Like with previous figures I have reviewed, sometimes third-party companies create figures that resemble another property enough to pique your interest but are different enough to avoid legal issues. Sometimes, as with the Samurai Turtle Spring, a special add-on pack is available that is not officially from the same company, transforming the figure into the character they were hinting at. With the Cyberpunk Fighter's Club Quinn Lee, with the special add-on pack, we get exactly that.

G.I. Joe: the Movie, the 1987 animated movie continuation of the Sunbow cartoon, was an attempt to move the franchise into science fiction. With Cobra-La, the alien society behind Cobra, we saw more monstrous villains. Characters like Nemesis Enforcer (Nemesis Immortal in the Classified Series) the Royal Guard and Golobulus had figures released in the 1980's toy line. There was one character from that group who was left out: Pythona, the only female member of that team.

G.I. Joe is a series that combines military fantasy with some elements of science fiction and martial arts fantasy. With the addition of Storm Shadow to the line and his connection with Snake Eyes, there was a whole slew of ninja characters added to the line. So, it would make sense, setting-wise, for a samurai character to be added. In this, we get Kyle "Budo" Jeso, #174 in the G.I.

The current Spider-Man video game series is one of the better comic-inspired game franchises around. Set in its own reality (which appeared in the comic as part of the Spider-Verse series), it has its own unique takes on characters like Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Mary Jane Watson and Felicia Hardy. As part of the Marvel Legends Gamerverse series, we get a new figure of Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, as she appeared in the series.

The G.I. Joe Classified Series Retro Carded line offers Classified figures that more closely resemble the classic versions of the characters. This does not just mean how the original action figure looked. It can also mean how they looked in the Sunbow cartoon. That is where the inspiration for the Retro Courtney "Cover Girl" Krieger figure came from. Cover Girl, along with the Wolverine Missile Tank, was released in 1983 as part of series two of the G.I.

The reviews of Jada Toys' Ultra Street Fighter II line continue with another oversized figure. In my Sagat review, I said I skipped over him for the time being, but now I have picked up the Blanka action figure from this line. Blanka, who also goes by Jimmy, is a wild man from the Brazilian rainforest. Separated as a child from his mother in a plane crash in the Amazon, Blanka grew up in the forest with the animals, developing green skin and electrical powers.

The Ultra Street Fighter II line from Jada Toys is still churning out more characters from the latest iteration of the beloved fighting game. This time, we get another of the four original boss characters: the Spanish ninja, Vega. Vega first appeared in the first release of Street Fighter II. Once one of Bison's bodyguards, Vega is as vain as he is cruel.

The rollout of the G.I. Joe Legacy Collection has been slow compared to the 60th Anniversary line. By early June, we had only gotten one figure in the line (the Firefighter), and nothing was announced, though most thought it would be a police officer. When Hasbro did their "Yo Joe June" reveals, the Police officer was briefly shown, but then, nothing.

The Dreadnoks, a mercenary motorcycle gang often aligned with Cobra, started off relatively small. Over the years, more members were added to the faction. This was shown in the cartoon in the opening episodes of the third G.I Joe: A Real America Hero miniseries, "Arise Serpentor Arise." Monkeywrench, along with Thrasher, was one of two successful "applicants" to join the Dreadlocks.

Tunshi Studio is a Chinese toy company that has been producing action figures based on video game properties from SNK games for several years now. They have released figures based on Samurai Showdown, King of Fighters, and the Metal Slug series. Their Metal Slug line has been featuring all the characters that have appeared in the series, and the latest release is of Laona Heidern from Metal Slug XX.

The Vipers are an elite force within the Cobra hierarchy. They are the best of the best amongst the faceless Cobra troops. The Vipers also include more specialized trades, such as communications (Tele-Vipers), heavy weapons (S.A.W. Vipers), and long-range patrols and recon (Range Vipers). For grenades, we have the Frag Viper, which comes in as #153 in the G.I. Joe Classified Series…

The Fate series is undoubtedly one of the most diverse franchises to emerge from Japan. There are various video games, manga, and anime with different settings/plots and focusing of other characters. Even so, there is a lot of overlap, with characters (based on historical figures or fictional ones in the public domain) appearing in multiple series. When it comes to action figures based on these series, sometimes an opportunity to revisit a character presents itself.

Sometimes, you've got to fight fire with fire. It is not meant literally, most of the time, though on occasion, things must burn. For G.I. Joe, they rely on their flamethrower trooper, Blowtorch, to deny Cobra from achieving its objective with burning flames. He is #156 in the G.I. Joe Classified Series. Blowtorch first appeared in Series three of the original 1:18 scale line.

Within the Cobra ranks, many members stand out, but there is only one Major Bludd. With his eye patch and metal arm, he is a cold-blooded mercenary who is only in it for the money. He would leave a teammate behind without a second thought, especially when he could profit from it. Now, Major Bludd has made his return to the G.I.

Hasbro has been slowly filling out the ranks of the Dreadnoks in G.I. Joe Classified Series. We got their leader, Zartan, early in the line, with his sister Zarana soon after. We soon got the three others that first appeared with Zartan (Ripper, Buzzer and Torch). Now, we get Zartan's brother and Zarana's twin, Zandar is #146 in the G.I. Joe Classified Series.

Usually, when a comic book company adapts another property, such as from toys or movies, it keeps it separate from its main comics. There may be an occasional one-shot when one of the company's heroes meets characters from the licensed property, but the story is a one-off and is not reflected in either series. Marvel in the 1970s took a different route.

When the G.I. Joe cartoon first premiered, it was not for a full season. The initial cartoon was a 5-part miniseries. In it, Cobra has built the M.A.S.S. (Molecular Assembler Scrambler Sender), a device that can teleport anything from and to anywhere. G.I. Joe and Cobra were in a race to get the three rare elements to power their own respective devices.

The G.I. Joe Classified Series has been remarkably successful in updating the larger animal companions from the original line. From Timber to Junkyard to Porkbelly, their animal figures are almost …

The latest edition of the Otaku Box has reached my home in the Great White North. Liz promised the return of actual Waifus to the box starting this month. Was it all a lie? Let's take a look What is the Otaku Box, you might ask? Well, it is a monthly subscription box that delivers original anime merchandise like in this box to your door.

Cartoon mascots have been used for years to sell their products to their target audience, usually children. Breakfast cereals often feature mascots, from Digg'em the Frog to the Trix Rabbit. One character that has been around since the 1950s is Tony the Tiger. The mascot of Frosted Flakes and related cereals, his look and catchphrase are known by kids and adults all over the world.

The Sunbow G.I. Joe cartoon was many kids' introduction to the toy line. Unlike the comics, which had a bit more leeway with violence and mature themes, the cartoon towed the line on what they were able to show. Cobra's schemes were large, grandiose, and more than a bit ridiculous. Teleportation devices, weather control systems and mystical MacGuffins were their key to ruling the world.

There have been video games based on Marvel comics since the 1980s. From Spider-Man on the Atari 2600 to the X-Men 6-player arcade game in 1992 to Capcom's Marvel Versus series through the late nineties to mid-2010s, there have been many types of games featuring Marvel's superheroes. The Capcom fighting series is one of the most popular ones, with a collection of games being released earlier this year.

2025 finally saw Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four, officially join the MCU. The FF (as the kids call them) have been in three movies before (four, including the unreleased Roger Corman film), with varying levels of success (the films from 2005 and 2007 were not that bad, but the 2015 one was rough.) While there was a Reed Richards cameo in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Fantastic Four: First Steps is the debut of the new MCU version of the team.

Sometimes, collaboration can happen between the most unlikely sources. Who would have thought that one of America's most famous horror writers would contribute to a boy's military toy line? That is what happened when New England writer Stephen King and his son, Owen (who was a G.I. Joe fan) created a new character for Hasbro. This character, Crystal Ball, has now made his way to the Classified Series as figure #159, Richard "Crystal Ball" King.

The G.I. Joe cartoon from the early 1980s brought the toy line to life on television. When translating the toys to a cartoon medium, Sunbow made some subtle design changes to some characters. Cover Girl was one such character. In her first appearance, her coat went from brown to green, and her hair was long and blonde. Subtle changes were made to her design throughout the series.