Dusty had one of the most easily recognizable designs in the vintage era, with his all-over desert camo and distinctive helmet with cloth attachment. The new sculpt era, for all its perceived issues, got quite a few things right, especially in terms of character selection. Sure, the poster boys Duke and Snake Eyes were present, but many other familiar Joes
Read more“Fully equipped with all the gear to complete two missions!” Over the course of the GI Joe line, Hasbro hasn’t been afraid to experiment with new ideas and permutations of our favorite toyline. The cynical might say this is sometines borne of desperation for sales, such as the far-out Super Joes of the 70s, or the gimmickry of the 90s.
Read moreThe original Grand Slam was one of my favorite figures early on in my childhood GI Joe collecting days. It actually remained so and saw regular use even through the release of many more colorful and specific characters. Something about it resonated with me. I guess design wise it was the red pads, the deep green, and of course the
Read moreNew Cobra troopers are always welcome in my collection. Going beyond the regular blueshirts was exciting to me as a kid, whether they were generic troops or named characters. The Eels and Snow Serpents were the first specific duty troops that got me hooked on Cobra’s increasing diversity. Later in the 80’s, it seemed like Cobra had a new specialist
Read moreBarrel Roll was the case of a figure whose update was a pretty far cry, design-wise, from the original. The first figure looked like a young hotshot character, and his uniform supported that idea. Outfitted in a loose fitting uniform, done up in blue and grey, he seemed to be geared more towards the pseudo-military/adventure side of GI Joe. He
Read moreDid I mention before that the original Zarana figure was fugly beyond belief? Maybe that was intentional but probably not, since the card art portrayed a more attractive face. I suppose she just ended up with one of those ugly 80’s female action figure heads. Zartan’s little sis was subject to the same issues years later with this figure. When Zarana
Read moreI remember this figure being a real oddity and a little hard to find for a bit when it first was released. Of course, that’s relative considering that the 2000’S series seemed to be more readily available than the more modern assortments have been, and there weren’t too many other collectors (at least in my area) to compete with at the
Read moreI feel the urge from time to time to present figures that I feel just haven’t gotten their due. I like finding figures that have been overlooked among the hundreds of other GI Joes released throughout the years. There are I feel quite a few unheralded greats hiding among their more well known and well liked compatriots. Indeed, greatness can
Read moreSalvo was one of the last GI Joe characters I would have expected when the DTC line was going. With assortments that included much requested new sculpt Cobras like a basic trooper and Crimson Guard, I thought the Joes would be represented with similarly demanded individuals. It’s not that I don’t like Salvo; I think the original is one of
Read moreThere was a time when electronics didn’t have as large a presence on the battlefield. There was a time when radios were about as sophisticated as communications got for ground troops. It should have been no surprise that among the GI Joe team of the 80’s and 90’s, the computer specialist position was mainly filled by one man: Mainframe. While
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