When I had Snake-Eyes (v.1), my friends thought he was a Cobra guy. When I saw Snake-Eyes (v.2) in the store, I didn’t have enough money to get him. He was gone by the weekend. Then my mom searched every figure rack in five stores until she found him and got him for me for Christmas. Thirty-three years later, I still have him 😎
I had a similar story as that. I was at Toys R Us with my parents, and I saw Snake Eyes, and lost my mind and began begging for him. I had to throw out the stops and convince my parents it was tremendously important that I got Snake Eyes. They weren’t having it, and my impassioned begging fell on deaf ears and they dragged me out of the store. It was 1989 when I found him with a broken crotch at the swap meet and took him home. I put his v3 lower half on him and he stayed like that for YEARS!!
Snake Eyes may have carried the line, I believe he also was the reason it died out. His character became too far fetched and spawned all the goofy ninja storylines.
I was obsessed with GI Joe, which came along right as I was getting too old for toys. Didn't care, kept on collecting the toys and comics up until I finished high school and enlisted. The cartoon was cheesy and unrealistic (laser guns, and nobody ever got killed) but the Marvel comic written by Larry Hama was fantastic. He gave those characters interesting back stories and developed something epic with the Snake Eyes vs Storm Shadow feud, tracing it back to the LRRP team in Vietnam they served together on (along with Stalker). My father was career Army so I grew up in that world. I used to take a screwdriver and rearrange some of the figures to make them more realistic military in appearance (like the guy with the red sports jersey).
Why should a Native American absolutely look like a caricature? Nothing wrong with someone looking like it but Native Americans also have the right to look like ordinary guys. I'm half native and I don't always wear bandannas, beads and leather.
My dad got me the Triple T Tank that came with a special edition Sgt. Slaughter when I was 5. You better believe I played with that everyday in 1987! Good times, good video.
You can tell whether someone favored the comics or the TV show based on who they see as the most important Joe. Comic fans will generally say Hawk while TV show fans will generally say Duke.
According to the cards Duke was the highest ranking G.I. JOE at [E-8] First Sergeant. Flint was a [WO-3] Chief Warrant Officer-3 because he was a helicopter pilot. Hawk was listed as a [O-6] Colonel; I think he was the only officer. A later ret-con had all the Joes be enlisted personnel - as it was a "grunts only" organization. An exception were the vehicle drivers and pilots, who were graded as Warrant Officers because they commanded their vehicles and anyone on-board them.
@@SidneyBroadshead Officers from the Army. Hawk O-6, Doc O-3, Steeler O-1, Claymore O-3, Psych Out O-2, Major Storm O-4 and a hand full of others. All fixed wing pilots are Air Force officers. Keel-Haul is an Admiral O-9. Most Star Brigade (astronauts) are officers. The lone Coast Guardsmen, Cutter, is an O-2. Flint, Wild Bill, Lift Ticket are warrant officers. Most of the army helicopter pilots are, a few are officers. Also Torpedo is also a warrant officer. No one is below an E-4.
I agree with your list, but i always thought that B.A.T was pretty original concept, interchangeable hands, hologram in the chest :) pretty important :P
Three must be added. 1. Clutch: He comes with the VAMP jeep. The jeep is the most basic of Army vehicles. This reinforces the figure and vehicle concept with a classic combo. 2 Stalker: Lets face it. Other than Snake Eyes. Stalker was the coolest character in 1982 with Clutch coming in third. unlike the Black Adventurer of the 60s Joe line Stalker was the Joe toy White kids wanted to by. Plus his role in the comics and the Cartoon. Made him the default team leader prior to the introduction of Duke. 3.Tunnel Rat. His connection to Larry Hama makes this character a must have to any fan and every collector of the line .
Snake Eyes had no backstory? G.I. Joe comic book #21 begins the big reveal of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Oh yes there is a backstory, and it's a good one.
Thank you for this video and well done. However, I want to point out what you mentioned about "subtle racism" and counter with this. I was born in '83 so I played with the Joes alot. I want to point out that GIJOE was filled with people of all sorts of backgrounds races and even gender. They were all very very different but each came with amazing skills to help defeat the enemy, Cobra. This is what it meant to be American. We were all different but all on the same side and fighting against evil. This toy line had a very lasting effect on me so much that it encouraged me to join the military. I only wish today that this generation could see that yes we are all very very different, but none of it matters because we are all American and we all bleed the same. Thank's Larry Hama and thanks GIJOE!
I agree with what you said about G.I. Joe representing many different races and gender. I would think that more people would complain about it being pro-military than trying to accuse it of subtle racism (sometimes people look for things that are not really there just to have something to talk about). The military aspect of the G.I. Joe didn't bother me ,because they were not fighting for political reasons. They were fighting against terrorists ,so it was simply good guys vs bad guys . The real world has more shades of grey in it, but in the world of G.I. Joe the good guys and bad guys are pretty clear.
This is so weird but....when I grew up and watched GI Joe as a kid, I loved Baroness because she was evil and had glasses. I don't know why but the fact that she was an evil woman with glasses and not the dorky type, I actually liked her a lot. And dude, I don't think Hasbro would be that stupid to mess up the Baroness' look for her toy. They knew what they were doing with her. They knew that people liked her. MONEY, MAN. And yes, Srgt. Slaughter. I think my brain exploded when I saw him on GI Joe and then he was in a rerun of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show later on. Young me was like 'HOW DOES THIS WORK?!' And I loved that you used Joseph Gordon Levitts as the 'COBRA' figure. Good call man. I dunno. Would Hasbro EVER kill a main character in a big motion picture to kill the childho-I mean, SURPRISE the audience...only to bring them back later on because he was the money pot of the entire series and his replacement kinda sucked? I don't think they'd every try that TWICE!
adarius99, that is not always true, but there are many that find the label Native American more offensive than being called an Indian. Because America is what the immigrants later called the land and at least the term Indian came from a misunderstanding. Of course, the aboriginal people of the western hemisphere is a bit longer than most of us care to say or hear.
I noticed the audience did not really take to Quick Kick. Myself a Bruce Lee and martial arts fan, even did not think much of the Quick Kick character. I just thought it was terrible he was bare footed and presumably walked all over the place like that.
I'm not arguing the order but Storm Shadow was by far my favorite from the first time I laid eyes and hands on him. There was something mysterious about him that had me in his awe to the day. Plus I was into the big Ninja craze that happened in the 80's which helped for my love of his, pure Ninjas are still a big draw for me.
Oh yeah, he stood out. He was the first really exotic thing about that line for most kids. Snake Eyes version two outfit was in response to the popularity of Storm Shadow.
Yeah a great contrast to each other in design and the comic book history of Snake Eyes joining the Arashkage Clan and becoming a favorite there over the young master. Let they forever battle in future GI Joe incarnations!
Taj Barber The gold is the best look, but the silver would be most important to the franchise. I truly think Destro should have been here instead of Snake Eyes twice.
My wife had 2 older brothers. They blew up her Barbie's with fireworks at some point. She told me the story of her revenge. " I knew their weakness. I would destroy that which they loved. I went straight for the ninjas!" I love that story.
Firefly never gets any love on these lists. One my favs for sure. Also Destro and Hooded Cobra Commander need honorable mentions. I guess I'm a big fan of Cobra:)
I'm a Brit, we had the gen 1 GI Joe figures as vehicle drivers in our Action Force series of figures. I believe that the V1 snake eyes figure came with the SAS force jeep.
I have all of these, and a couple of duplicates of a few ... that said: The Cobra Commander Mail Away was Cobra Commander v.2 [Hooded figure] (v.1 was the figure with the silver metallic paint as the helmet visor) Snake Eyes v.1 actually only became a major collectors figure after Snake Eyes v.2 was released. Even then, v.1.5 [Swivel Arm] was sought out when Storm Shadow was released. The original Straight Arm v.1 Snake Eyes wasn't thought of until about 5 years after its initial release, when kids wanted to own all of the original figures, many of which came out a year or two prior to these kids getting their first G.I. Joes. Snake eyes wasn't what sold the line. I knew a bunch of people who never even owned Snake Eyes until v.3 [with the two silver non-removable daggers on his chest]. G.I. Joe was a phenomenon. Between the Cartoon series & the Commercials, as a boy 7-9 yrs old, you weren't in unless you owned the figures. The replaced the Star Wars figures as the number one selling toys for boys. And, because both toy lines were in the 3 3/4 inch model, you could have cross over battles, which gave you more variety in an expanded play scenario. . . .
Lowlight was my very first Joe. My favorite in my collection was Shipwreck. I used to make Sgt. Slaughter, Roadblock, Lowlight & Stalker fight against the Dreadknoks, LoL. Good times!
Snake Eyes' story was told early on, making him the most fleshed-out characters, and the one we know most about. The mystery was gone early on but we all loved the character anyway.
One admission I would put into this list is the male away figure that you created yourself. You can make them a specialist in whatever area you wanted, give them whatever name you wanted, and create their bio yourself.
I'm sorry but Stalker has to be the one of if not the most important Joe. 1. First black character 2. In comics and the first made for tv movies the ACTUAL JOE field Commander 3. Just damn cool toy.
Dan you have become the best thing to hit you tube for toy videos. Period. Between the expert information provided and subtle, witty humor you mix into the videos, I'm officially hooked! God bless you lolGo Joe!!!
The original Snake-Eyes was way better than the visor version, but the visor version did have a wolf, so points. But how did that crappy wrestler guy make the list?
A piece of very 1. Of these thoughts . rough draft for a Basically when Transformers became a juggernaut, Takara-Tomy and Hasbro wanted to continue to make $$$ and no longer pay for licensing automaker’s blessing (Lamborghini, Porsche, VW + more). They found ways to ride their success so far, while changing the storylines to mostly “space Sci-Fi, use cheaper plastic. Nudge the retail cost (just a little), 1. Introduces new characters in both toy, comic and toon to stay adequately fresh enough. 2. For the toys, most no longer licensed (or had rubber tires and die-cast), so they could make ugly crap, make it cheaper for them and call the alt-mode whatever. 3. Then they got Crazy. Made Transformers that didn’t even transform into the main line. I heard Optimus asked them to sacrifice their ability to transform as a heroic act to benefit the War somehow. Or Hasbro wanted to make $7 for toys *bound to sell* (at least enough), And so much cheaper to stamp out without the need to pay for designing the transformations, producing a lot of special internal mechanics and no need for more factory assembly workers. SO cheap to stamp out, paint and package, sell. Eventually most people closed the book on it.
You are so right...snake eyes for life!!! As a kid, (a multiracial kid) I could always pretend to be snake eyes, cause he was so mysterious. Until the live action movie he was totally unknown, and even today amongst hipster/gangster geeks, snake eyes is still a "black guy." and really any race you want him to be!
Before I knew he was a white guy I just assumed he was not a white guy. Was surprised and a little disappointed to find out he was just a blonde haired, blue eyed white guy. Not because I'm racist... but because that's what my brother looks like. What an a-hole.
I was late to GI Joe. Voltron and Transformers had my full attention at that time. I got into it around '87 and if you were that late to the game, getting any of those first run figures was IMPOSSIBLE. The best I could do was pick up the few reissued recolors that came along. Sucked but at least I finally got some of my favorite characters, even if their colors were dumb.
In the UK the original 3.75 figure series was know as Action Force, its was a multi national force (I forget if the villains where called cobra or not) and the leader of the bad Guys was called Baron Ironblood, he had a very aircraft that looked like a flying skull, later it all got changed to G.I. Joe.
Good memories. Love these toys. Zartan is still one of a kind with the color changing body. I could never get Snake-eye v.1 when I was a kid since it was so popular. But I have made up with subsequent versions of Snake-eye; and it improves with age with additional cool accessories.
@@caplinGrey Snake-Eyes & particularly Storm Shadow had not so nice feelings for Zartan for killing the Hard Master, but I don't recall either feeling the same about Scrap Iron's (collateral?) killing of the Soft Master.
I have always been more partial to Cobra. The top 6 Cobras should have been in the top 10 list - Cobra Commander, DESTRO, Baroness, Storm Shadow, Zartan and Cobra Troopers. The Top 4 Joes should have been - Duke, Flint, Snake Eyes and LADY JAYE.
Ten most important figures that has Snake Eyes as the top two... Analytics must have been lacking that day to leave Destro off the list and have “Sgts Laughter” on it.
Low Light and Alpine were the first figures I ever owned. Low Light was my favorite till Sgt. Slaughter came along. It wasn't till one Christmas I got a lot of the figures that I got Snakeeyes, Stormshadow, Flint, Zartan, the Dreadnoughts and more..
I'd include Scarlett and Stalker because like Snake-Eyes, they were first to deviate from the shared molds of the first Joes. Stalker's camo pattern and beret were both the first of many; even his name & M.O. were copied - by Tracker. I prefer gold Destro, but silver head Destro broke the mold by being the first (only?) that like his cartoon/comix counterparts was taller than others (unlike the pathetically puny Nemesis Enforcer). He was also the first to have his own "spin-off" group. The Crimson Twins also kind of "broke the mold" by being "cut from the same mold".
Had a pile of joes when I was a young lad, but never had a v1 storm shadow, but I’m 40 now so thought it was about time I got one, only paid $75. Check that off the bucket list
These action figures are amazing. Only a screw on the back that holds all the limbs & a rubber band for the lower body parts. Everytime I got bored of them, I just take them apart & reattach them randomly to make my own made up characters & stories. The possibilities are endless!
Great list (and excellent editing). I might have found room for the 'Tele-Viper' in there somewhere, if only because it started the precedent for the 'Something-Viper' range that dominated the Cobra line. (although they never did release the vehicle maintenance specialist I was hoping for: the Windshield-Viper)
+Huw Morgan Yeah I think the Next 10 would have had guy like Tele-Viper, Alley Viper, Strato-Viper, B.A.T.s, Golobulus... some of the ones that really gave GIJoe the sci-fi tone. Maybe even Sci-Fi himself!
I always love the fact the Tele-Viper was the first Viper released, back in 1985, a year before the Viper, Moto-viper, Strato-Viper and Air-viper (Advanced Class) who were 1986 releases
I have to say I'm really enjoying these short and really informative videos, been watching all the previous videos to date and love it, great presentation and excellent quality guys, keep it up!
My fiance likes to remind me that her great grandpa was the inventor of that color changing paint, to which I can only respond thank you Sir, for all the hours of fun as a child with color changing GI Joe figures and as an adult with your great granddaughter's "figure".
I made my own list before I watched. Nearly identical. Even though the 2 Snake Eyes are my favorite 2 figures I put Serpentor on my list instead of SEv1
I’d have swapped Baroness for Scarlett, Spirit for Destro, and would definitely have added Gung Ho (dude was sexy with washboard abs!). Glad Zartan and Cobra Commander made the list but I prefer the mail away hooded Cobra Commander to chrome dome CC. No list is complete without Storm Shadow or Snake Eyes. Wished Torpedo made the list. Thanks!
My brain cannot even comprehend how insanely rich I'd be if I still had my collection of GI Joes and Star Wars action figures. Actually, I'd probably still be just as broke as I am today, because I never would have gotten rid of them. The only two I have left are an Imperial Tie Fighter pilot, and Bosk the bounty hunter, and neither have their sidearms (guns). Although I still could claim knowledge of where my original Cobra infantry soldier is. I'm sure he's still there. I was probably 8 or so, and had JUST bought him like the day before, and I was playing with my buddy who brought his Joes over. We were at the top of the stairs into my attic, and there was a board with a little 1.5"x1.5" hole cut out of it that I was using as a foxhole, and if the figure kept their arms apart, he sat in the hole just right. But he got bumped and fell down inside the floor. It was probably an 8" deep hole. I tried to get him back with the kitchen tongs but only succeeded in pushing him further under the joist. I bet he's still there to this day.
3:37(ish)... they tried that on me, too! COBRA! I’ve. Even a subscriber for a 2-3 years(?), and you and your team, even in 2020, give us fun stuff. This whole “Gobal Plague” has seen me buying 89’s toys like old ladies buy scary dolls off of Home Shopping Channel. I’m scared. But (in my best girly-man/“Rudy” voice) Toy Galaxy and a few others have been a big help. Pat yourselves on the back!
When I had Snake-Eyes (v.1), my friends thought he was a Cobra guy. When I saw Snake-Eyes (v.2) in the store, I didn’t have enough money to get him. He was gone by the weekend. Then my mom searched every figure rack in five stores until she found him and got him for me for Christmas. Thirty-three years later, I still have him 😎
Your Mum is amazing. ❤️
I had dat one and stormshadow like 5 times they my fav
That second Snake eyes was extremely hard to find.
I had a similar story as that.
I was at Toys R Us with my parents, and I saw Snake Eyes, and lost my mind and began begging for him. I had to throw out the stops and convince my parents it was tremendously important that I got Snake Eyes.
They weren’t having it, and my impassioned begging fell on deaf ears and they dragged me out of the store.
It was 1989 when I found him with a broken crotch at the swap meet and took him home. I put his v3 lower half on him and he stayed like that for YEARS!!
CyberJay1226 the emoji makes me feel uncomfortable...
Snake Eyes may have carried the line, I believe he also was the reason it died out. His character became too far fetched and spawned all the goofy ninja storylines.
It started getting absurd way before the Ninja Force crap. But you are right, 85 Snake Eyes was when the line peaked.
OMG... flag points... you just shook the dust off an entire part of my brain
Ummm, you forgot to mention the mail order Refrigerator Perry figure 😆 I think I still have one of those somewhere 😒
I was obsessed with GI Joe, which came along right as I was getting too old for toys. Didn't care, kept on collecting the toys and comics up until I finished high school and enlisted.
The cartoon was cheesy and unrealistic (laser guns, and nobody ever got killed) but the Marvel comic written by Larry Hama was fantastic. He gave those characters interesting back stories and developed something epic with the Snake Eyes vs Storm Shadow feud, tracing it back to the LRRP team in Vietnam they served together on (along with Stalker). My father was career Army so I grew up in that world.
I used to take a screwdriver and rearrange some of the figures to make them more realistic military in appearance (like the guy with the red sports jersey).
I used to take my favorite joes heads and put them on cobra viper and snowtroopers bodies and infiltrate my terror drome...
Spirit wasn't the first native American Joe.
Airborne (1983) was first!
First one who didn't shun his heritage? lol
I was just about to say the same thing. Airborne was also my favorite.
Why should a Native American absolutely look like a caricature? Nothing wrong with someone looking like it but Native Americans also have the right to look like ordinary guys. I'm half native and I don't always wear bandannas, beads and leather.
Not always...maybe half the time?
AIR CAV! GARRY OWEN!
My dad got me the Triple T Tank that came with a special edition Sgt. Slaughter when I was 5. You better believe I played with that everyday in 1987! Good times, good video.
Hawk was the original leader of GI Joe, Duke was just the leader in the cartoon.
You can tell whether someone favored the comics or the TV show based on who they see as the most important Joe. Comic fans will generally say Hawk while TV show fans will generally say Duke.
Duke was always getting captured in the show. He was the least important of everyone.
According to the cards Duke was the highest ranking G.I. JOE at [E-8] First Sergeant. Flint was a [WO-3] Chief Warrant Officer-3 because he was a helicopter pilot. Hawk was listed as a [O-6] Colonel; I think he was the only officer. A later ret-con had all the Joes be enlisted personnel - as it was a "grunts only" organization. An exception were the vehicle drivers and pilots, who were graded as Warrant Officers because they commanded their vehicles and anyone on-board them.
@@SidneyBroadshead Wasn't Steeler originally listed as a major?
@@SidneyBroadshead Officers from the Army. Hawk O-6, Doc O-3, Steeler O-1, Claymore O-3, Psych Out O-2, Major Storm O-4 and a hand full of others. All fixed wing pilots are Air Force officers. Keel-Haul is an Admiral O-9. Most Star Brigade (astronauts) are officers. The lone Coast Guardsmen, Cutter, is an O-2. Flint, Wild Bill, Lift Ticket are warrant officers. Most of the army helicopter pilots are, a few are officers. Also Torpedo is also a warrant officer. No one is below an E-4.
Cobra Infantry and two snake eyes but No Destro or Crimson Twins?
Correct. Keep in mind the criteria is "most important" not "best."
The twins felt each others pain after being excluded from this list.
I agree with your list, but i always thought that B.A.T was pretty original concept, interchangeable hands, hologram in the chest :) pretty important :P
Charles Nose there was trap jaw from MOC and the gimnick was used by mattel themselves prior to that.
I thought Cobra had great design for their generic soldiers. I liked the techno vipers.
Three must be added.
1. Clutch: He comes with the VAMP jeep. The jeep is the most basic of Army vehicles. This reinforces the figure and vehicle concept with a classic combo.
2 Stalker: Lets face it. Other than Snake Eyes. Stalker was the coolest character in 1982 with Clutch coming in third. unlike the Black Adventurer of the 60s Joe line Stalker was the Joe toy White kids wanted to by. Plus his role in the comics and the Cartoon. Made him the default team leader prior to the introduction of Duke.
3.Tunnel Rat. His connection to Larry Hama makes this character a must have to any fan and every collector of the line .
Snake Eyes had no backstory? G.I. Joe comic book #21 begins the big reveal of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.
Oh yes there is a backstory, and it's a good one.
No. 8, Sgts Laughter. that is exactly what you got out of me when my brain's ready part caught up with the listeny part.
"Master of disguise or just a man with a mask?!?"- cracked me up! Keep it up, bro!
Storm Shadow is my #1. I still remember finding him in a box yet to be unpacked on the shelves of a local Toys R Us. It was an amazing day!
Sgt slaughter was a real wrestler from the WWF (WWE), which was super popular at the time. It was a tie-in.
my mom "Why do you need another Stormtrooper, you already that one..."
Thank you for this video and well done. However, I want to point out what you mentioned about "subtle racism" and counter with this. I was born in '83 so I played with the Joes alot. I want to point out that GIJOE was filled with people of all sorts of backgrounds races and even gender. They were all very very different but each came with amazing skills to help defeat the enemy, Cobra. This is what it meant to be American. We were all different but all on the same side and fighting against evil. This toy line had a very lasting effect on me so much that it encouraged me to join the military. I only wish today that this generation could see that yes we are all very very different, but none of it matters because we are all American and we all bleed the same. Thank's Larry Hama and thanks GIJOE!
I agree with what you said about G.I. Joe representing many different races and gender. I would think that more people would complain about it being pro-military than trying to accuse it of subtle racism (sometimes people look for things that are not really there just to have something to talk about). The military aspect of the G.I. Joe didn't bother me ,because they were not fighting for political reasons. They were fighting against terrorists ,so it was simply good guys vs bad guys . The real world has more shades of grey in it, but in the world of G.I. Joe the good guys and bad guys are pretty clear.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
My number one gi joe is Beachhead
This is so weird but....when I grew up and watched GI Joe as a kid, I loved Baroness because she was evil and had glasses. I don't know why but the fact that she was an evil woman with glasses and not the dorky type, I actually liked her a lot. And dude, I don't think Hasbro would be that stupid to mess up the Baroness' look for her toy. They knew what they were doing with her. They knew that people liked her. MONEY, MAN.
And yes, Srgt. Slaughter.
I think my brain exploded when I saw him on GI Joe and then he was in a rerun of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show later on. Young me was like 'HOW DOES THIS WORK?!'
And I loved that you used Joseph Gordon Levitts as the 'COBRA' figure. Good call man.
I dunno. Would Hasbro EVER kill a main character in a big motion picture to kill the childho-I mean, SURPRISE the audience...only to bring them back later on because he was the money pot of the entire series and his replacement kinda sucked? I don't think they'd every try that TWICE!
Snake eyes is the boba fett of gi Joe
airborne not spirit was the first American Indian in the lineup.
wrong, Charlie was before Frank.
that's a negative . talltree came out 83 . iron knife 84 . fact
chris matthews please don't call us natives Indians we don't want labels for our race.
adarius99, that is not always true, but there are many that find the label Native American more offensive than being called an Indian.
Because America is what the immigrants later called the land and at least the term Indian came from a misunderstanding.
Of course, the aboriginal people of the western hemisphere is a bit longer than most of us care to say or hear.
chris matthews *Native American. They aren’t from India
YES! Dead Milkmen reference.
I ran over my neighbor!
I'd say cobra commander and starscream are rank 1 because that same voice was just so awesome.
Shipwreck. He was always my favorite.
Great list! Other notables... Destro, Doc, Quick Kick.
I noticed the audience did not really take to Quick Kick. Myself a Bruce Lee and martial arts fan, even did not think much of the Quick Kick character. I just thought it was terrible he was bare footed and presumably walked all over the place like that.
I'm not arguing the order but Storm Shadow was by far my favorite from the first time I laid eyes and hands on him. There was something mysterious about him that had me in his awe to the day. Plus I was into the big Ninja craze that happened in the 80's which helped for my love of his, pure Ninjas are still a big draw for me.
Oh yeah, he stood out. He was the first really exotic thing about that line for most kids. Snake Eyes version two outfit was in response to the popularity of Storm Shadow.
Yeah a great contrast to each other in design and the comic book history of Snake Eyes joining the Arashkage Clan and becoming a favorite there over the young master. Let they forever battle in future GI Joe incarnations!
Remember the Sho Kosugi movies? Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, man, AWMA sold a lot of throwing stars, nunchucks and sai back in those days.
Gung Ho V1 was my favorite Joe, while Storm Shadow V1 was my favorite Cobra.
Uh... Where is Destro?
I think he went to lunch. Can I take a message?
Which one? The gold or silver one?
Taj Barber The gold is the best look, but the silver would be most important to the franchise. I truly think Destro should have been here instead of Snake Eyes twice.
BigPL what about Serpentor? Dr Mind Bendor?
If Snake-Eyes was the "Boba-Fett" of G.I.Joe, Destro was the "Darth Vader".
Sitting here in 2019 wishing that GI Joe will comeback soon. Honestly hasbro just needs to do a six inch line of GI Joe.
How are you feeling now?
@@JoeSelf1982 excellent lol
@@thelegendaryprog Awesome! Classified isn’t perfect but I’m absolutely loving it so far.
@@JoeSelf1982 it had a rough start and the designs were iffy, but it’s slowly making its way up the ladder for best hasbro line.
I FROM THE FUTURE MOTHAFUCKA YOU GOT YOUR WISH
What about Flint??? He was my favorite by far. Also, don't sleep on Shipwreck.
The Cobra Twins? They were pretty iconic.
If you're a mysterious man in black I love you? Dan has to be the biggest Roy Orbison fan there is.
Watching your videos is like going back in time you got all my old toys
Glad you joined us!
Snake Eyes v3 is my favorite. He's just too cool. He might have been the start of my childhood ninja obsession.
My wife had 2 older brothers. They blew up her Barbie's with fireworks at some point. She told me the story of her revenge. " I knew their weakness. I would destroy that which they loved. I went straight for the ninjas!" I love that story.
Firefly never gets any love on these lists. One my favs for sure. Also Destro and Hooded Cobra Commander need honorable mentions. I guess I'm a big fan of Cobra:)
I'm a Brit, we had the gen 1 GI Joe figures as vehicle drivers in our Action Force series of figures. I believe that the V1 snake eyes figure came with the SAS force jeep.
I have all of these, and a couple of duplicates of a few ... that said:
The Cobra Commander Mail Away was Cobra Commander v.2 [Hooded figure] (v.1 was the figure with the silver metallic paint as the helmet visor)
Snake Eyes v.1 actually only became a major collectors figure after Snake Eyes v.2 was released. Even then, v.1.5 [Swivel Arm] was sought out when Storm Shadow was released. The original Straight Arm v.1 Snake Eyes wasn't thought of until about 5 years after its initial release, when kids wanted to own all of the original figures, many of which came out a year or two prior to these kids getting their first G.I. Joes.
Snake eyes wasn't what sold the line. I knew a bunch of people who never even owned Snake Eyes until v.3 [with the two silver non-removable daggers on his chest]. G.I. Joe was a phenomenon. Between the Cartoon series & the Commercials, as a boy 7-9 yrs old, you weren't in unless you owned the figures. The replaced the Star Wars figures as the number one selling toys for boys. And, because both toy lines were in the 3 3/4 inch model, you could have cross over battles, which gave you more variety in an expanded play scenario.
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You forgot the cobra battle Android troopers
Lowlight was my very first Joe. My favorite in my collection was Shipwreck. I used to make Sgt. Slaughter, Roadblock, Lowlight & Stalker fight against the Dreadknoks, LoL. Good times!
Snake Eyes' story was told early on, making him the most fleshed-out characters, and the one we know most about. The mystery was gone early on but we all loved the character anyway.
One admission I would put into this list is the male away figure that you created yourself.
You can make them a specialist in whatever area you wanted, give them whatever name you wanted, and create their bio yourself.
I'm sorry but Stalker has to be the one of if not the most important Joe. 1. First black character 2. In comics and the first made for tv movies the ACTUAL JOE field Commander 3. Just damn cool toy.
He was also the first of many to wear a beret or cammo pattern. His name and M.O. would latter be blatantly ripped off by "Tracker".
Dan you have become the best thing to hit you tube for toy videos. Period. Between the expert information provided and subtle, witty humor you mix into the videos, I'm officially hooked! God bless you lolGo Joe!!!
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. We try to have fun and hope it comes through in the videos.
I had both versions of Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes I wish I still had them
John Gulotta you can on eBay but watchout for fakes.
Spirit was the second Native American. Airborne Robert Talltree was the first.
I 100% agree with you on the v1 Snake Eyes was the best out of all the figures produced.
The original Snake-Eyes was way better than the visor version, but the visor version did have a wolf, so points. But how did that crappy wrestler guy make the list?
Snake eyes and Storm Shadow was the shit!
I had everyone and I just found my stash of GI Joe points in my old piggy bank safe. I miss being a kid.
A piece of very 1. Of these thoughts . rough draft for a
Basically when Transformers became a juggernaut, Takara-Tomy and Hasbro wanted to continue to make $$$ and no longer pay for licensing automaker’s blessing (Lamborghini, Porsche, VW + more).
They found ways to ride their success so far, while changing the storylines to mostly “space Sci-Fi, use cheaper plastic. Nudge the retail cost (just a little),
1. Introduces new characters in both toy, comic and toon to stay adequately fresh enough.
2. For the toys, most no longer licensed (or had rubber tires and die-cast), so they could make ugly crap, make it cheaper for them and call the alt-mode whatever.
3. Then they got Crazy. Made Transformers that didn’t even transform into the main line. I heard Optimus asked them to sacrifice their ability to transform as a heroic act to benefit the War somehow.
Or Hasbro wanted to make $7 for toys *bound to sell* (at least enough), And so much cheaper to stamp out without the need to pay for designing the transformations, producing a lot of special internal mechanics and no need for more factory assembly workers. SO cheap to stamp out, paint and package, sell.
Eventually most people closed the book on it.
No Firefly?!?!
Mlopez 602 or Jinx?
Firefly was one of, or more than likely my favorite bad guy.
Softmaster....??
No, he had to make way for....generic Cobra Infantry, remember those guys?
Crazy
I really liked the more military styled Early figures. After those, I gave up
storm shadow v1 was so rare in my area ... I never got him
eu ainda tenho esse boneco
Flint was so cool to me man i miss joe collecting as a kid/teen. Toys now ahhhh to many....
I almost forgot- you’re good at this, and your team is equally spot on. Great work all involved!
You are so right...snake eyes for life!!!
As a kid, (a multiracial kid) I could always pretend to be snake eyes, cause he was so mysterious. Until the live action movie he was totally unknown, and even today amongst hipster/gangster geeks, snake eyes is still a "black guy." and really any race you want him to be!
Before I knew he was a white guy I just assumed he was not a white guy. Was surprised and a little disappointed to find out he was just a blonde haired, blue eyed white guy. Not because I'm racist... but because that's what my brother looks like. What an a-hole.
@@SecretGalaxyTV 😮 🤔 😏 😀 😊 😁 😂😂😂😂
Great show my man very entertaining and informative
Mego's Captain Eagle line had a ninja character that precedes Stormshadow by about 2 or 3 years.
Lifeline and scoop. Unsung heros.
I was late to GI Joe. Voltron and Transformers had my full attention at that time. I got into it around '87 and if you were that late to the game, getting any of those first run figures was IMPOSSIBLE. The best I could do was pick up the few reissued recolors that came along. Sucked but at least I finally got some of my favorite characters, even if their colors were dumb.
Tunnel rat was my fav
In the UK the original 3.75 figure series was know as Action Force, its was a multi national force (I forget if the villains where called cobra or not) and the leader of the bad Guys was called Baron Ironblood, he had a very aircraft that looked like a flying skull, later it all got changed to G.I. Joe.
Favourite was the gold-headed Destro that came with a small vehicle.
Of course you guys left behind Firefly ! And the Evil Twin Brothers !
Love N. Rumba, xamot in tomax
Good memories. Love these toys. Zartan is still one of a kind with the color changing body. I could never get Snake-eye v.1 when I was a kid since it was so popular. But I have made up with subsequent versions of Snake-eye; and it improves with age with additional cool accessories.
My faves were Tunnelrat, Big Boa, & Croc
Snake Eyes has always been and always been the heart of ARAH. The quiet commando sold the line for nearly a decade.
No doubt. And I love that. I just don't like when the ninja aspects of the universe get more play than the military.
In his retirement, Zartan plays guitar for Immortal.
trivia question; who did Zartan kill ?
caplin Grey -- snake eyes and storm shadow's leader.
savosdj you mean his uncle, the Hard Master.
@@caplinGrey Snake-Eyes & particularly Storm Shadow had not so nice feelings for Zartan for killing the Hard Master, but I don't recall either feeling the same about Scrap Iron's (collateral?) killing of the Soft Master.
@@ronn-ammon8975 can you send a link for the version of Scrap Iron killing the hard master ?
never heard of that one..
I have always been more partial to Cobra.
The top 6 Cobras should have been in the top 10 list - Cobra Commander, DESTRO, Baroness, Storm Shadow, Zartan and Cobra Troopers.
The Top 4 Joes should have been - Duke, Flint, Snake Eyes and LADY JAYE.
Ten most important figures that has Snake Eyes as the top two...
Analytics must have been lacking that day to leave Destro off the list and have “Sgts Laughter” on it.
Low Light and Alpine were the first figures I ever owned. Low Light was my favorite till Sgt. Slaughter came along. It wasn't till one Christmas I got a lot of the figures that I got Snakeeyes, Stormshadow, Flint, Zartan, the Dreadnoughts and more..
Only one I loved better than Storm Shadow, was Storm Shadow two.
No BARBEQUE.....No Destro......no RoadBlock.....???? I had all of them(only child) I'm 41 and this list is INCOMPLETE!!!
I'd include Scarlett and Stalker because like Snake-Eyes, they were first to deviate from the shared molds of the first Joes. Stalker's camo pattern and beret were both the first of many; even his name & M.O. were copied - by Tracker. I prefer gold Destro, but silver head Destro broke the mold by being the first (only?) that like his cartoon/comix counterparts was taller than others (unlike the pathetically puny Nemesis Enforcer). He was also the first to have his own "spin-off" group. The Crimson Twins also kind of "broke the mold" by being "cut from the same mold".
Had a pile of joes when I was a young lad, but never had a v1 storm shadow, but I’m 40 now so thought it was about time I got one, only paid $75. Check that off the bucket list
Surprised you didn't mention the "Paranoid schizophrenic" file card controversy for Zartan.
I thought Zartan was disliked by parents, because kids were chewing on the toy, and were worried some sort of chemical was in the toy.
These action figures are amazing. Only a screw on the back that holds all the limbs & a rubber band for the lower body parts. Everytime I got bored of them, I just take them apart & reattach them randomly to make my own made up characters & stories. The possibilities are endless!
Great list (and excellent editing). I might have found room for the 'Tele-Viper' in there somewhere, if only because it started the precedent for the 'Something-Viper' range that dominated the Cobra line.
(although they never did release the vehicle maintenance specialist I was hoping for: the Windshield-Viper)
+Huw Morgan Yeah I think the Next 10 would have had guy like Tele-Viper, Alley Viper, Strato-Viper, B.A.T.s, Golobulus... some of the ones that really gave GIJoe the sci-fi tone. Maybe even Sci-Fi himself!
I always love the fact the Tele-Viper was the first Viper released, back in 1985, a year before the Viper, Moto-viper, Strato-Viper and Air-viper (Advanced Class) who were 1986 releases
I loved the crimson twins
I have to say I'm really enjoying these short and really informative videos, been watching all the previous videos to date and love it, great presentation and excellent quality guys, keep it up!
Thanks for watching and commenting! We try to make the kind of videos we'd like to see and hopefully other people enjoy them as well.
Serpentor? honorable mention
My fiance likes to remind me that her great grandpa was the inventor of that color changing paint, to which I can only respond thank you Sir, for all the hours of fun as a child with color changing GI Joe figures and as an adult with your great granddaughter's "figure".
Rock and roll never gets the credit he deserves.
Serpentor saw Transformers the movie, saw how it made kids cry and said "Get me dossiers on 10 Joes. Bingo, that guy. Imma gonna coma that guy."
I made my own list before I watched. Nearly identical. Even though the 2 Snake Eyes are my favorite 2 figures I put Serpentor on my list instead of SEv1
I had Snake Eyes v3. I got into the toys too late.
Tripwire with the minds was my first favorite GI Joe. Stalker was the first one I owned.
Must have the gi joes from 1964 vintage to have a collection second to none
Snake eyes is like the dread pirate roberts. Even I was snake eyes for a time then handed off to my protégé Wesley.
I’d have swapped Baroness for Scarlett, Spirit for Destro, and would definitely have added Gung Ho (dude was sexy with washboard abs!). Glad Zartan and Cobra Commander made the list but I prefer the mail away hooded Cobra Commander to chrome dome CC. No list is complete without Storm Shadow or Snake Eyes. Wished Torpedo made the list. Thanks!
My brain cannot even comprehend how insanely rich I'd be if I still had my collection of GI Joes and Star Wars action figures. Actually, I'd probably still be just as broke as I am today, because I never would have gotten rid of them. The only two I have left are an Imperial Tie Fighter pilot, and Bosk the bounty hunter, and neither have their sidearms (guns). Although I still could claim knowledge of where my original Cobra infantry soldier is. I'm sure he's still there. I was probably 8 or so, and had JUST bought him like the day before, and I was playing with my buddy who brought his Joes over. We were at the top of the stairs into my attic, and there was a board with a little 1.5"x1.5" hole cut out of it that I was using as a foxhole, and if the figure kept their arms apart, he sat in the hole just right. But he got bumped and fell down inside the floor. It was probably an 8" deep hole. I tried to get him back with the kitchen tongs but only succeeded in pushing him further under the joist. I bet he's still there to this day.
I used to have the "Hooded Cobra Commander" that you could only get by sending in Flag Points too. I bet he's worth a fortune.
Jeeze.. the editor was having a blast with this video.
3:37(ish)... they tried that on me, too! COBRA! I’ve. Even a subscriber for a 2-3 years(?), and you and your team, even in 2020, give us fun stuff. This whole “Gobal Plague” has seen me buying 89’s toys like old ladies buy scary dolls off of Home Shopping Channel. I’m scared. But (in my best girly-man/“Rudy” voice) Toy Galaxy and a few others have been a big help. Pat yourselves on the back!
I agree with that lemur, man. That was super deep.
Nice Dead Milkmen reference.
Hawk, Duke, Flint, Sgt Slaughter, Beachhead
You always forget the original second in command under Duke. Stalker
Very good list! I would take some, I would put others ... anyway ... Keep making videos!