I had always thought that this figure was a villain, but upon looking at his bio card, he’s apparently not. He certainly has a villainous look about him, and a strongly German World War II era uniform. The eyepatch takes his appearance one step further into the “bad guy” arena. But not so, as the character’s background is in NATO
Read moreSurprising that it took a few years to get round to another version of the Crimson Guard. Then again, probably not surprising, as the fascination with the elite troops I think is largely part of the older collector consciousness. I don’t recall my friends and I being overly enamored with the original Crimson Guard back in the day. As a
Read moreI never had the interest to pick up this figure as a kid. Something about it just didn’t appeal to me. I think it may have been the head. It always seemed overly large. Maybe that’s just due to size of the hat. That thing is like a tent sitting on top of his head. I like the figure now,
Read moreThis Storm Shadow seems like he comes from an amalgamation of the GI Joe universe and Prince of Persia. Or maybe it’s Elseworlds Storm Shadow. Wait, has that been done yet? You know, setting the GI Joe vs. Cobra story in a distant historic period? If not, IDW should try it. Why not, they’ve already done the zombie thing. I find the
Read moreIt took a while, but Dr.Mindbender finally found a respectable outfit. The shirtless, caped, purple pants jackboot look caused too much snickering around Cobra Island that he gave up and put on a lab coat, like any self-respecting mad scientist. Mindbender played a large role in the fiction of Valor vs. Venom. His V-Troops were an essential part of the
Read moreI wouldn’t have thought that Zartan, of all the old GI Joe designs, could have been made integrated into the modern era’s realistic approach to what was essentially a sci-fi military toyline. A hooded, facepainted master of disguise decked out in half-shirt armor, riding a waterski–how could this design and concept work in the post-movie line? By putting a nomadic,
Read moreHow’s this for a regal Destro? After years of supervillain disco chic and Scottish swashblucker ensembles, the famous weapons supplier’s look was reimagined for the Resolute animated special. More than any other, this is a Destro in command. Right off the bat, I’m reminded of a previous Destro design that wasn’t translated to action figure form. The Sunbow series put
Read moreYou may think I’m crazy, or that I simply have no taste, when it comes to my appreciation of the more strikingly colored 90’s GI Joes and Cobras. Considering how many of them that I’ve already covered, I should probably pace myself. I wouldn’t want to run out of them too soon, and be forced to write about more 1982
Read moreAs the Joe team’s second undercover operations specialist, Mace looks more the part of police officer than soldier. That’s due to his original planned designation to be part of the second series of the Drug Elimination Force, or DEF. Like his teammates for that assortment, he came equipped with a decidedly cover blowing accessory, the helmet mounted missile launcher. Whereas
Read moreVarujan “Taurus” Ayvazyan or just Taurus to his friends, is a good example of the economic reuse of parts. As a member of the Slaughter’s Renegades set from the 2006 GI Joe convention, he used the same body mold as his teammates, Red Dog and Mercer. The original torso and leg mold belonged to Clutch, from the oft-ridiculed Mega Marines
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