Reflecting on GI Joe in 2013: A Retrospective

Story by Mitchell Smith

Welcome to the Outpost. Today I’m taking a look back at G.I. Joe in 2013 as a whole. I thought this was a nice bounce back on the figure end and although the vehicles were almost non existent we were still getting the run off from the past couple years from stores like Marshall’s, Ross, and Ollie’s. There was also that kinda cool Eaglehawk that was straight up re-birthed and renamed Tomahawk.

I had the Tomahawk when I was a kid so I did not hesitate to pick this one up. The Lift Ticket figure is really cool and has a removable helmet and a couple headsets. Anyone who picked up the 2009 Ghost Hawk already had the 25th Anniversary style figure of the original 1986 version so now you could have Lift Ticket rename the 2013 version if you like and have him as the copilot. Then you could toss in Lifeline, Wet-Suit and Leatherneck for a rescue party. This is one of my favorite vehicles and as we all know quality over quantity, so a good year.

I also have the Ninja motorcycle and apparently Flint is a Ninja as well. On to the figures. Although there were still a large amount of club and convention figures I would have loved to have like Iceberg, Cover Girl, Topside, and Frag Viper, to name a few, there were some nice regular releases that I love. The retaliation figures were pretty cool. The yellow Jinx, Kwinn, and the Bruce Willis Joe Colton were part of a great line of figures. Cobra had some cool Vipers the red Alley Viper, Data Viper, and Night Viper are all great figures. Round that out with another Dollar General release and you have a successful year. I snagged up a bunch of the Cobra Troopers and the green Shipwreck for some customizing. Over all I thought this was a great year for figures and the coming years would become harder and harder to find Joes in the wild. Who are your favorite figures from this year? Make sure to check back next week for those crazy hunts for 2014 releases.