by KansasBrawler Growing up, I always loved the small Joe and Cobra vehicles. As much as I loved opening my Thunderclap when I got it for Christmas and playing with it a lot in some pretty epic battles, vehicles like the Cobra Pogo and the Joe Locust saw a lot more play time just because they were a lot simpler
Read moreI’m not usually one for big time a building, or collection pics for that matter, but I was digging through my older Joe photo files, and found a few shots from about ten years ago. Apparently, I got a wild hair one night and set up most of the army builder troops I had at that point. I have to
Read moreHasbro went absolutely BAT excrement crazy during the 2000s relaunch series. This one mold saw seven different releases in various colour schemes, and the later bike short wearing bot was available four times. Even the 1991 mold was brought back into service. I suppose the reason for getting so many out as Cobra troops speaks to their suitability as easily
Read moreby Twitziller The Sand Snake is often considered part of series 2 of the Built to Rule sets released in limited distribution in 2004. However, like the Rising Tide, the Sand Snake featured a hybrid packaging style, including the box art design of series 1 and interior packaging, including a plastic build tray, unique to the two sets. Both sets
Read moreThe Amazon exclusive Renegades four pack was a real unexpected oddity in several ways. Released with not much fanfare, it seemed to just show up suddenly alongside the first go round of Retaliation toys. By the way, Amazon also did a five pack for the film, though it was much less interesting than this set based on the all too
Read moreby KansasBrawler While this pairing may require you to buy two sets, I was really impressed at how good the HISS Tank (from the Arashikage Dojo) set and the ASP (from the Ghoststriker X-16 set) looked when paired up. As such, I like keeping them together. Plus, on its own, I’ve never been impressed with the ASP just sitting alone,
Read moreThe 2000 Real American Hero Collector series were, for the most part, a drab lot in terms of paint schemes. That wasn’t a liability when it came to producing a nice homage to the original Bludd figure. Based on the Super Sonic Fighter figure, Major Bludd has been given the kind of repaint treatment that fans of 90s molds have
Read moreWell, if you like your GI Joe figures done up drab and gritty, this is the Firefly for you. The third appearance of a classic mold, and one that would wear out its welcome by the end of the decade, Firefly worked for me in whatever environmental variation Hasbro chose to place him. This could be jungle Firefly, or even
Read moreby KansasBrawler Much like Ultimate Cobra Commander, I wasn’t 100% sure I needed an Ultimate Storm Shadow based on his original look. First of all, like Cobra Commander, that look kind of got done to death during the 25th Anniversary line. Secondly, I’ve always had a lot stronger attachment to his 1988 look. That is one of the three figures
Read moreI really really dig the version 2 Alley Viper, even though it’s yellow. Heck, I think I like the funky orange and blue repaint even more. I never picked up this version at retail in 1997, and waited until the early 2000s to get one along with his ride, the Rage. I was on something of an Alley Viper squad
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