It’s been a long while since I covered a figure from Action Force, the UK’s sort-of cousin of GI Joe. The initial years of that line shared a construction style similar to Kenner’s vintage Star Wars line. Five points of articulation were common, as was a more pliable plastic. The figures have a completely different feel from the domestic GI Joe line,
Read moreNo, it’s not the title of a TV show in which a former baseball slugger and the computer from “2001: A Space Odyssey” team up to solve crimes. But if I had my way, it would be. The story of the relaunch of GI Joe goes that it was intended originally as a vehicle line. I think that’s apparent in
Read moreWell, here it is folks, the original Cobra trooper. It’s taken a while. I’ve covered the weird and the wild over the last year and a half, but somehow this guy hadn’t fallen under my gaze till now. Wait a minute, isn’t the code name Cobra? Not according to the file card. Although, the early file cards were odd in
Read moreThe Buzz Boar brings to my mind an alternate universe in which Journey to the Center of the Earth was adapted to film by Toho Studios in the 1960’s. With its saw blade in place of a nose drill, it looks like the kind of thing one might have seen burrowing into the earth in an Eiji Tsuburaya orchestrated symphony
Read moreOut of all the 80’s Dreadnoks, I think Monkeywrench most resembles a regular biker gang hooligan. He doesn’t have any new wave hairstyle, funky glasses or armor plated jeans. Instead, he’s decided to accessorize with patches and bandanas. In the end, he’s not too wild looking, just a long haired dude in jeans, vest and grenade bandolier. Okay, forget what
Read moreHow’s this for an improvement over a Cobra driver that’s as fondly remembered as any in the line? I don’t dislike the original HISS tank’s driver, but I’ve also felt like it was missing something. For an early line figure, it was impressive, but even as a kid, my excitement for it quickly faded. Maybe it was the big honkin’
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Backblast is equipped with an impressive weapon that is also unfortunately one of the most difficult to get a figure to hold while maintaining its balance. I hate to harp here, but I feel you must share my pain in getting this guy posed for a photo. I try not to use figure stands in my shots, so there’s a
Read moreI suppose since Mainframe didn’t include any weapons, one could assume he might be a pacifist along the lines of Lifeline. However, he breaks the stereotype for what you’d consider a computer specialist. He’s former Airborne and reinlisted as a Marine, and as the file card states, “He’s got brains–but he’s hard.” Though the technology that he carries seems quaint and
Read moreWhat do you get when you cross the Wolverine and the Mauler? A pretty mean looking little tank, that’s what. As a one man mini tank, the Lynx comes out looking less humorously small than the Armadillo. Actually, since the GI Joe vehicles have always been scaled down, this one doesn’t look all that small. The entire trio of Marauders
Read moreThe BUGG is one of the absolute funkiest vehicles in the Cobra arsenal. An impressive underwater and shoreline attack craft, as well as a truly amphibious personnel carrier, it featured a removable mini-sub as well as deployable jet skis. With its bulbous front end, the thing also looked like a bug. Secto Viper naturally follows suit with a wild design
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