As far as I can tell, this figure hails from one of the earliest Chap Mei military series, the original Soldier Force. Over the years, the various new releases have been numbered with Roman numerals at the end of their titles. I’ve seen up to Soldier Force V, but there could be more since last I checked. These days, we
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How do you know when your toy line is a big success? When other companies scramble to catch some of your lightning in a bottle of their own. Sometimes it’s successful, sometimes it isn’t. Remco’s Sgt. Rock line, based on the long-running DC war comic, sought to capitalize on Hasbro’s small scaled GI Joe relaunch. The company even went as
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No, it’s not the title of an 80s Turkish action film knock-off pastiche of The Karate Kid and Rambo (but it should be). It is a wonderful knock-off set of action figures inspired by both GI Joe and Rambo. Either way, what’s not to like? It’s Remco Joe! RemJoe! I sucked up a bunch of these two-packs at K-Mart back
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The latest refresh of Lanard’s CORPS action figure line was a pleasant surprise. Introducing a new storyline depicting the conflict between the CORPS! and villainous group The Curse, the set has also given us newly sculpted figures and two female characters. As usual however, are a group of repainted older releases. Ogre’s mold has been used several times in the
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Lanard’s Action Rescue series, focused on fire, rescue and police themes is an interesting line to collect. Within Hasbro’s 1/18 scale GI Joe world, we don’t get much material that can be used to replicate real-world people and vehicles within play patterns. I know as a kid I would have liked to have a few regular folks, or at least
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Mattel’s Heroes in Action series was set of small scale figures produced in 1975. It’s interesting to see all-out military figures from this time, considering that Hasbro’s GI Joe had been transitioned over to an adventure theme. Maybe Mattel were banking on the longevity of a war comic like Sgt. Rock to sell these to kids. I’ve seen this ad
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In 1973, while the GI Joe line was well into its Adventure Team period, competitor Mattel introduced Big Jim, a less militaristic adventure and sports based 10 inch figure, as an alternative. Unlike Joe, Big Jim from its beginnings incorporated action features into the figures. The toys’ biceps bulged when arms bent at the elbows. In 1975, Big Jim’s image
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For some collectors (and especially customizers) of small scale GI Joes, Lanard’s Wow Action Girls! series is highly sought after. The line was a godsend for those looking for figures, accessories and vehicles that just hadn’t been replicated by Hasbro. Stylistically similar to the o-ring figures of the 80s and 90s, the toys were produced with an array of accouterments
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Before Lanard rebranded its CORPS! line a few years ago, it had been using the Total Soldier title for other military toys. Most examples I’ve seen have included slightly smaller, reduced articulation figures as pack-ins. Think Chap Mei, if you want an idea of what I’m talking about. Each year at the annual Lanard sale, there seem to be a
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Lanard’s CORPS! line, which has been around since 1986, surprisingly didn’t add any clearly labeled antagonist group until the late 2000’s. Although cats like Whispering Willie and Crowbar were Mad Max-esque types, they didn’t seem to belong to a named group. I guess they were meant to meander into your Cobra forces and blend in with the Dreadnoks. Anyway, the
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