A few frustrations at the current state of collecting...

A few frustrations I have as a collector mostly toward Hasbro...am I crazy?  Does anyone else feel this way?

1. Collecting a simple line is next to impossible for years now if you like Star Wars or Transformers and want to buy product from the big 3 (Target, TRU and Walmart)

2. Why do retailers overstock and continue to overstock garbage waves that no one buys...TVC Phantom Menace...40 dollar Star Wars vehicles that sit and sit...Year of the Horse OP...like dozens of him?

3. Why won't retailers put every figure from a wave on their online site?  Even if they don't have it...can they at least acknowledge that somewhere in one of their stores carries said figure? (e.g. every Black Series figure past wave 1 or Transformers legends class...)

4. Seriously, why can't they do #3?  Tailgate...Skrapnel...SWERVE!?!?! Where are these Goddamned figures???

5. Why doesn't HASBROTOYSHOP.COM have it's own products listed?  Forget preorders (which makes no sense that they refuse to do that one).  Why can I not order a product directly from them and have to wait...up to 6 months for a figure that apparently has been on ebay for half a year to show up in my local stores?  Do you just not like making money?

6. KMART and now WALGREENS exclusives? WTF? When I think Walgreens, I think collectible toys. Why don't you fix your relationship with an actual TOY SELLER like Toy's R Us before you broaden to drug stores.

7. Angry Birds....Transformers....because the star wars shit I've seen sitting on clearance for months wasn't a big enough red flag that this is a line to satiate a call NO ONE ever asked for.  Honestly, what target market are you  trying to hit?  It's like you hate your true blue collectors so much that you are trying to make the shelf space for actual Toys (action figures) that aren't stuffed animals, or board games, or dice games or whatever stupid ass minifigure game you are shilling that nobody wants so small that we just all give up.  It worked for me and Star Wars, I'm currently selling off my modern figures out of disgust.

8. Why are your waves so random?  Remember "Collect 'em All!" That concept doesn't even exist anymore! Collect 'em All...why? So I can recreate that scene where that one single Jabba Skiff Guard fought Hoth Luke while a Clone Trooper watched?  Put some shit out with at least a speck of continuity!

9.  Playsets aren't cost feasible yet a 70.00 Slave 1 Amazon exlusive or a Linkin Park Soundwave is?

10. Why do you refuse to make commercials?

11.  Why are you creating a line of dumbed down transformers?  You already have a line for little kids called rescue bots sold in the ages 1-3 section but we need easy change bots for older kids now?  What is going on?

12. Do you honestly know you suck this hard that 3rd parties from every direction are stepping up to deliver on the vacuum you've created in demand for two of the greatest toy lines ever produced???

13. Why did you effectively let G.I. Joe die on the table?

I realize that as an adult collector I make up maybe 1/20th of the market as a generous guess but here's the thing.  If you want the other 19/20ths of toy buying children to foster a love of your lines and toys the way we do it's real simple...take your business model from the 80's and copy that.  Stop changing everything for the worse.  Stop showing up at toy shows to tell everyone what new great stuff you're planning and then doing as little as possible to make those products reach your customers.  Seriously, I'm excited as hell over your combiners but then I thought..like I'd ever find 6 separate figures stocked anywhere near me unless I plan to pay 20 percent more from an online retailer or sky's the limit from a scalper on ebay.

Am I alone? Anyone? Anyone? 

League Assignment: Bring it Back!

Hmmm. modern reboot? I thought about this a few separate times this week and kept hitting a wall.  80's properties and even those of the 90's have a certain flavor and feel to them that can't be duplicated...the decade they were imagined in is just a strong theme in their execution as the show's characters and plots.   I wondered if something like Visionaries or Inhumanoids could be rekindled today, how successful could they be?   I kept running into a "Poochie effect" thinking these things taken into a contemporary setting with "modern" vernacular would be more unbearable than anything.   Take something today like Regular Show or Adventure Time and those plots, scripts and characters work because they are aware of the time they exist in and are certainly products of the 21st century.  

Arab Spring hit early at the Twin Pines Mall

Very rarely do reboots work in my mind and more often than not I feel these things strive to impossibly achieve a paradox by appealing to a new, young audience raised on smartphones, Obamacare and Gangam Style and still trying to hit the nostalgia mark for the 30 something, disposable income, toy buying demographic raised on WWF, Just Say No, and Peter Jennings.   You can't really hit a reboot on the head like that...Take the 2012 Ninja Turtles...I really like some of the directions they took the series but correct me if I'm wrong that every time you hear Raph talk you think "Why is Donatello's voice coming out of him?"  or when you saw Baxter Stockman, you were thinking..."so is he EVER going to turn into a fly?" or "what is with the mech suit" (honestly, who doesn't have mech suits anymore?) Christ, think of if they did this with Back to the Future! It would never work now.  2015 is 2 years away...do we even have a far off optimistic view of any future in our modern sense of time?  Who really cares what 2055 would look like?  Does anyone think its going to be anything worth looking forward to at all besides insane inflation, mass unemployment, more war and bankruptcy?  Probably a lot less people than those watching BTF2 in 1989.  Oi.

so...much...wrongness, I wanted a ninja turltle badguy not a character from Shadow Complex.

So what old property would I like to see with a 2013 spin?

Like the intro to the movie...as a series...that never stopped ruling.

Original G.I. Joe (series with look and feel of the pre 1990 episodes)... with the ridiculous plots, awesome characters and vehicles and terrific voice acting.  Something like Resolute without the obligatory Japanime feel to it (and without Dial Tone being a 20 something girl) and the Bad Dudes version of Ronnie Reagan being the commander-in-chief.

Robocop...live action, animated, it don't matter.  With some really triple A production muscle behind it, Delta City would never be so relevant, I'd buy that for a dollar!  Plus a modern Robocop tie-in video game would always be nice.

Surf Nazis Must Die or the the Toxic Avenger...If there's one thing Hobo with a Shotgun or Dead Snow taught me, it is that campy, super violent, trash film really goes underserved to a film watching population very hungry for it.  The thing is, as jaded and "super cool" audiences think they are, those movies have stuff in them that make ratings boards and focus groups still squirm in their chairs.  I say MORE heads run over by cars.

Bucky O'Hare - cuz we don't have nearly enough high-quality anthropomorphized space rabbits and quad-armed ducks on the airwaves! Speaking of ducks...

Count-God-damned-Duckula! Chocky-Bickies...need I say more???

InfiniteHollywoodTime - Exo Squad (very much agree!)
Cool & Collected - Buck Rogers
AEIOU&WHY - Land of the Lost

Everything Must go Sale!

Selling a ton of my collection to downsize, create space and generate some scratch for the summer.  Check my ebay profile or the sidebar for some nice vintage and modern items.

Happy Memorial Day: Fun with Joes

Hooah!  Having some pictorial fun with my Tomahawk and some of the more realistically reputable Joe members.  Hope you had a great weekend!

 

League Assignment: I'm seeing red!

 

This week's assignment from the good ol' League of Extraordinary Bloggers:  I'm Seeing Red

Boy am I ever...this pic came out better than I thought it would showcased a few of my favorite franchises and all of the crimson adorned goodness to come along with them.  I was thinking of doing red-skinned guys for Star Wars like Nikto, Weequay and Admiral Ackbar but I just stuck with red suits or red bots.  Strange that a lot of these are my favorite figures as well...You gotta love Optimus, Powerglide and Warpath...Wild Weasel and Crimson Guard are possible my hands down favorites of the Joe collection and the Firebat is a simple but killer Cobra vehicle.  That Emperor's Royal Guard is a fan fave as well...that pike was a mother to track down at a not-insane price as well.

Enjoy!

Check out some more Leaguers here!

ShezCrafti lists 21 magenta laden facts about herself
Flashlights are Something to eat goes with Red Foxx...hm, I'd go with Red Skelton or Red Buttons...what's with all these comedians named Red????
Cool and Collected goes red alert...wouldn't expect any less from the fearless leader
Toyriffic highlights a pretty random but cool figure
Thirtyishyearoldboy is finding red everywhere he looks, food, movies, comics, toys! I love it!

Simply too Much awesome to count!

Hey folks!

I'm writing a half dozens pieces this weekend to make up for my month long break...break if you call 24/7 baby watch a break.  :)  He's growing and becoming quite the little crazy bear and it's absolutely wonderful but I've been literally sitting on a pile of news I want to talk about, toys I want to express my excitement to speak of, stuff in the mail that has been sitting in the corner, and a dozen new in box stuff sitting under my desk! 

So....there's a new Star Wars coming out?  With J.J. Abrams?  Luke and Han are reprising their roles (rumored???),  this on top of a spin off series of character driven independent Star Wars movies???  a new revitalized toy series is coming out with 6 inch beautiful figures????  They are redesigning Jabba's Sail Barge and Republic Gunships for the Summer Lego 2013 waves??? After seeing what Disney did with the Avengers, I am more than optimistic.

All I can say is, I hope to God I get paid through the summer with my job (I find out at the end of March)




New York Toy Fair came and went during the Snowmageddopocalypitacolopology...everyone from my personal friends to the guys at RebelScum and  YakFace.com to Mark Bellomo were lamenting the snow putting the freeze on their plans (wakka wakka)  but there were defintely some beautiful items displayed....I watched a whole god-damned episode of the "View" to see the New York Toy Fair section and it was all baby crap like puppet shows and flying fairies... However I found some other great things not featured by that brain-cell eviscerating show.

Castle Grayskull playset? check

GI Joe: Tomahawk remake??? Check (I already have the classic T-hawk but it's great to see Hasbro really delivering a much wanted fan piece that is - in my mind - a monster vehicle set)
Breaking Bad Action Figures???? Check Check


RockSteady and Bebop figures?  Definitely caught my eye!


Speaking of amazing yet nigh impossible Transformers I'd love to own, I saw the Fans Toys Masterpiece Shockwave AKA "Quake Wave" fetching a pretty 125.00 if you can find a site that isn't sold out!  What a beaut!



Transformers Fall of Cybertron: METROPLEX???? OH MY GOD, HE'S TWO FEET TALLLLL!!!!
On top of that I am really digging the deluxe Generations Springer and Blitzwing slated for release...I know I sold all my older Generations stuff but for a few keystone pieces these guys wouldn't look so bad Mint in Box for me. 
Star Wars: Black Series??? Um...Check and where the hell can I get my hands on these masterpieces at 20 a pop???

 

The Black Series which is being produced by the guys from HotToys are making what look like some of the best detailed smaller figures to date...these are on par with the size of the Marvel Legends of McFarlane toys but I gotta say look so much more spot-on in the detail department....Take a look at the Artoo or the Sandtrooper and tell me these don't look like still principal photography???  The fact that these are actually manipulable toys that you can display and play with only make it all the more enjoyable as the Hot Toy and McFarlane stuff always seemed to Statue-y to me.

I cannot wait to see what "wave 2" will bring as it seems to be focusing on the original trilogy.



The upcoming Lego Star Wars Summer Wave looks great too, although it seems to be almost entirely focusing on the Prequels and mostly the Clone Wars....I see some deathwatch in there...another AT-TE, a Republic Gunship...Spider Droid Walker and a Duel at Geonosis showdown...(actual names escape me at this point)...That Jabba Sale Barge though looks pretty amazing (although not quite as cool as the older model was, go figure I totally wasn't into collecting at all when that now 400.00 set passed me by...I actually remember my cousin getting it one Christmas at my aunt's house)

That's all I want to say about what's been going on in the world of toys...I do have some reviews and highlights coming up later this weekend so stay tuned...my son actually has a few toys and even a comic for him to read when he's able that he received at his christening.  He's definitely being steered in the right direction. :)

League Assignment: Spies (catchup)

Well, you thought you were getting a week off, but I ended up stretching it to two, sorry. This week’s assignment from the League of Extraordinary Bloggers, should you choose to accept it:
–
“Spies.”
—
Warning: This assignment will self destruct in 3… 2…. 1…

Hey there people,

If you didn't read, I previously posted this week that I've been a bit reclusive over the past 14 days due to the birth of my son, Luke.  I'm now going to try to play a quick game of catchup to cover my dereliction of league and blogger duties.   What better way than through some lists of Spies I'm fond of.

Spies - Command and Conquer Series - These little guys wreaked havoc on the battle fields...just keep them away from Dogs who could sniff them out.  I loved when they infiltrated a building and there was the perfect effect of muffled gunshots and the building turns your color.  Way to take out those guards and capture the structure, Mr. Spy!  They were Red Alert's version of the GDI commando who sounded surprisingly like Yukon Cornelius.

Spy Vs. Spy - Never really was a reader of MAD magazine religiously but did take time to look at the pages when they spoofed a movie or property I was particularly fond of. One thing that was always a part I looked at was the Spy Vs Spy cartoon.  I knew about them before I even knew about MAD magazine because of the NES game.  (It actually was how I learned that Vs. meant Versus)  I loved the illustrations, the fine attention to detail that was incorporated into such over the top Wile.E.Coyote fashions or that Tex Avery "dynamite-down-the-pants" type gags.

Zartan - Now here is a spy who doesn't mess around.  gun for hire, master of disuse, runs a rough and tumble Aussie biker gang, has a chameleon brother and a expert infiltrator for a sister, this guy is bad ass.  I loved his action figure with the color changing skin and armor plating on the legs and chest, the extra "face" in his backpack and even the weird smell that came off his hood.  If you want to see Zartan at his full most ruthless potential, look into Resolute or the fan film Operation: Red Retrieval.

Spy Hunter - dunno if it's the car, the driver or that they are neither and they are simply killing spies throughout the game that simply loops the Peter Gunn theme throughout its course.  This is one NES game that doesn't mess around with spiked tires, smoke screens, snipers shooting from limos... oh yeah, there's nothing quite like slamming one of those bullet-proof bastards off the road.

Aeon Flux - Steampunk before it existed in Peter Chung's dominatrix inspired femme fatal leaping from planes, elevators, stealing alien eggs, pulling microfilm from false hinged teeth...and dying every single time.  This Monican agent (we found that out in the way less entertaining series where they talked...wayyyyy too much) was at constant odds with her Breen arch-nemesis and lover Trevor Goodchild.  Ah hell, whatever issue you may have with the series, the shorts (especially the one entitled, "War") were a pinnacle of MTV's heyday when Liquid Television was on the air.

 

Soundwave - I thought to myself, why wouldn't this guy be counted as a spy?  He's all about unseen surveillance, always gets in under the Autobots radar, has an endless army of small minions to do his bidding and listening, and always is gathering information.  He's one hard-core spy and by far has the coolest voice on this list.

Bothan Spies - Little is know of these ubiquitous spies in the Star Wars saga except that "many of them died to bring us this information"...for apparently no reason too since the emperor gave them that false information to lure the rebels into a trap of charging their entire fleet at a fully armed and operational second Death Star...thanks Mon Mothma.

The Spy (Team Fortress) - French, smokes, stabs you in the back...oui oui.

 

Monkey man from Raiders - I guess he's more an informant but he still does his job very well in Raiders and lives to tell the tale unlike his monkey who falls victim to the 'bad dates'.   Raiders really never seemed to have any central villain in my mind besides Belloq who just seemed like a waste.  We never get to know that Deitrich or Toht even have names until post production and you looked it up.  I found out in the Marvel comic version.  and with a movie where bad guys are "mean Mongolian", "monkey man", "German mechanic" and "Arab swordsman", you really can't get much more generic that "Bad guy 1" and "Bad guy 2".

Da Fino - I'm a Brother Seamus! - an Irish monk??? - I coulda did Eddie Valiant, Sam Spade or even Duck Twacey but you gotta have a dick on the list and this guy its just great. 

Merry Hiss-mas, everyone!

Just a little fun showing Cobra actually catching the arctic Joes off guard!  It snowed last night for the first white Christmas around here in 10 years but it's all cruddy outside however we are slated to get some more this week.  Cold Weather scenes will be in the future on the site of both the Joe and Hoth variety!  Got an amazing spread of great toys this year and will be talking about them in upcoming posts.  late December and January will def have a rise in activity here.  Hope you all had great Christmases and stay safe in the upcoming days!  christos razdajetsa!

League Assignment: Shelf Expression!

From the mind of Cool and Collected: Post a photo of a shelf of items that displays your love for pop culture.

Gonna focus on 2 shelves...wanted to do the Joes but it's about half the room so I decided to take a look at the Kenner Star Wars shelf (the first shelf I installed in the toy room/office) and my favorite on a personal level.   It's still a work in progress but is by far the one I'm closest to completing...only 9 '85 POTF figures left to get...11 counting Yak Face and Blue Snag

 

 

Next is my more Assignment appropriate shelves showing a bit more diversity...this little shelf gets the most rotation but is currently packed with video games, smaller G1 Transformers, Battle Beasts and Legos.  I threw in some closeups to highlight the small but growing set of BB's who actually have weapons...I swear, there's nothing quite like the feeling of reuniting a lone figure with a new accessory.  It's like having a full inventory in a Zelda game.

 Just added the Windcharger, Tailgate and Yellow Cliffjumper to the G1's yesterday!  Great new additions!  I also think Frodo and Sam fit well with my Castle Legos...and Landspeeder.

 Some rank and files Beasts looking sharp.  Haven't even thought about the Laser Beasts yet and I think that's for the better...for now.

Take a look at some fellow Leaguesters who caught my eye...

Dork Dimension blows my mind with Aliens, Zombies and MAD BALLS!

Reis at the Lair combines Big Boy and Rat Fink...a wonderful combination in any respect.

Random Nerdness has a nice MOTU setup...there's a series that absolutely needs to be set up right to look good and this guy does it well.

Oh hell, stop by the League and check out the rest.

Halloween post! Video games, Star Wars and GI Joe!

Many pirates, ninjas, and pirate-ninjas in class today.

This Halloween has indeed been a strange one.  At my school, I witnessed my kids go from an instantaneous flux of excited to bummed out to blown away as some arrived in costume after our two days off from the flood hysteria in Northeast PA (Scranton area got relatively nothing...especially nothing worth cancelling two days of school over, God bless those who are still dealing with this terrible situation) to find that Halloween in school for today was cancelled (awwwwwwwww) and then were told that costume day was pushed to Friday with an early dismissal..."Wait...what's that??? Two Halloweens??? SWEEEET!!!!"  It was very fun to watch. 





This was coming into school while still high on the fumes from the  news of Lucasfilm being acquired by Disney which could only mean great things...Episode VII, new story with Lucas only consulting, the possibility of a Star Wars TV show a la Avengers and the upocming Joss Whedon written S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series (which has solidified my belief that Disney has a golden touch), an OTC cartoon, Indiana Jones being resurrected in a not horrible digital monkey sorta way...cannot wait. Only bummer is I hope this doesn't kill the Clone Wars (which it might..at least their stay on Cartoon Network) and I hope Disney's less than humorous legal division doesn't put the axe on Redlettermedia guys. 

On top of that amazing mind blowing news, I apparently am the last person in the world to see that Kre-O is releasing GI Joe building sets!!!  I'm not sold on the whole series but I need to get my hands on a Trubble-Bubble and a F.A.N.G. chopper.

I have especially been getting into the All Hallow's Eve spirit through the joys of video games.  I took advantage of the XBox Live Halloween special and downloaded Resident Evil IV HD....God, that opening past is amazing...I was on the edge of the couch as those villagers stalk you from room to room of the village...the awkwardness of the controls really heighten the tension and make you all the more frantic.  Between playing that I resurrected the amazing creepy and atmospheric game Dead Space and pretty much gave myself a panic attack the last three nights, especially on Monday when the 50 mph winds were raging outside my dark living room.  If you want to be frozen in terror, play that game on anything above easy...even medium gives you an impossibly tense scenario. 

Beyond any of these games if you want to scare the bejeezus out of yourself, download and play Amnesia: the Dark Descent.  For a game that is obviously technologically limited, it shines in doing what it is made to do...give the helpless player an enveloping sense of dread and fear while the mostly unseen creatures lumber in the dark and hunt you.  You owe it to yourself to give this game a download and start freaking yourself and your digitized character out.

Anyway, hope you all had a great Halloween!

Toy Review: GI Joe: Cobra F.A.N.G. gyro-copter

 

When the name "Cobra" comes up, a few faces instantly pop into mind.  Destro, Baroness, Storm-Shadow, Zartan or Cobra Commander himself.  When it comes to Cobra's vehicles, besides the HISS tank, an instant visual of a certain helicopter comes right up.  The one-manned Fully Armed Negator Gyrocopter or FANG for short, was the staple Cobra air-assault vehicle pre-dating the Rattler by a year in the toy line.  You probably would be hard pressed to watch any early episode without a F.A.N.G. making an appearance or two as they served as basic cannon-fodder for the superior armored and maneuverable Dragonfly Chopper on the Joe side.

This hovering mass-produced menace hit the toy shelves in 1983 at a measly 3.18 retail price!  I swear, if I wasn't 1 year old, I'd have a fleet of these things!  Often you could have your blue clad troopers or Cobra Commander or Major Bludd flying these.  (I especially remember Bludd flying around in a FANG constantly) and it had a very neat backpack hook mold into the seat to securely fit your Joe figure into place as you banked and soared this vehicle through the air. 

It was basic as basic could be with grey and black molding however the detailing wasn't lost on the panelling, the engine and detachable rotor blades.  It included 4 nice long missiles which attached to the landing racks and had one big Cobra inscribed Bomb on the underbelly.  The steering stick moved but seemed really stiff so I could imagine being an easily broken piece along with the red cage housing the rear engine which, if you look on the aftermarket, is almost always missing on loose versions of this vehicle.  Even mine has a partially glued on on the backside.  Interestingly enough, this vehicle besides it's later models of Fang II, Fang III and 2008 remake, it was also originally molded as a Joe Vehicle in UK called the SAS Hawk along with included pilot "Blades" (a repaint of Tripwire) under the Palitoy lable, Brazil's Estrella line released it as a Joe vehicle called Helicóptero De Ataque and Inda's Funskool line released their own F.A.N.G. as well as a blue version of it for the Rescue Squad line. simply titled "Helicopter".

All in all, it's a fine vehicle and a must-have for any Cobra fan.  It's compact, simple and says it so even if you aren't the hugest Joe fan and just want a few odds and ends or a single piece for your desk or shelf, it can fit nicely but still hold its own in the presence department.  It sells relatively cheap on the aftermarket so give it a go if you see it around.

Toy Review: GI Joe Tomahawk Helicopter

 

 



Profile.



Head-on.



I think it's about time to cover another one of my more prominent pieces in my collection...Granted, it's no Fort Max, Technodrome or Terror Dome but this is pretty much as big as I can get both price and space wise and I'm quite content with it.  That's right, you asked for it and you shall receive: The G.I. Joe Tomahawk released by Hasbro for the 5th series of Joe toys.  This was an amazing mainstay for G.I. Joe collectors, fans and kids alike who loved the show.  It was used constantly in the comics and animated series, was a great parallel to the contemporary, real-world CH-46 Sea Knight or CH-47 Chinook and was packed with great features.

This was a greatly sought after toy among my friends as a kid as most of us missed the classic Joe boat and didn't get into this collection until the late 80's and early 90's and most of our toys came from older brothers, uncles and cousins who have since moved on.  I actually remember one brother of a friend of mine having this in a toy/junk box in shambles with no window, guns, seats or blades.  Just a hollowed out shell of a once-great toy.  By the way, this toy was a one-time-only entry into the Joe archives.  It came out in 86 and was off the shelves by 88 (Probably at a discounted price...of the original 12.99 price tag...how did we not all automatically have this toy??? sigh, I dunno.)  There was never a known remake of this toy in any capacity...no Sky Patrol, no Tiger Force, just the original and that was it. 

That separate molding for the exhaust vents is such a great touch!

Tail-Rotor detail

rotating and pivoting gun and camera. (you can see the control sticks in the nose windows)

Easy dropping ramp for cargo or troopers.

This toy just shines attention to detail with expert modeling, amazing detail and hyper-realistic design.  Honestly, it looks as detailed as a 1:32 scale Tamiya model.  It feels as if it could actually fly if it were built to scale.  It has three moving rotors (2 top and one tail) that all work with 5 removable blades on each top rotor.  It has nicely made exhaust ports on the tale and front rotor motor casing that has its' own separate pieces separately inserted that aren't a cheaply molded single piece of plastic.  This adds to what makes the toy great.  In addition, it has a opening cargo door in the back and wind-up tow rope for rescue/hauling missions, a rotating 20mm mini gun and targeting camera on the bottom of the nose, movable pilot and co-pilot sticks, 5 seats for passengers, 2 door guns, 2 side missile pods with 3 small white freefall "dumb" bombs each and 2 heavy duty air-to-ground under the side access doors.  Aesthetically it includes 2 removable rear stabilizers, and sturdy landing gear.  This piece brings the kitchen sink for authenticity and Hasbro didn't miss one single beat in making a spot on likeness to the animated counterpart.

A better view of the paint scheme along with Rock and Roll and Doc.



There's "mic-free" Life Ticket on the right next to Wild Bill, the Joe Dragonfly pilot.

The paint scheme is completely dark grey and desert tan with solid grey pieces for the interior, engines and propellers while the body has a sprayed on camo pattern.  Simple but says it.  No garish neon vomit inducing nightmares, no boring solid colors...a perfect, realistic, paint scheme. In addition to great features, painting and molding, this toy comes packed with its own Joe pilot code named: Lift-Ticket.   He's a simple enough figure and one of the first I ever got long before finding the chopper...22 years to be exact.   He has a nice flight helmet, molded on pistol and holster, flight vest, straps and good painting, I just think he has a goofy kinda look on the face but not as bad as the toothy smile they molded on the Conquest X-30 pilot, Slipstream.  He came with only one accessory which often is the bane to Tomahawk collectors who try to make this item complete.  It's a famously hard to find "mic" piece that hooks into his helmet.  Good luck finding and not paying wayyyyy too much for it.

Joes on the move.

 

So that sums up my 2nd favorite item in my Joe collection...the first will be coming soon, I promise.  But besides that, I want to let you know this wasn't nearly as nice looking when I scored it (for 30 dollars total btw)...After picking up 2 top blades and 2 white missiles and 1 seat, I had the vehicle together.  It needed some deep cleaning from being in a smoker's house but I got it back to it's original luster with dish soap and floor wax for the canopy. The labels on it were repros from cobrastickers.com (who make amazing, spot-on, high quality, repro labels) and I used YoJoe.com  and Hisstank.com to figure out where each of the tiny, well designed decals went.  THEN, I had the lovely vehicle you see and I love.  Hopefully, you think it looks as good as I do.