Dusty had one of the most easily recognizable designs in the vintage era, with his all-over desert camo and distinctive helmet with cloth attachment. The new sculpt era, for all its perceived issues, got quite a few things right, especially in terms of character selection. Sure, the poster boys Duke and Snake Eyes were present, but many other familiar Joes
Read moreThe Imp is an impressively squat and stocky little one man missile tank with a secret. What look like three large missiles hide an extra surprise payload. Just for this reason, it’s a neat addition to the Cobra ground forces. I also find a lot to like in the design itself. It has a real throwback look to it, and
Read moreDespite having one of the most insufferably cutesy code names, Justin Case is one of my favorites of the later o-ring Corps! molds. Like many of his line mates, he was repainted and repackaged for a variety of series. The STAR Force sub-line presented him in a very unique color scheme that was a far cry from his more subdued
Read more
The Black Major is another member of the Action Force enemy, the Red Shadows. I find these early Action Force figures endlessly fascinating, not only for their visual appeal, but also for the comic storyline that revolved around the Red Shadows and its transition into Cobra. It’s an interesting alternative to the US comic mythos. In the Action Force story,
Read moreOriginally the driver of the Arctic Blast, Windchill was thrown in with another cold weather vehicle, the Blockbuster, late in the Real American Hero era. The most impressively large of the GI Joe snow vehicles, it boasted an incredible salvo-firing missile launcher, and was quite a good vehicle considering its later release date. Windchill hasn’t been changed much since the
Read moreFinally, we get an action figure version of one of the unproduced Sgt. Savage characters. I’ve been waiting seventeen years for a Mouse figure to display alongside the Sarge, D-Day and the others. I’m just so jazzed about this…wait, what? This is a character named Mouse from GI Joe: Retaliation? Oops. It’s good to see parts of last year’s very
Read moreWhile the last bit of snow remains on the ground, I’m still in a bit of a winter mood. Not arctic, but winter. Funny how these two terms seem to be so interchangeable in GI Joe. The last time I checked winter is a season, and the arctic a location. The arctic is cold, with ice and snow being its most
Read moreThere are a few GI Joe vehicles that have become iconic, that remind one of a magical childhood time of fun and innocence. Toys that when you see them, make you say, “Ooh, I had that. It was so cool!” Then there are a few that elicit the response, “What the hell is that thing?” The Patriot falls in the
Read moreWhat’s the least likely three words you’d ever think to see strung together on a GI Joe package? How about Russian Bear Wrestler? This is Zangief, from the Street Fighter II sub-series, a set of figures that were based in the popular video game and branded with the GI Joe logo. Crazy? Of course. It was the 90s, and the operative phrase
Read more“Fully equipped with all the gear to complete two missions!” Over the course of the GI Joe line, Hasbro hasn’t been afraid to experiment with new ideas and permutations of our favorite toyline. The cynical might say this is sometines borne of desperation for sales, such as the far-out Super Joes of the 70s, or the gimmickry of the 90s.
Read more