Well, here I am again, trying to spread some love for the 2000’s Joes. There were some genuine diamonds in the rough of this now forgotten era. Case in point: Guillotine, part of one of the DTC/Toys R Us exclusive packs that brought to a close the “new sculpt” era. The multi packs of the time were hit or miss,
Read moreBarricade brings new meaning to the term “door kicker”. His specialty of bunker buster also works within the context of urban operations, as his file card points out. I wonder why this figure was not included as part of the DEF sub-group. He seems like a good fit. The later Battle Corps version of Law had a similar battering ram
Read moreDrug-Fighting GI Joes battle Headman and his gang of drug thugs for control of “Main Street U.S.A.!” Each drug enforcement agent and villain utilizes a Battle-Flash weapon to elevate this conflict to new heights of danger! So states the cardback of the GI Joe sub-team called the Drug Elimination Force or DEF. Bullet-Proof is the leader of the group, and
Read moreAs a kid, I watched the GI Joe cartoon and read the comic book. Most of the time, the cartoon designs closely followed the look of the action figures. The comic book however, due to its nature of changing artists, often presented character looks that changed slightly from artist to artist. Zartan was one whose look could be interpreted many
Read moreI’ve covered Hasbro’s noble attempt at online only sales or DTC in my Med Alert entry, so I won’t go throuh the details of that ambitious but unsuccessful program again. That’s not to give the line’s figures short shrift, as there were some real gems in it. Major Bludd was one of the major Joe characters that didn’t get a
Read moreThe Valor vs. Venom line of the 2000’s produced its fair share of types of packouts, or ways in which figures were offered. There were two packs of hero vs villain and army builder, comic book three packs and five and six pack themed sets. But the days of single packed figures did return for a few series of somewhat
Read moreToday, your humble Joe A Day writer is attending Power-Con/Thunder-Con, the first convention dedicated to He-Man and Thundercats, two hugely popular 80’s toy and animation properties. Joe has always been my favorite 80’s toyline, but Masters of the Universe ranks high among my personal geek loves, primarily due to the Filmation cartoon and the recent Masters of the Universe Classics
Read moreWhat’s the goofiest Cobra vehicle ever made? The one vehicle that doesn’t seem to come together as a concept yet is awesomely, stupidly lovable? The Buzz Boar? The Pogo? Those two are probably the most ridiculously specific yet pointless vehicles, to be sure. But for sheer bat-excrement insanity, it doesn’t get much more bat-excrementally insane than the Cobra Rat. The
Read moreAnother figure from the end of the Rise of Cobra movie line, the Desert Viper is a fairly successful blending of parts from several Cobra troopers. The extensive use of removable web gear may be the biggest improvement from the vintage to the modern era in terms of the versatility of existing molds. Some folks complain about Hasbro’s reuse of
Read moreAccording to his bio, Slash is inhumanly evil. This mercenary ninja is an apprentice to Storm Shadow, who has a grudging respect for him, only for his skill. This begs the question why a basically honorable character like Storm Shadow would associate with such a cruel and heartless individual. Slash was part of a two pack which also included the
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