Who hasn’t wished for an army of Vipers at some point? I know I have. While I’d love to build up masses of the 1986 version, I just wasn’t in the troop building game at a time when the guys could be had cheaply. Luckily the 2000s were kind to us, if you didn’t mind a few recolored figures, like
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As hit or miss as the comic packs were, I sure do miss them. Actually, I miss o-ring GI Joes at retail in general, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. I’m just glad I was able to catch a few of them on clearance back then. They are impressive looking when grouped. The Cobra Officer was one of my early
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I could say that time has not been kind to some of the 25th anniversary figures, but plenty of these guys looked pretty darned goofy when they first hit the pegs. Funky arms and a pin head (and matching pin head helmet) sink this figure into the disappointment category. At least he was included with some sort of tank, albeit
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By Past Nastification This figure is in my collection, but I have no recollection of it. I discovered it the other day and it triggered absolutely no memories. Hasbro pumped out a ton of figures during the Rise of Cobra run, and this is one of them. The more I look at it, the more I like it. Like many
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The original Alley Viper figure was an unknown to me until I came back to collecting in the early 90s. The concept instantly hooked me, and the color scheme and helmet design were extra touches of oddness that drew me to the trooper. When the Battle Corps versions hit, I was able to build a squad of the yellow and
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If there’s been one (make that two) figures Joe ‘toon and comic fans have yearned for over the years, it’s Tomax and Xamot in their Extensive Enterprises business suits. I should have prefaced that by saying adult Joe fans, since I certainly didn’t give a whit about having any business-suited action figures during my childhood Joe years. It’s only with
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The Viper has a storied history of releases during the new sculpt era. One would think such an iconic Cobra trooper would have been a slam-dunk success, a license to print money where army builders were concerned. Not so, thanks to weird mold choices and color schemes. Blue gave way to greens, browns and greys, and the 1986 BAT legs
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The Steel Brigade made a surprise return to the Joe mythos at the tail end of the new sculpt era. It was a welcome sight for me, as I’ve always liked both the SB concept as well as the unique helmet design. Though the familiar design made an appearance (and was removable!) as part of 2004’s Anti-Venom squad, we got
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By KansasBrawler There are very few figures I’d consider missing from my childhood collection. However, the one glaring omission was the Crimson Guard. I thought that they looked so cool when I first saw them on a cardback but I never saw one at a store. Not having the Crimson Guard as a kid means I’m kind of that the
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One day, I’m going to have a big ole GI Joe themed party. Most likely for my birthday, or possibly the birthday of this blog. Ten years sounds good, if (Lord willing) it and I am still around. At said future party, I imagine that I will most certainly acknowledge all eras of GI Joe, from the original military-accurate 1960s
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