G.I. Joe Gung-Ho V1

If there was ever a GI Joe character that reminded me of my late grandfather it is Gung-Ho due to both of them being Marines and because of there tattoos(Gung-Ho's is on his chest and my grandfather had the same on one of his forearms).

To me Gung-Ho is tough and so was my grandfather who had to be so because he served in World War II and actually was at Iwo Jima.

I miss my grandfather who raised me, protected me and guided me through my early life up until his passing from a Heart Attack when I was in my early 20s so it's nice to have this action figure to remind me of him.

Gung-Ho version 1 was released in 1983 as part of series 2 of the "A Real American Hero" line of G.I. Joe action figures and was sold up until 1986 when it was discontinued.

There has been a total of 20 versions of Gung-Ho released in action figure form with the 20th version having came out 2009.

Interestingly the U.K./ European version 1 was given a red vest and sold under the name "Gaucho" with the Action Force repaint of the G.I. Joe Headquarters as a exclusive figure only available if you bought that playset.

G.I. Joe Zartan V1

This is one Joe action figure I had originally second hand as a kid and came loose with out any extras and for the life of me I can not remember who gave it to me and/or where it came from I just remember having it one day.

Zartan along with Snake Eyes(v1), Destro(v1)  and Storm Shadow(v1) were the "Big 4" for us because they were the 4 action figures that everyone of us kids wanted and it seemed that none of us had all 4 of them(I had Snake and "second hand" Zartan and not the other two back then).

This character status is legendary in regards to his place with in the G.I. Joe Universe and among us that grew up with and collect for this toy line now as he is once again at lest for me part of the "Big 4" (I have him thanks to that "Joe Lot" I bought recently and a Destro(v1) but not the other two in my collection as of right now).

Goodies From The Goodwill Geek

Derek the Goodwill Geek was very kind to help me out and pick up from out his way and to send over to me a pair of former MattyCollector Exclusive Justice League Unlimited action figures.

The two action figures in question were Tom Turbine from the "Justice Guild" episode of the JLU cartoon and "Shazam" or as he really is known, Captain Marvel.

The Tom Turbine character is supposed to be based off the "Golden Age" Atom and Superman with the squinty eyed looked barrowed from Fawcett's Captain Marvel.

Myself personally liken him to more a "Super Science Pulp Hero" like Doc Strange from the 1940s Nedor Comics(later revived by Alan Moore as "Tom Strong" for his "ABC" or America's Best Comics) and Dynamo of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series of comics(which has been publish and revived by various comic book groups for many years).

"Shazam"(or Captain Marvel if you prefer) is a little different story for me because the character has been on my mind as of late and when I saw this figure I had to ask Derek if he could get one for me.

I see Shazam/CM(much as I do a young teenage Spider-Man) as a sort of boyhood dream by those of us that read comic books in our youths and imagined somehow we could gain super powers and become a super hero by saying a magic word (or getting bitten by a radioactive spider as in Peter Parker's case).

A big thank you to the Goodwill Geek for both of these great action figures which shall be remaining in there packages for the time being(It's rare for me not to open things up but this time I think I like them how they are).

G.I. Joe Amphibious Personnel Carrier

The G.I. Joe Amphibious Personnel Carrier or A.P.C. for short was released between the years of 1983-1984 in stores but was also available as a Hasbro Direct Mail-Away from 1984-1990 as well.

Mine shown here came from a G.I. Joe lot I purchased from some friends who had found it at a city wide Yard Sale event and is only missing one of the two long seat belts that can be commonly misplaced with these.

I rather like this one and it really makes for a solid playtime vehicle from the early days of the "ARAH" Joe toy line and can work as a temporary storage case for your action figures as well due to the amount of seating in it.

DC Direct Superman/Batman Public Enemies 2 Series 3 Hawkman

I recently picked up this wonderful action figure of Hawkman by DC Direct based on his appearance in the Superman/Batman Public Enemies series.

Been wanting this one for a while now after having watched the animated movie of the same name which was based off a set of comic books a year or so back.

Always been a fan of Hawkman and I would say he is my second favorite comic book character after Marvel's The Thing so being able to finally add this figure to my collection is just great.

It really has some serious size and heft and on that alone I got my money's worth and to give you a ideal how big this really is here it is standing next to my Marvel Select The Thing action figure....

Now "Hawks" here is not just a winner on size and weight alone he really has some nice details to him between the scaring and veins on his body to his painted on chest hair they really did a awesome job with all of this.

Even the included Mace has some nice details to it as well with cracks in it from all the battles it has been put through....

One of the coolest bits of this figure is the "Claw of Horus" which Hawkman uses in the animated movie(and comic book as well am guessing) to incapacitate Superman.....

Like with everything else with this figure it's nicely detailed and I love the look and colors of it and it easily snaps on or off Hawkman's fist so you can display him with out it if you so choose.

If there is one thing I have to gripe about with this figure would be it's display base which is utterly useless because of how small in size it is. They should of made it slightly larger to better match up to the scale and weight it needs to support but I suppose these are the standard ones used in all the action figures from this line and it was a matter of cost savings to just use the same one for all of them.

But beyond my Display Base gripe I think this action figure of Hawkman is just excellent with everything from all the details in it's sculpt and weapons to its ball-joint wings equals a winner for me and considering how cheap I was able to pick this up for at my local Toy Reseller am very happy.

Cosmic Ark Quickie: New Items For The Cosmic Ark From Nerd Rage Toys

Traded a few items from the Cosmic Ark for store credit recently with Nerd Rage Toys and I used it for the following....

More M.A.S.K. and now COPS and a Silverhawk to add to my mix of things which now am going to have to find space for on top of all the other new items I have acquired recently as well.

 

 

 

The Batman ShadowTek Hawkman

The Batman cartoon series was and still is a favorite of mine because I really enjoyed the style and design of it's characters and how it was really set in a universe of it's own with slight variations on the Batman family and there foes.

When I discovered a while ago that there was a Hawkman released for the line of toys based off this series I knew at some point I was going to have to hunt one down which luck would have it I finally managed to find one at one of my local toy resellers.

Hawkman here is one of several Justice League of America action figures that were made for the ShadowTek sub-set for The Batman toyline and he is pretty great in my personal opinion and fits in very well with my Nick Turtle figures as you can see below with April O'neil.

Hawkman along side Marvel's The Thing has long been a favorite character of mine so it is nice to finally to be able to add a figure of him in to my collection(two action figures actually but that other one is for another day).

I really like this figure and I hope to add other ones from this whole line to the Cosmic Ark but for now I shall be happy having this high-flying mace carrying super hero in my mix of things.