I’m a huge fan of the 1991 figures. There’s not a one that I don’t find some reason to like. It’s a series that, for better or worse, seems to bridge what came before with what would come to be. It was our first exposure to spring-loaded weapons as a routine. It also featured several reinterpretations of existing figures. Wherever
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In the annals of GI Joe, there have been many and varied animals, both friend and foe. The Adventure Team era had its tigers, gorillas, octopus and others. The Real American Hero line presented animal companions for the Joes as well as the Cobras. What would the 80’s line be without stalwart animal compadres like Freedom, Junkyard, Polly, Order and
Read moreFeast your eyes upon the gloriousness that is Enemy Leader, a part of also-ran American (and National) Defense’s Demon Enemy line, and also released in the similarly packaged Commando Ranger (and Demon Ranger) line as “The Killer.” Whatever moniker you choose, isn’t this the most beautifully realized four inches of plastic that have ever been popped out of a steel
Read moreI always found it strange that a late 80’s Cobra like the HEAT Viper was revisited just a few years after its original release. However, the late 80’s Alley Viper was also given new life in the Battle Corps series. I find both to be well done and worthy successors to their earlier figures, but with their own distinctive 90’s
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When did Nintendo’s Mario join the Joes? In all seriousness, figures like Slip-Stream amaze me because the face is not an idealized, chiseled image of an idealized male, but more of an everyman. It’s something that the small Joe line has done since the beginning. Just look at Grunt from the first series. Not an attractive guy. Sure, the team
Read moreI still have a tough time wrapping my head around the Range Viper’s look. Specifically, the head, but the rest of the figure kind of mystifies as well. I’ve always read the sculpting on the helmet as brains, which is symbolically odd, if that’s what it’s meant to represent. Why would Cobra, an organization known for symbolism in its uniform
Read moreIt’s time for a new Field Report. KansasBrawler checks in covering another battlefield accessory. This time it’s the Missile Defense Unit from 1984. Check it out!
Read moreCannonball is another driver made entirely of reused parts. It’s not surprising considering he was released as a driver of a Direct to Consumer vehicle, the Rhino. The DTC line utilized a lot of existing molds, with some strategically inserted new parts and weapons. Cannonball’s body is made up of Barrel Roll and Switch Gears, two of my favorite figures
Read moreLanard’s Corps! line broke its figures off into several sub-groups for a bit in the 2000’s (where have we seen that before?) There were the WASPs, an air based group; the ROOS, a rapid response team; the ORCAs, a group of water operations specialists; and the BUCKs, a bio nuclear containment squad. Two of the figures in this group were
Read moreThe 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
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