Saturday, February 28, 2009

Favorite GI Joe Figures! - Part 2

R2-A6 would like to welcome you to the long overdue installment of a look at some of my fave new sculpt GI Joe figures. I meant for this to be posted much closer to when the first part was posted, but, oh well...
(I'll continue the numbering sequence for previous post)

10. The Cobra Para-Viper - Crazy amounts of gear with this figure. Very well sculpted and great detailing. The knee pads are a bit bright, but that's a minor complaint. Just a really cool figure!

11. Snake Eyes - The best of all the new sculpt versions of SE. An homage to the original Snake Eyes figure, nothing else works. The visored version's head was too thin, the "arctic" version just didn't work, the one with the knives on his chest - nope. How about the dark purple suited version? Looks awful. This one just works with the core of Snake Eyes character - a bad ass commando.

12. Snowjob - An excellent rework of the original. Very faithful to the original, but just explodes with detail. A removable hood and goggles are great extras. And he's got the Adventure team logo on his holster! That rocks!

13. Cobra Snow Serpent - WOW! Excellent update! Great detailing, great accessories. Same basic look of the original, just pumped up with crazy detail.

14. Skyduster - Starduster - For whatever reason, Hasbro couldn't use the same name. That's okay, he's still Starduster. The original Starduster was a combo-Joe available as a mail away from GI Joe Action Stars cereal way back around 1987-1988. A simple effective figure. the light blue is a bit much, but I've always liked the concept behind the character. this new version is basically the same concept as the original - take a bunch of parts and make Starduster. A sentimental favorite!

I used Wild Bill's helmet from the TRU 3-pack rather than the original. Looks and fits better.

15 & 16. Tomax & Xamot - Ineresting characters that got a great rework. Cool sculpting and great use of the extras makes the mirror image twins look sharp in the new line. Nicely done!

17. Torpedo - Just a cool remake. Great detailing, removable mask, pistol and knife. Heck, even the O2 bottles are removable from his SCUBA gear! And you can't help but look at this guy and be reminded of "Fumbles." Yeah, you know who I'm talking about!

18. Cobra Viper - (seriously?) - So much potential lost with this one. One of the best Cobra troop builders ever. I owned around 26 of the originals at one point. So much disappointment. Lower legs are awful and those wretched gloves. Yeuch! He's here as a the top favorite DISAPPOINTMENT!!! The viper from the new Cobra five pack is supposed to be fixed and the Hall of Fame $10.00 viper is supposedly fixed as well. Too little, too late.

19. Wild Weasel - Never had the Rattler, only picked up the original on the secondary market. Just an excellent sculpting job and great use of parts. Snowjob & Wild Weasel share the same body! This chest sculpt seems to be the new standard for pilots - works for me!

20. Zartan - I like this new sculpt Zartan. I don't really care about the more comic or cartoon style versions. This guy just looks a bit psychotic and very dangerous. Very cool! Even the green skin works!

So there's some of my faves - I suppose I'll do reviews on other figures on an individual basis.

You're fired!

This is just so awesome!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Troops of Doom - One Year Anniversary!

Where else can you see the galaxy's most dangerous bounty hunter get beat down every other week? Only on Troops of Doom!

Once a fan-boy favorite, Baby Fett has been reduced to a punching bag - and he earns every punch!

Troops of Doom is a wonderfully written and skillfully photographed three times weekly strip by Kraig Furtado. It's such an emotionally touching strip, you'll find yourself weeping - from laughing so hard!

I highly recommend to all my meager readership at my sad little dog-and-pony show here at Reasonably Intelligent Rambling to go read Troops of Doom - RIGHT NOW!


It's good stuff and should be part of your daily recommended dose of laugh out loud fun!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

G.I. Joe - Alpha Males

Have you listened to the only G.I. Joe podcast on the web dedicated to the Marvel comics? Why not? It's great!

The most recent episode featured an interview with Andy Schmidt, editor of IDW's new G.I.Joe books. Very good interview. You should go there now and listen to it. Go ahead, I'll wait...

Great interview, huh?

I really liked Andy's comment about the G.I. Joe team being composed of the best of the best soldiers/ Well, we all knew that, so what's the big deal? Andy used the term "alpha males" to describe these guys. All of them are the best at what they do and probably pretty intense about their abilities. Probably quite a few strong egos as well.

I'm sure there would be a few punches thrown to settle differences of opinion in the Pit once in a while!