The flurry of sub-teams at the end of the Real American Hero line is not looked on favorably by some Joe fans. This I feel is unfortunate, because the concepts introduced, while they ranged from the sensible to the outright goofy, brought some more variety into the toyline. The story from those inside Hasbro at the time goes that Joe
Read moreShort-Fuze is one of those original Joes who never really got his.moment in the sun. He was pretty quickly relegated to history after the first series of figures, and never received a revival in later years like Hawk or Grunt. The closest he came was with Downtown, another blonde mortarman, who could have easily been given the name (and actually
Read moreTalk about a turnaround on a figure. The first Deep Six was a toy with a fun action element, but was also essentially a brick with moving arms. This one finally gets the Joes’ deep diver into the traditional articulation style, but not without one disappointment–the helmet. While the first Deep Six was outfitted in a bulky pressure suit that
Read moreI first got into GI Joes when the toys had shrunk down to become the Real American Hero of the 1980’s. I didn’t have much knowledge of or exposure to the Joes that had come before. A neighbor had a few Adventure Team figures and the AT HQ, but I had no idea what they were at the time (being
Read moreI figured that it’s not enough work to write this stuff every day, and I needed to branch out. So check out my first video review. It’s another Big Brawler!
Read moreI’ve generally not been impressed by the modern driver figures. Many have been repaints and parts swaps of existing figures, with new heads thrown in here and there. That’s a far cry from the 80’s and 90’s, when most drivers were all new molds, and exclusive to their vehicles. Exclusivity and newness of driver figures were brilliant marketing concepts from the glory
Read moreThe comic pack figures have been fun little self referential detours in recent years. They’ve been the source of not only quite a few comic specific characters, but also four-color versions of our familiar favorites. I can remember noticing more than a few times as a kid reading the comic that some of the characters didn’t resemble their toy versions
Read moreAnother figure in the saga of the lost naming rights issues. Double Clutch, huh? Not Lance “Clutch” Steinberg or even Cpl. Clutch? Suppose that would have to wait for the later convention version. When I first saw the name Double Clutch, I thought it might be a new character, or even possibly a clone. Just kidding. I find a lot
Read moreMan, I really miss the o-ring. I don’t want to sound like a dinosaur whose only interest is in the old construction, or who pines only for a rigid return to the old 80’s style. I realize that time marches on, especially in the toy world. The old Joes, as great as they are, just wouldn’t stand up to today’s
Read moreImagine making the Steel Brigade cool. I wouldn’t have thought the old create your own Joe figure to be high on Hasbro’s make list, but obviously someone had a soft spot for the old mail-in. The figure has been done in a way that pays homage to the original while putting a bit of a new spin on it. That’s
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