I found this Remco Sgt. Rock ad inside the final issue of Brave and the Bold from 1983. I recall these and Remco’s Warlord being more prevalent than Joe ads, but maybe I just had more DC comics back then. The illustrations look much more impressive than the actual toys were, thanks to the amazing Joe Kubert.
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We’re going off the rails tonight, but it’s still tangentially Joe related–in my eyes, at least. I’m fascinated by the myriad me-too military toy lines that arose in the early 80s after GI Joe’s relaunch broke into the big time. Sure, Hasbro cribbed the o-ring and rivet format from Mego/Takara (and Hasbro itself by proxy if you want to get
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It’s the holiday season again here in the US, and that means toymaker Lanard is holding its annual sale at its warehouse just outside Kansas City, MO. JAD made the trip out for opening day, accompanied by Joe bud and fellow Toy Department podcast host Andrew AKA Twitziller. Andrew walked away with a huge haul that filled a large box.We
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It’s easy to forget the the Street Fighter sub-line was actually branded as part of the GI Joe line. Considering that the popular fighting game characters simply jumped into Joe’s universe unchanged, the confusion is warranted. Hasbro was obviously a bit sheepish about connecting the two as well, since the packages minimized the Real American Hero’s logo. They weren’t shy
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I’d you’ve been paying attention to Star Wars action figure collecting lately, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of folks are disappointed that the brand’s attention to articulation has diminished. As a vintage SW collector, the return to five point articulation doesn’t bother me much, as it’s what I grew up with both as a kid in the 80s and
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Don’t call it a Humvee–at least not this time. Lanard’s CORPS! line had featured vehicles incredibly similar to that famous official military transport for years. This more modern take on the concept takes things further into the future design-wise, and I think it’s a big hit. The CORPS! has a long history of vehicles, and although some of the early
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It’s finally Halloween, and I couldn’t let the day escape without some serious classic monster love. For me, the perfect way to spend at least part of the day (aside from taking the kids trick or treating) is to watch a few classic Universal monster movies. My love for monsters goes back to my childhood, and began with toys. The
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After creating the Hall of Fame body for GI Joe’s 12 inch ressurrection at mass retail, Hasbro utilized the new buck across of quite a few of its other lines. Everything from the relaunched Star Wars, to other licensed properties like Aliens and Street Fighter had GI Joe bones beneath its skin. Hasbro’s Universal Studios Monsters Signature Series was another
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The creepiness continues as we lurch toward Halloween. Longtime readers know that I like to feature the also-rans that sprang up around the success of the famous Hasbro brand. Lanard’s CORPS! started out in the 80s, and continues to this day, has put out its share of odd figures over the years. Where the Joes fought drugs and protected the
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Rick Ranger is, well, a former Texas Ranger. Once a Ranger always a Ranger, I suppose. If you’re a CORPS! collector, it might be easy to confuse him with Jones, who wears a similar type of hat, and shares the same torso and arm molds. Rick looks like he’s also sharing a head with the existing Whipsaw figure, a sort
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