I count ten characters in this art. We're getting five figures per wave. I wonder if the next wave will consist of the remaining figures.
Wave 1
Snake-Eyes
Duke
Scarlett
Roadblock
Destro
Wave 2
Cobra Commander
Baroness
Alley Viper
Cobra Red Ninja
Gung-Ho
They could replace the generic Cobra Red Ninja with Storm Shadow, but I think he could be the "star" figure in the third wave.
Are vehicles feasible in this toy line? I haven't followed up on toy collecting since the late 1990's, but it seems like many popular toylines have de-emphasized vehicles. Given the enormous costs to do playsets these days, coupled with competing tech like video games and smart phones, is there even a sizeable demographic who would buy a modern U.S.S. Flagg? How much would a U.S.S. Flagg cost if Hasbro was serious about delivering playsets in the year 2020?
On a personal sidenote, I remember back in 1987 when Hasbro released the space shuttle Defiant. That thing was massive and retailed for over $200 dollars. During Christmas season that year, I tried to get my mom to buy me an NES, and used the Defiant as a price comparison, telling her that the $80 dollar NES was a steal compared to the $200 Defiant playset.
I've seen youtube videos of the Defiant and the thing was so unwieldly for the adult collector who was showing it off. I couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for an 8 year old child.
I get that today's marketing trends make vehicles a dicey proposition for toy manufacturers, but couldn't they go with the moderate sized vehicles? When most fans conjure up memories of popular vehicles from the vintage toyline, they tend to verge from 1982-85.
EDIT: I was thinking about your "star" observation in regards to these characters and how they'll relate to the line in terms of production and distribution. What metric is being used in determining a character's popularity in this line, is it based on nostalgia from the recent films, the old cartoons or the Marvel comics? Is it based on sales from previous toy lines?
I'm pretty familiar with the comics, and I know that Larry Hama had his favorites, and would keep these favorites in the thick of his stories despite the constant influx of new merchandise that Hasbro was pumping into the comic.
With this new line, they've pretty much spent up their pool of classic heavyweights in the first 2 waves alone. IMO, the remaining mainline characters would probably be General Hawk, Flint, Lady Jaye, Storm Shadow, and Zartan. But I'm mainly basing this on their importance in the comic book. Everyone has their favorites like Firefly or Rock n Roll, etc., but if we're talking about Hasbro or Jazwares centering their waves around more prominent members, wouldn't they want to space out their mainline characters by releasing a "Duke" wave that includes lesser popular characters like a Cobra Viper, Tunnel Rat, Snow Job, and Bazooka? And then follow that up with a "Zartan" wave that includes Spirit, Lowlight, Grandslam, and a Crimson Guard?