My Old Toys

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G.I. Joe was always a blast on the open seas, or the bathtub, which is where this guy spent most of his time. That’s the Cobra Frogman, code name: EELS. This was the first “underwater” villain released by Hasbro for its G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. The character first appeared in 1985, and has been reproduced five times since.  EELS were the enemy underwater demolitions specialists, a constant threat to G.I. Joe’s fleet of aircraft carriers, hovercraft and “Devilfish” speed boats.  The figure came with a pair of flippers, a backpack with jet attachments and a spear gun. I’ve only got the backpack, I don’t know what happened to the rest of his stuff.  I purposely pulled this figure out of the box because he answers a question posed in last week’s post: Whatever happened to Xamot? Xamot, the twin brother of Cobra Crimson Guard Commander Tomax, has been missing from my collection. I have no memory of what happened to him, but it appears he broke and his body parts were salvaged to use for other figures. That’s why the waist on EELS doesn’t match. That’s Xamot’s waist. It’s likely that EELS’ waist broke (in that unfortunate place where Joe figures were prone to breakage) and it was replaced with a piece of Xamot. Maybe it happened during a battle, maybe not. If it was during battle I’d like to imagine Xamot got mixed up in a body part/organ theft plot that saw him taken to pieces so his parts could be sold to other Cobra characters. That’s kind of gross. 

G.I. Joe was always a blast on the open seas, or the bathtub, which is where this guy spent most of his time.

That’s the Cobra Frogman, code name: EELS.

This was the first “underwater” villain released by Hasbro for its G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. The character first appeared in 1985, and has been reproduced five times since. 

EELS were the enemy underwater demolitions specialists, a constant threat to G.I. Joe’s fleet of aircraft carriers, hovercraft and “Devilfish” speed boats. 

The figure came with a pair of flippers, a backpack with jet attachments and a spear gun. I’ve only got the backpack, I don’t know what happened to the rest of his stuff. 

I purposely pulled this figure out of the box because he answers a question posed in last week’s post: Whatever happened to Xamot?

Xamot, the twin brother of Cobra Crimson Guard Commander Tomax, has been missing from my collection. I have no memory of what happened to him, but it appears he broke and his body parts were salvaged to use for other figures.

That’s why the waist on EELS doesn’t match. That’s Xamot’s waist. It’s likely that EELS’ waist broke (in that unfortunate place where Joe figures were prone to breakage) and it was replaced with a piece of Xamot.

Maybe it happened during a battle, maybe not. If it was during battle I’d like to imagine Xamot got mixed up in a body part/organ theft plot that saw him taken to pieces so his parts could be sold to other Cobra characters.

That’s kind of gross. 

Filed under eels cobra G.I. Joe A Real American Hero hasbro g.i. joe 80s toys tomax xamot

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These characters need to show up in the next G.I. Joe movie.

Here’s one of my favorite villains from the Joe series, Tomax. He’s without his twin brother, Xamot, who was another favorite.

The brothers, dubbed the Crimson Twins, first appeared in Hasbro’s 1985 line of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero action figures. 

I don’t know what happened to my Xamot figure, but I can tell you he’s basically the same figure.

Here’s some bio information from their file card:

Spell on the name TOMAX in capitals and and hold it up to a mirror. It reads XAMOT. The same holds true for the actual brothers. Each is the mirror image of the other except for a scar on Xamot’s face.

I love their costumes. It looks silly now but it was perfect for a 1980s cartoon villain, er, villains.

Actually, it doesn’t really look that silly when you consider the costumes today’s heroes and villains where in books and film. I think this would look a lot better on camera than Hawkeye’s costume in Avengers.

Anyway, when they weren’t wearing these outfits, the twins were dressed in three-piece suits. In the G.I. Joe: ARAH cartoon and comics, Tomax and Xamot were unscrupulous businessmen in charge of Cobra’s corporate interests.

Again, very 80s. They were Patrick Bateman’s or Gordon Gekko’s. Or both.

Another character trait shared by the brothers was this strange way one would feel pain whenever the other was injured.

It became a punchline in the Joe cartoon and comics. But in the 80s I always likened it to those Mysteries of the Unknown Time-Life commercials.

Remember those? There was one where the narrator’s describing “a woman in pain, and her sister feels it on the other side of the country” or something like that.

Tomax and Xamot got much better treatment in the recent IDW comic series. That’s a really good, mature take on G.I. Joe and Cobra.

Again, I don’t know what happened to Xamot. He’s not in the box. Now I’m bummed.

Filed under tomax xamot crimson guard cobra G.I. Joe 80s toys hasbro

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This guy’s name is Sea Slug. He piloted something called the Sea Ray. He looks like he’s from one of those futures they predicted in the 80s.

This guy’s name is Sea Slug. He piloted something called the Sea Ray.

He looks like he’s from one of those futures they predicted in the 80s.

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Dial-Tone has been through some rough adventures, but that’s what happens when you’re on my list of favorite G.I. Joes. 

He was the first figure I received from Hasbro’s 1986 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series, and I played with that toy until he broke into pieces.

Luckily, I had a backup, the fellow you’re looking at in this post. That’s a repainted version of Dial-Tone that was also released in ‘86 as part of the G.I. Joe Special Mission Brazil boxed set. 

The set included four repainted figures and one new character, Captain Claymore. It also came with a cassette tape of the Brazil mission. 

I can’t remember the story, but I do remember the second side of the tape was blank so you could “record your own adventures.” I used it to record G.I. Joe episodes of the television.

I’d set my Fisher-Price “My First Tape Recorder” next to the TV and record the cartoon. Then I’d play the tape back as I fell asleep at night. 

This is why I know all the lines from every G.I. Joe episode.

Getting back to Dial-Tone, he’s the communications officer for the Joe team. But I loved the figure so much I’d always have him leading the mission and saving the day.

Now, almost 30 years later, this figure needs some TLC. He’s so loose I had a hard time posing him for pictures, that’s why he’s looking down in the one shot. 

He’s also missing his thumb on his right hand. That was another one of those unfortunate injuries Joes were prone to suffer on and off the battlefield.

In the G.I. Joe: ARAH cartoon Dial-Tone was portrayed as kind of a nerd. In one episode he was used as a pawn in some scheme to bring down the Joe team by putting him in charge and letting him screw up.

That wasn’t very cool. Dial-Tone deserved better. 

Filed under G.I. Joe A Real American Hero G.I. Joe dial-tone 80s toys hasbro

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Nullifier. He’s a pilot. Works for Destro. Looks like he’s from the future.

Nullifier. He’s a pilot. Works for Destro. Looks like he’s from the future.

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Outback. Version 2.

I was actually a fan of the character when he was first released in 1987, but not impressed with Hasbro’s 1993 version.

I think it’s the mining helmet.

When this Outback was produced G.I. Joe’s “Battle Corps” series was in full swing.

Outback, like the rest of the Joes, was packaged with a red plastic tree of weapons, all of which were previously created for other figures.

I like the 1987 version better. Actually, the 2009 version (which you can see at http://www.yojoe.com) looks better than both of them.

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Tiger stripes on a ninja. The early 90s were really special. Here’s Night Creeper Leader, released in 1993 as part of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. Night Creeper Leader was the — you guessed it — leader of the Night Creeper ninja warriors. I think I’ve written in the past about G.I. Joe’s ninja trend, which came around the time the Turtle bandwagon was rolling through town. Night Creeper Leader was another one of those “Battle Corps” figures that came with a spring-loaded weapon, in this case a missile launcher. Why did a ninja need a missile launcher? Because it was 1993.

Tiger stripes on a ninja. The early 90s were really special.

Here’s Night Creeper Leader, released in 1993 as part of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series.

Night Creeper Leader was the — you guessed it — leader of the Night Creeper ninja warriors.

I think I’ve written in the past about G.I. Joe’s ninja trend, which came around the time the Turtle bandwagon was rolling through town.

Night Creeper Leader was another one of those “Battle Corps” figures that came with a spring-loaded weapon, in this case a missile launcher.

Why did a ninja need a missile launcher? Because it was 1993.

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What can I say about Lightfoot?

I never really knew what he was supposed to do for G.I. Joe. On his file card, it says his specialty is demolitions. But his accessories included that blue helmet and a small robot-like device. 

I didn’t know what he did, but I definitely liked this figure, because he is super loose, which means he got played with a lot.

Lightfoot was released with Hasbro’s 1988 G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series. He was the first figure I got from that year’s line. 

I remember the day I got him, I was staying with my grandparents, and I played with him all day. 

Then I got bummed out because I didn’t have any other figures to play with, so my dad went out and bought me Repeater, who I already featured in this blog.

My dad was great like that.

I seem to have misplaced most of Lightfoot’s accessories, all I have left is his helmet and backpack.

I’m trying to recall if Lightfoot ever did anything significant in the Joe comics. Nothing’s really coming to mind.

Oh well, you’re still a good guy Lightfoot.

Filed under lightfoot G.I. Joe G.I. Joe A Real American Hero hasbro 80s toys

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I never found General Hawk that interesting as a character.  In the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon and the Marvel Comics series he was pretty much a boy scout, kind of boring without much personality beyond his leadership role. The character got better story arcs when Devil’s Due started publishing G.I. Joe: ARAH comics in the early 2000s.  But then G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was released with Dennis Quaid playing Hawk, and that whole flick is revolting, as I’ve mentioned many times before. Here’s the 1991 version of Hawk from Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: ARAH action figure series. He was one of the few in that year’s line that didn’t come with a spring-loaded weapon. Instead he had a jet backpack with missiles that I seem to have misplaced. Check out the Superman curl on the figure’s head. That’s actually a pretty good comp for Hawk. He stands for truth, justice, and the American way, just like Superman.  He also lacks internal conflict, edge, and has nothing going on aside from his “good guy” persona. Just like Superman. Or at least some versions of Superman, don’t get all riled up Super-fans.

I never found General Hawk that interesting as a character. 

In the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon and the Marvel Comics series he was pretty much a boy scout, kind of boring without much personality beyond his leadership role.

The character got better story arcs when Devil’s Due started publishing G.I. Joe: ARAH comics in the early 2000s. 

But then G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was released with Dennis Quaid playing Hawk, and that whole flick is revolting, as I’ve mentioned many times before.

Here’s the 1991 version of Hawk from Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: ARAH action figure series.

He was one of the few in that year’s line that didn’t come with a spring-loaded weapon. Instead he had a jet backpack with missiles that I seem to have misplaced.

Check out the Superman curl on the figure’s head. That’s actually a pretty good comp for Hawk. He stands for truth, justice, and the American way, just like Superman. 

He also lacks internal conflict, edge, and has nothing going on aside from his “good guy” persona. Just like Superman. Or at least some versions of Superman, don’t get all riled up Super-fans.

Filed under G.I. Joe G.I. Joe A Real American Hero 90s toys hasbro hawk general hawk

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This is how I would’ve liked to have seen Storm Shadow in the G.I. Joe movies. 

Here is the character as he appeared in Hasbro’s 1988 collection of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero action figures.

The new design, which featured grey patterns on his traditionally white ninja outfit, was created around the time Storm Shadow was changing allegiances in the Joe comics.

Originally he was a villain, but he had a history with Snake Eyes. Eventually he became this anti-hero and then the leader of the Ninja Force team. I think he was the leader, I try to block Ninja Force from my memory.

The cover of issue No. 85 from the old Marvel series featured Storm Shadow in this costume. It was a silent issue, where there was no dialogue, only ninjas doing their thing. 

I can’t post this figure without commenting on his tattoo. That’s the symbol of the Arashikage clan Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes belong to. I first noticed it on both characters in another silent issue, G.I. Joe: ARAH No. 21. 

It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I realized I had been mispronouncing the name my entire life. 

I kept missing the second “A” and calling it “Ar-shi-kage.” Yeah, I don’t know how I botched that for most of my life. 

Anyway, Storm Shadow’s great. This will always be my favorite version of the figure, and they’ve made a ton of them. 

You can find the whole lot of Storm Shadow action figures over at YoJoe.com. 

Filed under storm shadow G.I. Joe G.I. Joe A Real American Hero hasbro 80s toys