By KansasBrawler I’ve always had a weird relationship with Red Dog. He’s honestly my least favorite Renegade. While Mercer and Taurus had characterizations that interested me, an ex-football star with anger issues just never really spoke to me. Mercer and Taurus always had distinctive personalities when my brother and I were playing with them, but Red Dog was just kind
Read moreby KansasBrawler I don’t know why, but Road Pig has always had a huge following. It’s always boggled my mind a little. I wouldn’t think a shirtless bruiser would be so popular, but Larry Hama did such a great job with him in the comics and on his filecard that it’s hard not to be intrigued by this particular Dreadnok.
Read moreThe original Law & Order have always been one of my favorite figures from 1987. As a follow up to Mutt & Junkyard, they served a similar purpose, but I never saw them as replacing the original K-9 unit. The 30th anniversary series was exciting for me. While I had enjoyed the detail and the new looks for the characters
Read more1985’s Airtight was the first figure I posted one year ago. He represented for me the strangeness that’s been a part of the small GI Joe line since early on in the Real American Hero line. While some have decried the use of bright colors near the end of the RAH run, I still posit that electric hues on Joe
Read moreI enjoy a good updating and re-imagining of a classic character. The Pursuit of Cobra and 30th anniversary lines both managed a few figure updates that really impressed me. Hawk is a great new battle-ready version of the team’s long time field commander. When Hawk returned to the line as a general in 1986, he traded in his typical Joe team
Read moreSo Zartan’s brother finally gets the modern treatment, and I have mixed feelings about it. The original figure never made a whole lot of sense to me, particularly in comparison to his uber-cool brother. Most of this new figure from the BigBadToyStore exclusive Dreadnok battle pack is a straight interpretation of the original, though there have been some welcome improvements.
Read moreImagine a world where a 1987 figure would garner attention from the modern Joe collector. Hard to believe I know but that’s what happened at the announcement of the Techno Viper for the 30th anniversary line. Who knew folks would freak for the purple engineers? I always thought the old head sculpt was weird, but this new version’s helmet looks
Read moreWhile the original Road Pig was impressively buff for Real American Hero line, I found it lacking the imposing face portrayed on the card art. The head sculpt was based on a Hasbro employee of the period, who had an entirely too friendly face for a roughhousing Dreadnok. The remainder of the original figure was well done and effectively accessorized
Read moreSo who knew that Zartan’s extended family would eventually be represented in action figure form? Can’t say that I ever did. Let’s see, we have brother, sister and daughter. All that’s missing now is Zingo, Zartan’s dog. Zanya is an amalgamation of her comic look and her auntie Zarana, thanks to the reuse of parts common to the Dreadnok battle
Read moreI suppose you could say that Zanzibar here is stretching the bounds of believability, even for the GI Joe line. Even taking into account the fact that a lot of the Cobra characters (especially the Dreadnoks) dress rather dramatically, you’d be hard pressed to find another figure that looks more like he’s on his way to a costume party. You
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