I won’t say too much about the Hall of Fame figures’ articulation; there isn’t much to say. With Barbie cartilage elbow and knee joints that moved about three clicks, the toys were hardly up to the standards of their forefathers in terms of movement. The series appealed to me mostly on the level of costume design. The first series for
Read moreFlint was another figure that I obtained back in the day via a trade with a grade school friend. Unfortunately, I can’t recall what or who I traded to get him. I do know that he was complete initially, but I soon lost his shotgun. Even sans weapon, Flint quickly became one of my favorite Joes, and was in a
Read moreI’ll admit that for the most part, my Pursuit of Cobra purchases went into baggies soon after being opened. That’s not to say I didn’t like the figures; bagging is just a process I’ve been doing ever since the 2000’s when I was collecting both new Star Wars and Joes. I would buy a new wave, and put most of
Read moreDoc was among the first group of replacements in the Joe comic, and I still remember seeing the commerical one morning before school. I just had to have the Polar Battle Bear afterwards. As wonderful as the toys and comic were, the one-two punch of marketing brilliance in an animated comic book commercial was equally important in getting us little
Read moreThe GI Joe Trooper appears to be a new iteration of the generic troop idea that started with the Steel Brigade. I say appears because the movie figures forego file cards, long a staple of Joe figures. I’m more than a little disappointed in this missing piece of the toyline. Those little bits of fiction included with the figures are
Read moreHave I written too often about Snake Eyes? I apologize if I have, but love him or hate him, you can’t deny his presence. You also can’t deny his wardrobe changes. Though most are of the black and grey variety, he did add a splash of color in 1991. I still have an intense appreciation for that figure; I daresay
Read moreThe Dollar General Shipwreck comes to us as a hybrid homage to the Devil’s Due comic and 2002 toyline versions. I’ve been a fan of the look as an alternative to his Popeye the sailor getup, and it’s nice to see him brought into the modern style. The movie line figure of 2009 was a decent interpretation, but I wasn’t
Read moreOops–it happens. That’s about all I can say to continuity sticklers who may not like the fact that Hasbro gave two different characters the same code name. With a line made up of hundreds of Joes and Cobras, there’s bound to be a screw up here and there. Don’t be too harsh about the name business. Heck, you can call
Read moreThe Battle Corps series of the final years of the Real American Hero line gave rise to quite a few core character redesigns. Some, like Duke, Roadblock and Gung Ho were updates of the character’s established look and specialty. Others like Flint, were placed into unfamiliar roles. Beachhead fortunately remains a ranger, but gets a sort of SWAT look that
Read moreWhat’s in a name? Well, when it came to GI Joe in the 2000’s, added ranks, lost rights and odd new monikers. It was a dark time for those whose hackles were raised by characters’ classic names changing. Scarlett became Agent Scarlett, Stalker became Sgt. Stalker, and on and on. I guess name copyrights have some kind of magical “use
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