JAD Moment of Zen: Knocking Heads
It’s been a while since we took a non-sequitur turn here at JAD. Here’s your JAD Moment of Zen…
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Cobra Commander (2004 Comic Pack)
The early issues of the Marvel GI Joe comic in particular presented the characters with varying differences among their uniforms. Herb Trimpe, Mike Vosburg and others had an artistic license that isn’t seen much in the current era of highly focused marketing. That’s a shame, as I find the resulting anachronisms interesting. There’s not much heart to the modern adherence
Read moreSnake Eyes (Custom Commando)
This figure was inspired by the unique looking version of the team’s popular commando seen on an early sticker set. I picked up a ton of extra comic pack sets to flesh out my original thirteen Joes in the format, so I found it easy to piece together a version of the Snake Eyes figure that never was. The legend
Read moreFreefall (Project: Downfall)
By KansasBrawler Going into Joe Con 2016, I had some pretty strong ideas about what the souvenir sets were going to be. However, I was almost completely off base compared to what the GIJCC actually did. The one exclusive that I really didn’t have any idea how they were going to handle was the annual parachute drop figure. My best
Read moreGhost Hawk (2014)
The Ghost Hawk (yeah, I have a hard time calling it that) was originally one of the upgraded classic vehicle designs of the 25th anniversary series. I was impressed by the improvements made in the detail and fit/finish of it. The mold has become something of a workhorse since then, appearing in modified form for the Pursuit of Cobra line
Read moreAmphibious Recoil Vehicle (Lanard CORPS!)
Lanard’s CORPS! line has been prolific in its selection of vehicles. If you need to beef up your land, sea or air forces on the cheap, it’s a go-to source. From jeeps to transports and tanks, the series’ armor has had its share or unique offerings. The Amphibious Recoil Vehicle (what a colorful name) is a fighting vehicle along the
Read moreAdventure Team in 1971 Product Catalog
I enjoy toy catalogs. Whether Christmas fare, local circular ads or highly specific retailer and Toy Fair presentations, it all hits me in the right place. The Hasbro internal catalogs have always featured some of the best layout of product as well as (inadvertently) spotlighting interesting pre-production samples of well-known sets. For the Adventure Team’s second year, the catalog highlights
Read moreThe Power of Packaging: 1985 Lady Jaye
Female figures don’t sell. That’s the inside story action figure collectors have heard for years which supposedly accounted for the boys’ toys industry’s lack of ladies among the males in the toy aisles. Of course, things are somewhat different now, with prominent female characters marketed within brands like Star Wars, Marvel, DC and others. Kudos by the way to DC
Read moreSlash (2004)
By Past Nastification Slice and Dice were the early 90’s Cobra ninja team of the ARAH run. That is to say they were the mid-quality ninja team. If you needed a ninja team that could probably accomplish their mission, Slice and Dice were it. Their introduction in the late Marvel run wasn’t fully fleshed out, and poorly drawn. It gave
Read moreHeli-Vipers (Project: Downfall)
By KansasBrawler When the Sky Patrol theme was announced for 2016, I was excited by the prospects of what the exclusives could be since I was actually going to be attending for a change. I held out high hopes that the Heli-Vipers might be making an appearance. I know that’s an odd thing to hope for, but I’ve been kind
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