaker, Rock and Roll

1998:

Col. Brekhov, Night Creeper, Shipwreck

2000:

Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes, Stormshadow, Whiteout

2001:

Big Brawler, Cobra Commander, Gung Ho, Low Light, Sure Fire, Wetdown, Flint, Iguanus

I'll fill a few of these holes next year.  I think I have 6 or 7 of these figures already 80% written.  So, you'll likely see them in 2025.  Beyond that, there will be some retreads.  In some cases, it's been 15 or more years since I've looked at a mold.  So, they'll be making a comeback.  I'll look at some more vehicles, too.  (Maybe I'll get around to finishing the Bugg profile I started in 2017.)  I'm thinking of looking at some more vintage comics, too.  I haven't really read the comics in a long time.  So, going back to mine some obscure ephemera from them will help alleviate the content gaps since I don't own many toys that haven't gotten a write up.  

When the year began, I didn't think that I'd get to 100 posts in 2024.  But, I made it.  Not sure if that's something to celebrate.  I also didn't think that I would not add any new figures to my collection after January.  But, that also happened.  Not that there isn't some great stuff being done by Black Major.  I just haven't had the compunction to actually pull the trigger to expand my collection.  We'll see what Super7 does in 2025 with their o-ring line.  

I'm now in my 26th year of doing this.  It's always amazing to see how many of you have been here since the beginning and how many have just learned I exist.  I appreciate each and every one of you who stops by, reads what I have to say and takes the time to comment, repost or just react to my content.  I hope you and your families have had a great 2024 and that your 2025 is even better!

Really, I might finally finish the Bugg profile.

2024 Ghostbusters O-ring Figures - In Package

This is a good product.  For $44, it's properly priced and the packaging is a perfect combo of collector friendly and space conscious.  I'm not a huge fan of the "retro weathering".  But, it's consistent with the retro offerings from Star Wars and gives a vibe...I guess.  Even if they never do another o-ring homage with a media property, it's awesome that these toys exist.

The figures are what they were supposed to be.  The price is right.  I can only image Joe 4 packs that had been done in this format and at this price.  Maybe they'd still be viable.  But, I hope this Ghostbusters set sells out and inspires Hasbro to take more chances like this.  Hell, they could reuse the Ramis and Murray heads in a Stripes 4 pack.  Until then, though, we can enjoy an o-ring set done right.

2024 BAT - Super7 ReAction+

About a year ago, Super7 attempted a crowd funding for an ambitious Cobra Mothership.  The campaign included a set of figures that, instead of the standard Super7 five points of articulation, would feature the classic o-ring construction of Hasbro G.I. Joes.  These figures proved more popular than the ship.  At some point during this process, it was announced that Super7 would be creating a full line of classically styled G.I. Joe figures.  This was somewhat remarkable: for Hasbro to abandon on in-house brand.  But, o-ring Joes had been a monumental failure for Hasbro.  (So much so that the stock is still lingering over 2 years later.)  And, Super7 had found success with  their ReAction branded Joe figures.  Hasbro wanted to, rightfully, put all their resources behind the Joe Classified brand.  So, licensing out the 3 3/4 license to a partner who was both willing and competent was a natural match.  In the summer of 2024, the first photos of the newly branded ReAction+ line surfaced.  They were met with cautious excitement.  As more images surfaced, the sentiment remained about the same.  People were excited for the figures.  But, at the same time, there were some doubts as to the final product.  Now, though, the figures are in hand.  And, the verdict on the figures remains, largely, the same.

Initial retail reports of the ReAction+ figures have suggested that Snake Eyes is the most popular.  Among collectors, the Snake Eyes was the least regarded figure.  We all have dozens of high quality Snake Eyes figures already.  Collectors were interested in Cover Girl and this BAT.  But, the BAT seems to be one of the most easily found figures.  This suggests that many of the retail buyers of these figures are casual fans who find interest in the major characters.  This is good since it will  leave the more obscure, collector oriented figures as something you can find at retail and, maybe, even army build.  And, it will sell out the less interesting figures of major characters that we all own in excess.

The presentation of the Super7 figures is geared towards collectors.  Unlike vintage figures that were meant to show off the toy, these modern releases are meant to be kept carded.  The layout of the figure and accessories are all geared for in package display on a shelf or in a case.  The figures are locked in place by a molded plastic tray to that the figure will still look great 100 years from now, long after the o-ring has dried up.  So, that's a nice feature for carded collectors and an added expense for loose collectors.

Accessory wise, the BAT is excellent.  You get two removable hands: one left and one right.  Then, there's the backpack that holds the additional three classic BAT attachments: the claw, laser and flame thrower.  The attachments are all new and feature updated detailing from their vintage inspiration.  The BAT includes one final piece: an oversized rifle.  As a Joe accessory, it isn't great.  But, when you look at the comic panels on which this figure is based, the rifle is a pretty nice match.  It's certainly better than the Hasbro accessories from the repaint era Comic Packs.  The Super7 weapons have been the weak point on the figures, so far.  It will be interesting to see how these evolve over time.  But, the gear has a precision fit to the figure in a way we haven't seen since about 1992.  So, that is a nice feature of these figures, so far.

I am also impressed with the quality of the figure.  The paint masks are sharp.  But, the real surprise was the joints.  All my ReAction figures had relatively stiff joints and would creak when you moved them.  Out of the package, this BAT has no such flaws.  The joints move freely with no sticking or catching.  But, they are also very tight and the figure can hold a variety of poses.  The removable attachments fit onto the pegs even better than those from the 1986 BAT do.  And, the figure could hold his accessories.  I could never get the ReAction figures to do that without fear of stripping paint or plastic off the weapon handle.  In short, they are very nice.  It's different plastic than vintage Joes and it's not the rubbery stuff that's rotting away from the 2000's.

So, my thoughts on the figure.  Since the beginning, I've felt something looked "off" about all the Super7 designs.  The most glaring design feature that drove this is the figure's heads.  The more cartoon inspired heads look very out of place on ARAH bodies.  And, the human heads, in particular are egregiously out of proportion to the older style body pieces.  But, even the masked and helmeted heads are a bit too detailed for the bodies.  The other thing that was noticeable is that the figures are smooth.  ARAH figures have just the right blend of folds, creases and pockets to give the legs and torsos some heft.  They are more realistic looks of how clothes hang on a human body.  The Super7 figures remain overly straight, though.  And, this gives them a bit of a knock off feel.  Remco and even Lanard skimped on sculpting and design elements like the detailed fit of clothing.  Super7 went the same route and it makes the figures stand out from vintage Joes and appear more in line with the cheap imitators who dominated the discount stores of the '80's.  

The last thing, though, was not something I really recognized until I got the figures in hand.  This BAT features a ton of sculpted details on his chest and legs.  But, they are all flat to the figure's body.  There's barely any elevation at all from the base sculpt.  In the vintage Joe line, the sculpted details protruded quite a bit from the body.  Pouches, holsters, knifes and even superfluous details like zippers extend out from the pants, chest and arms in realistic proportions.  When looking at this BAT, his sculpted details are flush with his body.  This accentuates the smoothness issue because you don't have the visual break of extended details.  It also takes away some of the realism of the figure.  Things seem out of proportion because they don't have the necessary width.  It's not a design choice that, alone, makes the figures bad.  But, it contributes to these figures being very different from Hasbro figures and, to me, makes them more Joe-adjacent than actual Joes.

Where the ReAction Joe line succeeded was mining the depths of the Joe cartoon for obscure characters and offbeat paint jobs.  It was the most diverse Joe line released since the vintage days.  So far, the ReAction+ line seems to be following that formula.  Cover Girl, Tomax and Xamot are all cartoon icons.  Supposedly, this BAT was from the comic.  Upon first glance, I would have guessed it a cartoon paint job.  But, the this is the BAT coloring from its first appearance in G.I. Joe #44.  So, technically, it's a comic figure.  (I'm going to have to write about G.I. Joe #44 at some point because it's been mined so deep for figures that have actually seen release even though some of the best ideas from the issue have yet to be considered.)  If Super7 continues a mix of comic and cartoon figures, they'll do well.  And, to be sure, I'm invested in the line if only for the possibility of both a Dr. Venom and a proper Kwinn figure in both his cold weather gear and the khaki shorts.  I assume we'll get at least one of these in the line: along with a multitude of other figures that will exist in no other form.

ReAction+ figures are $20.  That's a lot for what you get.  But, it's a boutique line with low production numbers.  So, you're going to pay for that.  Historically, the first wave of figures of a new line is overproduced and, eventually, ends up on clearance.  This isn't an indicator of success or failure, it's just the nature of an exuberant launch.  So, I fully expect you'll be able to get this BAT for a discount at some point in the next few months, especially as future waves roll  out.  Like the ReAction Joe line, these o-ring figures are available at all online retailers as well as Target's brick and mortar stores.  It's nice to be able to buy a figure on the pegs.  And, were it not for this retail presence, I would not ever have purchased one of these figures.  Target was pretty committed to the ReAction line.  So, I hope that partnership will not only continue, but also bring us weird foreign repaints that are exclusive to the retailer.

I have no real prognosis on the future collectability of these figures.  I never thought the Toys R Us repaint figures would be anything more than late line oddities.  But, now, some of them command substantial premiums.  And, it's pretty likely that these Super7 figures will have similar or lower production runs.  So, in time, they'll disappear.  It's just a question of whether collectors disappear at a faster rate.  If they do, it won't matter.  But, if they don't, there might be some future interest in these figures.  For me, my interest in these will be as a supplement to my collection.  I'm not going all in on them as they still aren't a close enough integration with classic Joes for me to do so.  But, you can be sure I'll pick up some characters who appear in unique paint jobs or have never been otherwise released in ARAH Joe form.  

2024 Sgt. Slaughter & Leatherneck Transformer

 Sgt. Slaughter himself posted this photo today.  It shows the long rumored Sgt. Slaughter and Leatherneck Triple T that is also a Transformer.  We all knew it was coming.  We all knew what it would look like.  And, now that it's here, it's exactly what we knew it would be.  Which is to say, this breaks no new ground.  

If you have a 1986 Leatherneck (which is a cheap and easy to acquire figure), you don't need this one.  It's nice to have access to a Slaughter baton.  But, this thing will run between $80 and $100.  You can easily get any version  of Slaughter, complete with a vintage baton, for under this price.  Triple T vehicles remain cheap and easy to find.  Some discolor, especially on the engine cover.  But, they're still not a difficult thing to acquire.  

So, really, what purpose does this serve?  It's great that Sgt. Slaughter remains involved in the brand.  But, there's nothing here that really speaks to collectors.  And, with the, arguably, more collectible Thunder Machine with Zartan and Zarana rotting at every online retailer, I really wonder who the audience for this product actually is.  Joe fans leave these behind.  Transformers fans do, too.  If Hasbro got weird, these wouldn't do any worse.  A green and purple Megatron that turned in the Cobra Bugg might actually sell out.  This...won't.

I've never waited for clearance for any Joe o-ring product.  I've regretted that decision terribly.  I've found almost no value in the Pulse era releases of vintage inspired Joes.  And, this product does nothing to alter that.  So, I think I have my first item where I will wait for clearance.  And, should this be the one item that sells out and I can't get for 1/3 the retail price, I'm OK with that.  I don't need to be a completist any longer.  And, I'm not convinced that these modern remakes will deteriorate at a slower rate than the already 40 year old originals.  

So, I'm left with what feels like the end.  Hasbro has finally released enough sub-par o-ring products that I've lost any interest in what they've done.  I'm OK with simply letting them go.  And, I'm one of the biggest marks for vintage style Joe figures that is still left in the community.  I've never even bothered to open the Zartan/Zarana.  Not even the scathing profile on the worst Joe figure ever released is enough to get me to pry open the box that's collecting dust in the bottom of a tucked away, basement closet.  Even at a steep discount, this Sgt. Slaughter/Leatherneck product will face the same fate.

The Zeroes - Mark VIII

So, I completely forgot about the zeroes in 2023.  Not that it really matters.  But, the Zeroes posts used to do fairly good numbers.  The purpose of this is to showcase the poorest performing posts of the last year.  As always, some make sense as the items are obscure or not interesting.  But, in other cases, the subject seemed like it would do OK.  But, for some reason, it didn't.

Action Force Stalker - Around The Web

This is one of those cases where a figure that should be popular just didn't do numbers.  I suspect that Snake Eyes repaints have gotten blase.  

1992 Dice - Random Photos

Dice is a cool figure.  His ninja action limits him, though.  Regardless, no one really cared about some random photos of this figure.

1994 Viper (Made in Indonesia) 

This was a disappointment.  The 1994 Viper is a figure I really enjoy.  And, these days, he is relatively popular.  At least, so I thought.  But, his profile did dismal numbers and was quickly brushed to the ash-heap of this site's archives.

2001 Destro

No real surprise here.  The 1992 Destro isn't that popular a figure.  And, this 2001 repaint is barely different.  So, no one really cared about it.

1994 Beach Head 

Another one that makes sense.  The 1993 Beach Head is generally criticized, roundly.  And, adding a splash of neon yellow to his paint job doesn't make him any more popular, even if the figure is probably a little better.

1985 Bazooka - Around The Web

Around the Web features don't tend to do great numbers.  But, this Bazooka was greeted with absolute silence.  It's an obscure figure that is more joke fodder than anything.  

Black Major Tank Commander

Usually, factory custom figures perform very well.  But, this Tank Commander didn't get a lot of interest.  Upon its release, this figure was pretty ignored.  And, it was cheap for many years.  So, that translated to a flaming dud.

So, that wraps up a year's worth of duds.  Speaking of which, Rarities Month this year wasn't spectacular.  But, it had some volume.  I'm at a point where it's getting harder to find oddities and rare items that aren't part of the secret cabal.  I have some items for next year.  And, I have 11 months to find some more.  

Until then, keep coming by for more items.  I'll have more profiles as the year winds down.  I just haven't had much motivation this year.  I haven't acquired any Joes in almost 6 months.  And, I don't really feel compelled to change that: despite some really nice factory customs coming out.  I need to pull the trigger on a Baroness or two and also gear up for some of the Low-Light/Beach Head/Shockwave colorways.  Until then, though, I'll have a smattering of content.  I've found that going back and re-examining some of the figures from the earliest days of the site has lead to some inspiration.  So, I might be doing more of that as 2024 winds down.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts.

Super7 O-Ring Figures

So, we finally get to see the Super7 take on o-ring G.I. Joe figures.  They are...pretty much as expected.  Basically, they are ReAction figures with vintage Joe articulation.  They feature the same heads, smooth sculpts and trademark hand design as the 5 points of articulation figures.  So, they will stand  out among vintage Joe figures.  But, they are also somewhat close and will work with vintage figures.

My thoughts:

1. The heads are too large and detailed for the vintage style bodies.  They will definitely not look like vintage figures.  
2. I'm not a fan of the hands.  But, the main reason is that the gear is much less likely to be compatible with vintage Joes.
3. The bodies are just too smooth.  They lack details that the vintage Hasbro team used to give the figures depth.  The smooth bodies look like knock off figures from the '80's.  (The smooth upper arms are especially egregious.)
4. The waists are too big and blocky.  This is a feature that also plagues many kickstarter figure lines.  
5. The crotch is short and stocky.  It's straight off of a K-Mart Remco figure.  It's hugely noticeable among vintage Joes.
6. The accessories don't look great.  The cartoon inspired designs are OK.  But, the guns included with the BAT and Snake Eyes look like Chap Mei type weapons that are overly large and embellished.

So, I'm left with an existential question: am I an o-ring figure collector or am I a vintage style Joe collector?  Because, I don't see these figures as being an extension of the vintage Joe line.  Really, the entire success of this line will likely hinge upon the paint masks.  If they offset the cheapness of the sculpting, these figures will be really nice.  But, even skimping on one or two masks will leave the figures looking more like knock-off Joes instead of an upgrade over Hasbro's work.

I'll  definitely use them to supplement my vintage collection.  Especially if they make missing figures like Dr. Venom or the Khaki shorts Kwinn.  Figures like Snake Eyes and Cobra Commander seem unnecessary since I have plenty of them that are already compatible with my collection.  The Twins (a surprise announcement!) and Cover Girl fall into the middle tier.  For the right price, I'll get them.  But, $50 or more for the Twins is a no.  Though, $35 might be doable.  

We're seeing Hasbro and other toy makers dropping prices and also pushing discount lines at brick and mortar retailers.  But, collector lines haven't felt the full pinch...yet.  So, it will be interesting to see where the price point on these ends up.  They were going to be expensive.  But, the market may not support that, now.  So, we'll see where they end up upon release.  I'll be hard pressed to pay $25 plus shipping for these figures.  $20 at my local Target seems like a lot for all but the best figures.  $12 seems great.  But, that's just not going to happen.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Rarities and Oddities Month - 2024

Tomorrow will kick off our annual Rarities and Oddities month. I've got a new post about every other day for the month.  So, there will be lots of content.  I don't really have a flagship post this year.  My quiver is pretty empty in terms of old photos that I've had around for years and years.  This year is heavy on the oddities rather than the rarities.  So, some of these items may be familiar to you.  Others may be new.  But, stop by to check out this year's crop of weirdness that I've found in the community.

As always, use the Rarities tag to find all the historical posts.  There's over 100, now.  Some feature some cool stuff you still don't see much these days.

O-Ring Ghostbusters Figures - Not an Early April Fools Joke

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....)