Next up is a look at Hasbro’s other big franchise: G.I. Joe. Last year, an overwhelming cry from the fans brought back the 3.75″ scale figure. This Summer will see the release of the live action motion picture G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The new movie. starring Randy Quaid and Sienna Miller, will be supported by a massive tie-in toy line from Hasbro in the signature 3.75″ scale. here are all of the details on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe offerings.

G.I. Joe Classic (Non-Movie)

There will be a number of special non-movie G.I. Joe figure packs and series released this Spring and Summer. There will be a new G.I. Joe 5 pack introduced in the Spring, featuring new molds of Shipwreck and Lady Jaye. The Hall of Heroes set consists of redesigned classic versions of 10 Fan favorite figures. The lineup for this set is Beachhead, Cobra B.A.T., Cobra Viper, Crimson Guard, Firefly, Flint, Snake Eyes, Snake Eyes with Timber, Storm Shadow and Zartan. In addition, there will be two exclusive seven packs which will be available online: G.I. Joe: Assault on Cobra Island (which will feature Outback, Recondo, Zap, Chuckles, Hit & Run, Wetsuit and SPC Altitude) and Cobra: Defense of Cobra Island (which will include Dr. Mindbender, Range Viper, Alley Viper, Lampreys, B.A.T., Night Creeper and Strato Viper).

G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra

Hitting theaters on August 7, 2009, this will be the first live-action motion picture in the 45 year history of the G.I. Joe brand. Hasbro will be supporting the film with a robust toy line featuring 3.75″ figures, vehicles and playsets, in addition to 12″ figures. Here’s a rundown of the movie line:

3.75″ Movie Figures

Two waves of movie figures, featuring highly detailed likenesses of the movie actors and actresses have been announced.  Each figure will come with the standard clip weapons in addition to projectile weapons which create new play opportunities. Wave 1 consists of: Wallace “Ripcord” Weems (Delta -8 Accelerator Suit), Baroness (Attack on the G.I. Joe Pit), Abel “Breaker” Shaz (Technical Surveillance), Cobra Viper Commando (Desert Ambush), Conrad “Duke” Hauser (Desert Ambush), Heavy Duty (Heavy Weapons Specialist), Neo Viper (Attack on the G.I. Joe Pit), Shana “Scarlett” O’Hara (Covert Operations), Shipwreck (Naval Commando), Snake Eyes (Ninja Commando), Storm Shadow (Ninja Mercenary) and Zartan (Master of Disguise).

Wave 2 consists of: Cover Girl, Deep Six, Duke in Reactive Armor, Ice Viper, Scarlett (Desert Ambush), Snake Eyes w/Timber and Storm Shadow (Paris Pursuit).

Noticeably absent from both of these waves are figures of Destro and Cobra Commander. Both of these characters are in the film, but Hasbro had no imagery or prototypes of the figures available for show. We hope to have details on these figures soon. In addition to the single carded figures, a three pack of 3.75″ figures called M.A.R.S. (Military Armaments Research Syndicate) Troopers will be available.

Movie Vehicles

The movie line will feature re-imagined versions of classic vehicles. There will be two main classes of vehicles. Alpha or A and Bravo or B. Each vehicle comes with a figure. The Alpha Class contains the smallest vehicles. The lineup consists of: Armored Panther w/Sgt. Thunderblast, Mole Pod w/Terra Viper, Rockslide A.T.A.V. w/Snow Job and Snake Trax A.T.V. w/Scrap-Iron.

The Bravo Class contains medium sized vehicles. The lineup consists of: Cobra Gunship w/Firefly, Ice Dagger w/Frost Bite and Steel Crusher APV w/Nitro Viper.

The only large vehicle announced thus far is the Night Raven, a new version of one of the cooler Cobra jets. It will feature light and sounds and a new “Lock and Load” system that will ready the missiles for attack. This is the largest vehicle in the movie line. It will come with an Air Viper figure.

Movie Playset – The PIT

G.I. Joe’s base of operations is the massive PIT. This will be the “Big Ticket” item of the 3.75″ line, retailing for $99.99. The PIT serves as the characters’ training facility, living quarters and heavy equipment storage facility. The state-of-the-art expandable multi-level play set is equipped with sounds, an elevator and much more. The PIT folds out and upward to create an absolutely enormous play space. It also has a ramp which can fold down onto a table top, allowing kids to drive vehicles onto the PIT. It will feature pegs for up to 84 figures and will be 2′ tall and 3′ wide when fully extended. The playset will come with an exclusive General Hawk figure, which will not be available anywhere else.

12″ Movie Figures

There will also be 12″ scale figures of the movie characters. At Toy Fair, Hasbro showed figures of Cobra Viper, Ripcord, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. We imagine there will be more figures announced soon.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – The Video Game

Representatives from EA were at Toy Fair to show of the G.I. Joe movie tie-in video game. The game is not a “play the movie” game, but does follow the movie’s plot. The game looks to have a focus on co-op play and the developers say that they took inspiration from the arcade classic Commando. We will have more information on the G.I. Joe movie game in the coming weeks.

That does it for G.I. Joe, Hopefully, the movie will be a success and this great figure line will benefit.