September 2022 – The Dragon Fortress

It’s been a while since I rapped at you about a classic 1990s American GI Joe, so let’s break that dry spell with today’s review.

Today we’re looking at a figure I had as a kid, but we’re also looking at a version of my favorite GI Joe character— the Joe team’s first Ranger, Lonzo R. Wilkinson aka Stalker.

This is probably the least-liked version of Stalker from the classic ARAH GI Joe series, but it’s the one I grew up with so I’m still pretty partial to it. But I feel I can be objective, too, as I’ve accumulated most other o-ring versions of the character over the years, as well.

Let’s party!

Continue reading “1992 GI Joe Stalker (Talking Battle Commanders) Review” →

[Updated 9/16/22]

My Russian Funskool GI Joe articles have been some of the most popular pieces on my website. Today, we’re going to look a little deeper and tell their origin story. Thanks to the hard work of a friend, we now know when these figures came out, how they came about, and who imported them. This is the definitive Russian Funskool GI Joe origin story. Until we learn more, at least.

Before we start this article in earnest, I need to thank my friend Brusleep. He conducted all of the interviews and did all of the research for this piece. This is truly his work and I’m happy to share it with the world. All I did was re-write it, streamline it, and publish it. All credit goes to Brusleep, who you can find on Twitter. He is one of my favorite people in our online toy community, and he’s an absolute joy to interact with. Give him a follow.

Brusleep interviewed Igor Zhorzhovich, the founder of Two Beetles. If you’ve read any of my reviews and articles about Russian Funskool GI Joe, you’ll know that name. Two Beetles was the company that brought GI Joe into Russia, using Funskool figures and newly-translated packaging.

All of the information in this article comes from Brusleep’s audio and text interviews with Igor.

All photos in this article come from either Igor’s personal archives or from Brusleep.

I’m excited to finally bring you The Russian Funskool GI Joe story.

Continue reading “The Russian Funskool GI Joe Story” →