Posting the 25th anniversary Airborne last week got me to thinking about the original again, and how much I like the figure and character. There’s something timeless about the 1983 figures; they’re slimmer, more muted color-wise and accessorized with some of the most unique weapons and equipment in the line. I wouldn’t describe Mr. Talltree’s uniform as plain; he’s instantly
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By 1985, Snake Eyes was equal parts commando and ninja. Just a couple of changes to uniform and weaponry transformed the Joe team’s mystery man/soldier into a mystical warrior. With the introduction of Storm Shadow, an entire ninja mythos was born. It continues to this day. In 2007, the anniversary series met with enough success that the pegs saw the
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By KansasBrawler When the Joe line reinvented itself in a smaller scale in 1982, they really managed to capture lightning in a bottle. Those first 13 figures were interesting characters and to me, one of the coolest was Rock ‘N’ Roll. KansasBrother and I were both too young to have started with the Joe line when it came back in
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The Real American Hero series’ package art style gave equal weight to both the ridiculous and sublime. Sneak Peek has never been one of my favorite figures, but his card art is certainly interesting. I rarely think of this figure’s M-16, considering that his field imagining device is such a dominating accessory. The portrait work catches my eye, and it’s
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My first exposure to this set came in the pages of Lee’s Action Figure News and Toy Review magazine. I still have that particular issue, the first toy magazine I had seen on a newsstand–well, a comic shop stand to be exact. So is this the first example of the GI Joe line packaging a vehicle and “driver” figure together?
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I’ve only partaken of a single FSS product thus far. While I’d love to dive in to the offerings, finances have prevented me from doing so. I managed to find the money to pick up Iron Klaw from the first set, mainly because I’m a huge GI Joe Extreme mark. Some of the package art for the 25th anniversary as
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A few years ago, I never would have expected an embarrassment of Starduster riches. I was fortunate to be buying Joes in the early 2000s when the original version was much cheaper, and I was jazzed when a couple other versions came out during the 25th Anniversary years. While it was great to get the character in the modern style,
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Quick Kick gets some grief for his look, particularly when folks take his specialty out of context, or more often, when discussing his first appearance in the Sunbow cartoon. What good is a shoeless and shirtless martial artist in a military setting, they might ask. It’s also easy to point out the oddness of his being so attired in the
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The hits keep coming with the Red Lasers Army custom figures. Last year’s mix of army builders and named characters piqued my interest as soon as I saw them. The early ARAH era parts speak to me in a way that takes me right back to 1983. There’s something about the slimmer, less detailed builds of the early Joes that
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By Flag Points Don
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