Commodore 64 GI Joe

Honestly, this one escaped my notice until recently. As a kid, I paid some attention to the video games released to computer setups that I could never afford, but I didn't catch this one. I was lucky to have an Atari 2600 years after its heyday, let alone a Commodore in 1984. That didn't keep me from pining for the

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Gun Station (2003)

By Past Nastification This playset/weapon is another of the New Sculpt era’s overlooked quality items. Released as a “Gun Station”, despite its lack of any guns, it came with Big Brawler in 2003 and again with Dart in 2004. The 2003 version is pictured. The 2004 version is darker but otherwise the same. The Gun Station’s frame looks like something

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Jungle Camo Storm Shadow (Black Major)

You know what’s really weird? I haven’t covered the original 1984 Storm Shadow in the six plus years I’ve been doing this blog. I need to remedy that soon. In the meantime, here’s another version of the classic mold. Black Major’s custom figures haven been expanding the common classic character designs into new and unique colors for years. The Cobra

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Astro Locker Art

I'm a big fan of action figure carrying cases. What seems like such a utilitarian item can be an interesting collection focus. In the heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, it seemed every toy line had its own case. These days they're just not as plentiful, at least in the plain "just a glorified box" sense of the past. GI

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Proto-Joes from 1982 Catalog

Toy Fair and retailer sale catalogs are always interesting to look at for their propensity to showcase not-quite-retail release versions of well-known toys. The subjects can range from kitbashed concepts to almost-finished product that differs only in paint scheme or small details.  The toys in these shots appear to be similar if not the same as those appearing in the

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