There are so many ’82-83 Joes that to me seem so iconic, I have a hard time deciding which one would be my choice to be the definitive early figure. Sometimes I think it’s Grunt, other times it’s Flash or Clutch, or even Snake Eyes. Then again, it could be Rock ‘N Roll. I guess I’ll never decide. Even though
Read moreAccording to the file card info, this is the Oktober Guard member usually known as Daina. Was there another rights issue going on, or did the Hasbro team at the time just think that Daina needed a proper code name? Then again, is it really her, since the hair is red? This figure is light years better than most anything
Read moreReader and frequent commenter Acer has a review of the 1993 International Action Force mail-in. I’ve covered the included mail-in Budo on the site before. It’s a great set all around, especially if you like the 90’s thing. Check it out in Field Reports.
Read moreSpearhead and Max are a weird, inexplicable pair. First, there’s the weird, inexplicable colors. Spearhead wears the orangiest of camo patterns. I don’t know what alien planet’s vegetation he’s meant to blend into, but he’s certainly not bland. Even his backpack is orange. Was somebody colorblind at Hasbro? The fit of accessories was an important feature in the small Joe
Read moreI had thought that Stars and Stripes Breaker would be the pinnacle of bad Joe figures. It was lazily produced and ineptly accessorized. It was unadulterated, high octane action figure poo. Could another figure come close to it in sheer disappointment? Duke comes pretty close, especially considering the classic mold on which he’s based. Duke came packaged with a reproduced
Read moreWhen is a desert trooper not a desert trooper? When he’s been repainted for the 2000-2002 Real American Hero Collection, a line populated with a share of the cool, the strange and the lackluster. Wait, that’s pretty much any Joe line. The ’91 Dusty mold is, like many others from the same year, among my favorite figures of the 90’s.
Read more1994 was such a bittersweet year for a Joe collector, well, at least for this Joe collector. Having jumped back into collecting just three years earlier, not only was I starting to gain some ground on picking up the figures I had missed, but I was excited at the prospect of new figures on the horizon. Those prospects fizzled out
Read moreAs much as the Interogator was an incredible figure attached to a throwaway vehicle, the Heli-Viper tips the scales back. You wouldn’t think that Hasbro would spend a lot of effort including a great newly designed figure with a vehicle that was all gimmick. I’m sure the designers figured the kid that bought it would zip the thing into a
Read moreCombine parts from two molds that later in the decade would become some the most overused in recent memory, and what do you get? Rock ‘N Roll–I mean Crossfire, the new machine gunner introduced in the Real American Hero Collection series. The arms and torso belonged to Big Ben, and the waist and legs to Dial-Tone. Bits of those two guys guys
Read moreI’ve seen fans dressed up as Cobras and Joes at San Diego Comicon and JoeCon, but hadn’t ever talked to anyone about the work that goes into making these costumes. Joe A Day visited Con X in Kansas City, MO this weekend and found members of the cobrasfinest.org costuming group in attendance. Check out Major Bludd, Lady Jaye and Firefly and learn
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