The Steel Brigade made a surprise return to the Joe mythos at the tail end of the new sculpt era. It was a welcome sight for me, as I’ve always liked both the SB concept as well as the unique helmet design. Though the familiar design made an appearance (and was removable!) as part of 2004’s Anti-Venom squad, we got
Read more
By KansasBrawler Growing up, I never knew about Night Force. I didn’t hear about it until I was in high school and was wandering around the Joe online collecting community for the first time. I’m guessing that was because until probably the early 90s, there were no Toys ‘R’ Us stores anywhere near me so I didn’t see their ads.
Read more
I make a lot of bones about the quality of GI Joe packaging from the 60s through the 90s. The 2000s relaunched series had its share of interesting marketing material, but the patterns of retail had changed in ways that precluded the need for large swaths of card art and cross-sell imagery. The Cobra Flight Pod goes way back, and
Read more
The SAW Viper troop has a nasty reputation among fans of the Marvel GI Joe comic, as one of its members murdered several members of the Joe team. The original figure’s uniform was certainly unique among Cobra troop builders, in terms of design and color. With a slender build and futuristic helmet, the SAW Viper’s look belied his specialty. Looking
Read more
By KansasBrawler Growing up, I always wanted the original B.A.T. figure. It came out just a little before my time in the Joe brand, but it was still shown on the cardbacks of some of the earlier figures I managed to find. However, for whatever reason, the original B.A.T. eluded me. I had the 1991 version and I really do
Read more
By Past Nastification Where does the time go? Two decades have rolled by since Kenner rolled out the second version of the Joes’ first dedicated arctic trooper. Yep, this was technically a Kenner-labeled product following the Hasbro/Kenner merger. A repaint of the original Snow Job, except for the upper arms, Kenner expanded its use of long-dormant molds. Sure, I’m probably
Read more
By Past Nastification Introduced as a Target exclusive for the Rise of Cobra line, the 2009 Grand Slam is my favorite version of the character. The previous 25A-style Grand Slam had silver colored pads instead of this one’s metallic ice blue ones. The silver pad Grand Slam also shared a head with 25A Flash, making it a head-to-toe repaint. The
Read more
Python Patrol needed someone major in their group. Major Bludd may not be the prototypical leader type, but at least he’s a named Cobra from the upper echelons of the organization. I imagine Cobra Commander was paying him a princely sum to head up a sub-team, along with most likely some extra cash thrown in to dress up in such
Read more
By Past Nastification Hawk is my favorite of the OG 13. But so is Stalker. And Scarlett… and Steeler, and Short-Fuze, and Grand Slam. It’s a good problem to have. When the 25th Anniversary/modern era figures launched in 2007, Hawk was missing from the lineup. Sure, Hasbro rolled Duke towards kids and collectors, but the character most deserving of getting
Read more
This version of the Lamprey inherits its specialty from the previous release of the mold, the Sonic Fighters Lampreys. Whereas the original was a specialized elite hydrofoil pilot form the Eels corps, the later Lamprey are assault troopers. I guess they’ve gone back in a way to their Eels origins. I found the Python Patrol set’s color scheme to be
Read more