We were introduced to Cobra Commander in the early pages of G.I. Joe #1.  At the time, he was wearing his casual hood.  Later, he donned the battle helmet that would become the basis for his first action figure in late 1982.  Two years later, though, kids were graced with a new Cobra Commander, this time wearing the hood.  This figure was only available as a mail away.  But it was available for about a decade.  So, the dealers from the mid 1990's who wanted people to pay a premium for this figure because it was "rare" were taking advantage of naïve collectors.&nbs ..read more

Mutt is a classic character with an iconic look.  In 1992, though, Hasbro created an update for him.  Personally, I think it's a solid update to the character.  And, I find it a nice alternative for Mutt.  Not everyone agrees, of course.  But, that's part of what makes collecting fun. The most interesting thing about this figure is that he is in Slaughter's Marauders colors.  It's a choice that ties this figure to his predecessor.  But, the muted colors allow for this figure to be used in a variety of settings.  And, he's a nice complement to the 1992 Sp ..read more

I have looked at this sculpt for Major Bludd before.  In fact, I have reviewed every single use of the body and head that was ever released anywhere in the world with one exception: the original that started it all.  All of the subsequent derivatives of this Super Sonic Fighters Major Bludd were done up in the classic brown from Major Bludd's debut look in 1983.  But, this 1990's Sonic Bludd brought a new color scheme to the character and updated him to a much more useful and interesting look.  It doesn't hurt that he's also in some very classic Cobra base colors that allow ..read more

We all know that 3 3/4 o-ring Joes have been a retail flop.  Hasbro canned a planned 2 pack and we haven't seen any new packs in a couple of years.  The Transformers crossovers are collecting dust at every retailer who was dumb enough to buy them.  And, Amazon can't give away the Transformers sets for a fraction of the original retail price.  What if, though, the issue with the vintage Joe style is not the 40 year old engineering.  But, instead, it is the property on  which the style is used?   Well, we're about to find out.  Hasbro threw a curve ba ..read more

This weekend is Easter weekend.  For Easter in 1985, my younger brother found Bazooka in his basket.  He found his basket first.  So, I just assumed that I was going to have a Joe as part of my holiday haul.  I was desperately hoping for Flint.  But, when I found my basket, there was no Joe figure in it at all.  I have no recollection of what I did get.  But, it wasn't a Joe and that's all that I remember.  It's been 39 years and I'm still butthurt over it.  I need therapy. It seems that hashtags are now extremely limited.  Which makes it hard ..read more

Back in 2017, I published one of the most popular posts in the history of the site.  It was a write up on a series of late run European Exclusive Spring Loaded Accessory figures.  The figures in the set are incredibly obscure.  And, most of the interest in them stems from carded samples.  You rarely see loose figures offered for sale: mostly because they're not easy to find and sellers usually don't get interest in them since few collectors know of their existence.  The figures are the same as the more common, North American versions.  But, they include many exclu ..read more

Back when this figure was released in 2018, it was quite popular.  And, in very short order, the strong Joe photography community used him in tons of various photos. Now, though, I can't find any of them! Attica Gazette's look at the Desert Version of this Snake Eyes this week brought back the memories when the latest Black Major figures appeared in photos by all the Joe creators of the day.  Now, though, the day of big set pieces and action poses are all but gone.  And, the online Joe photography community has gotten much, much smaller.  It's a sad state of affairs and th ..read more

When I first saw the 1987 catalog, it was full of toys I wanted.  Two oddball items stuck out to me, though.  The first, obviously, was Cobra La.  I wasn't sure what the hell that was supposed to be.  So, the companion three figure set also seemed weird.  At some point in the summer of 1987, I found the two three packs at the local Toys R Us.  There was no way I was buying the Cobra La set.  So, I bought the Slaughter's Renegades set while my younger brother purchased the Cobra La figures.  Once opened, I still didn't really understand the Renegades.&nbs ..read more

If you collect ARAH style Joe figures, 2003 is kind of the lost year.  In 2002, Hasbro produced 2 full waves of ARAH style figures.  Plus, there was a gift set as well as army builders and oddball characters that were included in the standard retail line.  2004 saw the proliferation of the Toys R Us 6 figure sets, vehicle/figure combos and the arrival of the Comic Pack figures.  2003, though, was actually somewhat sparse when it came to classic style Joe figures.  There were the two, initial, Toys R Us sets.  And, TRU got quite a collection of exclusive vehicles t ..read more

In regards to the comments on the Fail Safe profile. For the past few months I have been very down on Joe.  There are a variety of reasons for this.  First and foremost is that I'm simply getting bored.  Since the fall of 2015, I've posted an average of 2 posts per week.  That's thousands of photos of action figures.  And, it's the equivalent of several novels.  In short, I'm out of things to say.  I've told my stories.  I've expressed my likes and dislikes of the Joe line.  And, I'm just at a point where my collection has not kept up with my conte ..read more