I’ve covered Hasbro’s noble attempt at online only sales or DTC in my Med Alert entry, so I won’t go throuh the details of that ambitious but unsuccessful program again. That’s not to give the line’s figures short shrift, as there were some real gems in it. Major Bludd was one of the major Joe characters that didn’t get a
Read moreThe Valor vs. Venom line of the 2000’s produced its fair share of types of packouts, or ways in which figures were offered. There were two packs of hero vs villain and army builder, comic book three packs and five and six pack themed sets. But the days of single packed figures did return for a few series of somewhat
Read moreAccording to his bio, Slash is inhumanly evil. This mercenary ninja is an apprentice to Storm Shadow, who has a grudging respect for him, only for his skill. This begs the question why a basically honorable character like Storm Shadow would associate with such a cruel and heartless individual. Slash was part of a two pack which also included the
Read moreThe venerable vintage Tunnel Rat mold has seen release numerous times since its debut in 1987. It’s been Night Force (twice), a Sonic Fighter, Tiger Force (in Europe), a comic pack, and has even had a Funskool repaint. In 2004, it showed up again in a desert themed Toys R Us exclusive multi-pack. Each figure in the set was adorned
Read moreAction Man, the original UK version of GI Joe, made a return to toy aisles as a series of 12 inch figures and accessories in the 90’s. Its revival was an adventure oriented series, and a limited amount of sets were actually release in the US. Instead of military situations and equipment, the new series had more of a James
Read moreThe Joe team has had a SWAT specialist since the 1988 release of Shockwave. The team has also had a K-9 specialist since the release of Mutt & Junkyard in 1984. Wide Scope combines the two, which I think distinguishes him from both. A well written bio on his file card brings more interest for me as a character. He’s
Read moreShipwreck is one of those characters that folks seem to love or hate. This is probably mostly due to his portrayal in the Sunbow animated series. He was brash and sarcastic, and marched to his own drummer. This combined with voice actor Neil Ross’ Jack Nicholson imitation put off many fans as he seemed like such an over the top
Read more“There’s never a cop around when you need one. When this one’s around, all you need is one.” The 1992 film starring Jackie Chan was originally released as Police Story III—wait, wrong blog. This is Funskool’s Super Cop, and he’s, well, a cop. Is he super? He’s got Sgt. Slaughter’s head, and he was pretty super. That should count for
Read moreSome Joe fans have a love-hate relationship with the team’s First Sergeant. In the cartoon, he was the de-facto leader until Hawk came around in the second season. In the comic, Hawk was the Joe honcho from the beginning, and Duke was a Johnny Come Lately second in command two years into the series run. Since his first figure appearance
Read moreAlso known as General Hawk, this version of the modern Joe team’s commanding officer was released as part of the Direct to Consumer comic packs. This series of packs tried to more closely represent the characters as they appeared on the comic page. As such, General Hawk has his comic look of a blond crew cut, rather than the longer
Read more