Here he is. Probably the most anticipated figure in the 50th Anniversary offerings. First seen at JoeCon as part of Hasbro’s concept case display, a new Destro has been on many fans’ wish lists for a remake. How does he measure up against previous modern versions? First off, he’s pretty large. Like Leatherneck, he towers over figures from earlier in
Read moreWhat’s more frustrating than finding an original Retaliation Night Viper on the pegs? How about getting the follow-up figure to hold its main weapon? I must have tried ten times to get his tiny trigger finger through the guard while maneuvering the hand to grip the stock. I eventually gave up and sort of balanced the weapon between the arm
Read moreIt’s good to see new GI Joe product on the shelves. Earlier this year, no one really knew if Hasbro was going to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the seminal action figure brand. All corners of the fandom have weighed in with opinions on the makeup of the Toy R Us exclusive line, and I won’t belabor the usual general
Read moreby KansasBrawler Hi, my name is KansasBrawler…and I’m a Ninja Force fan. While I’ll admit that the figures had flaws, there were still some pretty good figures released under that banner, especially in the first year. Figures like the new Storm Shadow, Slice, Dice and Nunchuk are all great designs, have great colors and aren’t too badly restricted in the
Read moreThe pilot of the Wave Crusher, a repainted SHARC released as part of the Real American Hero Collection, the Sub Viper is itself a redeco. Though his vehicle is something of a lackluster repaint of a craft that’s been done to death, the Sub Viper himself is welcome reuse of a cool 90s mold. The Sludge Viper figure on which
Read moreHere’s another of the Cobra extreme environment troopers, this time a flamethrower. Well, I think that’s what he’s supposed to be. He actually incorporates elements from a firefighter as well as a flamethrower. The body was donated by Barbecue, the Joe team’s resident fire putter-outer. The weapon comes from Dreadnok Torch, a man who probably loves the phrase “burn it
Read moreby Twitziller The Headquarters Attack saw a limited release as part of the second series of Built to Rule in 2004. In addition to being the largest G.I. Joe Built to Rule set, it was also the only BTR set to include two figures and the only set to include a piece with a battery-powered feature. The primary mode of
Read moreEnvironmental specific figures have been favorites of mine since the 80s. I enjoyed playing with the arctic, desert and aquatic characters and imagining them in their unique locations. Living in the midwest, I had snow in the winter, and summer sandboxes stood in for the desert. Outside of the seasons, things like bedspreads and books represented snow fields and mountains.
Read moreThe ninjas just keep on comin’. Seems like at times you just can’t swing a plastic nunchaku in a GI Joe line without hitting one of the masked marvels of PJed mayhem. The Rise of Cobra movie series was no different, as the two most prominent ninja in the storyline were released over and over. Storm Shadow in particular was
Read moreUntil the recent Toys R Us product, the Rise of Cobra seemed to have been the last great gasp of GI Joe store exclusives. I was figuring that when Retaliation hit last year, there would have been the usual run of repaints, repacks and multi-figure sets at Target, Walmart and Toys R Us. Such was not the case. Too bad.
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