#1073 G.I. JOE – COBRA TROOPER and COBRA VIPER (1982 and 1986)

When I deal with the most popular toylines of the major toy companies, my blog receive almost no visits. Of course, everything I could say here about G.I. Joe has already been said somewhere else, or, if you are looking for some information, you have yojoe.com or many other sites to read for hours.

Still, I love to write about lines such as G.I. Joe and taking my figures out for a photo session, so this time I´d like to talk about the main characters of Cobra´s armies: the Cobra Trooper and the Cobra Viper. They are the infantry soldiers of the terrorist organisation, and where always present in the comics and the TV series. First the Cobra Trooper, who was one of the figures in the very first wave in 1982, then updated in 1986 to look less human and more like a sci-fi character. There is a second version of Viper from 1994, but this one is much rarer and I still don´t have it. In any case, the really remarkable ones are these two.

The Cobra Trooper was released, as I just said, in 1982 with straight arms, but then “updated” the following year with swivel arms, which is the version in the pictures. It came with a black machine gun only. It is not to be mistaken by the Cobra Officer, which is a very similar figure, whose more remarkable difference is a silver emblem in the chest. Since we are going today for the “cannon fodder” only, I'll reserve the Cobra Officer for some other day.

 

The Cobra Viper looks much more menacing with its silver visor or helmet and has a much more detailed body sculpt. It seems to be wearing a special jacket (maybe bullet-proof), protective gloves and googles. This other figure came with a grey rifle and a black backpack. The dark blue is the same, as it is the corporate colour of Cobra and suits well for night actions or city guerrilla.

 

Both figures are highly interesting for collectors, as you cannot have only one, you need a bunch of them! In the community in which I used to participate many years ago, there were many advanced collectors who had 10, 50, 100 of each of these two for armybuilding. Crazy! Fortunately, they are not so scarce that they are impossible to find, with some effort (also economical effort), you can find one complete and in good shape. And if, not, they has been cloned and can be bought new, almost indistinguishable of the original ones.

Here is the Spanish fullcard of Viper (Víboras)

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: COBRA TROOPER and VIPER
• Toy Line: G.I. Joe
• Year: 1983 and 1986
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 10 cm approx.

#1072 LLEDO - LAND SPEED LEGENDS (1993)

It is not so long ago I wrote my first entry about Lledo in this blog. There I mentioned this set of six cars that I didn´have yet, but I recently received it from a friend and I´d like to comment it now.

The cars represented are:

• Thrust 2 / Richard Noble (1983)

• Spirit of America / Craig Breedlove (1965)

• Railton Mobil Special / John Cobb (1947)

• Blue Bird / Sir Malcolm Campbell (1931) 

The set was first available as a cereal premium from Kelloggs in the UK in 1993. They came in white cardboard boxes inside a bigger box and included a nice brochure or small poster with a history of the cars that had broken the land speed record over the years, depicted in a timeline. The gift is a great one, maybe one of the best gifts I recall from a cereal promotion. At the time you needed 9 points plus 80 pence (that is less than one euro) to receive ALL FOUR cars. Nine points were most likely four big boxes of Corn Flakes plus a smaller one, or nine small boxes. Not so much if you have them for breakfast everyday. There was also the option to get only one model (with less points), but in this case the leaflet was not sent along with the chosen car in the white case.

As Lledo is known for reusing the casts they have, the same models were available for everybody in retail. In this case, the boxes was much more elaborated and nicer, with windows and with a short summary on the history of the four models in the back of the box. There is a second type of box for the Thrust 2 which was exclusive for this model at the Museum of British Road Transport in Coventry.

The cars are easily found online and cheap to buy (the poster is not so cheap, usually more expensive than the complete set of cars), I guess there are not so many Lledo collectors out there and they are not very well known, but they are beautiful, done with great care, nice paintwork and tampographies... a nice addition to every collection. The only negative point that we can find are the undetailed plastic bases and the white boxes, but taken out for display in shelves these two aspects are not important.

FACTS AND FIGURES: 

• Name: LAND SPEED LEGENDS
• Scale: Approx. 1:43
• Year: 1993
• Company: Lledo (United Kingdom)
• Size: approx. 10 cm

#1071 FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN (F.E.A.) Nr. 32

 

The latest issue from Figuras En Acción can be downloaded from the blog (as all the other previous issues) for free. I always recommend it to all toy enthusiasts and collectors worldwide. Nowadays, with automatic translation from image on everz smartphone, it is very easy to understand any printed form of information.

This time I wrote about the Power Rangers subline from Micro Machines, the Adventure 2000 by Matchbox, the X-Ploratrons by Corgi and a G.I. Joe bootleg called Spaicel Force. Other colleagues wrote about Max Thunder (aka Famoman), the Action Man knock-off from the late 90s and the speed tracks by Pilen (whose cars were copied from Darda).

There are other sections dealing with Scalextric or Exin Castillos, and many other surprises inside. 

Please download it now followin this link: Revista on line FIGURAS EN ACCIÓN: REVISTA Número 32 - Mayo 2025

Thanks and enjoy the reading!

#1070 GAMA - GAMA-MINI VW1302 (Ref. 898) (around 1978)

Gama cars are great, as you could see in previous entries. They are also difficult to find, as they were not intended as toys, but as adult collector pieces. That is maybe why they are so rare to spot. 

I cannot recall anymore where did I buy this one, but it probably was in december 2018. It is not in its best shape, but I liked that the previous owner decorated it with "5" and "3" stickers to make it resemble Herbie, the famous movie-star. If it was mint, it would be a great collectable, as it represents one of the most iconic cars of all time. 

The model is made in 1:43 scale and has opening doors. Despite the paint chips, it still has all four lights, which seem to be fragile. Other nice feature are the realistic hubcaps and the suspension of its wheels, which makes the car very comfortable to move around.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: VW1302 (Ref. 898)
• Scale: 1:43
• Year: Around 1978
• Company: Gama (Germany)
• Size: Around 9 cm

#1069 BUDDY L – SPIDER´S CAR (SECRET WARS, SPIDERMAN) (1986)

Buddy L was another big American toy company from the 1920´s on. As it is usual in these cases, the company went under many names and owners over the years, and disappared sometime in the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. They were focused on tin and metal vehicles, being their most remembered works a series of metal vans and trains in larger scales. 

The parent company of Buddy L was called Moline Pressed Steel Company (founded by Fred A. Lundahl in 1910). This company produced fenders and body parts for the automobile industry, being their main customer the McCormick-Deering (farm implements) and the International Harvester Company (trucks). 

In 1921, the Moline Pressed Steel Company started selling toys, because Mr. Lundhal wanted to make a toy for his son. He took a piece of steel from the scrap pile and built an steel miniature truck (based on an International Harvester). Nice story.  The truck was so well-done and durable, that shortly afterwards, the company started selling toys made of pressed steel under the brand „Buddy L“, „toys for boys“.  Some were small such as this one presented here, but others were big and sturdy enough to allow the kids to ride on them, or to be pulled around.

The company was very popular during the 1920s until the great depression. Their toys were offered in the Marshall Field´s department stores or in the F.A.O: Schwarz toy stores.

The next owner was Henry Katz and Company, who bought the brand Buddy L from Molene Manufacturing Company in 1941. In 1976 is was sold again to Richard Keats, a toy designer and long time employee of Buddy L. In 1978, the company was based in Clifton, New Jersey. In 1990, Keats sold Buddy L again to SLM international, and from here on, it was a fast decadence the company suffered until it disappeared in the 2000s.

The toys from the 1920s to the 1960s are rare and valuable pieces, but with the increasing industrialization of the manufacturing process, the Buddy L Toys were manufactured in great numbers and sold for cheaper prices (also introduced plastic parts in the 60s). Being so sturdy, many have survived until today in such a great shape. The toy I am presenting today belongs to the late 90s, when their production was being carried out in Japan or Macau in order to compete with the toys from Hong-Kong and China. That is why the car is rather simple and has a lot of plastic parts. 

Still it is a very interesting toy, considering it has a license from Marvel´s Secret Wars. The car originally came in a set of four pieces, including also a van, a helicopter and a motorbike, all with Spidey´s stickers. But there was at least another set in which this car was decorated with Dr. Doom colours and stickers, the Van with Dr. Octopus´, the motorbike with Captain America´s, and the helicopter with Wolverine´s. These two sets are today scarce, and rare collectibles in their original box. Still the individual toys can be purchased for almost no money, let´s say around 10 US$/piece or even less.

This car is in an excellent shape with no cracks on the plastic parts, opening doors and very little or no use. The stickers are also excellent. Very cool!

FACTS AND FIGURES: 

• Name: Spider´ Car
• Scale: Around 1:38
• Year: 1986
• Company: Buddy L (U.S.A.)
• Size: approx. 12 cm

#1068 BATMAN (TOY BIZ) - BATMAN vs. BOB THE GOON (1989)

Not many entries dealing with Batman in the more than 1.000 reviews that I made so far. And the most important figures of them all were missing... until today.

These were the very first action figures released after the movie directed by Tim Burton and premiered worldwide in 1989. The movie was a huge success, and there were all kinds of merchandising available: t-shirts, promotions, different types of toys and also action figures.

pic: dcinthe80s.com

The collection started with these golden blisters, but there were not many characters available. Beside Batman and Joker, only Bob the Goon was available. An interesting choice, since the character does not have a leading role in the film. Maybe the toymaker thought that Joker needed some companion, as the rest of the initial released included only vehicles and playsets for the hero. The Batcave, the Batmobile and the Batwing could be purchased separately, but Joker only had his fellow companion Bob.

The figures came with some action feature and articulation in the knees, legs, arms and head, as well as some action accesories. They are not very durable, they often show loose limbs, but if they have not been played, they look great and are a good addition to any collection.

Batman figure has the bat-rope hidden in hi belt, that can be extended to “climb” to a higher surface, as well as a batarang, something that resembles a gun and the black cloak made of cloth. Although today might seem a bit crude, the face sculpt is not bad for 1989.

Bob the Goon feature is a kick with one of his legs, The leg can be loaded and stays in “standing” position until a button in the back is pushed, then the leg moves forward and hits whatever it is on its way. The figure includes a black hut, a gun (very similar to G.I.Joe's Shockwave) and a knive. The same can be said about the head sculpt, wich, by the way, was produced in two variants, in which the hair is different.

The line was, of course, later extended with more vehicles: The Batcycle, the Joker cycle, the Joker Van. Also some more DC figures were made and sold under the brand DC Comics Super Heroes still in 1989. This line included Robin, The Penguin. Mr. Freeze and The Riddle, together with Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Hawkman, Two Face and Lex Luthor. This other collection shared the same blister style but was kind of separated from the Batman collection. Still the three figures from Batman appeared also in the blisterpacks of DC Comics Super Heroes from 1991. Many of these characters resemble very much the Super Powers figures made by Kenner some years earlier. I have several of these figures in my collection, as well as other vehicles.

If you consider the two lines as one or prefer to keep them separated is up to you.

FACTS and FIGURES:

• Name: BATMAN and BOB, THE GOON
• Toy Line: BATMAN
• Year: 1989
• Company: Toy Biz (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figures: 11 cm approx.