African American Ladies of BOOTLEG G.I.JOES!

Knock-Off G.I.Joe-Type Figures from Lanard, Olmec, and Berchet

I had originally planned to do a separate review for each of these three figures individually for my series of Black History Month reviews, but time is short and they work so well as a group, so here they all are together.  We all know that black female characters are a rarity in boy-centric toy lines.  For some reason, even properties that have tons of female characters and tons of black male characters will rarely (if ever) combine the two minorities.  I did a review earlier this month on the lone African American G.I.Joe figure, Carla "Doc" Greer, but now I will focus on some cool bootlegs that have been released over the years to give us some sorely needed diversity in our 3&3/4" collections.

Vintage Goodness: MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES!

1988 G.I.Joe knock-offs from Berchet of France

I first discovered Mission Medecins San Frontieres ("Doctors Without Borders") on yojoe.com many years ago in their "Not G.I.Joe" section.  The information on that site was basic, but it prompted me to do some research and discover the rest of the line.  It was a LONG time before I finally was able to get the two females of the set.  I didn't pay much for them, roughly $2.00 each (plus crazy shipping from France), so I don't think they're excessively valuable or anything, but I rarely see them on ebay.  If you're into G.I.Joe bootlegs, especially ones with original sculpting details, this is definitely a series you should be hunting down.