The last year of the Joe line was a strange affair. Hasbro tried changing a few thing up a bit, like the card design, but it was ultimately too late. The toy world at that point had moved beyond the small Joes. Hasbro just couldn’t catch lightning in a bottle again, no matter how many concepts and tweaks they tried
Read moreI bought my first GI Joe vehicle back in 1983, the Falcon glider with Grunt. It was basically a foam glider that was counterweighted by attaching the figure to the harness. Naturally it was fragile and quickly broke, but it did fly well, and it was a fun toy while it lasted. Fast forward to 1991 and Hasbro’s release of
Read moreHow is it that in 1991 the UK and Europe got a cool repaint like this and we in the US got a neon skinned Road Pig? Spirit is still one of my favorite vintage Joe molds, and this repaint is endlessly intriguing to me. I’ve never seen an explanation as to the origins of this figure. Other countries did
Read moreWhat’s in a name? In this case, a bad pun related to a famous TV infomercial. This is T’Gin-Zu, the driver of the Ninja Raider Pile Driver vehicle. The GI Joe line’s loathed ninja sub-group had just three vehicles to its name, two of which were strange four-wheeled rotating affairs with an upright pilot compartment in the center. Not exactly
Read moreToday it’s not one, but two figures and a vehicle AND the most pathetic looking T-Rex in toy history. It’s no stretch to say that kids have always loved and will always love dinosaurs. Hasbro, in the midst of a decline in Joe’s popularity, was trying anything and everything to boost sales. It seems as if every hot topic and
Read moreThe character of Zap, a bazooka soldier, was one of the Joe team’s original members. The first group of Joes released in 1982, usually referred to as the “original 13,” were made up of simple molds, many of whose parts were shared among the figures. Simple paint schemes set this first group apart from later releases; most were simply a
Read moreTwo elements of Joes that I am enamored with: the 1991 to 1994 series and winter themed figures. Today’s figure fulfills both of these categories. Why do I like the arctic figures so much? Several reasons, the first being the amount of accessories usually included with them. I remember getting the original Joe arctic trooper, Snow Job. Along with the
Read moreReleased as part of the Battle Corps series, Law was originally intended to be a member of the DEF (Drug Elimination Force) a short lived sub-group of the Joe team that battled the evil Headman and his Headhunters, who were out to get all the kids of America high on drugs. Oh yes, the 90’s how I do miss you.
Read moreWhen I started this blog, I wanted to keep things wide open in terms of what I’d talk about. Sure, the main Joe lines have enough figures that I’ll probably burn out on this before even coming close to running out of subjects. I also didn’t want to ignore the effect that the success the 3 3/4″ Joes have had
Read moreI’ve said it before, and I say it again. Nice pants. Why do I find myself drawn to crazy looking pants? I can’t explain it. But here we are with a remake of another classic character. Leatherneck is a fan favorite, and although the character is the second Joe marine, his original 1986 version is also many fans’ favorite marine,
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