Action Figure Review: Sgt. Slaughter & Felix "Mercer" Stratton from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   Are you maggots ready for another G.I. Joe: Classified Series double feature? Then hop to it because we've got Sgt. Slaughter and one of his Renegades today! Yes, while Sgt. Slaughter commanded the Renegades in the 1987 G.I. Joe animated movie, Hasbro sold them (Red Dog, Taurus, and Mercer) in a 3-pack in 1987. In the Classified Series Mercer has been packaged alongside a new version of Sgt. Slaughter sporting a more combat worthy outfit that's oddly reminiscent of Slaughter's 1991 WWE (then WWF) heel turn where he became an Iraqi sympathizer, praised Saddam Hussein, and allied with General Adnan. I'm sure the Joe team kind of had that in mind, right? This version of Sgt. Slaughter never turns his back on the US of A, though. Now Mercer? Mercer is interesting because he's a former Viper who has defected from Cobra and now serves as part of the top secret Renegades, a group paid under a budget line for the Pentagon labeled "Pest Control." This is a really cool set and I was definitely anticipating it, though I figured we'd get the three Renegades as a set. I'm guessing Red Dog and Taurus will be packaged together in the future. For now, let's check out Sgt. Slaughter and Mercer after the break...

Action Figure Review: Bag of Heads from Dr. Malgam's Body Bags by ToadFrog

 

   I reviewed four of the regular bagged figures from this line in late October and early November and while I had a couple more, I decided to skip ahead to the Bag of Heads. Have you ever purchased a bag of heads? Well, what you order is what you get here: A body bag filled with heads that can swap onto the various figures in the line. Since I last reviewed one of these sets, ToadFrog has come out and announced that they are partnering with Thin Air Brands to get Dr. Malgam's Body bags to retail shelves sometime in 2026. That's great news and it's nice to see the line having a future. I really like these figures though I wish we had more fully complete figures in the first series. This bag doesn't fully solve that problem but it does allow you to complete the Skeleton. This was sold as an add on for $25 during the Kickstarter campaign or as part of the Full Moon Special pledge level. Ready to check out this crazy mix of noggins for your buildable monsters? Then join me after the break...


   

Action Figure Review: Jubilee from Marvel Legends Series: X-Men '97 by Hasbro

 

   I told you more X-Men '97 reviews were coming, didn't I? Today I'm looking at Jubilee from the latest series of Marvel Legends Series X-Men '97 releases and, interestingly, this isn't Jubilee's standard costume from the series. Sure, she's got the yellow jacket but this isn't her Jim Lee era and animated series standard blue denim shorts and pink shirt with blue gloves and boots. Instead, this is the costume that she wears during the series finale when every character gets a costume change! For most of the main crew, their costume changes are more classic costumes. Jubilee, however, wears this costume based on her 2011 Wolverine & Jubilee look from after she became a vampire and started wearing black leather. Interestingly, Hasbro has released a version of Jubilee in this costume before, though she was a Build a Figure from a 2014 Toys 'R Us exclusive series, so her price has been pretty high for a few years. Jubilee in her "classic" outfit from X-Men '97 have been been released at least twice in recent years (once in the Caliban BAF series and once in the Hasbro Pulse VHS series) so this is a more unique version for folks who missed out on the original. As a kid I was so frustrated that we never had Jubilee (or Jean Grey) in the Toy Biz line until long after I was actively collecting them, so the fact that we're getting plenty of versions of the core characters just thrills me these days. Ready to check out one of the only three characters name checked in the theme song for the original animated series? Then join me after the break...

Barbecue's Bonfire: Toys I Collected in 1992!- Livesttream on 8:30 PM EST 12/8/2025

Action Figure Review: Cobra Ninjas Slice & Dice from G.I. Joe: Classified Series by Hasbro

 

   Ready for some Ninja Force action? I hope so because today I've got a giant sized review that's packed with so ninja goodness that you'll likely exclaim "Everybody was Kung Fu fighting!" G.I. Joe's Ninja Force was a subset of the A Real American Hero line that was began in 1992, a year when the G.I. Joe brand was still trying to find it's place in the early 1990s toy market that tended to feature figures that were brighter and bolder than the 1980s. Subsets galore tried to court popular themes, color schemes, and social issues and Ninja Force featured brightly colored ninjas with built-in action features (a new step for the G.I. Joe line) that sought to capitalize on the still growing popularity of ninjas (now of the Teenage Mutant Turtle variety). If I go back and look at my toy interests in 1992, this was a year that I didn't pay as much attention to G.I. Joe as I did in others. The only figure I originally has was Destro v3 (though 4 years later, in middle school, I obtained the DEF Shockwave v3 through a trade and that guy has since been one of my favorites) as I was more focused on Toy Biz's Marvel Superheroes and X-Men, Kenner's Terminator 2, Aliens, and Batman Returns, Tiger's Land of the Lost, Mattel's Key Force, Mighty Max, and King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, Galoob's Micro Machines, and Playmates' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Oh, and Snailiens from JPI. Yes, I'm shocked that I purchased more Snailiens in 1992 than I did G.I. Joe. Crazy! I'm making up for that with the Classified Series, though, aren't I? Slice and Dice were both released in the first series of Ninja Force figures and have been a popular Cobra duo ever since. Let's check out this pair of ninjas after the break...

Action Figure Review: Doom Slayer from Doom: The Dark Ages by McFarlane Toys

 

   I'm a pretty big fan of Doom but it's been around 6 years since I last reviewed anything related to Doom. I blame that on there just not being a lot of merchandise based on the games. This year Doom: The Dark Ages released and I absolutely loved it. With the mixture of the traditional Doom aesthetic with a world that felt like a swords and sorcery locale mixed with advanced technology (kind of like Eternia, now that I think about it), Doom: The Dark Ages really mixed things up in a fun way, resulting in a game that felt like you were inside of a heavy metal album cover. McFarlane has released a few Doom figures over the years but this is the first based on Doom: The Dark Ages (they've also released the giant mech suit, the Atlan) and it was the inaugural figure in McFarlane Toys' new Elite Edition line of figures. What's elite about them? They do come with a nice amount of accessories and they're touted as having "an incredibly detailed sculpt with premium paint applications." OK. What else does it mean that these are part of the Elite Edition series? They cost around $50 to $60 dollars. That seems a bit steep for a McFarlane Toys mass market release but this guy sold out crazy fast and is selling on the secondary market for two to three times the original price, so I guess there are plenty of Doom fans desperate for Doom Slayers in their collection. Ready to check out the Elite Edition of the Doom Slayer? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: The Donner Party from Operation: Monster Force by Big Bad Workshop and Fresh Monkey Fiction

 

   I'm really a fan of Big Bad Workshop and Fresh Monkey Fiction's Operation: Monster Force line and today I'm reviewing what is absolutely my favorite figure from them to date: The Donner Party. Yes, while it's one figure who definitely gives off Frankenstein's Monster-like vibes, the character still goes by the name The Donner Party. Why's that? Well, according to the comic included on his packaging and in the bios found online, he's actually a being made from the remains of some of the half-eaten corpses left behind from the ill-fated Donner Party from their disastrous winter of 1846-1847 in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Put back together by a mad scientist known only as The Devil's Caretaker, the Donner Party has spent the past two centuries following and keeping a protective watch over the descendants of the relatives of the folks who make up his body. After a descendant of the Donner family, a woman named Isola Donner who is one of the four women in the world with purple eyes, is taken by the Forgotten King, The Donner Party comes out of hiding and joins up with Operation: Monster Force to help them find the whereabouts of their greatest foe. 

   Wow! That's one heck of a story. I love how instead of just giving us a slightly different take on the Frankenstein Monster, Operation: Monster Force has instead transplanted the character into an American context, steeping him in elements of western and pioneer folklore. He's an incredible figure and one of the standouts of the line to date. Ready to see what Big Bad Workshop and Fresh Monkey Fiction have cooking here? Then join me after the break...