It’s not often that we focus on modern card art in a TPOP feature, but I find the Retaliation line look speaks to an issue that’s all to common in action figure series these days. Without sounding like a grumpy old guy (too late), today’s packages are missing something. Since 2012, package backs (at least from Hasbro) have become even
Read moreIs there anything more beautiful than an unabashedly crazy toy? I think not. It’s hard to fathom that this figure originated from the same toy line as 1983 Stalker, but here it is. I’m fine with it, as I’m fine with any number of nutty concepts that came along during the course of Joe’s 80s-90s run. Maybe this is the
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By KansasBrawler For me to like an international figure, it has to be a pretty big departure from its American counterpart. That’s why I’ve always been interested in Python Patrol Airborne and Python Patrol Ripcord and am absolutely fascinated by the international Sky Patrol figures. There’s one other international figure that has strangely caught my attention over the years— the
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By KansasBrawler I’m already on record here with my love of the old Cobra Rocket Pack and my love of B.A.T.s. For a souvenir set this year, the GIJCC decided to mix my peanut butter and chocolate and create the B.A.T. Rocket Pack. The fact that this souvenir was still available after Joe Con was a bit part of what
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Are you an original Destro fan or Iron Grenadiers Destro fan? I find there are elements of both that I enjoy, be it action figure or comic portrayal. The 25th anniversary series focused on this particular mold several times, and the comic interpretation got quite a lot of exposure in just a couple of years. While the other repaints of
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This figure holds the honor of least handled of all my convention exclusives. Why? Because it came with a nice little warning note from the club explaining that the toy had to be created with a more brittle type of plastic in order to achieve a vac-metallized finish. The result was a beautifully rendered reproduction of one of the craziest
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By Past Nastification After reading reviews by Rob and by Forgotten Figures, I have given into the temptation to purchase some “factory custom” figures. I know there are backstories about Red Laser factory customs and Black Major factory customs, but I’m not sure what they are. Also, I don’t really care. I just want the toys. I do know, though,
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We’re going back back back with a deep cut today. It’s a figure that dates as one of the earliest entries of the blog, back in the year 2011. Seems like a lifetime ago. I think he’s crazy enough to warrant another look. My feelings about this figure haven’t changed much since I last pulled him from a baggie inside
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By KansasBrawler As I said in my review of the BAT Squad Leader, I’ve always loved the 1991 version of the Cobra BAT. When the BAT Squad Leader was first revealed, I was excited because I thought that it was meant to reference the 1991 BAT I had growing up even if it didn’t have the color scheme I was
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The constants in GI Joe since the 80s are I think a large part of what keeps collectors coming back to new iterations of the line. The well-known characters are like a well worn ballcap, or a favorite couch. They just feel really comfortable, and we (at least guys like me) can be averse to throwing them away when they’ve
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