Hey look, it’s another review I photographed last summer. That means we’re getting to the end of my backlog and I should probably figure out a way to take more GI Joe photos.
But that’s a problem for Future Dustin.
Today, let’s bask in the glow of the Neon Past and spend some quality time with Deep Six version 4, a Mail Away figure from 1993.
Hello again, everyone!
If you know me, you know I absolutely adore action figure accessories. If I can get tons of accessories for a given toy line, then it becomes one of my favorites.
That’s one of the main reasons why I love LEGO, GI Joe, and MOTU so much. With LEGO, you’ve always been able to buy minifigure and accessory packs and you can deck out your little people any way you want. With GI Joe, I’m obsessed with the old Battle Gear packs and the contents of 90s weapons trees. MOTU has also historically featured accessory packs with extra armor and weapons, and I hope MOTU Origins gets there some day– as-is, though, those figures are very customizable and fun. They can use armor and accessories from most past MOTU lines, as well.
If I had any fashion sense and ever drank water instead of Steel Reserve, I’d probably be a doll collector since dolls have it Made in the Shade when it comes to accessories.
But you know who else sometimes gets accessory packs? That’s right, it’s The Transformers!
The War for Cybertron Trilogy absolutely spoiled us with separately-sold gun robots, shield robots, ramp robots, robots who you could dismember and turn into guns and shields, and skeleton dinosaur robots who turned into abstract-nightmare-murder-tools to outfit your other Transformers. And WFC wasn’t the first line that delighted me in such a way, either.
Today I’m covering some very strange Japanese exclusive Minicons that had their origins in a fairly obscure and unpopular Transformers sub-line, were re-made in Japan to promote another toy line entirely, and are totally compatible with what came before them and what came after them.
Let’s take a look at some Takara Transformers Arms Micron Present Campaign Minicons!
Continue reading “Minicon Mania: Fun with Weird Japanese Exclusive Transformers Minicons”
Hey, remember that little backlog of photos I mentioned? I decided to finally do a review with some of those photos. Now, please remain calm and don’t rush to congratulate me all at once.
Today we’re looking at one of the most unpopular figures in the entire vintage GI Joe toy line, who also represents one of the most popular fictional characters in the entire world. That’s right! We’re looking at 1993 GI Joe Street Fighter 2 Chun-Li.
That’s a bit of a mouthful, but it is her official title. Well, actually ‘The Strongest Woman in the World’ is her official title, but ‘1993 GI Joe Street Fighter 2 Chun-Li’ is her official Hasbro title.
And boy oh boy, does this toy have ‘1993 Hasbro’ written all over it in shocking blue and yellow.
Let us proceed.
Continue reading “1993 GI Joe Street Fighter 2 Chun-Li Review”
(Editor’s Note: Today’s post comes from my good friend Cody, who has reviewed a few Corps! figures for this website in the past. Today Cody is gifting us a GI Joe review, which is extra exciting. Please check Cody out on Instagram to find some frankly amazing custom figures. I appreciate the hell out of you, Cody!)
Hi there. Thanks for sticking with me.
As you know if you’ve been following me, my mother is very sick. She is not getting better. I’m returning to my hometown again to help take care of her. There are more people helping out this time around, but I still don’t know what that looks like.
This time I will not be taking any toys or other fun things with me. I have reserve photos taken for maybe three more posts, which I may publish as I find time. There’s a chance I won’t have the time or bandwidth to do those, either, though.
I love writing and taking photos for this website and I’ve loved connecting with all of you. I do plan to return to it as soon as I can, but I don’t know when that will be. Last time I asked others to step in and help me out, but I don’t think it’s fair to do so again.
I’ll be back as soon as I can, but I don’t have a time estimate.
Thank you again for everything.
Today we’re looking at another vehicle. I’ve wanted to write about the 1993 GI Joe Ice Snake for quite a while, since it was an important childhood vehicle for me. It’s also a really nice piece, especially for a late-line vehicle. The design is good, the colors are appropriate, the features are fun, and it’s a really nice addition to the Cobra snow fleet. I think most GI Joe fans would be pretty on board with this one.
We’ll take a look at the vehicle from every possible angle, see how it works with various figures, and go over all of its features and gimmicks.
This particular Ice Snake was given to me by my friend Barry. I’m still very grateful he sent it my way, as I find it’s one of my most-used Cobra vehicles. I love taking photos of it, posing different figures on and around it, and even playing with it. Thanks, Barry!
Let’s start with the basics and a couple little photo galleries.
Continue reading “1993 GI Joe Ice Snake Gallery and Quick Review”
(Editor’s Note: Today I have the pleasure of bringing you another post from Ross Sewage. You may know Ross from his toy photos on Instagram and Twitter.
You may also know him from his blog, where he shares in-depth guides on repairing and customizing electronics and music gear. Or, it’s possible that you know him as a member of Exhumed and Impaled.
I’m very excited about this post because Ross is sharing his childhood Steel Brigade figure with us, including the original paperwork. We’re guessing he mailed away for it in 1987, but it’s hard to say. Please limit yourself to an acceptable level of pedantry.)
Review and Photos by Ross Sewage
Continue reading “1987 (or 88?) GI Joe Steel Brigade Review”
During the early months of the pandemic lockdown in 2020, I ventured to an army/navy store out in the suburbs. They were open by appointment only and everyone wore a mask, which was nice. I wish people were still wearing masks more often.
This wasn’t an army surplus store, really. They did have some surplus gear and clothing, but they were more specialized in memorabilia and other military ephemera. Among their offerings were some 12” GI Joe figures they were trying to get rid of. Their customers really weren’t interested in dolls, which came as a surprise to the owner, who was an avid collector of 60s and 70s GI Joe toys. The owner had an entire shelf full of 90s Hall of Fame GI Joe toys in the attic, along with some 90s Action Man toys. I bought all of them for a nice price and he was very happy to let them go.
I was interested in the lot both because I really liked the Hall of Fame line as a kid and because these toys aren’t very well documented on the internet. I wanted to be the person to document them. So here’s my first go at it.
This review won’t contain any “action photos” like my normal reviews do. I’m not Mark Hogancamp from Marwencol and I haven’t really figured out how to make convincing action photos of 12” army dolls just yet.
Hopefully this will be useful and entertaining anyway, though. And hopefully we’ll slowly make it through the rest of these unloved figures, as well.
Continue reading “1992 GI Joe Hall of Fame Snake Eyes Review”
Contrary to what some people may believe, I do buy some modern toys. I didn’t buy too many toys in general this year, though. But since I bought at least 10, I thought we could close the year out by looking at some of my favorites.
I ripped this idea off of my friend Drac. I saw him do one and had to do my own.
My list won’t be as varied as his, since basically the only modern toy lines I collect are either MOTU or Transformers related. I also like Spin Master’s Batman line quite a bit, but none of those toys quite made this list.
There’s also no GI Joe on this list because I didn’t buy any of Hasbro’s newer GI Joe stuff this year. That blue HISS looks kind of fun, though.
Anyway, let’s get into it.
Hi everyone. It’s been a bit since I’ve written something, so I thought I’d do something easy. Of course whenever I set out to do something easy, it always ends up being a ton of work and taking way longer than I anticipated.
I’m kind of in the process of selling my Modern Era GI Joe collection, so I thought I’d spend some more time with them before they go. That’s where I got the idea for this post. I also thought that maybe if I spent some more time with them then I’d want to keep them. That didn’t end up being the case. I did not have fun taking photos and posing figures for this post.
Still, I have to give Modern Era GI Joe figures some credit. Despite being fussy and fiddly, they are important to me. When the 25th Anniversary line hit in 2007, those figures ended up getting me back into GI Joe in a big way. I still loved my o-ring-style figures and never sold them off or got rid of them, but the 25th Anniversary line made me feel like a kid again. Over the years of collecting Modern Era Joe stuff, though, I realized the modern style’s limitations and turned back to o-ring figures.
As my friend RTG of Attica Gazette once said, “they’re generally good action figures, but they’re not generally good GI Joes.” And I agree. Despite the enhanced articulation, the range of motion is often bad. Accessories fall off and fall out of hands easily. You can’t just plunk them down on the table and expect them to stand up.
But still, they have their good points. And in this post I’m going to talk about 5 figures I’ll probably keep even when the rest make their way into someone else’s collection.
Continue reading “My Top 5 Favorite Modern Era GI Joe Figures”
The Dragon Fortress 