One of the most undercooked GI Joe uniform designs gave rise to an impressive belt buckle. It’s the sort of thing you’d expect to see on a cowboy type, with a longhorn skull emblazoned across it. The fancy buckle actually works within the confines of the design of the figure’s lower extremities. Up top, he’s fairly plain, including his decidedly
Read moreI just couldn’t leave the brand’s most forgotten and oft-ridiculed segment out of this week-long celebration of all this buckle-ish. Shipwreck naturally lends himself to seafaring imagery, and it’s no surprise that an anchor would make several appearances upon his person. The decorative buckle, however, is a change for the Sigma 6 line. Most of the series’ figures were equipped
Read moreEven the military gets in on the buckle act sometimes, and fancy schmancy buckles have been de rigeur in armies for centuries. They inform friend and foe alike of one’s affiliation and even rank. At other times in history they existed only to look dandy. It’s no surprise then that a colorful group like the GI Joe team would be
Read moreI’ve covered Grunt in his Spy Troops incarnation before, but after taking pics of a few other disguised figures last week, I’ve wanted to take another look at him. Many of the Spy Troops series snap on armor, leg and arm bracers and helmets were less than convincing. Some were of a downright humorous effect. Grunt’s Cobra getup doesn’t look
Read moreby KansasBrawler Even though I never had it as a kid (or even knew about since this was back in the days before the Internet), I’ve always thought the Wolverine was a pretty cool Joe vehicle. Hailing from 1983, the Wolverine had a very realistic military design, yet since it was an “armored missile vehicle”, it wasn’t just another tank.
Read moreThe Spy Troops series was one of the boldest efforts in the history of GI Joe figure gimmicks. Based on disguising the warring factions as one another certainly made for an original attempt at adding play value to the toys. The problem was not the idea, but rather the execution. Most of the added armor and clothing elements just didn’t
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Will and I got together for a short review of some Micro Force figures. They’re a neat and fun little product, if a bit odd. Some folks won’t care for the prevalence of ninjas, but hey, it was movie related merchandise. And I can forgive it because SKULL HEADED NINJA! Also, I goofed up and identified Sgt. Stone as Lt.
Read moreby KansasBrawler If you had told me during the 25th Anniversary line that the most fun I’d be having with the G.I. Joe line five years later would be a Hasbro in-house version of Lego, I would have stared at you in complete dumbfoundedness. While I’ve always loved Legos, I’ve never really thought licensed products and Lego go well together.
Read moreIt’s funny to think that for all the stylistic flair of the Renegades animated series designs, the initial single carded figures didn’t fully reflect the show’s look. Then Amazon released their surprise four pack, and fans got a taste of what had been planned for future Renegades toys. Hasbro also displayed other unreleased toys at JoeCon, including the team’s main
Read moreby Twitziller The Raging Typhoon was released in Built to Rule series 1 in 2003, and was the largest set from that series. Although it more closely resembles a 4-engine fan boat, the primary mode of the Raging Typhoon is described as a hovercraft and, as such, clearly recalls the popular 1984 Killer W.H.A.L.E. assault hovercraft. The staggering array of
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