Clutch was my favorite character in the early Marvel comics issues. Rather than a cookie cutter personality, he was a colorful and opinionated (to put it mildly) presence among his teammates. His back and forth with his comrades made for the kind of character interaction that drew me into the world. As a figure, he’s also unique. It would have
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The hits just kept on coming in 1987. If the figures that year veered further into pulpy and weird directions (particularly on the Cobra side) the vehicles followed suit. That’s not to say they weren’t fun toys. On the contrary, the rides on this dealer catalog page are some of my faves from the post-86 era. You don’t get much
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By KansasBrawler Sometimes a figure in a con set really surprises you. With the Zombie Initiative set, I wasn’t expecting to be as impressed as I was with T’jbang. With the Peril In Paradise set, I wound up being surprised by how much I liked Recondo. In Project: Downfall, the figure that surprised me the most was Static Line. Static
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Hawk is one of those first series 1980s figures that I hoped would get a revisit in his original garb. The 2000s comic packs gave us the (then Colonel ranked) interpretation of the Marvel version of the Joe team field commander. The comic Hawk featured a newly sculpted head. The result was an appropriately comic book colored affair, albeit with
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Sci-Fi was a worthy update to Flash, although I still have a soft spot for the original laser rifle trooper. I had no problem with the character’s bright uniform, and I absolutely loved this package art. It strikes you immediately and really sells the specialty. For a Star Wars kid, it was a no-brainer pick.
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By Past Nastification Throughout the 1980’s heyday of the A Real American Hero line GI Joe never made any appearances as McDonald’s Happy Meal toys. Like Charlie Brown energetically dislodging the football from Lucy’s condescending grip, it just never happened. But in 2004, during the New Sculpt era, GI Joe and Ronald McDonald finally crossed paths, resulting in a series
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By KansasBrawler The only other member of Sky Patrol I was familiar with as a kid was Skydive. He was part of KansasBrother’s collection so he’d show up in joint adventures and I was pretty impressed with him. I still liked Airborne more, but Skydive was pretty cool. I was very happy when Skydive surprisingly got some attention during the
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Hailing from the GI Joe trading card game, the Greenshirt Commando presents a modern take on a concept as old as the original animated mini-series, the generic trooper. While the nameless trooper might seem counter to the GI Joe team’s conceit of a group of unique individual specialists, the idea works well within the confines of a trading card game.
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Joe puts the hard sell on parents! Other book and record sets available are shown on the back of the booklet itself, and Joe helpfully points out how beneficial they are. How could you resist? I certainly want to buy them all. Now to find a record player…
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When the Marvel Comics iteration of the GI Joe comic was going on, a few references to the Marvel Universe made it into the series. But do you remember what appeared to be Joe appearances within the main line Marvel comics? Although he’s not referred to by name (though he is called Sargeant) Duke’s appearance in this issue of Spider-Man
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