I was just a little late to the game as a kid to have been exposed only to the first assortment of small Joes. It was well into 1983 when my interest in GI Joe bloomed. My first figure was a swivel arm Cobra Commander, and he was followed up by a straight-arm Flash. I couldn’t resist the laser rifle,
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By KansasBrawler I don’t know why, but I’ve always had more of an affinity for the Cobra figures than the Joes. Don’t get me wrong, the Joe characters were great, but I thought the Cobra figures looked more striking. I always liked the more fantastical elements of the Joe line and, generally speaking, the Cobra figures were allowed to be
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What would an excursion in the horror angles of the GI Joe brand be without checking out a mad scientist/doctor? The 1980s had its share in the form of Drs. Venom and Mindbender. Both were iconic, each for his own different reasons. The Rise of Cobra film gave us its take on the evil genius bit with the blah-tastic “Doctor.”
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Are trading card games still a thing? I can’t be bothered to check. Regardless, I never got into them, although I have admired them from afar. I’ve mainly been drawn to the art on most games, and in the case of the first Yu-Gi-Oh! cartoon–ridiculous voice acting. I’ve always found Red Spot to be an interesting figure for its time.
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Ryu and Ken were the dynamic duo when it came to the marketing of the GI Joe/Street Fighter toy crossover. It’s no surprise then that both of them made an appearance in the first playset for the line. I didn’t pick up the Dragon Fortress set back in the 90s. Years later, I wish I had, if only because much
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The Dreadnoks always seemed to me like they had a Road Warrior vibe, although the first three members also hit some American biker gang notes as well. When Thrasher hit the scene, his look was 100% post-apocalyptic madman. After all, who else fashion-wise chooses to wear football pads on the outside of their clothing? Big thanks to crazy old Wez
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There’s irony in the fact that the relaunched 1980s GI Joe line, originally conceptualized as a vehicle toy line, became as much about action figures as it did their accessories. Once more colorful characters beyond the green garbed originals were introduced in 1983, the concept took off like a rocket. It’s no surprise then that when Hasbro commemorated the 25th
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Some figures hold such a sway that just one entry can’t satisfy my need to talk about them. Recondo is one such figure. Going into this daily blog project, I realized fairly early on that I would need to pace myself as far as covering my favorites, especially if I were in it for the long run. After all, I’d
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It’s easy to forget the the Street Fighter sub-line was actually branded as part of the GI Joe line. Considering that the popular fighting game characters simply jumped into Joe’s universe unchanged, the confusion is warranted. Hasbro was obviously a bit sheepish about connecting the two as well, since the packages minimized the Real American Hero’s logo. They weren’t shy
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Rick Ranger is, well, a former Texas Ranger. Once a Ranger always a Ranger, I suppose. If you’re a CORPS! collector, it might be easy to confuse him with Jones, who wears a similar type of hat, and shares the same torso and arm molds. Rick looks like he’s also sharing a head with the existing Whipsaw figure, a sort
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