By KansasBrawler As a Joe child of the 90s, I have very fond memories of characters like Freefall, Ambush, and Bullhorn. The DiC Joe cartoon didn’t really air much in my area, so those characters were all ones I got to develop myself with just the filecard as a guide. Because of that, I saw Bullhorn as one of the
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The Tele-Viper figure wasn’t one of my faves as a kid, but I sure liked the card art. It’s definitely one of the coolest looking Cobra cards. The figure to package coolness ratio however tilts toward the latter. The figure may not be at Zartan level on the awesome meter, but then again this is one of the most pure
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A series of the 2008 comic packs featured new material that took place between the pages of classic Joe comics. The Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow pack gave us issue 21B, another “silent issue” set among the existing story of the rescue of Scarlett from the silent castle. At the end of issue 21, Snakes had suffered a rip to
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The 1988 assortments included the unique pack-in premium micro figures, tiny representations of Joes and Cobras in a style and scale similar to the little green army men of old. A brilliant idea, and one that Hasbro might consider revisiting considering the current blind-bag fascination with kiddos these days. Wow, I sound like an old man. Two things strike me
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Posting the 25th anniversary Airborne last week got me to thinking about the original again, and how much I like the figure and character. There’s something timeless about the 1983 figures; they’re slimmer, more muted color-wise and accessorized with some of the most unique weapons and equipment in the line. I wouldn’t describe Mr. Talltree’s uniform as plain; he’s instantly
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Talking figures were a big deal in the early 90s. Not only did the Joes venture into this territory, but the knock-off market did as well. Toymax’s M-PACT line was heavy presence on toy shelves at stores like K-Mart and other discount retailers. Over the years, I’ve come across the figures’ accessories in random Joe lots, but hadn’t found any
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By KansasBrawler The two Resolute-branded comic packs were kind of interesting. The two Joes in the comic packs didn’t show up in Resolute at all (at least in a meaningful way, I can’t remember if either Shockwave or Tunnel Rat were in a group shot) and the Cobras included were in Resolute but looked nothing like the figures released. I’m
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By Past Nastification My hatred of head-to-toe repaints runs deep. Grand Canyon deep. Looking at this “Frostbite” figure takes some mental energy, because it’s just a Snow Job figure with the wrong name thrown on it. Maybe that’s the worst way to look at it. Instead, I’ll try to set aside the naming issue and appreciate the figure on its
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The relaunch era vehicles for the most part don’t get much attention or respect. Only a few garner the kind of good will associated with the 80s and 90s toys. Much of the output doesn’t appeal to a collector’s sensibilities, and aspects like scale, realism and fit/finish skew toward a younger demographic than we’re accustomed to. Early 2000s vehicles like
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If I had to point to a single impressive element of the 25th anniversary series, it would be the detailed accessories. The small GI Joe scale certainly has a history of amazingly intricate weapons, backpacks and other gear, and the revamped figures continued the tradition. As the modern figures have evolved, Hasbro refined its approach to the layered style of
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