7/10/2023 0 Comments Gi joe phantom brigade![]() That sub-line also had a sub-line, which was called Armor Tech. In 1993, Hasbro released the Star Brigade sub-line. Here’s 1993 GI Joe Star Brigade Destro in all his clunky glory. That was good enough for me.Īnd that’s the figure we’re looking at today. So, I finally settled on an Armor Tech Destro that included his helmet (the most important part), one missile, and one gun. It certainly wasn’t actual rarity that made the figure hard to find. I’m not sure if they were all trashed by kids who loved them, were disregarded at the bottom of vast toybox chasms, or were just forgotten. But it was strangely hard to find one with its helmet and all limbs intact. I wanted to track one down ever since I started re-collecting the ARAH era figures in earnest many years ago. I never owned this figure as a kid, but because of how Mark treated it, it’s always had a legendary kind of presence to me. Once Destro was joined by a BAAT, the only other Armor Tech figure either of us owned, the GI Joe forces had a much harder time in their fight against Cobra.Īnd that’s how I remember this figure– a big, hulking presence on the battlefield, with articulation and detailing that set it apart from the other GI Joes in my childhood. ![]() Instead, this figure came to represent an overpowered suit of armor for Destro, where he won every battle– much to my chagrin. I loved space adventures, but our own GI Joe sessions rarely went there. This Armor Tech figure became Mark’s default Destro. It honestly looked like it could take on a whole squadron of GI Joes by itself. It was more armored than any of our other GI Joe figures, it had an actual chrome head (unlike the 92 Destro), and wore a cool clear space helmet. The different articulation was weird to us at first, but we got over it pretty quickly once we started playing with the toy. It reminded us of Mark’s older brother’s old Kenner Star Wars figures, too. This was a big, bulky figure that moved more like some of my Toy Biz Marvel figures than a GI Joe. But Armor Tech was something entirely different. We both had several Ninja Force figures, so we were aware that Hasbro sometimes changed GI Joe’s articulation. This was the first time either of us ever experienced an Armor Tech figure. Since Mark loved Destro and owned almost every GI Joe toy made (or made available) in the early 90s, it was only a matter of time before he got a 1993 GI Joe Star Brigade Destro. Destro was easily his favorite character on the Cobra side, and he tended to prefer Cobra to GI Joe. The 1992 Destro was one of his favorite figures, and he bought the Hall of Fame version as soon as he could. He loved the idea of the noble villain, and I think he was also pretty into the whole “shiny chrome head” thing. He’s the person I share many of my childhood GI Joe experiences with, after all. I’ve often spoken about my childhood friend Mark who lived across the street from me. And a special little surprise you’ll just have to click through to see.ġ993 GI Joe Star Brigade Destro, the Early Years ![]() There’s a full review here, too, of course. But what did 7-12 year olds think of these toys at the time? I can answer that question. Obviously I’m going to share my past and present opinions in this review, but I’m going to dig a little deeper than “THIS BIG SPACEMAN ISN’T A REAL GI JOE.”Īrmor Tech figures are widely hated by older fans because of their reduced articulation. I experienced Armor Tech Destro at a prime toy-loving age, but I still had some opinions on the figure. I was a kid in 1993, though, and was not burdened by the jaded Joe collector mindset. In an attempt to keep up with other toy lines and pop culture trends, some strange choices were made. It wasn’t always successful, and sometimes the iconography got lost in the shuffle. In 1993, Hasbro branched out in many different directions with GI Joe and blazed some new trails. The 1993 GI Joe Star Brigade Destro figure, on the other hand, is not iconic. Every kid who was into GI Joe at the time wanted one. That 1992 Destro looked like he stepped right out of a Sunbow cartoon rerun. They were recognizable, cool, and forward-thinking. For kids of the time, the toy line served up great versions of Destro, Cobra Commander, Duke, Storm Shadow, Roadblock, Hawk, Stalker, Wet-Suit, Spirit, and Gung Ho. The 1992 series of GI Joe was great like that. The 1992 Destro is iconic for people of a certain age.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |