The original Torpedo is a classic of the early years of the Real American Hero era. He’s a great figure, but outside of an underwater setting, his usefulness is limited. The Sunbow cartoon often had Torpedo running about in white t-shirt and jeans; not the most battle-ready of outfits, but more at home in a land battle than a wet
Read moreThis redesigned version of Dusty from the Valor vs. Venom series is recognizable as Mr. Tadur thanks to his wearing a variation on his old helmet, complete with the fancy neck protector in the back. I remember for a moment in the 80s when those little flaps on hats were quite popular. Especially on painters’ caps. Checkered ones. Were we,
Read moreLooking back at the 80s and 90s GI Joe figures, I’m amazed at the number of different versions of Snake Eyes offered in those years. Toy marketing was obviously different back then, as the core characters weren’t always included each new assortment. But Snake Eyes seemed to get a refreshed place on the shelves every couple of years. I was
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This figure was such a huge surprise to me in ’92. When I first saw the name, I wondered if someone at Hasbro had forgotten about the team’s original commanding officer being killed in the Marvel comic. It wasn’t until I actually bought the figure and read the file card that I understood what was happening with this guy. By
Read moreGI Joe figures of the 80s and 90s were based on a common sculpt size. There were a few that stood a bit taller, wider or bulkier here and there, but for the most part you could count on Joes and Cobras being around the same size. Tunnel Rat has always been portrayed as being smaller in stature, and this
Read moreGuess what? It’s a figure from 1990 that I really love. Have I mentioned before that 1990 is one of my favorite GI Joe years? Soon, I will have covered them all, and you won’t have to hear me sing their praises on and on. Even then however, I’ll probably still find ways to talk about them in other entries.
Read moreI miss having a series of 12 inch GI Joe figures running concurrently alongside the little guys. It seems that, until the first live action movie assortments ended, there had been at least a few based on the main line during most years since the relaunch in 2002. The most recent real-world focused figures that were on shelves at the
Read more1990. If you haven’t checked out that particular year of GI Joe figures, I highly recommend (again) that you give it a go. The year is unique for a few reasons. First off, the character selection is all new. That’s right, there’s not a single pre-existing Joe of Cobra among the regular lineup. The year’s Sonic Fighters sub-team was the
Read moreOh boy, where to begin? I’ve not made it a secret that the 25th anniversary style figures are, at times, frustrating and disappointing to me. There were articulation issues, strange proportions, and a lack of consistency among figures. This wasn’t a new concern, by the way. It had been happening regularly since the 2002 relaunch. For some reason though, I found the
Read moreThe original Sailor Suit Shipwreck is a very cool and iconic GI Joe figure, but not really representative of a navy fighter that you can use in a ground combat situation. He worked perfectly well in the more adventure settings of the Sunbow cartoon, but could look out of place as a toy fighting alongside the likes of Footloose or
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