So did I, but let’s be honest that figure is the hottest of garbage, and the perfect encapsulation of everything wrong with ‘93/‘94 era Joe. Even as I kid when I saw that figure I knew the line was dead.
Annihilator was one of my favorites. He had such a regal look to him. Even the shape of his helmet made him look like he was turning his nose up at the Joes.
I love Mindbender! You're right about the odd design choices, but plenty of other figures had a bare chest, a codpiece, or a bald head. Especially the Dreadnoks, and they're universally adored, and rightly so. Speaking of the Dreadnoks, Zartan is another character with a silly sci-fi gimmick and odd design choices (a bonnet, makeup, white eyes, a strange little monkey face), but we let him off because he's a fantastic character. But a great list!
I never had an issue with Cobra having some sci-fi elements to them. They had Destro who was a skilled weapons designer and developer. And since he was working with the villains, I don't see too much priority put into safety. So things like Trouble Bubbles, CLAW jetpacks, etc I saw as reasonable. But the Joe team I preferred to most be based in reality. Sure, it would make sense they would have their own R&D team developing equipment to compete with Cibra, but for the most part I preferred the earlier Era when they mostly wore military uniforms (albeit very relaxed on dress code) but when they went neon, it was weird
Yo Joe! Awesome video. Well thought out and informative. I woulda only concidered the "O" Ring figures and left out the 1994 line, which was so bad, even with the repainted re-releases of characters who just got released one year before. A few extra honorable mentions could be... Raptor, dressed as a giant falcon, who could fly like a bird. Croc Master, dressed like a wrestler, who used a crocodile as a "guard dog?" Big Boa, who also looked more like a wrestler for Sgt.Slaughter to fight. The original concept was to include a Rocky Balboa G..I.Joe mail away fig to the line that same year but the plan never worked out. So, no Rocky but we still got Big Boa. That was a bad year for Cobra. The concepts were good but the outfits were like wrestlers or Super Heroes. Flash, Sci-Fi and the BATS were fun "Far-fetched space age" characters in G.I.Joe but Irepainted my Sci=Fi dark green, so he looked better. I actually repained several of my figures to make them look better. Crazy me. Those figs woulda been worth some good money today but I was a teen in the 80s. I didn't think about the long-term price. I wanted cool looking figs. I colllected from 82 up to 92. The 93 line ended it for me. I wish I still had my collection. Most was sold after the live action Joe movies came out. So now you know and knowing is half the battle.
I had stopped caring about GIJoe before the 1990s so I JUST found out about the Ice Cream Soldier a few nights ago while I was checking my collection against a list. I thought that had to be a typo; like a "someone got their lists mixed up" level of typo. I had no clue about these giant monsters either.
Good to spread it around. You could have easily filled the list with Star Brigade and Mega Marines. The ghost of Battle Force 2000 thank you for not mentioning them here and giving them some shred of dignity in the hereafter
Nice list. I had Annihilator and liked him aside from his gun breaking easily. Golobulous would have been a much better character carded alone with his biopod.
The best part of star brigade Destro is his helmet, it is a handy replacement for the Secto Viper dome helmet that’s often missing. Have to give thanks to Steve from GIJoburg for pointing this out in a video several years ago.
Dr. Mindbender and his figure are one of the all-time greats! Any man who devotes 100% of his life to science AND the gym deserves to be idolized. I'm not sure which has more creases- his brain or his abs. Just look at that 6 pack. Also, Crystalball needs to be waaay higher on this list. He was the definition of "peg-warmer" at my local Lionel Playworld. The only action figure to rival his peg-warming status was Toht from Raiders of the Lost Arc.
I agree the Annihilators heads leave much realism to be desired & the color scheme is very lackluster. However, I still think it's a pretty cool figure & one of the few bright & purple figures that I actually do like. They were also in the Operation Dragonfire cartoon, so they do have a place in my collection for nostalgia purposes. Not a very pricey figure to army build either & a group of them does look pretty cool.
I Never Releases those Space Marine Monster were ever Released on shelves!?? I also think that all the different Iron Grenadiers should have kept the same color scheme(s) , red, black and gold. Annihilator would have looked much better in those or with the blue black gold that T.A.R.G.A.T had
Annihilator’s copter pack was used WAY more than the figure. Golobulus has the distinction of being voiced by Burgess Meredith. That’s gotta count for something, right? Right? You forgot to mention Space Destro has eyes painted on his “helmet”. 😂 No Ninja Force? Scarlett finally gets a proper update. The comic made her uniform look decent, but the toy is a giant fail on multiple levels.
I gotta admit lobotomaxx is a fav of mine. but only just . I think his card art looks way cooler then the final execution of his figure. I think giving modern articulation and design I much better figure of him could be made now. with a segmented neck and tail over bendy wire and head with articulating jaw and ball socket hips over those swivels
The Cobra-la stuff wouldn't have made the list for me. Yes, I also hate the concept. But it doesn't fit with Sci-fi to me. instead it feels more like pulp fantasy. Which can have it's place in the GI Joe universe. But, really I would have rather seen the Joes fighting Cobra in the land that time forgot than the Cobra-la story line. I loved my Annihilators toy. Although I totally agree that he should have had a different color scheme in regards to fitting in with the other Iron Grenadiers.
I don't mind the sci-fi stuff since it's always been a part of the line for me, but there's a lot of it where the idea sounds cool but the toy is kind of crap.
I must be one of the few who actually like the Cobra-La figures. I also liked their role in the Animated Movie as well as the plot. The Animated Series had time Travel, parallel dimensions, Aliens, Ghosts and Monsters, so and ancient race that ruled the Earth before humans fits right in. Thought I never read them, the Comics seemed to tell a more realistic and serious side of G.I Joe, while the Cartoon Series was somewhat light hearted and full of fantasy elements.
Those stupid alien monsters being sold as 'G.I.Joe figures' really is mind boggling. I had stopped buying Joes by then, but I bet whoever was still collecting at the time those came out would 've thought: "It's dead Jim".
The audio levels for this video are too low. Your volume often seems low, but this one feels even more quiet. Putting your video at a level that's good requires maxing RU-vid volume and increasing system volume, and it makes other RU-vid videos and system sounds uncomfortably loud. If you're not normalizing before uploading, you should normalize to -14 LUFS and you should be fine, assuming all the audio in the video is in the same range.
Oh HCC 788 I thought we were friends😮…. Just kidding buddy. If you don’t mind me I going step up and defend Crystal ball for a moment and please don’t throw tomatoes at me. For me I have real special connection to this figure. It was 1987 and there I was in hospital going for one major operations I had and I was terrified. You think a kid spent many times over years would be use to it nope not the case. So everyone in my family even our neighbour knew I was into GIJoe and yes even my doctors and grandparents lol you get picture perhaps the dog knew too hehe😅 Anyway so back to Crystal ball.. so yes I went under the knife and when I woke up I was in traction for my spine and on the table was this figure with a note be strong my friend just be like Crystal ball what made it special it’s wasn’t from any my family but instead it was from my doctor’s who operated on me for years and knew I was going have long stay in. When my grandpa saw him he said to me hey it’s vincent price and we both giggle. So for me Crystal ball wasn’t bad guy not good guy too he came to me when I was terrified and he gave me courage and strength so if that idea cobra all about sign me up baby. The only thing I wish they included with him be a nice revolver that would be awesome. So for me Crystal Ball has special place in my heart and yes I do have my original figure and filecard. He is loved by me still to this day
I just want to know what kind of stuff were they smoking at Hasbro when they came up with dome of these figures. At least the Street Fighter line was based on characters from the game. Heck the green guy could pass for an evil Troll or Leprechaun. Hasbro could've even gone in the mythical creature direction and come up with a Centaur and Minotaur.
Thumbs down. I never got the complaint that Deep Six doesn't have articulation. Those atmospheric diving suits usually aren't designed to allow leg movement. The arms could have been designed better, sure. But I still lobe that figure and vehicle. Dr. Mindbender is a classic figure.
Cobra La was not a great creative choice for the series. The only thing I thought was cool didn't really work for the toy, which was Nemesis Enforcer's elbow blades.
Yes 1987 started the super weird shit. Gologa is the figure the started making me go away from Joe’s in the age of Mask & Silver Hawks.. I’m like the RU-vidr in a sense that I like the more realistic vintage figures. I only go as far as Serpentor. I have Dr. Mindbender & Crystal Ball but they’re more in the realm of mystics.
I think 1993 and '94 should just be completely disregarded in discussions about the ARAH line; even as an 11 year-old I knew most of those figures were absolute crap. When it comes to the good years of the line, I think Dee-Jay is an abomination, and Charbroil is pretty terrible, too.
I love all these figures but I've always felt Bio Viper and Monstro Viper are waaay more MOTU than GI Joe ie cool figures but just in the wrong toyline 👹🤖👾👽🐺🐸
Funny enough, I only have 6 RAH figures nowadays (I have many more Classified) and Golobulus is one of them, but it's not because he's a favorite, just because he was cheap and I like having weird things in my toy collection.
Ugh... when GI Joe went Sci-Fi they failed. GI Joe really lost its luster for me in 1987. It was the first year that there were figures and vehicles I was not really interested in. Prior to 87 I wanted everything. It got worse as time went on. GI Joe stopped setting the standard and started chasing fads and that follows them now. If they had just kept the realistic military with some minor scifi they could have continued doing well. TMNT and others would have knocked them down quite a lot... but they keep making the same mistakes. The 2009 movie had a lot of potential but they again scified it up too much then the follow up had like $3 and half a bag of chips for a budget. They couldn't out Star Wars... Star Wars... and they couldn't out Ninja TMNT. It was foolish to try. I love GI Joe and hope sooner or later we get a return of the O-Ring line and classic vehicles. We sorta kinda got that a few years ago but they were priced too high for a kids toy. Find a sweet spot more than the no name knockoffs at walmart but less than collectables prices. All good choices HoodieCoCo.... although I do say that the Annihilator with a different color scheme would be a pretty decent figure (helmet still needs work). I'm looking forward to creating content for CC8! :)
Another great Top-Ten, Hoodie! I like your list, BUT Dr. Mindbender V2 could've taken the place for V1. I liked V1 as a kid. I completely disliked V2 and still do. Your Bio Viper, Armor Tech Destro, Ice Cream Soldier and Cyber Viper picks are on point! I thank you for even owning these awful figs for the sake of doing reviews on them because I don't think I could stomach handing over my money for any of those monstrosities lol!
I can respect your opinions, except for one. Golobulus is ALWAYS number one. Your "ribbed for her pleasure" comment will live in my consciousness forever and I will continue to spread it far and wide in hopes it catches on universally
See, from the filecard, I never treated Toxo-zombies as literal undead zombies. I understood the name as a figurative reference for people who had been so injured by the chemicals, that their deaths were assured, and their remaining lifespan is measured in months at best.Throw in that their mental faculties are already starting to break down, and you have "zombies" as a slang/insult.
I've been on the hunt for a cheap broken golobulus to see if i could kit bash him with one of the gorgon tails from boss fight's hacks line. Their gorgons are awesome and the tails have segmented ball pegs for stability and posability and rubber overlays so that not matter the pose you could keep the snake deco reasonably unbroken.
