Minifigure knock-offs have been a source of interest for me since I discovered them a couple years ago. They’re definitely a source of contention within the Lego collector community, as the makers are basically using a patented mold with little to no changes. The exterior shapes of the parts are close to identical when compared with their legit counterparts, but
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By KansasBrawler Growing up, I always wanted the original B.A.T. figure. It came out just a little before my time in the Joe brand, but it was still shown on the cardbacks of some of the earlier figures I managed to find. However, for whatever reason, the original B.A.T. eluded me. I had the 1991 version and I really do
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I’ve long sung the praises of Blood for the Baron, the premiere online resource for all things Action Force. For a collector with a historical bent, it’s a gargantuan resource of information regarding the small-scale GI Joe’s UK cousins. Now there’s an equally exhaustive reference book for the toys and ephemera. The Palitoy Collectors’ Guide was a Kickstarter project that
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Black Major has been producing interesting variants of Cobra troops using the 80s trooper mold for some time. His most recent offerings include a new troop type code named Hercules. With a deco based on the Palitoy Action Force range’s SAS detachment, this new figure joins the ranks of familiar faces like Blades, Stalker and Hunter. The color scheme echoes
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By KansasBrawler While I may not have had the Air Commandos figures growing up, I’ve always been fascinated by obscure Joes, and that definitely describes that particular subset. Personally, I always liked Skymate the best, so when I saw that he was a souvenir figure at Joe Con 2016, I was really excited. He’s by no means a household name
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By KansasBrawler When I got back into Joe collecting during high school, YoJoe exposed me to a lot of interesting figures I didn’t know existed. Growing up in Kansas and South Dakota, there was some Joe stuff that just kind of slipped by me. I think that geography is what helped me find earlier figures like Lady Jaye that wound
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By KansasBrawler Going into Joe Con 2016, I had some pretty strong ideas about what the souvenir sets were going to be. However, I was almost completely off base compared to what the GIJCC actually did. The one exclusive that I really didn’t have any idea how they were going to handle was the annual parachute drop figure. My best
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The Ghost Hawk (yeah, I have a hard time calling it that) was originally one of the upgraded classic vehicle designs of the 25th anniversary series. I was impressed by the improvements made in the detail and fit/finish of it. The mold has become something of a workhorse since then, appearing in modified form for the Pursuit of Cobra line
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By KansasBrawler When the Sky Patrol theme was announced for 2016, I was excited by the prospects of what the exclusives could be since I was actually going to be attending for a change. I held out high hopes that the Heli-Vipers might be making an appearance. I know that’s an odd thing to hope for, but I’ve been kind
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The Cobra Air Cav Trooper was part of the Red Lasers Army set first released at this year’s JoeCon. Cobra troops are nothing new within custom o-ring offerings. All the various factions of Cobra (and new variants) are out there if you look around. It’s actually pretty staggering to see the variety of just Black Major’s figures based on Cobra
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