The 1990 version of Overlord is a mystery. Appearing as a driver figure and an apparent new foe for the GI Joe team, he seemed poised to be a replacement for Cobra Commander. However nothing much came of his figure in the toyline or comic. It wasn’t until the 2000’s Devil’s Due comic series that anything of substance was done with
Read moreGI Joe comic fans waited years to get an action figure representation of the legendary Eskimo mercenary, and in 2004, Hasbro delivered with this first ever version, released as part of the Valor Vs. Venom comic packs–wait, what’s that? I put up the wrong picture? This is his son, Ghost Bear? Say what? Well, sorry about that–meant to post the
Read moreWhenever the Joes encountered a tech or computer issue back in the day, they generally relied on their communications specialists. First, it was Breaker (and Sparks in the toon), then later Dial-Tone. Short-Fuze, Clutch and Steeler’s out-of-the-blue design and build of a killer satellite in the MASS Device mini-series doesn’t count, by the way–that ridiculous thing was shot down in
Read moreWhat’s the most ridiculous military specialty you’ve heard of for a Joe team member? How about veterinarian? Maybe it’s not ridiculous for the Joe team. After all, somebody’s gotta be around to give Junkyard, Order, Lamont, Sandstorm, Max and Timber their parvo and heartworm shots. Dr. Link Talbot made his debut in the Valor vs. Venom series, the storyline in
Read moreFemale figures don’t sell. It’s a marketing mantra all too familiar to action figure collectors. We don’t like to believe it, but it really is true. As much as we communicate via forums, Twitter and the like, sometimes we mistake the loudness of our online voices for greatness in number. The fact is, those of us who are online are not the
Read morePit Vipers are the stealth, infiltration and evasion specialists of the Cobra forces. They’re trained to be sneaky and persistent, and equipped with highly sophisticated gear that allows them to avoid detection by most security systems. This figure is the second iteration of Cobra’s sneakiest troops. While the initial version of the Pit Viper wasn’t garish, the color scheme didn’t
Read moreA lot of us Sunbow freaks have a laundry list of “cartoon only” characters we’d like to see in action figure form. Sparks was always at the top of my list. His presence on the cartoon confused me, since the Joes had a communications specialist (Breaker) since the first mini-series. I still liked his look however, with his odd helmet
Read moreThe Anti-Venom Task Force set I must admit was a pretty cool idea. Released as a Toys R Us exclusive during the Valor Vs. Venom series, it presented a group of Joes tasked with the assignment of tracking down the animal/human hybrids created by Cobra. The set was a nice tie-in to what was going on in the main line.
Read moreWow, who upset Dr. Mindbender’s new intern? This is Hotwire, the Cobra BAT Mechanic from the 2008 convention exclusive set. The theme for the year was Cobra Headhunters, and the main boxed set included both some cool new frankensteined BATs as well as the awesome Headhunter and Headhunter Stormtrooper molds. Hotwire, a character originating from the 2004 GI Joe card game, was a
Read moreA word of advice: if you decide to get into the “new sculpt” era of Joes, be careful. There was so much product released between the years 2002 through 2007, it’ll make your head spin so much, you’ll end up with a loose neckball. Another word of advice, and this isn’t so much a commercial as it is a necessity
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