I’m just going to leave this here without much commentary. I think the set and its art speaks for itself. I will say however, that this is the kind of thing we need to see as an SDCC exclusive, rather than another Joe/TF crossover.
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Backblast? Isn’t this Avalanche? Welcome to the 2000s world of replaced and lost code names. It’s not the first time we’ve seen things change as far as molds and names. Remember the ’84 Roadblock mold becoming Double Blast for the collectors series? This time however the file name matches the older Backblasts from 1989 and 1993. I wonder why this
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Airborne was one of the first GI Joes, along with Scrap Iron, that made me realize Hasbro was reusing parts to create multiple characters. The kneepads and boots were a dead giveaway. The backpack was another suspiciously familiar accessory. Was he borrowing it from Duke, or vice versa? Much of the success of a minifigure based on existing material, especially
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The Jet Pack Trooper was one of my favorite new Cobra troop types introduced in the 25th Anniversary line. This Kre-O version, introduced in the third wave of blind bag figures, exploits one of the strengths of the block format: buildable accessories. A jetpack may not seem like an exciting feature to add to a figure, especially since they’ve been
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I’ve covered an individual figure from this set before, but I thought it might be interesting to look at the package as a whole. When the Infantry Division set hit Toys R Us, I initially bought only a single copy. I didn’t think that I would care for it much, but there was something about it that struck my fancy.
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I kind of kick myself in the butt over the Target exclusive Ultimate Battle Pack. I should have kept it sealed rather than opening it. The presentation and sheer size of the set is very impressive. Mine survived unopened for over a year, then I tore into it in an effort to save storage space. Oh well. The Cobra Vehicle
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The Cobra blueshirt specialists were one of the concepts I found most interesting during the 25th anniversary line. With air, bazooka and para-viper troopers, the Cobra army seemed like a throwback to its early Marvel comic days. Rather than specific troops with new gear, colors and nomenclature, these seemed to be the generic trooper given a bit of extra training
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Not only do I miss the days of o-ring figures, but I miss the days of o-ring multi-pack exclusives. I guess I should say o-ring Toys R Us multi-pack exclusives. Maybe I should put it even more succinctly. I miss 2002-2006. It was a time when GI Joe seemed to still be viable, or at least a time when Hasbro
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I’ve always had a thing for GI Joe pilot figures. Ace, although he spent a lot of time in the cockpit of his Skystriker, was a favorite of mine as a kid. Years later, when I began to collect the 1960s GI Joes, I gravitated toward the Scramble Pilot and even the Air Police. At the same time (the mid
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I’m more than a little surprised that Hasbro dipped into the post-1986 well with the last of their Kre-O line. Considering that the bulk of the minifigures represented the first few years of the 80s (the sweet spot for many Real American Hero era aficionados), those of us who wanted to see a little more variety welcomed characters like this.
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