According to the dictionary, our featured Joe’s nickname means, the part of a vehicle’s load, especially an aircraft’s, from which revenue is derived. Still, not the worst codename in the team, Hit and Run anyone? Anyway, here’s Impel Trading Card #63, Payload.
While Snake-Eyes is throwing knives at a giant wheel that has Scarlett bound to it and standing on top of Blind Master’s shoulders who himself is balancing on a large ball while juggling with working chainsaws, Payload is in a space fight with Fred VII over some spy satellites. I guess it was one of the few times Cobra actually scored a win. They destroyed the spy satellites – so they couldn’t pick up on the Terror Dromes – and crippled the Joe’s Defiant space shuttle.
There have been 5 figures released bearing the Payload name. The first one released in 1987 with the massive Defiant Space Vehicle Complex. v2 was a repaint of that first figure and came with the 1989 Crusader Space Shuttle. The next 3 figures were released in quick succession, in 1993 and 1994, as part of the Star Brigade subteam. All 3 being just a repaint of the same mold (used before as the Eco-Warriors’ Barbecue figure).
Next time we’re going back into the deep… a dive down memory lane to January 22 of this year as well 🙂
It has been a while since the previous post, but a lot has happened since. My youngest daughter has been hospitalized, I’ve been caught by some virus myself and in the meantime, our house has been sold. Somewhere in between, Sinterklaas has come and brought a lot of pink toys to our house 🙂
With the sale of our house finalized, we can start planning the actual moving. We’ll have to paint a lot and do some electrical work first. Then we need to put in stairs to the attic so that we can use that space as well. Although the new house will be bigger, I don’t have a dedicated Joe room available. The attic is just that, so it will be a while before I can get my Joes settled into their new environment. For now, they are being boxed up and they will remain boxed for a while… 🙁
All the toys aside, I feel most sad that all my comics are in boxes. I don’t just see them as comic books, but most of the cover art is really ART. To see those white longboxes with all my beloved comics and TPB’s makes me feel sad.
Maybe it’s just the season as well. Dark times are here. It’s a time to celebrate with your family, but at moments like these, you do miss the people that aren’t around anymore.
2017 hasn’t been the greatest of years for me personally, for the blog, the year has been better… More on that in a future post where we look back on 2017 and make some plans for next year.
We’re not going to talk about some Japanese car manufacturer taking over an American car factory, but about the Joe’s first real Marine, Ettienne R. LaFitte, better known as Gung-Ho.
Shown here in his dress blues, is actually also how I first got to know the figure. I hadn’t read any of the comics or seen the cartoons when I started collecting (okay, back in the day it was called playing) with Joes. So I had no idea how Gung-Ho looked like in his more regular Joe outfit. I have to say, he scrubs up nice 🙂 With the pornstache, bald head, bare chest, … I can’t help but think of The Village People. Y-M-C-A, it’s fun to — ok, let’s not go there.
In the comics, Gung-Ho is part of the backup team in Alaska when Cobra’s new specialist (Destro) first appears. He is later assigned to the guard detail on Cobra Commander, eventually getting injured at the hands of Storm Shadow, leading to the discovery of Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow sharing the same tattoo.
Between 1983 and 2015, 21 figures of Gung-Ho (or Gung Ho) have been released. Surprisingly, most of these show him wearing a shirt. The first figure of Gung-Ho I had, was the dress blue version of 1987. In my younger self’s headcanon, he was some sort of Army Brass, a high ranking officer coming down to inspect the Joes. I have a few of the later iterations now and I have to say, he’s not my favorite Joe, but I suppose it’s admirable that he runs around bare-chested a lot, dropping that huge USMC tattoo on his chest in your face.
In the cartoons, Gung-Ho is always there, fighting for freedom over land and air. But mostly, showing off… see below. Or talking to his gun as if its a child.
That’s all for now. Next time, we’ll aim for the moon and end up somewhere in space.
I get up, and nothing gets me down You got it tough. I’ve seen the toughest around And I know, baby, just how you feel You’ve got to roll with the punches to get to what’s real.
Welcome back! I’ve been recovering from a back injury and haven’t had the time nor longing to write some. But I’m getting better now and so here we are again with a new post.
In the last 2 posts, we tackled the Original Joe team and the 2 Cobra infantry soldiers. This time around we take a look at the 1982 vehicles, displayed on the Impel Trading Cards #54 through #60. As with most of the original figures, I don’t have a lot of these in my collection. Let’s jump right into it, with #54 the J.U.M.P. Jet-pack. The J.U.M.P. Jet-pack, giving your Joes wings since 1982. And probably some very serious burns and loss of legs… I definitely can see the charm of being able to fly to do recon or even attack the enemy. But this just isn’t practical. Not alone the safety issues (these people are professional soldiers, they can handle the heat), but the maximum range is only 10 miles and with a top speed of 210 MPH, this means about 3 minutes of flight time… (I know I’m ignoring acceleration, elevation and well, physics really, but it’s G.I.Joe, they’re above all that). The toy was released in 1982 without a figure – smart marketing if you ask me. That way you should buy multiple Jet-packs for all your Joes 🙂 The next year, Grand-Slam was included in the package. He was depicted with the J.U.M.P. Jet-pack on card #50. The J.U.M.P. Jet-pack was used in the cartoons and the movie. Just wanted to mention this to link to the intro on Youtube again… Gotta love that intro.
Now on to #55, the R.A.M. The box art for the RAM shows a green shirt driving wearing a helmet with a microphone. One might think it was Breaker, but there’s no beard. The card art here shows some beard but then the helmet doesn’t have a microphone. Clearly, any Joe can handle the RAM. In 2008 the RAM was renamed RAM Cycle and was released with Cpl. Breaker together with a Cobra Flight Pod (that’s the official name, I always thought that Trouble Bubble was actually its name) with a Tele-Viper. I don’t know where exactly, but I remember seeing Lady Jaye driving the RAM. So let me leave the RAM with a little homage to that. Next up is #56, the FLAK. The FLAK is actually one of the 1982 toys I have in my collection. I bought a bunch of comics and figures from a fellow collector and to my surprise, a FLAK was included as a gift. It’s the 2008 version, but this one has the same colors as the 1982 original. It’s a realistic looking cannon, that can be manned by any greenshirt. I see it as a base camp toy. A defense weapon that is fixed on a base, ready to shoot at incoming Rattlers or Fangs. The FLAK was renamed F.L.A.K. Cannon in 2009, cause you know, it’s a cannon. People probably didn’t get that at first. In 2013, the Night F.L.A.K. was as part of the Collector’s Club Convention Exclusives. I have to say, it looks good in black. Moving on to #57, the V.A.M.P. In 1984, the V.A.M.P. Mark II was released, just 2 years after the Mark I. The Trading Card goes on about how good the Mark II is but the image clearly shows the Mark I from 1982. The V.A.M.P. was released with Clutch. This is probably one of the most used vehicle designs over the years, but I only have one in my collection and that’s the 2014 Danger at the docks version. Technically you could argue I have 2, question is, is the Tiger Sting a V.A.M.P. or a Stinger? Because of the whole story around the Tiger Force and it using vehicles they “recovered” from Cobra, I’ll go with a Stinger and so I only have one V.A.M.P. Not much more to say, I like the vehicle. It’s one of the more realistic vehicles in the Joe motor pool. I’m gonna have to get more of them, loose that is. #58 gives us the HAL. Ah, the HAL… Very effective if you use it to drop on a big robot. Other than that, not the best of Joe weapons. The HAL was released with Grand-Slam, being the popular figure he is, he was then released with the JUMP jetpack for its second release. Again, a more realistic looking vehicle, but fairly simple and a lot like the FLAK, more a toy to use at your base, not something you want to drag up a flight of castle stairs to use as a lockpick. Only to leave it there when the whole building blows… I guess cost efficiency was not something the Joes brass were thinking about. Moving on to #59, the MMS. G.I. Joe was way ahead of their time, already talking of MMS in 1982, when cell phones weren’t even invented yet. The Mobile Missile System is useful, and sort of realistic – again, this is a constant for the early vehicles. Somehow it just doesn’t seem as attractive a toy as say a VAMP or RAM. It did come with the leader of the gang, Gen. Hawk, so I guess they used that feature to promote this toy. Don’t think they would have sold a lot without the free figure incentive. I’m facing a bit of a dilemma. I like it when toys are somewhat realistic. On the other hand, I do love some of the wacky vehicles the Joe line produced. Vehicles like the MMS here are realistic looking and could even work in real life (probably), but still I’m not looking to add it to my collection. If you happen to have a Cobra BUGG, I’d instantly buy it (at a reasonable price). Mixed feelings. Hard to put to words too. I don’t dislike them and they’ll probably end up in my collection someday, but just when I happen to come across them, I won’t go searching for them. Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen these in stores here, and didn’t see them until I read the comics when I was a teenager. Out of sight, out of mind… But always looking 🙂
The final vehicle for today is without a doubt the most impressive one of the lot, the M.O.B.A.T. The M.O.B.A.T. is about as real as you can get to an actual military vehicle. On top of that, the toy actually moved on its own. This tank is a BEAST. With a 130mm anti-armor cannon as the primary weapon, secondary weapon is the .50 caliber machine gun with 1,500 rounds of ammunition. The MOBAT is powered by two gas turbine engines (the toy by batteries :-)) and can reach 60mph on an open road and 45mph driving cross-country. It can submerge in water for up to an hour due to retractable snorkels and air-tight hatches.
I really like the M.O.B.A.T. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find over here, but I was lucky to score an Action Force Battle Tank, which is basically the same vehicle, but with a different color scheme. Seriously, just look at how cool this thing is, even in a pretty old commercial, still looks better than 90% of the toy commercials they’re airing now.
Well, that’s all for now. Next time, we’ll go where the people aren’t (according to Ariel that is).
Our whole universe was in a hot, dense state
Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started, wait
The earth began to cool, the autotrophs began to drool
Neanderthals developed tools
We built a wall (we built the pyramids)
Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries
That all started with the big bang!
Our Cobra specialist featured on the Impel Trading Card #38 is a huge fan of big bangs. I present to you, Firefly, Cobra saboteur.
No one knows Firefly’s true identity, his name or what he looks like. He started working with Cobra since the very beginning of the organization. Firefly was first contacted by Cobra Commander to assassinate Snake-Eyes, who CC blamed for the death of his brother. Firefly soon realized he was no match for Snake-Eyes. Zartan was brought into the fold to deal with it, but because the Hard Master was impersonating Snake-Eyes, the arrow that was meant for him struck the Hard Master instead. Storm Shadow was blamed and thus began the whole Arashikage story arc from ARAH.
Firefly was again involved with the death of another Arashikage Master, the Soft Master. Firefly and Scrap-Iron chased the Soft Master when he arrived in Springfield trying to find the killer of his brother. They launched two missiles at the Soft Master, killing him, Candy, some random (drunk) dude and wounding Billy (CC’s son).
After the real CC returned, he locked most of his insubordinate crew into a landlocked freighter which got buried under the volcano. Firefly escaped by letting B.A.T.’s dig a tunnel. He brainwashed the Red Ninjas – which used to be Arashikage members. Snake-Eyes eventually liberated them and they chased after Firefly looking for vengeance. Firefly was assumed to be death. Firefly does reappear in the Devil’s Due continuity and both the America’s Elite and Reloaded series.
My first memories of the character are from the Special Missions comic #1 in which he aids the Baroness in finding the supposed sunken sub in the Baltic Sea. I had this comic book as a kid, the Dutch translation in TPB, and it was my only Joe comic book back then. Needless to say, I read it a gazillion times.
In the cartoons, Firefly is a side character. This changes in the Sigma Six run, where he actually joins the Joes. Throughout the first half of the second season, it’s hinted that there is a spy with the Joes. Eventually, the spy is revealed to be Firefly, who traps the team and turns them over to Cobra. Lt. Stone attempts to convince him it is not too late to side with the Joes, but Firefly is insulted by the offer. He shaves his head as a sign of his loyalty to Cobra, and after a climatic battle with Lt. Stone, leaves with Cobra Commander.Firefly has another small role in the Resolute movie and is featured in one of the Renegades’ episodes, portrayed as a pyromaniacal arsonist that wears a mask to hide burn scars on his face. He is hired by Cobra to burn down the town of Green Ridge but is thwarted by the Renegade Joes. At the end, his helicopter is seen crashing into a cliff, leaving the viewers wondering whether he actually died or not…
In the live action movie Retaliation, Ray Stevenson portrays Firefly. Stevenson revealed in an interview that Firefly is an ex-Joe. His codename in this version stems from his trademark weapon system, insectoid robot drones which he uses to surreptitiously deliver explosive charges. The character was not supposed to wear his mask, but the actor, who researched the character and became a fan of the original Firefly, lobbied to be shown wearing it in some scenes. While trying to activate a satellite for Cobra Commander he is attacked by Roadblock who causes the drones to explode on Firefly.
There have been 28 renditions of the Firefly character made into action figures. Starting in 1984 with the original gray camouflaged version. Later versions changed his colors to green, light gray, red, purple, blue, black only to return back to the dark gray for the 50th-anniversary edition in 2015, the figure being released with Bazooka and Dusty.
That’s it for now. Next time we go back to the beginning. Something in the lines of the painting below, The Last Suffer by NYC Artist Paul Hecker, but then with good guys 🙂
Happy Collecting and YoJoe!
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While Snake-Eyes is throwing knives at a giant wheel that has Scarlett bound to it and standing on top of Blind Master’s shoulders who himself is balancing on a large ball while juggling with working chainsaws, Payload is in a space fight with Fred VII over some spy satellites. I guess it was one of the few times Cobra actually scored a win. They destroyed the spy satellites – so they couldn’t pick up on the Terror Dromes – and crippled the Joe’s Defiant space shuttle.
