The 2009 Joe Con has been showing new figures and vehicles for the next two or three waves. It is without a doubt there are new styles of a fantasy/techno influence in the new designs, vastly different than the real-world look of the past Joes. While Cobra has always been a mechanism for pushing one's beleavability, it seems the new designs are a real radical departure, being influenced by anime.

What are kids expectations now days?

With the growing acceptance of Japanese anime and manga over the last 20 years, it is not surprising to me that the new designs seem to have a swing into an anime/manga style design. Are these the designs of things to come? Other toy lines seem to also share the shelf space in the toy isle, a number being from Japanese anime.

So, what do you all think? A sign of the designs to come? Will more anime-influence styles bleed into the Joe lines? Kids seem to like them in other toy lines, I would expect so. Do you like them? If done right, it could be okay--keeping it a hybred of styles could be okay if it doesn't go overboard.

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