You know you’ve made it when they call you cargo…

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 🙂

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Moving on

Hi all —

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.

 

Till then, Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Play that Funko music, Metal boy!

I’ve been blessed with the best colleagues in the world. One of my North American colleagues had bought this shiny Funko and another colleague brought it back with him to Belgium (in exchange for some Belgian chocolate ?)

I have to say it’s a lot shinier than I thought it would be, but it’s great to have Destro as an addition to my collection. Now I’ve got all the G.I.JOE (& Cobra) Funko Pops that are released.

Snake-Eyes and Roadblock are getting outnumbered though, with 2 CC’s and 2 SS’s, and now Destro hogging all the shelf space for Cobra.

Happy Collecting and YOJOE!

Hadleyville,PA or the Bayou?

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.

Until then, Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

Darling, it’s better down where it’s wetter…

Yeah, that title is straight out of a Disney movie title song. I swear. Google it!

It is kind of appropriate for the #61 Impel Trading Card we will take a look at today. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Wet-Suit.

Although I was born and raised in a small seaside town, I’m not a huge fan of swimming and diving. So aquatic themed Joes/Cobras and their vehicles don’t rock my boat (pardon the pun). The only exceptions are probably the Cobra BUGG and Hammerhead. How cool are those? Totally non-functional, but boy do they look good.

Back to today’s Joe though, Wet-Suit is a Navy Seal. Best of the best, toughest of the toughest. Obviously, this guy would be a member of the G.I. Joe team. One of my all-time favorite stories is the one told in Special Missions #1. Wet-Suit is part of the team that is sent undercover into the Baltic Sea to extract a Russian defector. The story really pulls you in and the twist at the end is just sublime.

In the cartoons, the most remarkable feature of Wet-Suit is his constant rivalry with Leatherneck, portraying that of Navy vs Marines. I do believe that Wet-Suit entered an Ultimate Fighter kinda tournament, but it was a Cobra scheme. Details are a little foggy, I need to rewatch the Sunbow series again pretty soon.

As far as the figures go, I only have the v4 from 1993 out of the 12 figures made. The bright orange and black design does look quite good. As for the other figures, well, like I said, the nautical thing doesn’t really do it for me, so I’m not actively looking to add more divers to my Joe collection, but that doesn’t mean, I’ll let them sink 🙂 Maybe when I get my very own USS Flagg, I’ll add more water Joes to my collection. That’s right, it says ‘when’, not ‘if’. Positive thinking people!

Before I leave you remembering someone that looked better in a wetsuit than Wet-Suit. Don’t get too enthusiastic or overzealous for the next post…

Now, as promised, Miss Lara Croft sporting a wetsuit.

Happy Collecting and YoJoe!

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