Wow, just wow. Now this is a heavily armed trooper. From head to toe, from uniform to weaponry, this guy looks ready to do some serious damage. Again, the mold is mostly reused from a previous release, this time the City Strike Destro. With this heavily armed trooper, the padded, bulky armor works perfectly. The head is new, and is
Read moreArctic Threat Storm Shadow is another of the later series movie line figures that made up a sort of expanded universe of characters and designs. Most of the figures took their cues from the movie’s style, but some also added a little extra, sometimes harkening back to the original action figures. This particular Storm Shadow shows influences of his vintage
Read moreIn a previous post, I remarked on Hasbro’s recent track record of successfully using existing parts to create new and interesting figures. Well, as my dad says, “Somebody’s gotta graduate at the bottom of the class.” For me, that somebody is the Air Trooper.I haven’t seen such a nondescript code name since the Cobra Pilot. I guess Cobra forgot to
Read moreShipwreck is one of those characters that folks seem to love or hate. This is probably mostly due to his portrayal in the Sunbow animated series. He was brash and sarcastic, and marched to his own drummer. This combined with voice actor Neil Ross’ Jack Nicholson imitation put off many fans as he seemed like such an over the top
Read moreThe Viper, one of the most popular Cobra troopers, has had a storied history throughout the various incarnations of the 3 3/4 inch Joe line. It seems like almost every version released since the original in 1986 has started out with some sort of issue, whether it’s articulation or colors. When the 1997 Toys R Us exclusive line appeared, the
Read moreCobra has always had a history of making messes. What more would you expect from a terrorist organization? Bake sales? From the first Toxo-Vipers in 1988 to an entire force of environmentally unfriendly operatives in the 90’s, they’ve been at the forefront of bio warfare. The most recent line is no different, as we now have the Hazard Viper spreading
Read moreThe Pursuit of Cobra line has been a source of both joy and frustration for me. When I first saw the prototypes at the 2009 Joecon in Kansas City, I was excited by the designs that built upon the articulation improvements of the movie line, yet paid homage to classic designs. Overall, the series has been great, and I think
Read moreThe last year of the Joe line was a strange affair. Hasbro tried changing a few thing up a bit, like the card design, but it was ultimately too late. The toy world at that point had moved beyond the small Joes. Hasbro just couldn’t catch lightning in a bottle again, no matter how many concepts and tweaks they tried
Read moreWhoa! What’s going on here? Is this another Funskool figure? No, its Snake Eyes’ irradiated version from the MASS device mini-series DVD pack. In the first GI Joe cartoon mini-series, the Joes were searching for catalytic elements to power their own version of Cobra’s transportation device. One of the elements was highly radioactive. Snake Eyes made an apparent sacrifice to
Read moreReleased in 2008 as part of the internet exclusive Cobra Desert Assault Squad Extreme Conditions Pack (what a mouthful!) this figure is a mash-up of Joe and Cobra parts. Those two sets, which also included an arctic assault pack, were not wildly popular. I guess it could be attributed to the special environments. If these had been done as generic
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