Does a team of night operatives really need a flamethrower trooper? Wouldn’t a huge spout of flame negate all those efforts toward dark camouflage? I know, I know, it’s only a toyline. I should relax and try not to think too much, but honestly, when you write about this crap every day, you kind of can’t help it. Charbroil has
Read moreby KansasBrawler If anything made the Joe line iconic to me as a kid, aside from their great articulation, it was the simple concept of the animal sidekick. I don’t know why, but for some reason, the idea of a Joe trooper working alongside an animal to accomplish their mission seemed really cool. I realize that they weren’t “pets” per
Read moreAnother Duke? Of course. Would you expect more than a couple weeks to go by without one? After all, we’re up to about 475 versions. If I continue the blog for another twenty five years, I might be able to cover them all. This one is another follow up to the infamous Action Attack version that was colloquially known as
Read moreThe small GI Joe figures have always been an easy ssubject for customization. Their very construction allows for a nearly endless combination of parts and an ease of assembly, if one has access to a precision screwdriver. Before I ever performed any parts swapping among GI Joes, I experimented on a couple of Star Wars figures. During the post-Jedi years,
Read moreThe comic packs were a great way for Hasbro to release figures that may not have been well known or popular enough to warrant a single carded release. As such, many heavily fan requested comic characters finally made appearances in the toy line. Along with those demanded figures were a share of what might best be described as fill-ins. The
Read moreby Twitziller Released as part of the first series of Built To Rule sets in 2003, the Cobra Raven is one of only two Cobra air vehicles in the BTR line. The Raven partially shares a name with one of the most iconic Cobra aircraft, the Cobra Night Raven from 1986. The primary mode is a one-person fighter jet, and
Read moreThere were a few figures in the relaunched o-ring era that hold up well when compared to their Real American Hero predecessors. Wild Bill’s initial figure release was one of my favorite Spy Troops molds. With an updated uniform design not too heavy on the cowboy aesthetic, more naturalistic proportions, and a removable hat, he was a welcome follow-up to
Read moreAnybody interested in a holographic Cobra Commander? At first, I thought maybe Hasbro had confused their GI Joe line with Star Wars, since back in the 2000s, you couldn’t swing a dead Jawa without hitting a hologram based figure. Alas, it was not a mix-up, but a legitimate variant based on a few panels of Marvel GI Joe issue #9.
Read moreby KansasBrawler The Ninja Showdown set really typified the way figures are offered in three-packs. None of them required extensive new tooling…in fact, all three figures were just carded figures offered with different (and possibly better) accessories and in different (and definitely better) paint jobs. While none of the three figures in their carded versions appealed to me, the Snake Eyes and Red Ninja
Read moreThe DTC series produced a number of figures that had been on many fans’ wish list since GI Joe line was relaunched in 2002. The team’s night spotter was a figure I had wanted to see for a while in the then-new construction style. Though the wait was long, the late release allowed for the use of the improved, hidden
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