This was the 25th anniversary line’s attempt to recreate one of the cooler Snake Eyes figures from the new sculpt O-ring era. It utterly fails in that regard, and like his multi-pack sword brother, Snake Eyes ends up loaded down with extra web gear. Having said that, he’s still the main reason I bought the sad sack Greatest Battles DVD pack,
Read moreEver happen to pass a wreck on the highway and notice that most everyone going by it has to slow down and gawk out of morbid curiosity? That’s what happened to me when I came across this figure a while back. Absolutely nothing about it works, yet I couldn’t seem to bring myself to pass it up as a subject
Read moreAs a fan of both the 2002-2006 era of GI Joe and the newer 25th anniversary style of figure design, I often think of how quite a few of the so-called new sculpt figures could really benefit from a re-do in the moden style. I wish Hasbro would get on that. Wait, what? They already did? Really? In 2009? Get
Read moreIf there was one cartoon accurate figure that I really wanted to see as a Sunbow fan, it was Lady Jaye. The original 1985 figure is by no means bad, in fact even as a kid I found it to be a vast improvement over Scarlett and Cover Girl. But we Sunbow aficionados had to wait, and wait and wait
Read moreLate series distribution problems seem to be a theme in the collecting community, whether you’re talking about the toy collecting boom of the 90’s or today. Collect a line long enough and at some point, it’s going to raise its ugly head. Collectors get nervous when word circulates that a particular assortment is getting short shrift in terms of availability.
Read moreSome Joe fans seem to have a fascination with seeing the original thirteen Joe team figures done in the style of the day. I count myself as one of them. As crazy as it sounds, I must admit I would loved to have seen a 1993 interpretation of Grand Slam. Sadly, it was not to be. As the vintage line
Read moreThe 25th anniversary series began (with Pilot Scarlett) the modern line’s fascination with homages to vintage foreign release figures. The collectors club picked up the ball and ran with it in 2009’s attendee exclusives. 2011’s con set also offered up some non-US subjects. As a collector who embraces the odd and unusual, I find them to be nice additions. It
Read moreI have a real soft spot for the first GI Joe mini-series, AKA the MASS Device. I find it endlessly interesting from the standpoint of the many elements that are different from next mini-series and the eventual regular series. One of the elements I enjoy so much about this and other Joe Sunbow series are the added characters, vehicles and
Read moreDusty is one of those Joe mainstays who didn’t get a single card release in the 25th line, so we had to make do with his inclusion in a DVD battle pack. For me, the battle packs became increasingly difficult to find, culminating in the ridiculously hard to track down fifth pack featuring another great ’85 character, Alpine. Much like
Read moreWhile the original 1983 Destro remains the iconic vintage interpretation of the character, I always liked the 1988 Destro, with its bigger build and ball jointed gold head. The addition of the cape and sword (which could hang on the figure’s hip!) was icing on the cake. The whole look had a pirate-y feel to me, which was a refreshing
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