Knowing What Hasbro Will Do About G.I. Joe: Retaliation Toys Is Half the Battle

When Paramount unexpectedly moved G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s release date to March of next year, it threw a serious monkey wrench into Hasbro’s plans. The company had already been rolling out their line of figures from the film. So when word about the push back spread the initial thought amongst Joe collectors would be what will happen with the toys. This is a valid concern to be sure. (If you put your ear to your wireless router you can probably still hear discontented murmurs coming from the Hiss Tank forum). This question was also on the mind of the folks at Toy News International, who asked Hasbro for a comment on the toy line’s status. The company’s response?

G.I. Joe is an ongoing consumer franchise and
therefore there is merchandise available to consumers. There is a
limited amount of G.I. Joe Retaliation product at retail now, but in
light of the movie moving out to March 29, 2013, the majority of the
movie line will be made available early next year in time for the film’s
release.

I suppose this makes the most sense, to let the product out there go — expect the usual sort of eBay price gouging if you can’t find any of this in stores anymore —  and hold off on the rest until the movie is actually released. The bigger problem here is that Hasbro is now without the revenue they were expecting to generate from these figures. They will also now have to scramble to figure out what G.I. Joe items they’ll be able to release for the next ten months. It’s a troubling concern for Joe collectors, and one that could have a ripple effect throughout the entire toy industry.