The Desert Assault Squad set was an interesting mix of known and new Cobra troopers. Along with Frankensteined figures, the pack also included two straight remolds of the 25th anniversary style CGs. I’ll admit that I initially found their placement in a desert theme to be out of character for the type, since these guys have not only functioned as
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By KansasBrawler Zap is another figure I have a weirdly complicated relationship with. I wasn’t old enough for the original Zap figure to have been on my radar. The first time I met Zap was in 1991 when he joined the Super Sonic Fighters. The filecard mentioned that he was one of the original Joes and while I didn’t know
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Who hasn’t wished for an army of Vipers at some point? I know I have. While I’d love to build up masses of the 1986 version, I just wasn’t in the troop building game at a time when the guys could be had cheaply. Luckily the 2000s were kind to us, if you didn’t mind a few recolored figures, like
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As hit or miss as the comic packs were, I sure do miss them. Actually, I miss o-ring GI Joes at retail in general, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. I’m just glad I was able to catch a few of them on clearance back then. They are impressive looking when grouped. The Cobra Officer was one of my early
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Battle Action Force featured datafile entries in addition to the main series story. These pin-up style pages gave extra details about the various characters, forces and vehicles in the Action Force comic strip. The SAS Attack Trooper is one of my favorite Action Force figures. These guys are a different among rank and file Joe and AF in that their
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By KansasBrawler Over the years, I’ve become increasingly of two minds about the figures in the Cobra Island sets. The Joes especially haven’t held up well over the years. I was very excited to get everyone in the set, but now, I’m hard-pressed to find one that I’ve kept on display since I moved and needed to downsize my display
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1980s GI Joe often gets the brunt of jokes about wacky uniforms. If I had a nickel for every time a (usually online) media outlet writer made an overly precious observation comparing the toy/cartoon cast to the Village People, I’d have a pretty hefty piggy bank. Yes—haha—the GI Joe team had several colorful characters within the ranks, and 1985 was
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Released by Chinese minifigure maker Dargo, the series with the supremely odd title Outfight Gold offers military styled figures in an all-gold color scheme. When I first saw a picture of the eight figure set, I was reminded of Mego’s Eagle Force, the 1981 die-cast action figure series. One beret wearing figure in particular brought to mind the group’s leader,
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The hits keep on coming with the recent spate of unofficial GI Joe-based minifigures. I’ve been smitten with the entire assortment, and am hopeful we’ll see more. Who knows with the wild world of knock-off minifigures? Serpy is a challenging character to produce in minifig form, considering his unique helmet, cowl and costume design. The Kreon version adopted a helmet
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I could say that time has not been kind to some of the 25th anniversary figures, but plenty of these guys looked pretty darned goofy when they first hit the pegs. Funky arms and a pin head (and matching pin head helmet) sink this figure into the disappointment category. At least he was included with some sort of tank, albeit
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