By KansasBrawler As I said in my review of the BAT Squad Leader, I’ve always loved the 1991 version of the Cobra BAT. When the BAT Squad Leader was first revealed, I was excited because I thought that it was meant to reference the 1991 BAT I had growing up even if it didn’t have the color scheme I was
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Can you remember a time when we didn’t know beforehand about every single product that was scheduled to hit shelves? It seems odd to say that in 2004 an internet connected toy collector Joe wasn’t aware of an exclusive set of figures to be released at a major retailer, but that’s what happened to me. Maybe I missed the write-up
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The constants in GI Joe since the 80s are I think a large part of what keeps collectors coming back to new iterations of the line. The well-known characters are like a well worn ballcap, or a favorite couch. They just feel really comfortable, and we (at least guys like me) can be averse to throwing them away when they’ve
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By Past Nastification Hawk (released as “General Abernathy”) got this spiffy ARAH treatment in 2005 as a comic pack action figure. Made of previous body parts from different Hawk figures, plus a great new head, this figure was intended to represent how Hawk appeared in Marvel’s GI Joe #76. The colors are a bit bright, maybe because the colors in
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The Real American Hero Collection series was a welcome sight on toy shelves. It represented Joe’s return to regular retail after a couple of Toys R Us (sniff) exclusives. Sorry about that, but the thought of TRU going the way of other toy stores is a truly sad thought. I know in the grand scheme of things it’s only a
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This is kind of an awkward figure for me to review. I legitimately do like the design for the BAT Squad Leader. However, since it’s also the same design as the BAT v1.8, it leaves me just a little cold because I think this figure could have been so much more. I’ll be talking about this design at length when
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It’s International Women’s Day, and you don’t have to look far in the GI Joe mythos to find characterizations of strong and capable women. Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl, and Jinx were on equal footing with their male teammates, and I’m glad to have been exposed to them as a boy. Yes, I bought all the “girl” figures as a
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Cobra Commander bears little resemblance to the character’s appearance in the Retaliation film, aside from some similarity to the helmet design. But I’m not going to rag on it, because it’s a dang cool toy. Cobra Commander was the first Real American Hero figure of my youth, and he’s always had a special place within my memories of what made
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I know what you might be thinking: Have you finally gone off the deep end, Rob? Are you so burned out from the daily grind that you’re just throwing up whatever toys strike your fancy? No and no, although I do wish I could let loose and write about a broader range of toys. Maybe I’ll start a sister blog
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I’m a silver pads Grand Slam guy. That’s not to say I don’t dig his original red padded self. After all, he’s the man who helmed the HAL, the 80s team’s first big artillery piece. I like to think he’s just super versatile. He graduated top of Special Weapons School class, so I can see his being able to transition
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