The first and my favorite of all the Joe team’s combat divers, Torpedo brings forth all sorts of great childhood memories. First and foremost, a kid just couldn’t help but get this figure into the water, whether sink, tub, or pool. Unfortunately the aquatic adventures eventually wreaked havoc on the toy, as screws ultimately rusted, and in the case of
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If you need an early example of the specialization of the 80s Joes, Tripwire is a perfect subject. Like Breaker, he’s one of the few figures not to include a weapon. Although his mines count, I suppose. He’s the perfect support trooper to help get the Joes through Cobra-laid mine fields. I know The Enemy used to put down a
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Sometimes you just run out of superlatives to describe the things that bring you joy. It’s no secret that I adore the GI Joe packaging of all decades, and primarily the 1980s-1990s. The art just jumped right off the shelves, with literal explosions behind the subjects. There’s some seriously magical lighting going on here, and it’s something that can’t be
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By KansasBrawler I’ve mentioned before that though I’ve always liked the concept of the Dreadnoks, I never actually had any of them growing up. The closest I got to having a Dreadnok in my collection was the Ninja Force Zartan figure. Most of the Dreadnoks came out just a little before my time and though they played a big role
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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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By the time the 2008 assortments of the 25th anniversary series had been announced, I already had a list of must-have figures in my head. Among them was Torpedo, one of my favorite 1980s Joes, and also one of the earliest figures I recall seeing on the pegs in my local Montgomery Ward. Unfortunately the new figure was incredibly difficult
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Tunnel Rat is a character who benefits from the odd proportions of the new sculpt years. Portrayed as a shorter fellow, his figure is appropriately sized, at least in terms of height. Such things weren’t possible in the 80s-90s, with its more standard and consistent builds, Sgt. Slaughter and Big Boa notwithstanding. T-Rat seems even more suited to his MOS
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By Past Nastification There are figures that I like which defy my own guidelines. For example, I largely dislike ninja figures, but yet I find the Shadow Ninja figures fun. I don’t even like the original versions of those figures. But cloudy plastic holds an inexplicable appeal. So, we know I’m not a big ninja fan. What about Head-to-Toe repaints?
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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.
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Looking back at the 25th anniversary series figures, I’ve got to say it’s often a bittersweet reminiscence. On this tenth year since the first appearance of the Joe and Cobra packs, the differences between the action figure market of just a decade ago is striking. I see fewer toy lines featuring individual character art on their packaging. Matt Trakker (and
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