The new for 1983 Joes are one of the most cohesive looking assortments in all the Real American Hero year’s. With sleek sculpts, an overall drab color scheme, and a wonderfully diverse group of specialties, Hasbro cemented what the previous year established, at least in this kid’s mind. It was the year that hooked me and pulled my toy-collecting heart
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By Past Nastification When GI Joe relaunched as “A Real American Hero” in 1982 and into 1983, there seemed to be two cardinal artistic rules about good guys and bad guys within the toy structure: 1. Good guys didn’t hide their faces (except for Snake-Eyes, of course). Figures like Tripwire and Snow Job, with only exposed partial faces, were frustrating.
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By KansasBrawler Sometimes when you want a certain character when you’re a kid, you wind up buying some pretty subpar figures. By the time 1993 rolled around, KansasBrother had had his version of Snake-Eyes for a while and I kind of wanted my own version. While at the Toys ‘R’ Us near my grandparents’ in the south suburbs of Chicago,
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The 80s team’s original “big man”, Gung Ho was in my universe a hard-nosed and super powerful brawler. I had him delivering two-handed punches that rivaled the power of Superman. In contrast to this superheroic strengthening were the size of the figure’s arms in relation to the comic and cartoon. By 1985, GH looked puny in the guns department. His
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If you need an early example of the specialization of the 80s Joes, Tripwire is a perfect subject. Like Breaker, he’s one of the few figures not to include a weapon. Although his mines count, I suppose. He’s the perfect support trooper to help get the Joes through Cobra-laid mine fields. I know The Enemy used to put down a
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The Mobile Missile System is one of the most real-world of the early GI Joe battlefield weapons. Where the HAL and JUMP were fantastical pieces of future technology, the MMS more closely resembles any number of mobile systems in use during the latter 20th century. As a toy, the MMS is more playset than vehicle, and provides a smaller environment
Read moreHere it is, the first big vehicle of the Real American Hero era. It’s strange to think that this was the high price point item when the line would later produce truly gargantuan items like the Flagg, Terrordrome, Defiant and General. For the fledgling relaunch, the MOBAT was the big toy to have. It may not have the size or
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I hate to sound like a broken record, but here’s another all-time Classic GI Joe accessory/vehicle. Is it really a vehicle? I say yes, anything you strap to your person that allows you to fly about a la Buck Rogers or Commando Cody counts. Technically I guess you become the vehicle, but I’m not one for semantics. The JUMP was
Read moreWhenever I consider my favorite 80s GI Joe vehicles, I have a hard time choosing between the VAMP and the RAM. I’m still torn to this day. Can I pick them both? Oh crap, the JUMP is on that list too–I need three all-time favorites, at the least. Rock ‘n Roll was the riding the cycle in both stories featured
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The HAL is a monster! I’d venture to say it’s the most intimidating bit of stand-alone artillery the Joes have in their arsenal. I know the Rolling Thunder as a portable missile platform is more impressive for long range capability, but this thing just looks mean on the battlefield. Cobra was seriously outgunned in the early days of the toy
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