Hey, wait a second, I hear you say. Didn’t you just cover this guy a couple months back? Yes, I did, but this is a recolor. That’s right, the Moray came in two flavors for 2002. The same thing happened for much of the first series of the relaunch, actually. While the other holds a place of distinction for me
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I find the second series of Star Brigade figures to be much more interesting than their prececessors. Not only were some new parts mixed in among the reused elements, but the generic card art was jettisoned in favor of character specific packaging, in keeping with the rest of Real American Hero era. When there’s a giant (preferably painted) portrait on
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Many of the o-ring style comic packs had head issues. The Joes in particular seemed to get the short end of the cranium stick. I’ve wondered if the smaller heads were a design choice, or the result of a manufacturing issue. After all, the newly designed figures of the era had more delicate sculpting and generally smaller heads. I hate
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It’s army builder time again. I remember pretty vividly picking up several of the Viper/Alley Viper packs that were released during the army builder wave of the Spy Troops series. Those fill-in troop builder waves of the time were quite a good idea, by the way. It kept product flowing to the shelves, and provided some interesting variations on both
Read moreFinally, I found this figure at retail. It seems like I’ve been hunting for it forever. Ever since I saw the first images online of the repainted “discount store” wave, this Snake Eyes, along with Storm Shadow, were a must-buy. In lieu of the 1991 coloring, it was done up in green. It’s something of an homage to the Heavy
Read moreI’ve mentioned it before: I’m not much of an army builder. If I like a troop type, the most I’ll buy is four or five. I flirted with the idea of putting together impressively sized forces during the 2000s, in particular its re-releases of several classic o-ring Cobra troops. I must have bought ten of the Operation Crimson Sabotage sets,
Read moreI consider myself an “opener” when it comes to toys. After all, if I can’t get my hands on it, what’s the point? While I love well made card and packaging art, that hasn’t translated into my collecting habits. So when I picked up this figure, I fully intended to open it up, as I’ve done with all the Funskool
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The internet exclusive BAT pack was one of those things I initially thought was going to be a real issue to get. My experience in toy collecting up to that point had been through the 90s, a time when the hobby had grown dramatically, and when the first collector focused toys began to appear en masse. With lines like Spawn
Read moreOf all the versions of Scarlett to produce, they made her in a karate outfit that appeared in the opening pages of Marvel Comics issue #2. I was hoping for an arctic outfit along the lines of the Snake Eyes contained in the same comic pack. Given the limited parts reused for each of the packs, it’s not surprising that
Read moreMutt and Junkyard were one of my absolute favorite figures in the embarrassment of cool action figure riches that was 1984. Though Firefly and Storm Shadow stood out on the Cobra side, Mutt, Blowtorch and Recondo were hits with me. Mutt got the most use, since his look and purpose suited most any mission. The animal companion was just the
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