Silent Warrior

NEW RECRUITS!!! Say whaaa???

I've said before that I grew up with modest means. That pretty much means that if there was a cheap, knock-off toy line I probably had more of those than the real deal. One toy line I had several of as a kid was The Corps! from Lanard toys. They were cheap, simply made, crudely sculpted military action figures constructed almost exactly like the G.I. Joe figures of the 80's. As the Joes evolved The Corps figures pretty much stayed the same. All the way into the late 90's Lanard was pumping out copies of the same figures they made in the 80's. You gotta love a company that just sticks to what works for them. In recent years, The Corps line started to slowly evolve. Gone were the rubber O rings holding the torsos together. There were no more ball-jointed hips. The Corps figures started being made with simple cut joints at the waist, hips, and neck. This limited the articulation, but the focus started moving toward better sculpts and paint applications. The packaging was starting to reflect the company's dedication to the line-- awesome illustrations of the characters by comic book artist Leinil Francis Yu started covering the fronts and backs of the cards. Suddenly the characters had personalities and backgrounds-- there were clearly defined good and bad guys. The figures still weren't up to the standards of the Joes of the same time, but they were getting there. The bodies of the newer Corps figures were a lot bulkier than Joes-- they dwarfed the Joes, and the accessories and the hands that held them were massive compared to the smaller Joe weapons and hands. Being a custom action figure maker, I liked where the toys were going, but I still couldn't use a majority of them because the parts just didn't look right mixed with Joes.

That all changed today.

I was in Wal-Mart checking out the action figures, picking things up and putting them back because, honestly, everything costs too darn much. Then I happened upon a section I usually ignore when scoping out potential custom fodder. There they were... The Corps! figures with their bright packaging featuring Yu's artwork. I started to walk past when something struck me as odd... there were NEW Corps characters...



These are the "New Recruits." Evidently there are 6 new characters in the line, and the figures are pretty darn exceptional for a toy line that has always played second fiddle for the Joes. I only picked up one pack, because I wanted to see how they were.




It appears the artwork on the profiles of the new characters isn't Yu's, but at least it's nice stuff. Good packaging art is always a plus in my book (I'd rather see artwork than pictures of the toys... I don't know why-- I guess Mattel spoiled me back in the He-Man years). There's a whole new team known as "Shinobi Squad" with new characters "Rain," "Mirage," and "Decoder" ; The "Flying Force" gains "Spade" ; The "Covert Commando" unit gets "Bolder" ; and the bad guys known as "The Marauders" add "Roadrash" to their roster.

Now... how are the actual figures? Not bad at all!



In my pack I got Slash (mysteriously he's called "Decoder" on the back of the package) and Bolder. Slash is a ninja type guy with big arm blades, and Bolder looks like the road warrior. I guess he's supposed to be some kinda ex-cop or something. The sculpts on these guys are really darn good for what I've come to expect from The Corps. There is a lot of sculpted on detail, and the sculpts are surprisingly sharp. The faces are nice touches as well, because they each have their own personalities that come through. Slash has a really sly, crafty look on his partially exposed face while Bolder looks suitably brash and cocky. He has a smirk that Harrison Ford would be jealous of.



They're fully detailed from head to toe with all kinds of interesting gear and doo-dads sculpted onto their uniforms. Bolder's sculpt is a bit soft, but Slash's sculpt is almost as nicely done as anything from Hasbro or Mattel in the 1:18 scale. The paint apps are nice and clean with very little slop or overspray. A few of the lines are weak, but I found similar if not worse paint apps on the Iron Man 2 figures I saw a few feet away from these figures.



The package claims that the new Corps figures have 15 points of articulation, but I have yet to find point number 15. No problem, though, because the newer articulation is a MAJOR improvement.

The articulation breaks down like this:

-cut neck
-pin and post shoulders
-pin and post elbows
-cut waist
-cut hips
-hinge knees

They've managed to trim down the joints on the figures so that they can have slimmer limbs. This allows for a lean, dynamic look that older Corps figure lacked. The older figures had big, wonky joints that required the rest of the figure to be bulked up to match-- this is one of the main reasons why the older figures looked so bizarre next to G.I. Joes. Now you get a much more streamlined figure that fits in much better with G.I. Joe figures. I had JUST been talking to someone last week about how the Corps figures needed to be trimmed down... my wish is granted!


Each figure comes with two accessories: Slash has his two arm blades that clip onto his wrists, and Bolder has a nightstick and a sawed off shotgun. The coolest thing about Bolder's design is that both of his weapons can be attached to the figure when he's not using them. NICE! Slash's arm blades can be turned around on his arms to give the appearance of being folded back-- not quite as nice as having a holster, but it works for me.



As you can see, these new guys look pretty good with other 1:18 scale figures. They're still a bit bulkier than G.I. Joes, but they fit in really well with Star Wars and Marvel Universe figures.

Are they perfect figures? Not really. Are they worth buying? You better believe it. This two-pack cost only 3 dollars. 3 bucks for two decently made, 1:18 scale, fully-articulated action figures with accessories is pretty much unheard of. Combine that with the fact that they have improved the design to fit in better with other lines, and you have a winner of a toy. I'm going to grab the other new guys when I go back to Wal-Mart. The guy called Mirage looks so insanely weird I have to have him. A ninja with a coolie hat? Oh, my!



If you see the new guys, give 'em a try. You just might dig 'em enough to collect 'em all!

Cheap stuff: in the store and in the mailbox

I had to mail some packages off today, but the post office was closed for lunch when I got to town. I went over to Family Dollar which is right next to the post office to pass the time. While I was there I found some 25th Anniversary G.I. Joe figures for 3 bucks each!



You can't beat that deal with a stick! Especially since this is the wave that I never saw in any stores anywhere.



I've been wanting a B.A.T. figure since before they ever even made one for this line. I also was quite happy to see Wraith there as well.



I never liked the character in the comics, but I always thought he was pretty cool looking regardless.



I like that his facemask slides up on his noggin so you can see his mustached Frenchman face. Haw haw!

When I got home I found that one of the figures I won on eBay had arrived in the mailbox. It was packed in a Rice-A-Roni box. So unusual! At least it was well-packed-- it is in great shape!



It's a Takara Mega SCF Convoy figure... which basically means he's an articulated PVC figure of Optimus Prime.



He doesn't transform, but I don't really care-- I like the character of Prime more than I like having a transforming toy.



He strikes a mean pose, and he looks just like he did in the old cartoon.



He looks quite nice with my other Optimus Prime figures, so I'm quite happy with my $1.36 purchase.

I love cheap stuff!

The Bot is Done!

Well... I'm done with the Armor-Bot! Here are the pictures of the finished custom. This was a LOT of fun to work on... I need to make more custom vehicles in the future!

Mighty Mekk

This is the Mighty Mugg custom I did for the Mighty Mugg Custom Trade here on the October Toys Forum. It was the Duke Mugg from the GI Joe line. I used a glass candle holder for the head/cockpit. The little guy inside driving the mech was a pilot figure from the Air Raiders line of toys from the 80's. He had messed up hips, so I decided to use him as the pilot since he would be immobile in the glass cockpit. The missile launcher on his arm fires a projectile. I call him the "Mighty Mekk."

My Cat is in Love With a Robot...

A few weeks ago I received an absolutely massive box in the mail. It was from an online friend who traded me an Armodoc (one of the coolest Onell figures that I had missed when they were released) for work on a toy he had. The package contained the Armodoc, a few extra goodies, and this monster of a toy:



This is the Armorbot, a vehicle/robot from the last few years of the original GI Joe: A Real American Hero line. I think it was called Star Brigade or somesuch. Pete, my online friend, had asked me if I could do some custom work on the Armorbot to make it more Glyos compatable and more authentic-looking-- I was more than happy to, because (A) Pete's a super guy, and (B) this would be the biggest thing I had ever worked on. How could I pass that up?

Pete wanted the cockpit fleshed out a bit, as the interior is super sparse. He added some parts and pieces he thought maybe I could use for cockpit parts. As you can see, the cockpit is rather blah:




One immediate problem I found is that someone likes this toy more than either Pete or I ever could: my cat, Mae.



She LOVES this thing. I guess she likes the outstretched claw that's just right to get a scratchin'!!!

Crazy cat.

As you can see in the first two pictures, the legs of the Armorbot are connected at the base so it can glide along on its wheel. However, it has articulation at the hips, so it's a shame the legs can't be posed apart. Pete asked that I fix that, and I was more than happy to do so:




I've been working on little things on it along and along... those pics were from the first few days the toy was here. As I get a few minutes here and there I add a bit or two. I finished putting the parts together for the cockpit and gave it its first few rough coats. All this will be touched up better as it rolls along. I just wanted to put some stuff out there for Pete to see, and I figured I'd share them here with anyone who is interested in working on custom vehicles or whatnot.