gojira77

I think these last three might be my favorites so far. Also: Whoo Hoo-- over 500 views, baby!

"Yo Joe!" he gestured to his dear friends, and then he turned and vanished into the cloud...

As the deadly red mist engulfs the cavern behind him, the noble Snake-eyes bids a silent farewell to a special teammate...

I'm noticing that in addition to the re-used artwork (super cheap) there's also a total lack of new tooling-- do you think this might be a store exclusive?

I just realized that this green and brown Gung-Ho would look awesome in a dio with Tiger Force Duke, Revenge of Cobra Lady Jaye, CP Breaker, and possibly the upcoming Tunnel Rat. Throw in Cluth and the Vamp, and you'd definitely be in business!

Similar thing happened around here where wave 10 showed up before 9, though definitely not this early. But my beloved Pilot Scarlett can never be too early for me!

The new Python Patrol Copperhead looks A-MA-ZING-- both faithful to the original yet not nearly as ridiculous!! If Hasbro can do this to ALL of the later RAH figures, than they must give us the entire line-up of '91-'92, with special attention to Air Gen. Hawk, Mercer, Snake-Eyes, Gold CC, Flak-Viper, and Red-n-tan Duke. This I Command!

I don't know of any customs around, but I have an idea for a dio where I could use maybe ten of those heads on pikes. I'd definitely be interested if anyone's making these.

Wait for clearance... The amount that you would have to spend can buy Animated Shockwave and Animated Ultra Magnus... At post-Christmas clearance price, I might just have to get this guy for my "Convoy of Primes".

A little bit of a tangent, but it looks to me like Hasbro originally designed the '86 B.A.T. after the Viper, as sort of an android version of their new Cobra infantry.

The Modern Era Joes really need a speed boat of their own-- Torpedo's gonna get tired of swimming after that thing with just his flippers!

Right infront of the store, they had a display of fresh-made pumpkin pies from the bakery and cans of whipped cream packed with ice chips. Snake-Eyes is right by a can of whipped cream and the "tree" in the background is really a sign posting the price of the pies! Bellingham can be a conservative little place, but we're also a college town and we have plenty of hippies and eccentric artists around who are more-or-less tollerated if not well understood. But yes, I did get some looks and chuckles, though nobody was a jerk about it. One woman offered to help me after I ironically lost the gun Snake-Eyes was holding-- damn polar bears! @loll@ No, small town people can be cool sometimes, too. Hopefully, this won't be the last time that I take Radioactive Snake-Eyes "shopping". I do live near by a Costco and the first DVD Pack had such a great cart...

At last the true purpose of those mysterious Franken-Joes is revealed-- and they have nothing to do with Resolute! Yeehaa!

Probably the last two for awhile, until it snows in Bellingham, WA. I actually took these at the local Haggen supermarket while my supportive wife looked after our son. You're the 'Wind Beneath My Wings', Baby!

I don't know what to think of the politics of "Board Wars", but I'll admit that I tend to get better, more balanced news elsewhere. And my favorite figures never seemed to get a break there either. I don't want to say any more, though, and contribute further to an atmosphere of negativity.

I'd love to do a better re-telling of Operation: Dragonfire and introduction of the Battle Armor Cobra Commander, but that'll have to wait until I have more figures (though I could do an awesome teaser with some Halloween clearance, burning torches, and C3PO's Ewok throne... ). If I get any other ideas that I actually can do right now I'll be sure to post them!

I thought these might help the discussion, courtesy of yojoe.com. The Trooper has more varied expertise, but then again, he debuted in a year where there was only one kind of "Cobra" uniform for anyone working in the organization. Their primary MOS is infantry, but their secondary is sabotage, and each one is proficient in martial arts and qualified as snipers. They are Cobra as depicted in the first 10 issues of the comic book, a faceless blue mass of criminals, a more realistic and terrifying version of Marvel's Hydra. They are Tele-vipers, Eels, and Night Creepers behind one common mask and ideology. The Viper epitomizes a new era of specialization and beyond-the-cutting-edge technology.

Hey Goj, I noticed this earlier and wanted to comment, but got sidetracked... I admit it was mostly due to SunnyD. One of the things that really concerted me from a lonely, keep-to-myself GI Joe enthusiast into a full-blown fan-atic back in the day were folks Tim (from "Tim's Corner") or the man behind "General's Joes" who took these toys into their own backyards and made art out of the photos they'd take. So, even though someone might see you, a full-grown adult hauling a bathtub-sized aircraft carrier down to the lake, I have to encourage you to carry on. It's folk like you who make the fandom more than just shameless consumerism. : ) Tom Thanks for the kind words, Tom! Too me, Joes have held their own with superheoes and alien robots precisely because these little army men or so darn fun to play with, which is why I'm primarily a collector who keeps 'em loose. I think the photo shoots are great practice so that I'll still know how to play when my son is old enough to help me stage epic battles.

Depends on what you have to trade.

The old Takara Microman line sure has come a long way since contributing molds to the American Micronauts and Transformers toylines. An internatonal cousin of the RAH line (both are descended from the original 12" G.I. Joe), Microman has been making crazy-posable figures under 4'' for a while now, and evolved beyond the Destro-like chrome-headed toys to include everything from solid color blank slates to licensed properties. Their joints may pop off way too easily, but that should only make it easier to customize them through mix and match. Just check out some of the Microman variants currently on Ebay: Tell me that some of these characters wouldn't at least make great guest stars and background characters in a Joe dio-rama! Just make sure to keep Clutch away from all the super-posable Japanese school girls...

How sturdy are Mighty Muggs, anyways? My son was pretty much born loving Optimus Prime (maybe it's part of the genome ), and he'll be 9 months old by Christmas.

I just wish it would come with the original stacks period. However, I was unfortunate as a kid. I never had this toy. Are you saying that the stacks can be easily changed? Even so, the price is too high. I'll pay $50, but that's it. All you need is a philips screw driver-- the customs come with instructions with little pictures that even I can follow! $10 CAN + S/H or else go to the store itself if you're ever in Vancouver. The stacks are made by the same people who did the long replacement stacks for 20th Anniversary Prime and the Chrome is actually better than what Hasbro puts out these days. Perfect for replacing short stacks or worn or broken ones on older, less fortunate Primes and Magni. Check out agesthreeandup.com if your interested. I think that the problem with all US re-issues is that after the first wave at TRU (of Prime, Magnus, and "Rodimus Major") they jacked up the price so that it isn't any cheaper to get the Hasbro version than to import the Takara one, which is usually better anyway. No real incentive to "Buy American", especially if you live in a big enough town where the Japanese import shop with the Encore guys is right across the street from Target (as is the case in Seattle). The thing is we shouldn't have to do that I never a got a New Year Prime Why is he so different? He is more cartoon accurate... Blue eyes and blue windshield... He came with extra stuff that sold me when I first saw it... A better gun, chain and Matrix, mouse pad, Action Master Optimus... Friend, The New Year's Convoy is so great that truly he should only be spoken about among the fandom in respectful whispers! I b.s. not, for he is indeed the Prime of Primes. If you can't find better pictures on the fan sights, let me know, and I can post some pics of mine. When the spring-loaded missiles from his combat deck shot my then new girlfriend in the head, I knew it wasn't a coincidence. It was if she was chosen by the Convoy himself, and I later married her!

I just wish it would come with the original stacks period. However, I was unfortunate as a kid. I never had this toy. Are you saying that the stacks can be easily changed? Even so, the price is too high. I'll pay $50, but that's it. All you need is a philips screw driver-- the customs come with instructions with little pictures that even I can follow! $10 CAN + S/H or else go to the store itself if you're ever in Vancouver. The stacks are made by the same people who did the long replacement stacks for 20th Anniversary Prime and the Chrome is actually better than what Hasbro puts out these days. Perfect for replacing short stacks or worn or broken ones on older, less fortunate Primes and Magni. Check out agesthreeandup.com if your interested. I think that the problem with all US re-issues is that after the first wave at TRU (of Prime, Magnus, and "Rodimus Major") they jacked up the price so that it isn't any cheaper to get the Hasbro version than to import the Takara one, which is usually better anyway. No real incentive to "Buy American", especially if you live in a big enough town where the Japanese import shop with the Encore guys is right across the street from Target (as is the case in Seattle).

Torpedo seems to be in every revision case around here. I don't think Torpedo made the revision list because the one on the Modern Era card is technically a part of wave 9. If only Hasbro realized that what the public really wanted was TWO Torpedoes in those cases instead of one (sometimes) and a whole lot of that pinheaded Wild Bill!

I've always seen the Cobra Trooper and Viper as equivalents representing different eras of Cobra, and indirectly G.I. Joe. Though they were used side-by-side in the Sunbow cartoon and each have a spot in Python Patrol, the plain Cobra agent was out in favor for a new "back-bone" of the sinister organization (note that only Vipers are mentioned along with CG's and Eels on the '87 CC file card). Aside from the sleek helmet that is both retro and futuristic, the Trooper comes off fairly realistic as a member of an international paramilitary order of criminals. His dark BDU's, mask, and gear all say "Sponsored by a Rogue State". The Viper's a little different, a little more hi-tec and 'out there', maybe. His gear all makes sense for a real-world 'shock trooper' from the body armor to the riot helmet; I think it's just the execution that says "Terrorist of the Future". Then there's the pluses and minuses of the actual figures. Whether or not you liked where the aesthetic was going at that point, nobody can deny that the Viper out-classed that scrawny Trooper in pretty much every way. Even with the improved arms of the '83 version, the Trooper just couldn't compete in terms of articulation, accesories, molded detail or paint application. By '86, the Viper's predecessor clearly looked like he belonged in a museum. The bad guys were lightyears past the early days of Cobra, Cobra Officer, and Cobra Commander. However, the new 25th Anniversary Line had the two basic infantrymen coming out within a year of each other on a much more level playing field. The result? Well, both figures look really cool, and strangely each has some posing issues. The Viper's got better movement in the hips, but what's up with those stupid hands?! Who do you use as the back-bone of your Modern Era Cobra, and what strengths and weeaknesses of the actual figures do you take in account? Which one best represents the face of your Cobra collection?