What is the one true untapped market in wargaming? I'd argue that it's the GI Joe franchise. You know, the 80s toy-selling cartoon. Cobra, Destro, Snakes-Eyes, all the wild vehicles and middle-aged recreational cash. Sure, I'm certain the license from Hasbro would be daunting for most, save WizKids, but I'd much rather have Cobra HISS tanks on the battlefield than some other 40k concoction.
The whole reason for my thought was a recent post over at Must Contain Minis, where a player simply painted Bolt Action Germans in Cobra Regalia to great effect.
The Cobra player/player, Dave Lamers' other work can be found here on the MCM blog.Numerous people have made cobbling together GI Joe/Cobra armies one of their missions in life, and the one I follow the most is The Realm of Jinnai. Their forces are a cobbling together of 3d prints, individual sculpts, and third party work arounds, and with their painting style, its as bold as the four color comics of my youth.
Of course, children of the 80's who just ripped open the packaging (clipping out the index card GI Joe Files off the card/box) would be able to used their own figures, acquire a few action figure stands to keep them upright, and completely take over the backyard... with wargaming rules. That was always my distant pipe dream when I threw a buck or two at generic action figure Kickstarters. I can't imagine storing full-sized toys anymore, but I'd love to see some historical re-enactments straight from the comics. Heck, with the price of metal figures nowadays, it's not that much more expensive getting action figures on clearance.
The zaniest GI Joe fun that I've seen wasn't even part of the 80's franchise. Twenty-plus years ago, when Fall-In was still in Gettysburg, I witnessed the Classic GI Joe sized "dolls" dressed as WW2 Germans and Russians , fighting on a huge city battlefield on the floor of the Expo Center. That's a level on insanity that only has my undying support and respect.
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