When the 80s-90s Real American Hero line ended in 1994, I had been heavily involved in buying the latest figures for going on three years. I couldn’t wait to see what was awaiting me the next year after the 30th Salute. Naturally, I was highly disappointed when it all ended. For those like me who were bummed out by the
Read moreMy interest in toy collecting has something of a historian slant to it. I find the behind the scenes stories of creation, production, and even cancellation to be fascinating. With GI Joe, those stories are being unearthed constantly thanks to the efforts of some seriously dedicated fans and collectors. It seems like every toy line has that mythical final series
Read moreThe final assortment of the Real American Hero era included some unsung figures that transcend their 90s origin. That decade at times gets some unfair derision among collectors. While there were a large amount of ridiculous and strange ideas going on, with every sort of sub-team and action feature you could think of, the figure output for those last few
Read moreQuestion: are certain members of Python Patrol meant to be individuals? I know that Cooperhead is, but some of the other figures’ file cards change the terms from previous releases like “these” to “he’s”, and also frequently “this guy” which leads me to believe some may not be troopers, but rather single operatives. Then again, I could be reading too
Read moreUh, yeah. So as you can see, the 80s weren’t the height of cultural sensitivity in terms of the toy aisle. If you thought Lanard’s Bengala or Tracker Tom were bad in terms of stereotypes, check out the face sculpt on Enemy Weapons Officer. He hails from National/American Defense, the same also-ran series that brought us Enemy Leader, the infamously
Read moreThough I have a great fondness for the Sunbow cartoon, I do have a bone to pick with its portrayal of Bazooka. Did he have to sound like such a dunderhead? The file card describes him as a decisive fast thinker, and maybe he is to some extent (witness the ending of the Bazooka Saw a Sea Serpent episode), but
Read moreWow, did Cobra ever branch out their specialized troops in 1989. Talk about diversification. The year gave rise to urban ops, night troopers, anti-tank specialists, land and air drivers, not to mention several funky Iron Grenadier types. Kids who wanted to troop build must have been in hog heaven. By the way, did anyone troop build back then? I think
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Because no one demanded it! Here’s another video review. Some of these toys just can’t be done justice with pics and text–especially the ones with groovy lights and sounds. Not that my camerawork or rambling does it justice, but hey, I’m new at this video thing. Also, be sure to take some Dramamine before watching. Shaky cam ahead!
Read moreI was fortunate to attend, (just one day after this year’s JoeCon) the local comic convention, Planet Comicon. This is the first year in a much larger venue, and the entire show has been appropriately scaled up. There were creators and media guests galore, including a GI Joe connection in the movie Snake Eyes himself, Ray Park. Mr. Park was
Read moreThe beginning of the 25th anniversary series held a lot of promise. Sure, the first multi pack releases had their share of construction and articulation issues, but the availability of small GI Joes on store shelves again was cause for excitement. When the initial offerings performed so well that a second set of Cobras were released, I was ecstatic. At
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