Bone Splitter (1995)
Wow, that’s a pretty horrific sounding name for a kids’ toy, eh? Then again, this was GI Joe Extreme. No namby pamby names like HISS or VAMP here–it’s the 90s, man!!! We’ve got extreme nomenclature!!!
The Bone Splitter comes to us with a couple of fun play features. Ultra SLAM firepower is the most obvious, with its big foam missile. The kid-powered missile launches when you pull up the cannon and slam it down. It actually works really well. The ARAH line introduced this same thing with the Detonator. There’s also a fender piece that simulates battle damage by popping off. Surprisingly this works as advertised as well, and doesn’t detract from the vehicle’s look. Topping off the armaments are dual chainsaws in the front. Extreme action features!!!
Apparently this vehicle had two body colors available. There’s an example on yojoe.com with a green hull rather than the sand color pictured here and on the package. Extreme variations!!!
Kidding aside, the Extreme vehicles are for the most part quite rough and ready. They stand up to some serious play, and that’s always a good thing, especially when you’re collecting loose pieces to display. There’s definitely a Kenner chunkiness here, as well as a lack of paint detail. At first glance the Bone Splitter could be mistaken for something released as a movie tie-in by the Kennet for any number of mid-90s toy lines. You know, like Congo, later Jurassic Park series, et al.
If you’re thinking about adapting it to the o-ring Joes, good luck. The scale and design are such that the smaller Joes would be swimming around in the cockpit.
Two weeks ago I was hoping to add G.I. Joe Extreme to my custom-made Saturday morning block, only to find that all the videos for it that WEREN’T the intro were taken down. YEESH!! Someone tell Shout Factory this series (plus the Sgt. Savage special) needs the complete series DVD treatment.
@Acer
I dont understand why there hasnt been a “complete” G.I.JOE cartoon box set. Seeing as how there are only 6 or 7 Joe cartoons it would be easy to squeeze them all into one box. I think the Sgt savage pilot was okay [if you ignore the historical inacurasies such as the Sarge, running around in the Rhineland with a mini-gun]
And yes, that thing couldnt be more 90’s Either the desiner was a Rob Leifield fan or an Ork Speed Freek
I wonder if the simplified Extreme line was an effort to hook younger kids during the Ninja Turtle era? The vehicle design is creative, as are the characters, but I’d guess marketing didn’t push the line enough.
So ’90’s, it’s awful! There’s really nothing redeeming about this. It reduced the notion of vehicle quality to absurdly bad: sacrificing details, realism and colors. But, that was any 90’s action figure line in a nutshell.
Extreme was designed by Kenner. Depending upon how nefarious you believe they were, it was either a deliberate attempt to destroy the Joe brand that Kenner visciously hated, an attempt to move Joe away from the Star Wars line they were about to launch so the figure styles didn’t compete, or just a tremendous misfire. The toys were marketed well during the time, but were, basically, DOA at retail and pretty much went straight to discount and clearance stores. (Sgt. Savage did, too.)
You can see the elements of these figures that translated into the 1995 Kenner Star Wars line, though. Those had beefier proportions and exagerated features, but less so than Extreme.
@Cyko9 and Anonymous
Sgt Savage and Extreme were both launched during the point when Power Rangers was at the zenith of its popularity.
I have it on good authoirty [Kirk Bozigian] that Sgt Savage was launced as it was rumoured Swartzzenegger was going to star in a Sgt Rock film [he made “Jingle all the way” instead] and Hasbro hoped that Sgt Savage would be a cheaper alternitve as Mattel had picked up the rights for the Sgt Rock toy line [which was never launched]
The exagerated masculinity, over-sized weapons and absurd vehicles from Extreme was inspired by the Rob Leifeild comics which were quite popular at the time.
Bad times!