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» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » New column: I'm just looking for some action... figures

   
Author Topic: New column: I'm just looking for some action... figures
Chris Bridges
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I'm just looking for some action... figures

Row upon row of dark figures loomed over me. Nervous, hesitant, afraid if what I might find, I pushed past them, hoping against hope that I'd find her safe and sound, but it was no use. Bruce Wayne's ex-girlfriend, Rachel Dawes, was nowhere to be found.

Looking down the "Batman Begins" toy display I could easily spot Attack Net Batman, Battle Cape Batman (deluxe), Battle Gear Batman, Bomb Blast Batman, Dual Blade Bruce to Batman, and (I'm not kidding) nine more different Batman figures. There were even a few bad guy figures for the hordes of batmen to go beat up. But no Rachel.

Katie Holmes shouldn't take it hard, though. Love interests rarely get their own action figures.

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Goody Scrivener
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quote:
"Chase," of course, refers to the way that collectors chased down truck drivers behind Toys-R-Us to pull boxes from the drivers' unconscious hands because there was only one April per case and their kids had to have one. April O'Neil was the crack of action figures. Why not continue that tradition?
Okay, NOW I understand why the ebay auctions for Anakin keep labeling it a chase toy.....
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Elizabeth
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"In the last twenty years women have made great advances towards breaking through the plastic ceiling,"

ha!

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Scott R
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>>G.I. Joe didn't have any women under his command, unless it was strictly "don't ask, don't tell."

Um. . . actually, there was Scarlet and Lady J. Scarlet was covert ops, and Lady J drove the Wolverine, I think.

For C.O.B.R.A there was Baron Blud's. . . significant other, the Baroness; and there were a pair of twins, one a girl, that worked with the dude who had skin that changed color in sunlight. (Not Tomax and Xamot-- another pair of twins.) AHA! Zartan was the guy's name; The twins were Zarana (the girl) and Zandar (the boy).

Fear my Google-fu.

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Chris Bridges
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When did they pop up?

When I was getting 'em -- we're talking 70's -- I don't recall any G.I. Joe characters without facial hair. Granted, I didn't buy them myself, I mostly helped my friend David tear his up, but still.

There was a Lt. Uhuru doll back in the day, but that was a rare case where she would have been even more conspicuous by her absence (and damn, don't I wish I hadn't trashed Star Trek dolls and the bridge set). Besides, Trekkies are wusses anyway.

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Scott R
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Starting in '82. By '84, they'd gotten ridiculous-- they jumped the shark with an animal trainer Joe.
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Scott R
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And actually, Cover Girl drove the Wolverine. Lady Jaye was the replacement for Scarlett in later iterations of the team.
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Narnia
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My brother had Scarlett. [Smile] I remember that she came in a set, or with the base...or with a watch dog or something.
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Scott R
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When she was sold back in '82, she came alone, I think.

Later versions of her came with something like a pet. I remember an eagle or falcon or something like that, but I never owned any of the GI Janes.

The WORST was the dude that had the bobcat. I mean-- what the heck?!

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Palliard
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I think y'all are talking about two different things.

Chris seems to be talking about the old 10" based-on-WW2 G.I.Joe dolls from the '60s.

Whereas Scott seems to be talking about the newer 5" based-on-the-bad-TV-cartoon G.I.Joe "team" action figures from the '80s.

Which is very much apples and oranges.

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Chris Bridges
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When I was playing with these, there weren't any 5" ones yet. But the lack of female characters continued with the different forms. How many Lois Lane figures have you seen, even though she's arguably a vital part of Superman's story? (There have been a few, but you wouldn't know it unless you visited the right comic stores)
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Dan_raven
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To quote a comedianne friend of mine:

"When I was growing up, GI Joe was a big burly 10" tall action figure. I went to the store today and found him this tiny 5" wussy doll. Think about it. Going from 10 manly inches to this little 5 inch thingy. I was upset, and Barbie was in tears."

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