What separated the 80s GI Joe from the myriad of other less successful toys to inhabit that most awesome of decades? For me, it was the way that Hasbro went above and beyond to create a mythology to go along with the toys. First, with the comic and later the Sunbow animated series, the Joe team was fleshed out beyond
Read moreThe Night Creeper from 2009’s Defense of Cobra Island multi-pack is another example of a mostly well executed take on a vintage figure design. The Flint arms are a bit of a bummer, but the positives about the rest of him manage to outweigh the poor parts choice. This updated figure does a better job of recreating the look of
Read moreWhile I didn’t care much for most of the Rise of Cobra movie based GI Joe and Cobra figure designs, the off-screen extras of non-movie figures had a share of very exciting new characters and troops. Night Adder showed up a little later in the movie run. A lot of those later wave toys were difficult for me to track
Read moreI’ve talked about my fondness for Marvel comic issue number two a few times in the course of this blog. It held a special place for me as a kid because I had a coloring book based on the issue. Someday I hope to track down a copy of it. The comic issue was a favorite for a couple of
Read moreTime for more Double Duty, the 12 inch line that gave kids more bang for their buck, with double the missions and equipment. This time, Joe is taking on an assignment of the mountain climbing and sniper variety. That’s one of the things I find fascinating about this short lived series: the juxtaposition of two sort-of-related military missions. This one
Read moreThough the Funskool GI Joes consisted of a lot of straight remakes of domestic US figures, there were also plenty of oddities mixed in. Near the end of the run, things got really weird. Remember the very literally accessorized Windmill? This Grunt falls somewhere along a less crazy line in terms of his look, although he’s still equipped with one
Read moreI’ve said this a few times before, and I’ll say it again here: I miss the o-ring. Now, before you tell me I’m just being a curmudgeon who pines only for the days of old, I’ll tell you no, in fact, I’ve passed curmudgeon and gone fully into ornery old coot territory. As far as longing only for the past,
Read moreBefore I started this blog, Battle Force 2000 and I had kind of a weird relationship. The last GI Joe figure that I bought as a kid was a member of BF2K, Knockdown to be exact. He didn’t leave the greatest impression on me, and my days as a kid collector of Joes ended with a whimper. I think in
Read moreShould a Cobra pilot really be considered an army builder? I know the answer is yes in the common sense, as a generic trooper type of which Cobra may employ hundreds. But as a collector, is it at all useful to pack them with infantry types when the pilot is for the most part useless without his signature vehicle? The
Read moreThe Desert Patrol Squad six pack was a decent enough set (aside from the horrific Dusty) that presented a nicely unified look, as well as a new GI Joe sub-team. The 1991 Snake Eyes mold is one of my favorites, but with the patterned pants contrasted against the dark torso and boots, it really looks like the team’s premiere ninja
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