The Buzz Boar brings to my mind an alternate universe in which Journey to the Center of the Earth was adapted to film by Toho Studios in the 1960’s. With its saw blade in place of a nose drill, it looks like the kind of thing one might have seen burrowing into the earth in an Eiji Tsuburaya orchestrated symphony
Read moreWho would’ve thought that the words memorable character and DIC GI Joe could co-exist in a sentence? They can to me, thanks to this guy. The series was crawling with lukewarm characters, due to some pretty pedestrian writing and voice acting. There were exceptions of course, and Metal-Head was one of them. Now, I have to explain that memorable doesn’t
Read moreOut of all the 80’s Dreadnoks, I think Monkeywrench most resembles a regular biker gang hooligan. He doesn’t have any new wave hairstyle, funky glasses or armor plated jeans. Instead, he’s decided to accessorize with patches and bandanas. In the end, he’s not too wild looking, just a long haired dude in jeans, vest and grenade bandolier. Okay, forget what
Read moreOver the years, Storm Shadow’s action figures have usually been outfitted in some form of his classic all-white white ninja pajamas. When the Resolute animation came along, he was given something of a redesign, but the result was still a mostly white clad ninja. Enter the 2009 comic packs, which were branded with a Resolute logo and packed with a
Read moreHow’s this for an improvement over a Cobra driver that’s as fondly remembered as any in the line? I don’t dislike the original HISS tank’s driver, but I’ve also felt like it was missing something. For an early line figure, it was impressive, but even as a kid, my excitement for it quickly faded. Maybe it was the big honkin’
Read moreDuring the time of the 25th anniversary series, I was hoping that between the annual member figure and convention sets, the Collectors Club was going to continue to carry the torch for the vintage o-ring styled figures. I had been a fan of their convention exclusive sets since the popular Crimson Strike Team set, and eagerly awaited each year’s con
Read moreWas the designer of this Scrap Iron a fan of Warhammer 40,000? The shoulder pad shape, and the multi-piece armor remind me of that war torn grim future’s Space Marines. Mix that look with a head and helmet reminiscent of manga art taken into three dimensions, and you’ve got a truly different take on one of the classic named baddies of Cobra.
Read moreCobra’s basic troops are still an iconic image to me, almost as much as the original Grunt card art. If Cobra Commander was the face of the named villains, the trooper was the face of the organization as a whole. The look varied from figure to package to cartoon to comic, but the essence remained. Character designs were my favorite
Read moreI suppose the Direct to Consumer (DTC) line bridged the gap between the GI Joe vs. Cobra/new sculpt/whatever era and the 25th anniversary/modern lines. By the way, GI Joe fans really like to categorize and name these things, don’t we? The DTC series marked not only a return to single carded figures, but also to a more classic styled packaging.
Read moreIn my younger days, I was heavily involved in action figure customizing. Most of my focus was on Marvel comics, with a particular bent toward the more obscure corners of their well populated universe. I tackled the likes of weirdos such as Brother Voodoo, Shaman, Spirit of ’76, Wonder Man, Nighthawk, Fixer, the Son of Satan, and even Videoman. I
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