Happy Zartan Zaturday Everyone!

That's right! Zartan Zaturday! I was informed earlier in the week that the third Saturday (or Zaturday) in May was Zartan's. Also I was to honor said baddy of GI Joe:Real American Hero fame with a post featuring some Zartan love or hate, I guess, but who has time for hate when it comes to toys and Zartan...

I will admit, Zartan was one of those figures that eluded me back in 1984, but from what I have seen the one with the swamp skimmer and the color change was awesome and the one to have. When the 25th Anniversary line was released I had planned on filling in that hole in my collection with the newer Zartan, but again was foiled. He's slippery than a greased pig I tells ya! He's been released three times in the Anniversary line alone, once with the color change feature, once with a miniature of his swamp skimmer and the one I finally laid my hands on from the Cobra Box Set .

Enough about my Zartan woes, here's some Zartan to enjoy on Zartan Zaturday!

Here's the goods: A stand, two masks (such the master of disguise), a knife and a laser pistol! Oh and he is sporting a transparent pink vest, styling!

He can be a friend, Stormshadow...

...or Foe, Duke "Go Joes, or something like that!"

His backpack opens for convenient mask storage!

I was really bummed that this version didn't come with the mask with the the stache, you know he could get into all sorts of trouble with that look and the pink vest! Maybe next year my Zartan collection will expand? Who knows... maybe.

I hope everyone enjoys their Zartan Zaturday and keeps the master of disguise, the sun fearing prankster of fun, and leader of the dreadknocks in mind this fine Zaturday. To keep the Zartan train a rollin' here's a list of blog that are participating in this year's Zartan Zarurday...

A year of Toys
Adventure in Nerdliness
Battlegrip
Branded in the 80's
Dan's Toy Museum
Geek Orthodox
Toyriffic

edit: I forgot one!
Revenge From The Cosmic Ark

and duh, me, chunky B of Eclectorama

Oh, almost forgot Mini Zartan! Go get em Mini Zartan! "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

I wonder how many we'll have next year for Zartan Zaturday? I guess Zay Zuned Zo Zind Zout!

A special thanks goes out to Bubbashelby of Toyriffic and Reis at Geek Orthodox for including me in on the fun. It's been awhile since I posted about a Joe or Cobra, so for old times sake...

G.I. JOE: 17
COBRA: 15

Yo Joe! Hail Cobra! Zaaaaaaaartaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

Baroness Redo

Absolutely the best Baroness figure. Hands down, game over, this is how I like my Baroness.



Another figure from the Cobra Forces Box set, the Cobra Viper seen here, Storm Shadow with Squee here, this baroness was the main reason I picked up the set. The two other figures I mention above also helped.



This is Baroness in all her evil, sneaky, stab Cobra Commander in the back glory. I'm not sure but this version may be one of the first times she gets the heel sculpted out on her boots, not that I have a boot fetish, but I think this helps the figure overall look. Not a ton of accessories come with this figure, a stand, file card, and a sweet rifle, that's okay though, sweet and simple. I think they nailed the cartoon head on this figure as well.





I recently picked up my only movie figure to date, and it looks like they used the same body, I'll have to do some comparison shots. Speaking of comparison shots I'm thinking of doing some of the different Joes and their Box set counterparts, anyone up for that? Until then you can check out my earlier Baroness post here, and oh yeah... Cooooooobraaaaaaa!

G.I. JOE: 17
COBRA: 14

Cobra Viper Redo

Before all the new GI Joe Movie merchandise took over the shelves, Hasbro released a few multi figure packs. One of these packs was a repack of some Cobra forces. The pack came with this kick but version of Storm Shadow, a really nice version of Baroness (coming soon), a alternate version of Cobra Commander, a Zartan figure (which is cool because I never found a single card version of either release), and this awesome redo of the Cobra Viper.

So you are going, big whoop they repainted him or something. Sort of, he gets a sweet chromed face plate, his helmet has the molded on goggles, and he gets a few paint details. It really is a better version of the character. No more fiddling with the googles trying to get them to stay on, and did I mention the chrome. They should have released this figure first.



So far the only way you can get the new chrome faced Viper is to pick up the multi pack or one of the new Hall of Heroes Singles, but I think if you are going to get the multi pack you won't be disappointed in the other figures. Unless of course you don't want that 10th Storm Shadow, or uptenth Cobra Commander. Still for me the four out of the five that I bought this set for was well worth it. Now the Hall of Heroes I'm not sure about, unless you just want the one figure and don't mind spending 10 bucks and shipping for.



Cooooooobraaaaaaa!

G.I. JOE: 17
COBRA: 13

Comic Pack Beachhead

Beachhead is hands down my favorite Joe. Not because of the comic or cartoon, I just dig this dude's getup. I like Beachhead so much that not only did I pick up the comic pack that this one came in, but the regular single carded figure, the 12 inch figure, the Hall of Heroes single pack, and a recast of the original figure... Plus I still have my original from the 80's!

This version of Beachhead is probably the closest to the original, more so than the single pack. I think the only thing missing is the back pack, that was fixed in the Hall of Heroes single pack. He came with a comic (that was actually a pretty fun read) and Dataframe, who used to be called Mainframe, plus all the weapons, gear, and file cards.



Dataframe came with the biggest freaking laptop you have ever seen, I don't think you could call it a laptop. He needs to get an iPhone or something, seriously. Oh and the funniest thing was he had little card board floppy discs, do kids even know what these are anymore? You can check out more here, I was more excited to get another Beachhead I didn't bother shooting Dataframe.

I had planned to have Squee help me shoot pictures of Beachhead here, but she was busy doing Basset things, she promised to return to help improve my photography, and maybe even do a photo shoot with Beachhead and a few others.



Anyway, Yo Joe!

G.I. JOE: 17
COBRA: 12

Not sure who wasted more time...

The guy who went to the store to buy the latest GI Joe Comic two pack featuring Tunnel Rat and a new version of Storm Shadow, then carefully opened the package and replaced the two new figures, weapons, and comic book with a 2004 - 2005 Slice figure, what looks like a version of the Grunt figure from around say 2003-2005, some assorted weapons from other figures, and the comic book from an earlier comic two pack, I believe the one they call #32 1/2 Comic pack. That comic originally came with a Crimson Guard and the Scarred Cobra Officer. Then tried to carefully repackage everything, go back to the store to return the false merchandise.

or

Me who saw this (on two different outings to the same store, two weeks apart) placed it on the top peg, shot a picture with my camera phone, looked up as much info as I could about the figures online, formated the image, wrote some text about it and posted it.

Am I just giving these guys, these "swappers", too much attention, sort of like how our media does for the Octomom? Or am I pointing out a trend that I truly think is stupid on so many levels. I think I'm going to start taking pictures of every one I find and rating them. This one, by far, is the best I've seen, but not the only one. I wish I would have snapped a picture of the DVD set where the thief took The GI Joe Quick Kick out and replaced him with a stripped down Serpentor figure. It was the only figure that was missing the rest were still the ones that were supposed to be in the set, simply amazing.

The thing that makes this that much more beautiful is that he took the time to pose the figures like the manufacturers do, with weapons in hand and in somewhat action poses, then sloppily taped the package back together, over the factory tape with ordinary scotch tape.

How not to shoot pictures of your toys

I thought it was a nice day out side, the yard was looking rather nice, the hounds were nowhere to be seen, so why not take my wife's little point and click camera, my new favorite Storm Shadow (from the latest Cobra Box Set) and shoot some pictures ala Toyriffic in the nature!

FAIL! Fence looks too weird in the background, waaaay outta scale!

Not bad, still some clutter in the background...

...wait, what's that licking on me???

Noooo, come on Squee, not now...

Move, move, move... please

Not what I meant.

Oh all right I wouldn't want to stand in the way of some sun bathing...


In other GI Joe News:



GI Joe Resolute is airing this weekend, I've been checking out the individual webisodes that make up the movie they will air this weekend and so far I like it, I think I like it better than what I think the movie will turn out to be. It's not for the faint of heart, this version has blood and gore and bullets, you know, just the thing kids need to see nowadays. I'm really torn because I don't think this is something for kids, but that makes me sad because kids need cartoons and comics and toys made for them. The geek in me really enjoys it though. Why did they have to kill of Bazooka though, poor Bazooka. Check out the rest at AdultSwim.com or on Cartoon Network this weekend.

Doc Finally Arrived:



In another GI Joe related story, after about eight freaking months, I finally received the one freaking Doc figure I mailed away for. I mean come on one figure, it's not like I'm hoarding these things. Did I forget to mention the three emails I sent Hasbro, and the canceled check to prove I ordered it, I only had to send that twice. Anyway Doc is safe and sound, now to pop this sucka open and put with the rest of my Joes! Finally the team has a doctor, I can stop sending them to the morgue... lets see.

G.I. JOE: 16
COBRA: 12

A Little Toy Break...

For my readers that are toy fans and might be getting tired of Spockcation and Puppies, like who could get tired of either of those? Anyway, here are some pics of Marvel Universe 3-3/4" Captain America and a GI Joe Resolute Cobra Trooper, so it's a two for one!

oooh, very mean looking

Let's start with the Cobra Trooper. GI Joe Resolute is a new cartoon with a little more grittier feel to it, so far all I have seen of it is this YouTube Video:



Oh man, "A Ninja? I didn't know we had a Ninja!" That get's me every time. See what I mean about grittier? Bullets instead of lasers. I do miss the lasers, kids shouldn't have to grow up so fast. I do think this cartoon has an older audience in mind though.

with all his gear

The figure itself looks sort of like what I would have expected the troopers from the new movie to look like, except maybe with the Cobra symbol on them. I'm not disappointed that the symbol is not there, it makes him generic enough to fight other figures like Cap here.

Heeeeeere's the Cap'n
some nice shield storage

Captain America, from Hasbro like the Trooper, is part of the new Marvel Universe 3-3/4" line. This is a modern version of the character, I personally would like to have seen the classic version first, but hey you take what you can get. Makes more sense that he's modern fighting this modern looking Trooper. If he was classic I would have to hunt down some of those Indiana Jones German Soldier two packs on clearance. Which I might end up doing since the classic is supposed to make an appearance in a Secret Wars Comic Two Pack (I believe this summer).

Look out Cap!

When Captain America throws his mighty shield!

Victorious, Yo Jo...err Captain America!

I think this is a pretty cool time to collect 3-3/4" figures, we've had GI Joe and Star Wars for years, last year it was Indy, this year we get Marvel Universe, DC joined the fray not too long ago, and in a few weeks Star Trek in the same scale. I can finally have that Battle Royal with all my favorites, I think it may look something like this...

Something Old, Something New...

Way before the holidays, okay about two weeks before Christmas 2008, I found a rather reasonable auction on ebay for a long lost friend of mine. I won the auction without a minute to spare, and got away with a rather nice example of a classic GI Joe, Bazooka. My original Bazooka was the victim of a senseless war back in the mid eighties. My son and nephew were given some Joes to play with on a rainy day and an hour later only two survived out of about twenty. That's all water under the bridge, I need to let it go I'm told (though I will never let the Bossk Encounter go, I will be reminding you both of that every chance I get, family get togethers, birthdays, weddings...)



Best part about this figure is that seventies, adult industry mustache. That is one nice stache. That and where else besides a Top Secret Military Covert Operations Team can you get away with wearing a Football Jersey with your fatigues. Come to think of it, this is probably the reason I found my original split in two, he wasn't wearing effective camouflage.



Now for the new! At first glance the guy sneaking up behind Bazooka looks just like any other vintage GI Joe, Beachhead to be exact. You know Beachhead is my all time favorite Joe, I'm surprised that he has not made it into the blog before this. This Beachhead was a "dollar store" exclusive, if they can have exclusives. He came as is, sans weapons, on a much smaller card, and he was more than a dollar, actually three total. By today's standards I guess that's cheap considering that a 3-3/4" Spider-man goes for almost nine to ten bucks. Ole' Beachhead was released in 2008 with several other re cast and re painted Joes and Cobras, but he was one of the only ones to use the vintage mold. The others used the more updated versions of the characters from early 2000.



I wonder why they decided to use this mold, not that I am not happy they did, just curious. I still have a complete Beachhead, he survived the Nursery Room Massacre, and as soon as I find what tote I put him in he will be making an appearance on Eclectorama, till then Vintage Bazooka will just have to hang with this version.



I wonder if I should start a vintage GI Joe Tally? What about the newer vintage looking figures that are obviously new, but look vintage???

How about Classic Style:
GI Joe: 2
Cobra: 0

Surprise it's Snake Eyes!

Okay so he's a little purple, but this is fast becoming my favorite of the Snake Eyes in the collection. The color comes from the cartoon that accompanied this guy. Snake Eyes is shaded in a dark purple color, I'm guessing mainly because black would obscure the key lines.



This version of the GI Joe Ninja came packed in the DVD Battle set "Pyramid of Darkness". The concept is kinda cool, a pack of figures, some accessories, a BAF (Build A Figure, for the non geek) in this case a piece of the M.A.S.S. Device, and a DVD with the eighties cartoon that the set is based on.



I'll admit I haven't yet popped this new DVD in the player yet, I did check out an earlier set I picked up and didn't make it through the whole cartoon. One reason it was getting late the second was I didn't remember these being as cheesy as they are, not that there is anything wrong with that or anything, just the story wasn't going to keep me up much longer.

Snake eyes wasn't the only cool Joe in this set, Quick Kick came along for the ride to put the hurt on Cobra, but that's for another time.

Yo Joe!

G.I. JOE: 15
COBRA: 12

Scarlett by any other name...

... is Glenda! Which I didn't know till I read this review. I would also like to point out that the Yo Joe website is a treasure trove of GI Joe knowledge.



I just thought this was a neat version of everyones favorite GI Joe Super Secret Agent. Plus she's wearing cool pilot gear, so if they ever re-release the F-14 Tomcat... err I mean Skystriker I'm all set! Though I'm much more of an F-15 Eagle fan, the Tomcat still looks cool, and that toy version of it looks pretty sweet.



Scarlet here comes with a little back pack, which I guess you could pretend is a parachute, a helmet (notice her hair is up so she can wear it, plus make room for the next accessory), a cool vest (which I'll note for Jay hides the dreaded mid torso articulation), her trusty cross bow, and a pistol. To bad no holster for the pistol, but what are you going to do.



I know the color is not military flight suit accurate, but this is GI Joe, these guys and gals get away with all sorts of uniform "modifications", so why not a cool blue fight suit? I think that's what makes it half the fun of these toys.

Yo Joe!

G.I. JOE: 14
COBRA: 12

Lil' Joes!

The first series of the GI Joe Combat Heroes are starting to hit big here in all the stores, and me being a sucker for little "cutie-fied" versions of anything picked up Li'l Snake Eyes and Li'l Zartan here.


Zartan rocks the transparent panels so you can pretend his armor lights up. Lightsaber sound not included. "Arggggh sunlight!"


Snake Eyes has his pal Timber holding his knife for him, sorta weird, but okay. I think it would have been cooler to have him growling or something. Snake Eyes was originally not my favorite character. Sure I thought he was cool back in the day, but it wasn't until recently that I started picking up all the different Snake Eyes out there. I think I need three more of the 25th style figures to bring me up to date!

As with all the various lines in this style that Hasbro produces, each figure has very limited articulation and is pretty much posed in the package as how it will pose out of it. The coolness would be that your favorite character will be all cute, out of proportion, and tiny. These would be cool if they came up with some generic green characters like those cheap dime store soldiers.

Yo Joe!

I think these guys need a separate count on the ole' blog:

Lil' GI Joe: 1
Lil' Cobra:1

Python Patrol!

Speaking of repaints, here is an example of what I'm talking about, slap some new colors on the ole' Cobra Trooper and bingo you have a Cobra Python Patrol Officer!



I can't count the times I passed on this figure, only to break down and pick him up on one of my last trips to the GI Joe aisle. I have to say I kind of dig the colors on this one, he really looks better out of the package and is somewhat cooler that the regular Cobra Trooper Officer.



So much so I might have to snag another in case I want my H.I.S.S. Tank to change squads and go with the Python Patrol. Or maybe target needs to get some new Joes in stock so I am not tempted to pick up another one...

Cobra
G.I. JOE: 13
COBRA: 12

Bazooka Joe

I know that Hasbro just mixes and matches the parts to various joes, or may just repaint them, but they do it so well that for this line I do not mind. Star Wars on the other hand it bugs me, maybe because the number of clone troopers is hitting astronomical levels. Anyway we have seen the Cobra Trooper released and rereleased with different paint schemes before, but this has to be my favorite to date. They added some cool web gear and a sweet helmet, plus he gets an old school bazooka and a 45 and he's ready to blow up some GI Joe Tanks! Does a Cobra Trooper get better than this? I don't know, but in my book this guy rocks!



Ah the simple things that make us happy. Cobra!

G.I. JOE: 13
COBRA: 11

Now for some Cobra Reinforcements!

The H.I.S.S. tank is mine again! My original one was the black version and didn't come with a driver this one, also the black version, came with a driver and a few bags of Groceries! That's right I found this one at the grocery store. I'm sure they are everywhere, but he was actually a dollar less at the local food buying place. Man I love that Grocery store.



How cool is it to be able to hit the grocery store and come out with a freaking tank! That's Cobra cool there! This is exactly like my vintage one with the non moving treads, rotating blasters that you can pop off and pretend it's a flying laser canon (come on I'm sure I wasn't the only one that did this). If I remember right I picked up my original one through a mail away catalog that came with another GI Joe vehicle, ah the magic of toys in the mail which would make sense that it didn't come with a tank commander or driver. I wonder if the store bought ones back then did, that's okay my Joes always stole the H.I.S.S. and used it against Cobra.



I would like to end with a quote from my son "Holy Crap they sell junk that big at the grocery store!" They sure do, COBRA!

G.I. JOE: 13
COBRA: 10