GI Joe Toys

The Crimson Guard Commanders are a unique pair and a ruthless adversary to the GI Joes team. These two are known for being very intelligent manipulators.

Xamot and Tomax earned command of the elite Crimson Guard giving them access to and the ability to manipulate political institutions, corporate boardrooms and financial markets. Now, that is a dangerous list of items that these two have the ability to get into.

Imagine, a pair of individuals able to manipulate a large financial market such as the oil field and energy market. They would be able to skyrocket prices and then go in and manipulate the government agency that is responsible for maintaining these things to simply look the other way. Hmmmm… wait a minute…

These two GI Joes enemies are known for finishing each other’s sentences. They are like mirror images of each other. The only distinguishing difference is the fact that Xamot has a scar on his cheek and Tomax does not.

These two come in the comic pack, “Bad Day at the Circus”. This comic was a good read and will give you a brief understanding of the role that these two, Tomax and Xamot, take in battling the GI Joe team.

I really like these two and think that this pair made an excellent GI Joes comic pack. I guess I will be coming up with a rating system for throwing out my two cents on the GI Joes action figures. I will be working on that so check back often.

Now for the good stuff. My GI Joes images of Tomax and Xamot, the Crimson Guard Commanders

GI Joes Crimson Guard Comanders

This has got to be the best GI Joes Destro that I have seen yet. I did not like a few of the other 25th anniversary edition Destros because of the skinny legs that were designed on the action figure. The thigh-high heavy pirate looking boots rendered that problem for me on this GI Joes action figure.

This particular GI Joes Destro action figure represents Destro as a once major supplier of advanced weapons and vehicles and advisor to the Cobra Commander. At this point, he has created his own army of Iron Grenadiers to carry out his plans.

Destro’s loyalty sways back-and-forth in serving Cobra Commander and his desire to remove this incompetent from command of the Cobra forces.

The Iron Grenadiers is an awesome group of adversaries to the GI Joes teams, and according to the comic book that comes with this comic pack, Move and Countermove, they are also a nuisance for the Cobra Commander as well.

The Iron Grenadiers are trained to infiltrate an area and spread chaos and panic creating a need and desire for arms, which Destro supplies, of course. This is not a good thing for the GI Joes teams.

The Iron Grenadiers are also Destro’s main force for his plans to take over the Cobra outfit. Very ambitious Mr. Destro.

I must say that this Destro did come out very nicely. But, again, I find the skinny legs problem with this Iron Grenadier. I’m really bothered by this as I really like the black and red paint job on this trooper. I am definitely adding these two GI Joes figures to my collection, but it was absolutely because of Destro.

GI Joes Destro and Iron Grenadier Pics

The GI Joes Bazooka character is one that I was kind of wishy-washy on but have grown a bit fond of him. I’ll give you the scoop on that here shortly.

This GI Joes action figure was done very well. The body style seems unique and not like many of the repaints. Hasbro put some guns on this GI Joes team action figure. They did an excellent job of designing a muscular anti-armor expert. You’d think all anti-armor experts would be muscular. But, I assure you, they are not.

Now why would I comment on how real world anti-armor experts aren’t muscular like this GI Joes Missle Specialist? Well, because I was the anti-armor guy when I was with the 24th Infantry division as a collateral duty. In other words, I had to carry that huge friggin’ tow missile system, also known as the Dragon system, with me at all times. And at that point in my life, I was a scrawny young man who could never get enough to eat. Thank goodness, my anti-armor days were short lived.

GI Joes team Sgt. Bazooka’s real name is David L. Katzenbogen. I see why he goes by Bazooka. He started off as a tank driver, and that’s why I took the picture of the boots below. All of you “tanker” types will identify the footwear. Bazooka drove an Abrams tank for the 3rd Armor initially and transferred over to become a Dragon missile specialist/Milan missile specialist/LAW rocket trained/recoilless rifle/and every other Warsaw Pact RPG system. He also qualified as an EOD expert or known as explosive ordinance disposal. That’s a GI Joes asset if you ask me.

Besides GI Joes team Bazooka, I have had the pleasure of meeting three different EOD experts. I don’t want to judge them all by these three, but if my thinking is correct, these guys have several screws loose or as the cowboys put it, somebody stole his rudder.

GI Joes Bazooka Pictures

This has got to be one of the coolest GI Joes action figures, from the Cobra side of the house, to hit the GI Joes market yet. I guess it may be the “fullness” of this action figure that I like. He doesn’t look all weird where the legs meet the torso like some of the other figures.

The GI Joes action figure Cobra Snow Serpent is the infantry arctic operations expert. These guys are the arctic specialists of the Cobra frogmen. They undergo the same tough training that the Eel troops go through with the addition of a six-month long cold weather curriculum. This isn’t easy stuff so this type of training spits out tough troopers.

I really like the accessories on the GI Joes action figure. The backpack is detailed well and so is the little belly pack strapped to his gut. This looks like a back-up parachute but I’m not really sure. The gloves are pretty neat as well as the fur lined parka that he’s wearing. Good job on this one Hasbro.

GI Joes Cobra Polar Assualt Snow Serpant Images

These GI Joes images go a lot further than any words I could muster up to say about Cobra’s Snow Serpent. Regardless, I believe he may have moved into my number one spot for the Cobra team.

GI Joes action figure line would not be complete without the all-purpose robotic warrior, Cobra B.A.T. These are the perfect cobra troopers and as odd as it may sound, the GI Joes team aren’t the only ones that hate to see these guys coming. The problem is that they take out everything on the battlefield, enemy or ally. If it moves, kill it.

This crazy Cobra Android Trooper eliminates everything in its site without hesitating. I don’t know what the inventor was thinking or if he/she simply forgot to include a critical piece of coding to work this bug out, but this thing is deadly.

However, every GI Joes team member knows that the BAT has an Achilles heal. That weakness in the B.A.T. is found on the backside as they tend to burst into flames when taking a direct rear side hit. That must have been another programming flaw that the GI Joes team will absolutely take advantage of.

The part about the B.A.T. that is also a major plus for Cobra is the fact that they are expendable and are cheap to replace. There is no retraining or complaining when it comes to a BAT Android Trooper. All you do is assemble and turn them on. Do the GI Joes have anything similar to this. I can’t remember at the moment and will have to do a bit of research unless one of you good folks knows the answer to this. Please leave a comment.

GI Joes First Dreaded Appearance of B.A.T.

The Cobra B.A.T. appeared for the first time, alongside Dr. Mindbender, in GI Joes Marvel Comic #44 in February of 1986. The BATs take one heckuva butt-whoopin’ in this episode as they are run over in mass droves. Oh well, who’s gonna shed tear for a bunch of scrap metal and wiring?