Female figures don’t sell. That’s the inside story action figure collectors have heard for years which supposedly accounted for the boys’ toys industry’s lack of ladies among the males in the toy aisles. Of course, things are somewhat different now, with prominent female characters marketed within brands like Star Wars, Marvel, DC and others. Kudos by the way to DC
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By Past Nastification Almost a decade before American children were exposed to the visual poison that was Robojoe, our UK counterparts’ eyeballs were devastated by the Action Force figure Kiwi. Kiwi was the Space Force engineer. “Space Force?” What? If you’re not familiar, I’ll explain. If you are, skip this paragraph. The ARAH GI Joe team started life as one
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Some figures sell themselves based on concept, others need a boost from their packaging. Buzzer didn’t need any help to snare me back in the day, although I will say the in-your-face chainsaw helped steer me a bit toward his favor over the other ‘Noks that day. The unique feature to the packaging art here is the presence of a
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There aren’t many GI Joe figures that made it through to this day from my original childhood collection. I was much more conscientious with Star Wars in that respect, maintaining all of my original toys. The Joes and Cobras unfortunately fell by the wayside, for the most part. I had thought that the only figures that survived the teenage-years purge
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On this Labor Day in the US, we remember the sacrifices of American workers who brought massive positive changes to working conditions and workers’ rights in this country. I can’t think of a more hump-busting Regular Joe than Tollbooth. He’s one of those oft-forgotten figures who drives a vehicle that provides a much-needed service for the team. And in my
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What do successful and long-lasting toy properties have in common? How about a memorable and ubiquitous enemy? From Megatron’s Decepticons to Skeletor’s Evil Masters to Cobra Commander’s minions, any bad guys worth their salt had a variety of troops at their disposal. What separates Cobra though from the others–an amazingly diversified cadre of specialists. The Tele-Vipers stand out to me
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Clutch was my favorite character in the early Marvel comics issues. Rather than a cookie cutter personality, he was a colorful and opinionated (to put it mildly) presence among his teammates. His back and forth with his comrades made for the kind of character interaction that drew me into the world. As a figure, he’s also unique. It would have
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The hits just kept on coming in 1987. If the figures that year veered further into pulpy and weird directions (particularly on the Cobra side) the vehicles followed suit. That’s not to say they weren’t fun toys. On the contrary, the rides on this dealer catalog page are some of my faves from the post-86 era. You don’t get much
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Sci-Fi was a worthy update to Flash, although I still have a soft spot for the original laser rifle trooper. I had no problem with the character’s bright uniform, and I absolutely loved this package art. It strikes you immediately and really sells the specialty. For a Star Wars kid, it was a no-brainer pick.
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When the Marvel Comics iteration of the GI Joe comic was going on, a few references to the Marvel Universe made it into the series. But do you remember what appeared to be Joe appearances within the main line Marvel comics? Although he’s not referred to by name (though he is called Sargeant) Duke’s appearance in this issue of Spider-Man
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