In the 90s, I was back into collecting toys, and buying all the latest issues of Tomart’s and Lee’s to check out the latest releases. Both frequently published bits of Toy Fair catalogs each season. I’m amazed that I missed the fact Kenner re-purposed the Firebat for its VR Troopers toy line. Then again, I wasn’t exactly impressed by yet
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Mechs have been a part of the GI Joe universe since 1983, when the SNAKE armor debuted. Things got more active in the 90s, with offerings like the Armor Bot (okay, not technically a mech, but close) and the 1994 Power Fighters. Both were space-oriented, a natural extension of military vehicles suited for the Star Brigade sub-team. In 2004, both
Read moreThis stuff has got me seriously hooked. I love seeing the clean art versions of the package paintings. They made even the less interesting vehicles shine (ha!). This painting has me wondering if the collectors club will pull out the Snow Cat mold again and vac-matalize it as a Sky Havoc II for this year’s con set. Sky hope not.
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By KansasBrawler As I’ve talked about before, there are always one or two figures that turn out to be kind of lame in large figure sets. Honestly, this was a review I was hoping I wouldn’t have to write for the Peril in Paradise con set. I really like Dial Tone and I like that he joined Tiger Force, but
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I hate to sound like a broken record, but damn do I miss the artistry and beauty of vintage toy packaging. It’s a lost art, much like movie posters. Modern packaging, for all its slick style and strong branding, has lost its charm. Captain Zargon and the Space Ranger were no doubt some of the most fanciful Action Man figures.
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When it comes to toys and packaging, sometimes what you see is not what you get. The 2005 GI Joe Moray Hydrofoil is a perfect example. The box art depicted a white and black colored repaint of the classic Cobra Hydrofoil. It looked something like a law enforcement vehicle to me, and the matching flames on the hull were just
Read moreFirefly has usually received some sort of attention in each post-80s iteration of GI Joe. The Resolute animation was no different, although the famous saboteur didn’t get much to do. Granted, the special wasn’t of an epic length, and many beloved Joes and Cobras got only a few second of screen time. Poor Bazooka, for example, showed up on a
Read moreWaitaminit–the GI Joe Extreme comic gave rise to two volumes? Yes, it did, though both were short. And to tell the truth, they weren’t all that bad, if you can dig some serious 90s elements. Just check out this cover featuring third-party agent Red Scream (a fitting 90s type name) blasting through the cover. Makes you want to find out
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As far as I can tell, this figure hails from one of the earliest Chap Mei military series, the original Soldier Force. Over the years, the various new releases have been numbered with Roman numerals at the end of their titles. I’ve seen up to Soldier Force V, but there could be more since last I checked. These days, we
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By KansasBrawler Call me crazy, but when Undertow Officer was first announced, I was kind of excited. Yeah, she was using some pretty dated parts, but the GIJCC didn’t actually show us her head when they released the digital mockup. That left me hopeful for something that could stand in for one of the DDP characters I kind of liked,
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