September 2011 - Every other month, Hasbro will answer a few questions about their GI Joe products. Below are the questions and answers for this month.
1) Can you tell us anything about what goes into choosing/developing a convention-exclusive action figure? For example, Sgt Slaughter, Zarana, and Cobra Commander from recent San Diego Comic-Cons all had 'easy' variants to make, basically giving fans two figures from one character.
Answer: Usually, the design and marketing team sit down and have a brainstorm to look at all the possible ideas that we could do for Comic-Con. We usually look at them through a few filters - collector requests that won't make it into mainline, pop culture reference and PR worthiness. Once we evaluate the ideas through these filters, a couple of ideas make it and we run with it.
2) In a previous Q&A Hasbro said there were new 7 packs in the works. Is this still the case and if so when can we expect them to be announced?
Answer: There are new 7-packs in the works. Their release timing is later in the year so we will be announcing more information soon.
3) I really liked the doom cycle vehicle in Pursuit of Cobra. Has Hasbro considered repainting the Doom Cycle for other Dreadnoks, or perhaps even making a new Dreadnoks-style two-wheel motorcycle that could be reissued in different colors so all the Dreadnoks would have a vehicle to ride? There are other motorcycles in other Hasbro lines such as the one included in the Wolverine vs Sabretooth TRU exclusive two pack that seem like easy retool candidates if Hasbro didn't want to invest in an all-new sculpt.
Answer: It's funny but the Dreadnoks don't usually make it to the top of the list when there's fan polling so we haven't considered them for mainline. While we could probably use some existing tooling for some additional Dreadnok cycles, we have no plans for them at this time.
