From the Archives: Toxo-Lab (1992)
Here’s an oldie that deserves a second look. I wanted to point to this set during the recent JoeCon, but went with vehicle coverage instead. I wonder if the club could have scavenged Hasbro’s other lies to find a suitable update to this thing. Wasn’t there a carbon freezing chamber from the 2000s Star Wars line that looked similar to this? Anyway, Check out the Toxo-Lab here.
The only thing I could think of that might work, and there’s precedence thanks to the Endor Bunker doing double duty as the Red Shadows’ bunker, would be the Carbon-Freezing Chamber from the 2000s Power of the Jedi line. (http://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure.php?universeid=3&FID=707&figure=carbonfreezingchamber) The only drawback is that from what I understand, that was a pretty rare set so it wouldn’t be cheap to repurpose.
Perfect for 2014 exclusive set!
The photos on that entry are awesome! I noticed as JoeCon 2014 approached that the eBay prices on ToxoLabs were going HIGH; now they’re non-existent! People really got into the ToxoLab, even if just for a while and 22 years after its release.
I think the Toxo-Lab could’ve been a bit larger than they made it, but it was a fun toy. Thank God I had this one as a kid. I think it might’ve been the last G.I. Joe playset they made during the Real American Hero line. I can’t remember if it was released before the G.I. Joe Headquarters or not, and I’m not counting that big robot from Star Brigade as a playset. I always think of that one as a vehicle.
Yeah, I remember always wanting the Toxo-Lab growing up, but I don’t even recall ever seeing it in stores. I at least remember seeing the Armor Bot and the Joe HQ on the shelves, but for whatever reason, this set never made it on to the shelves in SD when I was growing up. I know the Eco-Warriors figures must have because Cesspool and Clean Sweep were big parts of my collection, but the Eco-Warrior vehicles just didn’t see much action, apparently.
These would e gret if you took a bunch of them together and made it a larger playset. But, they’ve been pricey and hard to find for quite a while now, so I don’t know how practical that would be.
Things a guy could have bought for a mere $5-$10 on clearance back in the day, packed them away, and made out like a bandit currently.
Who knew?
GI JOE HQ 1992 and Toxo-Lab were released the same year.
Part of both were used to make Street fighter sets, the Toxo-Lab reuse one The Dragon Fortress was released under the GI JOE brand (small logo). The Shadoloo Base was not.
We almost got an arctic Tactical Battle Platform repaint, if 1995 stuff hadn’t been cancelled.