When the Extreme Conditions sets were released, I waited quite a while before pulling the trigger on a purchase. At the time, I was in full-on completist mode, buying every variant and store exclusive set available. By the time the first movie hit, I was much more choosy about what I did and didn’t buy. That’s a good thing, as
Read moreIt’s hard to believe that five years have passed since the end of the 25th Anniversary series. As much as I was at times non-plussed by the figures themselves, I have to admit that I miss the presence of assortment after assortment at retail. At times, refreshed cases of Joe product were frustratingly slow to appear. The multi-packs were much
Read moreWhat can I say about old chrome-head that hasn’t been said before? Well, that he’s never been quite so adorable–next to a crocheted version, of course. Destro was only available in Kreon form as part of the Arashikage Dojo set, the largest and most expensive GI Joe Kre-O building kit available until the more recent Terrordrome. I will be honest
Read moreThe Cobra Night Watch has been one of the more interesting additions to the Enemy forces since the days of the Real American Hero line. While other new troop types like the CLAWS just didn’t seem to stick as time went on, the Night Watch has had its time in the spotlight (no pun intended) since the days of this
Read moreEver get a new shirt that you really like, and can’t wait to wear it somewhere friends and family can see, and hopefully tell you how much they like it too? If that was Grunt in 1997, he’s probably still waiting for his shirt compliments. He’ll probably be waiting another seventeen years. After his pants change debacle in 1991, he
Read moreAs the GI Joe Kre-O series goes on, it seems that more and more of the blind bag figures get really interesting multi-part builds as an element of their accessory complement. The Tele-Viper’s backpack and scanner make good use of some small parts to suggest the original equipment fairly well. That’s some of the beauty of this line to me;
Read moreOh boy, the Stars and Stripes set. What can be said about it beyond holy cow did Hasbro ever whiz a great opportunity down its leg? I’m sure others with inside knowledge of the inner workings of the GI Joe brand know why things were switched and swapped from the time of early press photos to final product. While the
Read moreHasbro’s Kre-O has become more than a bit of an obsession for me since its GI Joe figures made their debut last year. When Collection 1 hit, I hadn’t intended to pick up more than a few choice figures that had sparked my interest. Once I bought a few blind bags and the Checkpoint Alpha set however, I was hooked.
Read moreWhat’s in a name? With the GI Joe brand since the Real American Hero era’s end, it seems at times a mire of copyright and/or trademark clearances. Mainstay characters like Hawk, Stalker and Scarlett have all been subject to moniker juggling. Heck, even lesser knowns like Starduster have had their code names go incognito and back again over the years.
Read moreStalker is one of the Joe characters that I always buy, regardless of whether he’s a new mold or a simple repaint. Released as part of Target’s exclusive Ultimate Battle Pack, he was one of seven figures included in the set. This was one of those times when the word “ultimate” wasn’t just hyperbolic. Heck, the monstrous box also included
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