Sorry it’s been so long since the last update! To tide you over for a few days (just a few days, I promise), Matt Dillon of Leaky Suit Brigade has just posted an interview with Andrei Koribanics, Hasbro G.I. Joe designer who drew some art I posted here a few months back. Nice work, Matt!
Category Archives: G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes
Unproduced G.I. Joe Vehicle – Borer
Andrei Koribanics freelanced for Hasbro in the mid-1980s. Besides today’s Borer art, I’ve also come across a figure concept by him (that may end up in Chapter 14 of my book) and the presentation painting of Sgt. Slaughter’s Renegades (in Chapter 6). Leaky Suit Brigade has a tiny interview with Koribanics, and should have a longer one up at some point. Continue reading
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
Cobra Night Raven designs by Steve Reiss
Steve Reiss attended CCS, the College for Creative Studies, before it had that name, back when it was called Society of Arts & Crafts in Detroit. It had long been a school with a reputation for vehicle design. After Reiss joined Hasbro in 1985 he was soon designing G.I. Joe vehicles, like the stunning 1986 Cobra Night Raven, based on Lockheed’s also-stunning SR-71 “Blackbird.” For your reference, here’s the real thing:
And here are Steve Reiss’ six pages of designs, the basis for a rough, three-dimensional model.
For play value, Reiss added a one-person drone that latched onto the top of the larger jet:
And here’s the parts breakdown.
The final toy is black with opaque red accents, and the clear red cockpit windows are a lovely, extra detail. The Night Raven is also quite long, and I recall always needing two hands to support it. It’s one of the most attractive products in the entire Real American Hero product line — elegant, sleek, and aggressive.
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
Larry Hama’s Fury Force Helicopter
Told at many conventions and in many interviews is the prehistory of G.I. Joe, how Larry Hama pitched a military comic to Marvel called “Fury Force.” He sketched out six heroes — covert military types — along with a motorcycle, a van, and a secret base underground base. And later grafted it onto Ron Rudat’s G.I. Joe action figure designs, and made it the through line for the monthly G.I. Joe comic book.
Fury Force had a helicopter, too.
Filed under Comic Books, G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes
Unproduced: Towed Artillery Missile System
Sorry for the delay in posting. School starts and trips accrue in September. To get back into it and take a break from “The Rotten Egg” and my exciting internship today we’ve got Rich Rossi’s color rendering of a vehicle concept, the Towed Artillery Missile System, which I’ll call the TAMS for short. In all honesty I don’t know anything about it, so we’ll play the reasonable assumption game.
Drawn in ’84, it would have been pitched for ’86 or ’87. But often concepts would get shot down, only to resurface later, or inspire a later idea. In 1988 a different vehicle showed up, the similarly monikered RPV, or Remote Pilot Vehicle — boy did the names not flow for these two.
I don’t wish to draw a straight line between them, that one inspired the other, but it’s safe to say they both filled a specific price point, play pattern, and concept. But notably the TAMS seats no driver and carries no figure, even by precarious foot peg. And to further differentiate it from the RPV, by ’88 scale, detailing, and concepts were getting exaggerated and moving away from strict military realism. The structure of the TAMS more resembles the detailing on earlier vehicles like the FLAK and the ASP, shown here.
There’s a stronger sense of parts and bolts and hardware, whereas the late ’80s styling smoothed out edges and surfaces. Since these catalog scans aren’t too enlightening, here are links to much nicer photos of each, from the fine folks at yojoe: the FLAK, the ASP, and the RPV.
One thing’s for sure — Real American Hero had no shortage of small artillery accessories. These were great for populating a small-scale battlefield with variety, even if they weren’t as much fun as “regular” vehicles like Jeeps and tanks, or as story-driving as a headquarters playset.
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art
Sgt. Savage by Joe Kubert
As the Real American Hero line was winding down, Boys Toys in Pawtucket had in mind something new for late 1994. It would be bigger than 3 3/4 inches, and it would look back to World War II rather than the slightly futuristic angle G.I. Joe had carried for twelve years. Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles were greatly inspired by Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos (Marvel Comics), and Sgt. Rock and the Combat-Happy Joes of Easy Company (DC Comics), so much so in fact that Boys Toys VP hired Sgt. Rock artist Joe Kubert to draw the initial designs, package artwork, and insert comic.
Joe Kubert passed away last weekend at the age of 85. Amazingly, he was still writing and drawing comics, and his work only got better with age. While the Watchmen prequels aren’t my cup of tea, I very much enjoyed the last major Rock story by Kubert, and both as a reader and retailer look forward to his upcoming Joe Kubert Presents 6-issue anthology for DC.
Filed under G.I. Joe Behind the Scenes, Toys and Toy Art







































