I don’t have much recollection of 12 inch GI Joes from my youth. I was of an age at which the bigger guys were phased out before I reached a level at which I wasn’t simply chewing or throwing all my toys. Consequently, my parents didn’t buy me many toys with arms or legs that could be pulled off, or
Read moreI have a different perspective when looking back on 1988-1990 figures. Those were the years during which I wasn’t collecting, so the years on either side hold different kinds of memories for me and also seem to affect my opinions. The ’82-87 period is most definitely colored by nostalgia, particularly the first four years. 1991 began my adult collecting, and
Read moreI enjoy a good updating and re-imagining of a classic character. The Pursuit of Cobra and 30th anniversary lines both managed a few figure updates that really impressed me. Hawk is a great new battle-ready version of the team’s long time field commander. When Hawk returned to the line as a general in 1986, he traded in his typical Joe team
Read moreI never would have figured Beachhead for a turtleneck guy. I suppose it’s just part of the Resolute style. Both he and Stalker had the big collar thing happening. A few of the Resolute figures shared tooling, and honestly, it grated on me. The extended elbow pads and boot cuffs got real old, real quick. Familiarity breeds contempt, and by the time
Read moreAre you a green Clutch fan or a tan Clutch fan? That’s a tough choice. It’s not a question of Kirk vs. Picard, Death Star vs. Enterprise or Elvis vs. Beatles proportions, but still worth consideration in geek circles. While the first version is all about the iconic first 1982 series, the later tan version stands for me as a
Read moreTop Secret Document: The worldwide movement of international criminal and terrorist organizations is monitored by a classified defense satellite network system code named: Eagle Eye. Recently, Eagle Eye has detected an advance of several of the world’s largest hostile networks. Though its final objective is unknown, this new and dangerous enemy represents a serious menace to the world. In response
Read moreStalker is one of the Joes who I think becomes too hemmed in by his original design. Sure, the first figure was iconic, but after a while it’s nice to see something different. He has had a few redesigns over the years, but Hasbro still seems to go back the all-camo well with Stalker. While I enjoyed the deviaton of
Read moreI have to hand it to the collectors club for their membership figures over the last three years. After a great final o-ring figure in Big Lob, and the much requested modern style Dial Tone (even though I found it lacking due to parts choices), they’ve created a very nice new representation of the Joe team’s far out infantryman. Though
Read moreWhat happens when a survivalist’s best pair of jeans fall into a vat of radioactive sludge? He joins the GI Joe Eco Warriors, of course. Then he dons his official OSHA Inspector yellow hard hat and takes to US military bases, scouring them for negligent and willful violations of proper HAZCOM and HAZWOPER protocols. Outback used to spend his time in
Read moreIf you asked ten year old me who my favorite Joe figure was, I probably would have said the name of the latest figure I had gotten. Yeah, even back then I could find something to like about each one. For a while around Christmas 1983, Airborne was my favorite. ’83 was the year that I really got into Joes,
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