The time is here, after our very first post in July of 2011, we are going to turn the lights off at our Internet home for nearly 14 years as of April 8, 2024.
We plan to continue providing all the fun we do here, in a little bit more of a free form, more pictures, less words, more interaction, less annual massive bill to pay for the hosting of these sites. If you haven’t already followed us for great content at the above links, please take the opportunity to do so now.
Saying goodbye to the pretty expansive library of work that we have put together over 14 years isn’t an easy thing to do, and we do not make this decision or move lightly. But it is time to adapt to changing landscapes
Thank you to everyone who has been on the journey with us so far. Thank you to all of the amazing toy companies we have gotten the chance to work with over the years, those that sent us stuff, sent us places, that we got to meet, that we got to become friends with. That we got to talk toys with, to name a few, Diamond Select Toys, Hasbro, Valaverse, Spin Master, PLAYMOBIL, Playmates, DC, Marvel, McFarlane. To our sponsors for more than a decade, BigBadToyStore.com, still, beyond the best place to buy your toys on the Internet, run by some of the best people I know!
Also thank you to some great friends we’ve made along the way, @KastorsKorner@YfNJman@fanboyfactor@geeksagainst. Truly the best part of our little corner of the Internet is the friends we got to make!
I hope to drag that list and more, kicking and screaming with us into the brave new world (ha!!) of social media. Again, thank you all for taking any time you took to come and visit us, to read our stuff, to view our pictures, to like, subscribe, comment.
We started this site with Marvel, we have had a hard focus on G.I. Joe and Action Force as of late. So what’s the last thing to say here? A curveball?
Till all are one!
PS – While we are leaving our hosting, we are maintaining our domains, so all you shady squatters out there, #nope
January 2024 is in the books! We’ve celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the first Joe figure with Hasbro Pulse and ton of render reveals of pipeline figures on social media. And today, the first member of the 60th Anniversary Joe squad has washed ashore, the Action Sailor – Recon Diver! This Joe, and some others, are a throw back to the original 12 inch figures, representing military roles, as they did long before the 80s re-launch gave each Joe a unique personality, name, and backstory. This Diver set is chocked full of great, appropriate accessories, and for many, he’s going to flesh out an army of Joe divers, probably led by Torpedo (…where is Wet-Suit!?).
He comes with so much stuff! And places for all of it!
2 heads, each with scuba cowl
Harpoon gun, can clip on hooks under backpack
Handgun with silencer, each can be holstered
Dog Tags
Scuba mask with control panel
Satchel
Knife, which can be holstered
Sub-machine gun, which I assume is of the waterproof variety
Scuba scooter with rotating fan! (I checked! It rotates!)
Swim flippers
Joe themed figure stand
Tons of great web gear and a backpack
Excellent Diver style deco, he’s got a wet-suit on him, it looks authentic, I love it!
The light skin / dark skin heads he comes with definitely warrant a second figure purchase to display both ways as two separate characters
Articulation is solid, he can do all sorts of swimmy poses
Tons of detail packed in on the figure, web gear, and accessories
He’s just so heavily equipped!
The Bad
There are peg holes on either side of his backpack. Seems he does share a backpack with Torpedo, but the mask he comes with has hoses that are permanently affixed to the front respirator, so I guess these are there in case you want to mask swap, not a bad thing, just a thing thing
Trying to shoot pictures, limited posing, everything I put on him fell off more than once, the harpoon, the gun, the mask, nothing seemed to firmly stay on him while posing. Static, figure on shelf it’s fine though
I wouldn’t bring this up but it says it on the box…this seems to be 100% diver, and 0% sailor. I think of a sailor as someone that stands on a boat and…mans the boat. But I’m not in the Navy or Marines, and it’s entirely possible that my assessment is entirely wrong. I can live with that.
The Rest
Joe 2 of 2024, and Hasbro continues to swing for the fences. High value package, lots of accessories, real world accurate for a diver. Packaging looks premium and reverent / honoring the original release, with the 60 year logo easily visible. It is a premium package at $34.99. You are definitely getting more than what’s in the box for a standard sku. I call this one worthwhile, and I look forward to getting hands on time with the Action Soldier Infantry figure. Yo Joe!
Welcome…to the end of Action Force Series 4! An excellent run filled with some outstanding figures, and if I’m being honest, none are more favorite for me, than this here, Arctic Steel Brigade. My favorite mold in the line gets the snowbound treatment, and it works a peach! He looks great leading Arctic Republic Guards (Troopers), he looks outstanding on his own, and he’s a BigBadToyStore.com Exclusive, and we LOVE BigBadToyStore here at MUReview! Action Force and BBTS, two great tastes, that have now tasted great together, 2 times! This being their second exclusive Steel Brigade alt Deco, and Night Ops being the first, which we also loved. Lots of love here really, lots to love here really, let’s check out Arctic Steel Brigade!
Arctic Steel Brigade is a Steel Brigade repaint. I’ll say it again, same as with Desert. Any deco you wanna give me a Steel Brigade in. I’m buying.
He’s Arctic themed, all of his gear is arctic themed, it’s all the white and pale mint coloring, and it really looks beautiful on SB
Top to bottom he’s Arcticy, even the gun
Like Desert, Arctic comes on the new single card with full clam shell, and he looks great
I love the BigBadToyStore logo on front. I love it when a company I love gets on with another company I love.
You need some Steel Brigades for the snow…go get these!
The Rest
I pre-ordered the black Vanguard, but I’ve got room for one, and after getting hands on all those brilliant desert style Action Force figures, it dawned on me that I chose wrong, and that I needed the tan Vanguard. Well, this Arctic Steel Brigade, paired with the Arctic Troopers, man, got me wishing there was a white Vanguard too! Making my decision only that much harder. Action Force is hummin’. These figures are absolutely fantastic, offering more than an able challenger to the G.I. Joe legacy. They are an experience unto themselves, a story on their own, and man, Bobby Vala is making some damn outstanding figures. If you ain’t on board, I can’t think of a better place to jump in. Go get you some Arctic Steel Brigades and play in the snow!
Action Force Series 4 almost wraps for us today! Still awaiting the Arctic Steel Brigade BigBadToyStore.com Exclusive, but, as the ‘main line’ goes. This is the last figure there, and we saved a whopper for the last one. The SWARM Tracer! This variation on the SWARM Trooper / Horde is a glow in the dark smorgasbord of potential figure configuration, and you are gonna need at least 3…. THREE
The big difference here, the color palate goes from the Yellow Silver of Trooper / Black Red of Horde / Gold Black of Sentry, to a black, and glow in the dark translucent green
This Deluxe figure comes complete with all of the gear a Tracer would need to get off the ground, it’s essentially the SWARM Trooper load out, with the SWARM Gear Pack…that’s what it is…plus
2 alternate heads in color deco – SWARM Trooper / Scarab…thus the reason for needing three, because I can’t imagine a world where you would be okay displaying as just the Horde headed Tracer…you need one for each head! And then you have extra heads, so you’ll need more, so you get more, then you have more extra heads and it just goes on forever till you have no money and someone takes your house
The loadout is the translucent green / glow green as well:
The Horde head in this color, the Scarab head in this color, WOW. And the Trooper head in this color ain’t too shabby either
Love the bio card that explains how they get their name, it’s pretty terrifying
The Bad
I need far more than I’ll ever be able to own
The Rest
This is a solid wrap of Action Force Series 4, with a ton of positivity on the horizon. Arctic Steel Brigade, Generals, Praetorians, the Vanguard. 2024 is going to be an insane, and expensive year, featuring all things, a top, a middle, and a bottom if you will, of a year. You need the Tracer, so don’t waste any time, go get, at the link below!
Desert Troops are awesome. Read that again. I’ll say it again. Desert Troops are awesome! I said it a lot in my Steel Brigade post, and it’s as true here, the as Condor and Steel Brigade figures go, this Condor is a good bit different than his first release or vacation mode counterpart. He needs to be on your squad. He’s going to need to be in your Desert Tan Vanguard. I don’t even know if you need to read beyond that, but I’ll indulge you and say nice things anyway….
First and foremost, love the screaming head, but, for shelf purposes, I like that I can flip him over to the standard Condor head, and still have him be the same calm, cool, collected guy
Condor V1 has Steel Brigade gear, this one has a Comms Vest and Helmet should you choose to configure it as such
He’s got a different rifle, and different sidearm, but the same thigh supply pack
He comes with 3 clips, a chest sheathed knife, an alt masked head, as well as 4 total sets of hands (grasp / fist / cradle / trigger)
Helmet also includes NVG attachment, and a scarf
The coloring here is such an outstanding palate, desert perfect. If I tossed him in a sandbox, I’d be looking for him for a little bit
Condor changes to short sleeves for this figure, and changes boots to laced
This dude is so fit to lead Action Force into battle!
The Bad
I feel like the scarf should have been in sand color, instead it’s grey / black
The Rest
Gotta get him. This is the coolest version of Condor. Outfit is present day military perfect, and he fits in perfect with his sandy squad mates. Putting him in the Vanguard driver seat? I may just. Go get Condor!
Between 2020 and 2022, the Turtles went to the future, and things got very very dark. The Last Ronin is a story line that is regarded by many as the best in Turtles. It is dark, gritty, and it’s kind of a what if future for the heroes on a half shell. It finds Michelangelo as the last Turtle standing against the tyranny of Hiroto, grandson of the original Shredder / son of Karai. The story explores the haunting passings of Michelangelo’s Turtle brothers and well…yeah it’s really dark. But it’s a beautifully crafted story, and you should definitely go check it out. After you check out our unboxing of the Minimates made to celebrate the fantastic comics run!
MUReview received this product for free for review purposes. These toys are meant for ages 3 and up. This video and post are for entertainment purposes only.