This week begins what appears to be the final JoeCon (at least in its current form) and I thought it would be fun to look back on some of my favorite figures from back when. They’re all o-ring era exclusives, since I stopped getting the yearly sets after 2010. The first JoeCon I attended was 2005, and that set is
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Battle Force 2000 needed an enemy as futuristically odd as they were, and Destro’s Iron Grenadiers obliged. The Joe line in 1988 was fully into sci-fi territory, and the vehicle designs evidenced the shift. Despite this, the line was consistent in the quality of its packaging. The toys may have looked a bit crazier, but the presentation remained enticing. The
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By KansasBrawler Once again, I saved my favorite figure from a con set for last. Considering how much I loved the original General Mayhem figure, it should be no surprise that I’m really sold on this one as well. I know some circles of the Joe collecting community don’t like it when the GIJCC creates its own characters and then
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By KansasBrawler For the longest time, the original Joe Con Iron Anvil was a big hole in my collection. I had just learned about the GIJCC in college and really wished I’d been able to get to Joe Con in Minneapolis that year, but it wasn’t to be. When I was finally able to go to my first Joe Con
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I promise I’ll stop with the Iron Grenadiers soon. It just seems to be a fascination. Of course, so is package art. The toy doesn’t do much for me, but I dig the painting.
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By KansasBrawler When it became clear that the GIJCC was going back to Iron Grenadiers for this year’s con set, I figured Undertow was going to be on the GIJCC’s short list for figures they could make. After all, there aren’t that many Iron Grenadier troopers left to cover. Plus, it is a figure with a decent fan following. The
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The AGP is one of those vehicles about which I find myself saying, “Oh yeah, that exists.” I’m not trying to be rude, but the thing just doesn’t hold much interest for me. I also have no nostalgia for it, since I wasn’t collecting the toys at the time of its release. Even among the Iron Grenadiers vehicles, it seems
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Mechs have been a part of the GI Joe universe since 1983, when the SNAKE armor debuted. Things got more active in the 90s, with offerings like the Armor Bot (okay, not technically a mech, but close) and the 1994 Power Fighters. Both were space-oriented, a natural extension of military vehicles suited for the Star Brigade sub-team. In 2004, both
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By KansasBrawler I’ve always been a fan of the Iron Grenadiers Destro look. It’s regal yet combat ready at the same time. So when I learned that one of Hasbro’s comic packs was going to be an Iron Grenadiers Destro and an Iron Grenadier, I was pretty happy. Yes, I’d already bought the single pack release of Iron Grenadiers Destro,
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By KansasBrawler I’ve mentioned before how much I love it when new characters are added to the Joe line. I enjoy getting to meet a new character for the first time and learn his or her story far more than I like getting new interpretations on characters I already know. Sometimes new versions of old characters are necessary, but my
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