ACB Previews: This Weekends Big Announcements Now up for Pre-Order

In a year with few reveals and previews due to a lack of conventions, this past weekends Hasbro Pulse Con sought to give a few big announcements of items to come both in time for the holidays and right beyond it. Well break this down into three categories (in alphabetical order):

G.I. Joe Classified Series – Nothing has been hotter in 2020 for toys than the launch of the G.I. Joe Classified Series. So much so that orders for the initial wave were shorted, and before wave 2 even came out our Distributor sent out a notice that Hasbro could not meet the demand of the orders for the figures. There have also been some Exclusive figures that have proven to be quite elusive and virtually impossible to find. But 2021 is going to kick off with TWO more waves of G.I. Joe Classified Series, the first of which was formally announced this weekend.

G.I. Joe Classified Series Wave 3. While we’re excited to see Zartan and get a Cobra Infantry Trooper that is not a sold out Target Cobra Island Exclusive, the last 2 figures in the series are, without a doubt, disappointing. Rather than dipping into the wide array of characters in the G.I. Joe universe, Wave 3 instead re-releases 2 sold out figures from Wave 1 – Roadblock and Scarlett. These aren’t even variants, just pure rereleases.

At least since Wave 1 had been shorted, this will inevitably get some more Roadblock and Scarlett into inventory. However, it’s still a missed opportunity not introducing some new characters rather than having 2020 released figures announced as future “pre-orders.”

While the second 2021 G.I. Joe Wave (4) hasn’t officially been announced yet, both are scheduled to be available in January 2021. Presumably we’ll see Wave 4 announced in the near future (we actually have a “virtual” event with our Distributor tomorrow in lieu of the New York Toy Expo, so maybe Wave 4 will be announced later this week).

Marvel Legends – 2020 saw a big push for Gamerverse action figures, first with Spider-Man and then with the Avengers. Unfortunately, these waves both seemed to fall flat and not do particularly well for us. So having the Avengers Video Game Wave 2 set announced isn’t really as exciting as Zartan and the Cobra Infantry Trooper from G.I. Joe.

Wave 2 has Joe Fixit (Hulk) as the Build-a-Figure, which looks pretty cool. There is a new Iron Man (Atmosphere Iron Man) is a cool blue armor. It’s also nice to see Jocasta and Kang in Marvel Legends form (though if rumors of Kang being the next big villain is true, I would assume we will see a movie-version of him in the future). The rest of the wave I’m not too thrilled about. Captain America, while dubbed “Stealth Captain America,” looks identical from the picture to the Wave 1 Gamerverse version (maybe his outfit is darker?). The comic-Falcon looks like a cool figure, but we have the MCU version already. Then Thunderstrike completes the set.

We’ll see how it goes. Maybe when the game itself is more readily available there will be more demand for these waves, but so far they seem more like a bust for the Marvel Legends line. This set is actually scheduled to arrive in October, so we should see it soon.

Star Wars the Black Series – So the Black Series had some interesting reveals, like “Wave 2” and only showing 2 figures in it, or “Wave 3” and only showing 1 figure. So there is definitely more to come, but thus far Hasbro is trying to keep the secret (Psst… we have a list of what some of these figures are, and are really looking forward to some of them!). So what WAS revealed?

First up is the Deluxe Jar Jar Binks, from The Phantom Menace. This figure follows in the footsteps of some other “big” figures that were deluxe, like Zeb Orrelios, or the First Order Stormtrooper with Gear, or the Heavy Infantry Mandalorian. It seems like a stretch trying to have Jar Jar in the midst of bigger figures and have him be the same higher price, but he does come with extra accessories to help warrant it.

Going in movie chronology, the next figure is a Clone Trooper from the Attack of the Clones. There has been a lot of variants to the clone troopers of late, so it’s nice to see the original armored trooper. After all, all of those Clone Commanders that are so popular (and with extremely inflated after market prices) do need some clone troopers to command!

A big jump right past the trilogy into the hit Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, is the Incindiary Stormtrooper with flame thrower. When originally ordered, we were told that this was going to be a “Clone Trooper Variant,” and at first glance I thought it was one of the specialty clones, the Shock Troopers. But at closer look, it’s a Stormtrooper helmet, not a clone trooper helmet, and the box clearly says “The Mandalorian.” Anything Mandalorian related usually sells out quick, so if this trooper entices you, probably best to get your order in early.

The final figure is one from a vision in The Rise of Skywalker, of Rey seeing herself as a terrifying agent of the Dark Side. This Dark Side Rey looks amazing, including the twin lightsabers that can connect to be a single dual-bladed lightsaber.

All of these figures are now up for pre-order while supplies last.

G.I. Joe Pre-Orders:

Marvel Legends Pre-Orders:

Star Wars Pre-Orders: