Despite being pretty much a flop, and not well remembered even among a less popular era of GI Joe, I found the Built to Rule series fun, especially the vehicles. Among the figures released, a few were quite memorable. My favorite was Firefly, covered some time ago on the site. Gung-Ho was another figure that impressed me, if for no
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I’m a huge fan of the 1991 figures. There’s not a one that I don’t find some reason to like. It’s a series that, for better or worse, seems to bridge what came before with what would come to be. It was our first exposure to spring-loaded weapons as a routine. It also featured several reinterpretations of existing figures. Wherever
Read moreCannonball is another driver made entirely of reused parts. It’s not surprising considering he was released as a driver of a Direct to Consumer vehicle, the Rhino. The DTC line utilized a lot of existing molds, with some strategically inserted new parts and weapons. Cannonball’s body is made up of Barrel Roll and Switch Gears, two of my favorite figures
Read moreLanard’s Corps! line broke its figures off into several sub-groups for a bit in the 2000’s (where have we seen that before?) There were the WASPs, an air based group; the ROOS, a rapid response team; the ORCAs, a group of water operations specialists; and the BUCKs, a bio nuclear containment squad. Two of the figures in this group were
Read moreWhen does a repaint pass from odd to over the top? I think when gold boots and gloves come into play, there’s no turning back. This exclusive Firefly very nearly reaches Funskool levels of craziness. But you know what? It somehow works for me. It’s a crimson Firefly! First off, who wouldn’t mind having a crimson Firefly? It’s been done
Read moreOf all the Cobras who dress ridiculously, and there’s no shortage of them, Dr. Mindbender had managed to consistently look like a snickerdoodle even into the new sculpt era. Before he finally donned a normal looking labcoat in Valor vs Venom, he trotted out this number, an unofficial Python Patrol outfit. This figure suffers from a particularly brutal form of
Read moreI’ve generally not been impressed by the modern driver figures. Many have been repaints and parts swaps of existing figures, with new heads thrown in here and there. That’s a far cry from the 80’s and 90’s, when most drivers were all new molds, and exclusive to their vehicles. Exclusivity and newness of driver figures were brilliant marketing concepts from the glory
Read moreWow, is this ever a Cobra Commander for special occasions. It’s Fancy Dress Ball Cobra Commander. In the annals of tastelessly attired villainry, this one deserves a Hall of Fame spot. I suppose the red is meant to convey a sense of the regal and formal, but the plastic used make him look like a cheap Christmas ornament. It’s oddly
Read moreIf there’s one Joe character that gives me a Halloween vibe, it’s serpentor. When I say a Halloween vibe, for me it’s more about sitting down and watching the old Universal horror films of the 30’s than costumes and trick or treat. His very origin is the stuff of horror. Dr. Mindbender operates like HP Lovecraft’s Herbert West at a
Read moreThe comic pack figures have been fun little self referential detours in recent years. They’ve been the source of not only quite a few comic specific characters, but also four-color versions of our familiar favorites. I can remember noticing more than a few times as a kid reading the comic that some of the characters didn’t resemble their toy versions
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