If there’s one quality that Hasbro possessed with their approach to the Joe line in the 90’s–right or wrong–it was a willingness to try anything. “Throw it at the wall and see what sticks” is a good way to describe it. Although it didn’t stick at retail, the Mega-Marines sub-line was a memorable venture in to Day-Glo and Play-Doh that
Read moreOver the years as a Joe fan, and in the course of this blog I’ve said it time and again: this is a cool sculpt that would really benefit from a better paint scheme. Static Line, being a member of the Sky Patrol, was made up of reused driver molds. The original mold upon which he was based, Backstop, was
Read moreBy 1992, I was fully back into Joe collecting, and (in those pre-internet dark ages) waited with bated breath every February for the annual Toy Fair issue of Tomart’s Action Figure Digest to reveal the year’s Joe offerings. I won’t pretend that the idea of anti-drug plot within the Joe toyline didn’t seem patronizing and ridiculous when I first saw
Read more1993 was the year of strange mail aways. While the regular line was waning amongst a bevy of sub-lines, Hasbro Direct was offering odd recolors of recent and not-so-recent figures. Some were multi-packs, like the Arctic Commandos, the International Action Force, the Rapid Deployment Force (complete with a reused Pocket Patrol Pack!) and the Copter Pilot set, from which Interrogator
Read more1991 is my favorite post-1986 year for figures. The main line saw new interpretations of old standbys for the Joe team and Cobra’s forces. This new edition of Sci-Fi is a tasteful update to his original figure. Say what? A 90’s Joe tasteful? Yes. Regardless of what you’ve heard on the grapevine about the dreaded decade of Eco-this and DEF-that,
Read moreBelieve it or not, the end of the Real American Hero line produced a few nice vehicles. Although the line was going the way of less intricate multi-part kits and also incorporating spring loaded action features, several of the releases transcend these elements and emerge as solid and fun vehicles. The Ice Snake continues the long tradition of GI Joe
Read moreUpdraft is the pilot of the Retaliator, one of the weirdest craft in the GI Joe arsenal. Advertised as a “Bomb Dropping Rescue Copter!”, the Retaliator was a helicopter with a working winch and a rotating tail with grabbing claw that pivoted out of the tail section. An odd-looking copter with impossibly short blades, it resembled a dragonfly more than
Read moreHas it been that long since I covered a vehicle? I had almost forgotten that I was also covering them as part of this grand experiment in nerdery. At the same time, I noticed that this marks the 200th review. Wow. It’s all been such a blur, I almost missed it. The last year of the original RAH line released
Read moreThe 1993 Joe series was a monstrous year in terms of total figures, with over one hundred individual figures released among the regular line, drivers, mail-ins and the Street Fighter spin-off. The Battle Corps series in itself saw 36 figures, a great many of which were redesigns or repaints of existing characters. Joes and Cobras alike were refreshed that year,
Read moreWhen I cover figures from the spring-loaded missile launcher era of GI Joe, I normally don’t include the launcher in my pictures. They often seem like a tacked-on accessory, not to mention nigh impossible for most figures to hold unsupported. However in Duke’s case, the missile launcher works, and dare I say it–I like it. Several of the ’94 Star
Read more