One Word Reviews - SERIES 1 (1982)
One Word Reviews - Series 1 (1982)
"Green, green and more green"
Oh yeah, time for a new category at Snoova's Corner Cafe! Okay, a little backstory first...
Back in the day, after my friend Aaron moved away, we communicated by letter. When a new Series of Joes would come out, he would send me a list of the figures and a word to describe it. So it might simply say "cool" or "dumb". Though I didn't always agree, I was always curious of the one word he would use to describe the each figure and what his thoughts were.
So I'm doing a bit of a re-creation here... with a couple twists though. I am calling upon some friends to help me out. Here's how it will go. I am giving the list of each series' figures to some of my close friends and they are to give ONE word to describe that figure. It's up to them to decide how good or bad the figure is. Whether they want to go by looks, file card, old memories, whatever - that's their call.
The people in my "panel" are not comparing notes with each other. I simply give them the list of figures and they give me a word for each... not duplicating the word per series. So a figure can be "cool" in Series 1 and 2, but two figures cannot claim that title in the same year. You get me?
Those in my panel are free to add a small paragraph at the end, should they feel inclined... to add any additional comments that may shed a little light on their thoughts.
NOW... we ALL have different opinions, and that is fine! So if a figure like Psyche-Out gets a review of "cool" by one and "stupid" by the other, it's okay. We all like and dislike different figures for multiple reasons. It's all in fun, so there need be no "how can you say that about ________".
One of my best friends in the world, one who has been mentioned several times on this blog - Deathwish, is going to get us started with Series 1. He was one of my #1 friends that I grew up with collecting G.I. Joe with. We had many Joe conversations, battles, figure hunts and more. He understand the toyline... I know that.
I am adding more friends to this "panel" and they will start showing up with Series 2. I am so excited to have these friends on board for this and am curious as to their thoughts on each figure... especially as we get farther into the toyline!!! I will post Aaron's lists from his letters when I get to those particular series' (I think it's 1986 and 87).
So let's get going already!!!
BREAKER - Communications Officer
Deathwish: Boring
CLUTCH - VAMP Driver
Deathwish: Okay
FLASH - Laser Rifle Trooper
Deathwish: Terrible
GRAND SLAM - Laser Artillery Soldier (HAL)
Deathwish: Horrible
GRUNT - Infantry Trooper
Deathwish: Generic
HAWK - Missile Commander (MMS)
Deathwish: Pointless
ROCK N' ROLL - Machine Gunner
Deathwish: Decent
SCARLETT - Counter Intelligence
Deathwish: Interesting
SHORT FUZE - Mortar Soldier
Deathwish: Better
SNAKE EYES - Commando
Deathwish: Favorite
STALKER - Ranger
Deathwish: Cool
STEELER - Tank Commander
Deathwish: Tolerable
ZAP - Bazooka Soldier
Deathwish: Acceptable
COBRA COMMANDER - ...Commander of Cobra
Deathwish: Neat
COBRA TROOPER - ...Trooper of Cobra...
Deathwish: Plain
COBRA OFFICER - ...Officer of... you guessed it, Cobra
Deathwish: Ordinary
Deathwish's thoughts on Series 1 overall: "I have always said the first series was a great idea. It just felt horribly rushed with not a lot of thought put into them - with most of them being just repainted or just swapping body parts."
I have to say, I was surprised by some of the words Deathwish used! I know this will happen often with these lists. I really thought Clutch would have faired better than "okay". The unpredictability is part of the fun here! This was a great experiment, now let's see how this toyline continues to develops with future lists!!
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