Question about 1998 G.I. Joes

Gyre-Viper · **Joined:** Tue May 10, 2011 1:48 pm

DREMEL wrote:

Not sure about Joes but for NIKE the midnight runs are not done by a small group of employees. It is a higher up if not the factory owners themselves kicking them out like knock-offs with the only difference being that they are exactly the same as the real thing unlike knock off Italian items that are always a lower quality.

Shoes are one thing. Figures are another. It takes a lot of people and a lot of room for figures. Shoes can probably be done in the space of one station, meaning back in a factory dorm.

DREMEL · **Joined:** Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:19 am

Gyre-Viper wrote:

DREMEL wrote:

Not sure about Joes but for NIKE the midnight runs are not done by a small group of employees. It is a higher up if not the factory owners themselves kicking them out like knock-offs with the only difference being that they are exactly the same as the real thing unlike knock off Italian items that are always a lower quality.

Shoes are one thing. Figures are another. It takes a lot of people and a lot of room for figures. Shoes can probably be done in the space of one station, meaning back in a factory dorm.

No we are talking the entire Nike plant runs extra product then what they are contracted for. There are several people involved in the construction of a shoe. The plant either runs late or does a whole extra shift and makes product in the exact same manner as they normally make it just sell it to someone other then Nike. It is the same as the Chinese plants making knock off Coach purses, it is an entire factory effort the only difference is that for the shoes the factory making the knock offs is the same factory that made the authentic ones. One of the perils of using cheap labor in a country that does not respect American copyright laws.

DREMEL · **Joined:** Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:19 am

I would say that Hasbro's biggest gray market issue with Joes are the seconds that hit Ebay. There are a lot of factory seconds that would be considered gray market that are on Ebay.

Gyre-Viper · **Joined:** Tue May 10, 2011 1:48 pm

Gyre-Viper wrote:

Hasbro has confirmed at conventions over the past few years that it is pretty impossible to fake a run of figures. The whole "midnight chinese" thing seems to be something that was perpetuated by Hasbro when they didn't want people purchasing things that hadn't passed quality control, defied confidentiality, and trampled on product that was intended to be exclusive to certain retailers.

No, they were not intended to ever be available but they are collector's items and thus retain a value. That's what makes them collectable. And they do have historical significance in regards to the brand.

A lot of the decos on the "midnight chinese" that Hasbro originally claimed were not real, have been found on official pre-production samples via former designers as years have gone by. Further verifying the legitimacy of the items. As for the desert HQ figures, I only know of 3 complete sets and one or two complete sets. The rarity alone dictates the price and/or value. Not hard to understand why they are so valuable. What something costs to make does not factor into its rarity, appeal, collectability, or value. At all.

I should add that not everyone cares about pre-production or the history of the brand and so forth and that's okay. I'm by no means trying to tell people how to feel about the grey market or the samples that come out of said grey market. I'm just clarifying etc.

Gyre-Viper · **Joined:** Tue May 10, 2011 1:48 pm

DREMEL wrote:

Gyre-Viper wrote:

DREMEL wrote:

Not sure about Joes but for NIKE the midnight runs are not done by a small group of employees. It is a higher up if not the factory owners themselves kicking them out like knock-offs with the only difference being that they are exactly the same as the real thing unlike knock off Italian items that are always a lower quality.

Shoes are one thing. Figures are another. It takes a lot of people and a lot of room for figures. Shoes can probably be done in the space of one station, meaning back in a factory dorm.

No we are talking the entire Nike plant runs extra product then what they are contracted for. There are several people involved in the construction of a shoe. The plant either runs late or does a whole extra shift and makes product in the exact same manner as they normally make it just sell it to someone other then Nike. It is the same as the Chinese plants making knock off Coach purses, it is an entire factory effort the only difference is that for the shoes the factory making the knock offs is the same factory that made the authentic ones. One of the perils of using cheap labor in a country that does not respect American copyright laws.

Ah. I know nothing of shoe manufacturing but fabric and fabric manipulation seems a lot easier to, well, FABRICATE than production plastic with production paint using paint masks that are used for retail level purposes etc. Hasbro also seems to have some pretty hardcore security when it comes to their factories and security measures like tracing numbers etc that were on the figures that they brought to Joe Con in New Orleans. Maybe Nike needs to re-examine the way they do things. Although Nike shoes are far more profitable and popular than GI JOE toys, so there's that.

Mike T. · **Joined:** Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:19 am

GITrekker wrote:

Here's another odd, related question. I've long heard that there were TWO three-packs that weren't released. This desert one was one of them, and obviously it reached a bit of production.

Does anyone know what the OTHER one might've been? I've never even heard it described.

I couldn't find any old usenet postings to back this up, but the rumors of the time indicated that the HQ might have included 5 figures: Pathfinder, Outback, Dial Tone and also Law and Dusty.

So, you might be remembering that.

I don't think Law or Dusty made it very far. But, their inclusion in the 2000 2-packs lends credence to the theory that Hasbro was at least aware their molds were available much earlier than 2000.

The desert camo Dusty was shown at a 2001 toy convention as the driver of the Desert Striker. (Remember that thing.) But, the figure never came to light and the awful Flint repaint was given instead. Hasbro did include that Dusty in convention displays in 2002 and maybe later. But, I don't know how many, if any, actually made their way to collector hands.

Question about 1998 G.I. Joes

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