July 22, 2005 - (Sponsor Announcement) - News from SmallJoes.com:

GI JOE
We've just gotten in our first shipment of the new "direct-to-consumer" GI JOE product (a.k.a. "DTC"). You will not find any of this product at the retail store down the street. The first assortment includes six single-carded action figures and the Night Ops Humvee vehicle. This new GI JOE product is of the utmost collector-oriented quality. Please read my editorial at the end of this newsletter for some thoughts on this line, and where things are going with respect to 3 3/4" GI JOE.

We also now have the Valor vs. Venom GI JOE Moray Hydrofoil.

Also available are the Imperial Procession and Winter Ops 6-figure packs.

New GI JOE comic books in stock: America's Elite #0 (2nd printing cover), America's Elite #1, and America's Elite #1 (GI JOE convention cover).

MICROMAN
I am pleased to announce the arrival of a whole bunch of awesome new Microman product.

First up, we have the Aliens vs. Predator assortments. What you've come to expect from the Microman line - 3 3/4" very highly detailed and articulated action figures - now applied to the Aliens vs. Predator licensed property. Fantastic stuff, and a must have for fans of the movies. (Now, if we can just get Takara to do the Colonial Marines!)

Also just in are the Road Spartans - an assortment of four new Microman figures each with high-tech motorcycles of various styles. The motor-cycles can be combined to form the larger Road Spartan vehicle.

21ST CENTURY TOYS
New offering to SMALLJOES.COM - 1:32 scale military armor and aircraft. For those of you who love the high quality, historical accuracy, and precision attention to detail of the 21st Century Toys product, but find the size of the 1:18 scale toys problematic, you'll want to take a look at these 1:32 scale offerings. Same quality, same detail, just in a smaller package (a little over 1/2 the size of the 1:18 scale items).

If response is positive to this new offering we'll expand the 1:32 scale military toy selection in the future.

CLEARANCE
We'd like to remind you of the various nifty products in our clearance aisle. We're overstocked on these items, so the prices have been dropped (in many cases 50% or more), to help move this excess inventory out. Many good deals to be had - great, inexpensive gift ideas!

EDITORIAL - DTC GI JOE PRODUCT
by Corey Stinson
Owner - SMALLJOES.COM

Back in February the bad news was dropped on us - the GI JOE 3 3/4" line was being put on "hiatus", which most people understood to mean "canceled". Little did we know that last minute adjustments and new plans were flying around at Hasbro about the true future of 3 3/4" GI JOE product.

Jump ahead to present - Hasbro is now marketing 3 3/4" GI JOE product in a direct-to-consumer model. Mass retailers have been bypassed, which (at least in some respects) will allow Hasbro more design latitude toward actual product presentation, packaging, quality, and price point. As a result of this new latitude we are now seeing the GI JOE product that this writer has personally be waiting for since 1994. New product of the highest collector-oriented quality! Awesome new figures with great sculpts, great concepts full of nostalgia value, and loads of accessories and gear that actually go with the figure, rather than just being something thrown in the package as "added value." The most interesting new GI JOE vehicles ever designed are coming your way this fall.

At this year's GI JOE convention we were treated to a display of yet more upcoming product and the quality is staggering. I can find simply nothing to complain about. My GI JOE 2005 convention diary, including many high resolution pictures of upcoming GI JOE product, can be found here:

http://smalljoes.com/features/conv2005

So, where am I going with this? Speaking purely as a collector - trying to avoid sounding sanctimonious, or coming from a point of conflict of interest - this is a golden moment for GI JOE 3 3/4" collectors. The product we've all been asking for and dreaming about for so long is here.

Because of the direct-to-consumer marketing model and the collector- oriented nature of these offerings, it is now up to _us_ to show Hasbro that we as a consumer base can support a product line of this nature. This is a new marketing strategy for Hasbro, and they are going out on the proverbial limb with these offerings.

Much of this product was probably designed and tooled in the fourth quarter of 2004, before the direct-to-consumer marketing approach was conceived. In fact, it's likely that most of this new product was probably intended for the line that would follow-up Valor vs. Venom. Apparently, mass retailers weren't on board with GI JOE any more, and we're fortunate to have an opportunity to buy the product under this new paradigm. I mention this because it was easier for Hasbro to justify this collector-focused marketing experiment when much of the product was already designed and tooled (read: significant develop expensese already incurred). However, at some point (probably 1st quarter of 2006) Hasbro will have to decide if we, the collector consumer base, can financially support ongoing development of totally new product of this caliber.

At the risk of being repetitive - this is an important time for the collector, a time to show Hasbro that when offered high quality, collector-oriented GI JOE 3 3/4" product, that we will put our money where our mouth is and actually buy it, rather than pick and choose only certain items, only army build to try to impress friends, and complain relentlessly on the discussion boards about minutia.

We have some of the best new GI JOE 3 3/4" product ever conceived coming our way now through the end of 2005. Are we ready to kick our collective, collecting support of 3 3/4" GI JOE into high gear, or will we have a laissez-faire attitude toward it? What happens in 2006 and beyond is entirely up to us. Thanks for reading.

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Thanks for reading, and we hope you'll stop by and check out the site soon.

Regards,
SMALLJOES.COM Staff
http://smalljoes.com