The original Tripwire actually got a lot of play on my Joe team back in the 80s. It seemed that for a while, no matter what sort of mission I cooked up for my squad, they came across a situation demanding Mr. Skoog’s unique specialty. Now that I think about it, navigating a group of toy soldiers through a minefield
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By KansasBrawler The Original 13 Joes have always had something of a mythical standing in the Joe collecting community. It’s not really a surprise since they were the ones that started it all. However, it’s always kind of baffled me that with as much as people criticized the 25th Anniversary Joe line for parts reuse that the Original 13 are
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The 1980s GI Joe line continued the tradition of compelling package art that began all the way back in 1964. The gritty, realistic paintings of Joe’s original incarnation sold a world of adventure via a cardboard coffin box. The Adventure Team era took things to a bold new level in selling a toy based on box art (what 70s kid
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The Toys R Us exclusive Night Force multipack was an odd duck, particularly in comparison to its 80s predecessor. Re-imagined as a squad clad in darkly patterned uniforms, it was a much more cohesive looking group than the original. It was nice however to see the set appear as an exclusive at the same retailer where it originated. Remember when
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By KansasBrawler The 25th Anniversary line really impressed me at the time. While some of the figures look horribly dated compared to what came later, I’m still rather impressed at how faithfully Hasbro was able to recreate some of the classic figures in this new style. One of the figures I found really impressive was Snow Job. I didn’t really
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By Jason Royalty and Michael Sherrow
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By KansasBrawler It’s hard to believe that only four short years ago, the Joe brand had such ridiculously strong retail support. I’m not saying that to sound bitter, but it’s a little disappointing how weak the 50th Anniversary line roll out was compared to what the line was during the shift from Rise of Cobra into Pursuit of Cobra. Rise
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By DetectiveFork Most G.I. Joe collectors have their own ultimate wish list, a glaring collection of missing holes in their collections that they pray Hasbro will one day see fit to fill. Back in 2011, the No. 1 missing person on my want list was G.I. Joe’s supermodel tank driver, Cover Girl. She never made much of an impression on
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By YT What shapes who we are and what we will become? Too deep a question to solve on a toy blog but maybe this tray holds some of the answers? Hasbro was a master of licensing in the 80s, their licenses festooned things from shampoo bottles to tents and everything in between. Sometimes the quality of art helped these
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By YT Lt Falcon was always a favorite of mine as a kid, even after his rather annoying appearance in the GI Joe animated movie. I guess I gravitated towards the more realistic aspects even back then. I also had a beret obsession, but that is a whole other story. The Sideshow Falcon was a great figure. They reused a
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