Probably Vipers, especially if you are tolerant enough of some of the later designs to fill out full squads with radio operators, combat engineers, heavy machine gunners, grenadiers, antitank weapons, snipers, and so forth. The BATs are pretty great too, but I always wished they'd come with a rifle.
Fantastic list. I too experienced the parental "I'm not buying you a figure you already have." But I did manage to get a few duplicates when other relatives would buy me a toy for Christmas or my birthday. I didn't have many, but the ones I had were treasured. Great video, Tony.
love ur videos- i did 20 yrs in the US Marines,( 94-2014) and to this day, i truly believe it was becuase i watched and owned , and played Gi-Joe during my childhood in the 80s.. ur videos rock.. every lawn i mowed growing up, was a possible new figure, if i didnt spend it on junk..lol, i wish, i still had my old toys now.. specially since raising 3 boys too. cheers fromt he woods of Maine !!! love these videos!
When I collected back in the late 80's, my parents were quite happy to buy duplicate troops (once I'd explained). But I had a really odd experience locally here in the UK (Hertfordshire-Essex area). There were always lots of Cobra Officers but you couldn't find a Cobra (Trooper) for love nor money. In three years, I think I got around ten officers but only one trooper, so I had to swap them over. Seemed daft having ten officers ordering around one trooper...
A great list. A few years ago I learned that they did a Create a Cobra mail away as a counterpart to Steel Brigade, but it was in 1993 so the figure looked goofy as hell.
My vote is for one I recently discovered. I was an early joe kid. But my choice is 1988 Repeater. His look is very close to the uniform I wore in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. The Marine Corps didn’t have the money for dessert body armour. So we had dessert uniforms with green body armour. But I would want to change out his weapon.
I think Alley Vipers and Headhunters REALLY belong on this list. Techno Vipers could take the place of Tele Vipers. Basic Cobra infantry and Cobra Officers could be combined into one slot IMO.
The Iron Grenadiers are my favorite army builders in the vintage line. I love their art deco look that makes them feel like throwbacks to 30s and 40s pulp adventures. Also Black Major did some amazing variations on army builders like Night Force Steel Brigade
Great figure indeed and definitely also suitable for army building; I'm sure Tony must have his reasons for not having even mentioned it as honorable mention, but I do agree that Iron Grenadier figures make for pretty cool army builders.
There's a bit of a split of fans and collectors at the tail end of 1986. There's always the basic fact that someone likes something or not... that is a thing. But 1988 Hydro Viper is too fantastical here in the tops list. And that's a fine thing. But, a 1985 Cobra Frogman that any old Cobra recruit could be vs. a Demon of the Deep that is "surgically altered to withstand nitrogen narcosis and other side effects of deep diving. Synthetic webs are implanted between their fingers and subcutaneous fat production is stimulated by chemical injections to provide natural insulation" creating near a super soldier....., well, some fans and collectors recognize what makes Cobra a little more of a "bad guy army" than just rank and file guys. But that split, even where fans and collectors are well aware and familiar with most of the "A Real American Hero" years, some are still more dismissive of the 1987-1994 years consciously or subconsciously in general. No cartoon, Cobra La/the movie too sci-fi, etc, etc., etc. But, yep, Iron Grenadiers. Excellent. If only a removable sword. And 1988 weak orings and elbow issues, but.... Too new to some still, even though they came out in 1988. But, Destro striking out on his own with his own army was probably too unsettling to those stuck in 1982. Hence, G.I.Joe Vs Cobra in 2002. Destro is Cobra Commanders b*&ch. Storm Shadow is the bad Cobra Ninja. "reboot." What happened to Destro's army....., well, gotta fold it back in to the comfortable and effective stop originality in a toy line resulting in 24 years of the same old cycles in different sizes or formats.
@@forumicebreaker Hydro-Viper I think is also a pretty cool figure, despite maybe being a bit too much on the sci-fi side of things to some, and also makes for a great army builder.
I think that what's always been so great about Joe. Great army builders to really bulk out your forces on either side even if you may have waited until the 00s to get more Joe army builders
I went way overboard with army building during the TRU o-ring days and into the anniversary lines. Learned my lesson. Get a few and leave it at that. Anything more and you are the one who gets overrun by superior numbers.
Great video I got lucky with some figs like my techno vipers (18) The rest like my tele-vipers, Eels, snowserpent, motor vipers, Stratovipers they all vary between 8-12 figures I mostly do Small squads of at least 8 figures
Great video (and shirt!) Tony 😎👍 The Steel Bridge trooper is an awesome pick for #1, especially since there were 4 or 5 unique “builds” of the figure (using different body parts depending on what options you chose on the mail-away form), so your Steel Brigade army can have some variety! 😁 Also, i think Hasbro did do a Greenshirt troop-builder pack in the Valor vs Venom line. It’s not _totally_ vintage, and i wasn’t actively collecting at the time, so i never picked it up 🙁
The Lampreys too! I mean, Tony even ranked Steel Brigade in this list. The Lampreys make for great army builders too despite being vehicle drivers. I'd say the same applies to Motor Vipers -a great figure too.
My first army builder inclanation was the Star wars Stormtrooper, and I do remember trying to spend my birthday money on them and my mother saying, "but you already have a stormtrooper....From then on, my army building continued with the GI Joe cobra trooper. gotta have some bad guys to destroy!
My personal favorite are the BATs. I like having multiple weapon options, which gives BATs a lot of flexibility in either small or larger squads. For the Classified line in particular, Hasbro has released several BAT variants with more to come in the future. Some are repaints, but others even include unique accessories for specialized deployment.
I think Hasbro made a huge mistake not letting people who purchased steel corps figures not to let Them make custom file cards in some way like Bobby Vala and the og figure did. I had 3 as a kid. everyone had it's own background filled out.
From the 1986 Viper I don't see the designs as getting crazy but the whole concept of "the trooper" expanding beyond the basic "infantry" and entering into making each Cobra Viper a walking weapon more or less. Such as Strato-Vipers undergoing surgery, or Hydro Vipers. Next level Cobra troopers. Without going into Venom Vs. Valor level mutations.
Well it has been hard to army build coming in so late, but I have managed to get a few Cobra Troopers and one of each Crimson Guards, but together the three versions I have form a nice body guard unit next to my hooded Cobra Commander. Grunt would be a one off for me as he is hard to find now where I can shop.
As far as GI Joe army building goes, I would include 1983's Airbourne. Of course he was his own unique action figure, but hey, as far as Airbourne troops go, it would be cool to have an army of Airbourne troops parachuting out of the skies.
I have army built Crimson Guards since the 80s. Multiple different lines with at least a dozen. 25th anniversary and the variants made that line my favorite for CGs.
Great commentary on the army builder and the desire’s potential origin. As a 10-14 year old lad I did squad build (more modest army building) with my money I made with my brother mowing yards and report card payouts from my dad for good grades. We collected Joes. My dad was like most parents, “Wouldn’t you prefer a new guy?” It is interesting I did not buy more than one type vehicles. I guess the cartoon didn’t affect me in that way. My dad was generous when he could be when it came to toys but he did scoff a more than one of the same guy. Three was my squad limit until the BAT. I got six of those figures. I absolutely loved the BAT. Still do. As a kid my brother would get the Cobra characters and I would get Joes. But that scene of Slaughter versus the BATs definitely influenced me. So after a couple trips to Toys R Us and K-Mart my brother and I had six. It’s my favorite army builder. I think then Crimson Guard, Viper, and Techno Viper. I started as a collector late in 84 and more in 85/86/87 maybe a few in 88/89 then I was into High School stuff then. I didn’t get Officer, Eels, Troopers as I had really missed them. I like them now. I’m a 6” collector mostly now but I did jump in on 4” collecting around 25th anniversary. I had no connection to Joe army builders, especially the Steel Brigade. While I am a 6” collector now, I do appreciate and have re-acquired some of the o-ring. I loved the Dreadnoks as a kid so that’s my current collecting goal to get those in 2024. I chuckled at the jab at Classified Steel Corps. Being salty with the Classified bias seems appropriate for the T-Shirt you wore. I find the Action Force versions kind of bland. Maybe they need a jet pack.
As a kid [70s/80s] I used to wish they made a SW Stormtrooper plaster moulding set [So you could make a lot of them, they'd be White plaster so you'd just put on the black bits with a maker pen]
Growing up dad let me play with his G I Joe guys (sorry action figures) and yes if he wanted to "army build" then he didn't get a new figure. My favorite figure is a tie between the Cobra Range Viper (love that skull helmet) and the Iron Grenadier trooper (the helmet and gas mask combo) great video guys
Tripwire, the GI Joe minesweeper, could be an Army Builder. Kinda like the Cobra Televiper. Airtight could work if his uniform colors were more traditional military like the original Joes
I’m a army builder way back in 86 when discount stores got the hold of palitoy stock I ended up with 200 cobra officers the following year international hero’s came out and added vipers snow serpents bats etc great days
I'm surprised there aren't any Iron Grenadiers (Destro's private army) or Headman's Headhunters (the original not the Stormtrooper version which was a bit overdone). Also, _no ninjas?_ I was around for the Night Creepers and liked them well enough, but I have seen the Red Ninjas and they look awesome as well. I would also make a case for the Alley Vipers, if they had been repainted in a more urban color scheme, rather than bright orange. I think I would have put the Cobra Troopers, Vipers, Officers and Snow Serpents all in the top five, if only for their looks, numbers needed and overall utility. I had forgotten about the Steel Brigade even though I have two of them. I think they are a much better option than Grunt as Grunt (and Shipwreck for that matter) will always be individual Joes among the organization's increasingly diverse and ever growing ranks.
Serpent and Frogmen are awesome, but as they are environment specific so they don’t rank high for me personally. I personally love the viper most. I mainly have a bunch of vipers and a couple each of officers, troopers, bats, and crimson guards to supplement the team. I do enjoy my serpents and such as well though.
I tend to favor army building figures that have masks. That doesn't leave a ton of early joes and the masked figures I really like tend to be expensive for army building. But I'm trying anyways... I like the V1 Steel Brigades. I just love the helmet and mask and the light blue color with green and silver. No patch needed! I also love imagining an army of V1 snake eyes. Also not cheap! When it comes to cobra, I army build OG Cobra Troopers, Cobra Officers, OG Vipers and CG's. I'd love to build a Firefly squad too. But damn that walkie. Thanks for hearing me out.
Enjoyed this had the same idea of army building shipwreck if I was ever lucky to get my hands on a Flagg, I would have gone a little further though, mixed up top side and cutter too. I’d ask though who would you use to piece together flight deck crew?
I would add the Cobra Night Viper to the list as well as, admittedly stretching the point, the1994 30th salute Action Soldier & Marine. Kind of ironic that, despite being a mail away exclusive, Palitoy advertised Grunt as being a generic Action Force infantryman, implying that you could army build these figures.
Never heard of anyone army building Steel Brigade before. You figure it would be a pain because of all the variants looking slightly different to each other.
Hey Tony, great list of army builders. It skews toward your preference for the more realistically military...except for the BATs. I never built armies as a kid, and I haven't fully embraced the scope of "army" yet. Though you might say I have a few squads. I agree that the Tele-viper is a sleeper. I even like the gaudy Python Patrol version. Like you, I love the Viper look. I picked up a few of those Viper Pit packs from Toys R Us back in the day. I prefer the Iron Grenadiers to the CGs, and economy steered me to the fantastic neon nightmare of the BAT II over the og. My personal #1 army builder is the Night Viper. Those guys look good together with their visors down.
Oh man, I have lots of vintage Cobra troop/army builders. Mostly Python Patrol figs, Iron Grenadiers, FRAG Vipers, Alley Vipers, Etc. But I have zero Joe builders.
Hasbro and Larry Hama (who co created G. I. Joe) nixed the notion of the 'greenshirts' as the G. I. Joe Team was already supposed to be the Best of the best. As General Flagg reminded Hawk in Marvel Comics' G. I. Joe #16: "The Joes are supposed to be capable of operating for protracted periods with no support at all." The Vipers actually rank lower than the Cobra Soldiers. Their filecards note that, "If you want to get anywhere in Cobra you have to start out as a Viper. That's the bottom of the pyramid." The Cobra Soldiers even have rank equivelancy to E-4 (Corporal). Cobra Officers rank O-4 (Major). Agree about the Eels. They were well designed and they're Cobra's most successful branch; from their ranks came the Snow Serpent, Ice Vipers, and Secto-Vipers. And, yes, Shipwreck was indeed annoying in the cartoons.
Hey Tony, Great video like always. For me growing up my sister was a chocoholic so I had way to supplement my pocket money to buy a joes. Anyway your top ten is quite interesting and very insightful but I might suggest a figure you might have overlooked from 89 and for me it’s one I certainly army build and it’s the night viper that figure is awesome and my honour mention is 90 rock viper such a great figure too I glad you mentioned that the snow serpent reminded you of the arctic soviet soldiers from red dawn i agree with you. Another thing I like to mention is Big Ben reminds me of red dawn when Patrick Swayze wore similar outfit in the movie. Anyway, thanks for the video I really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work
Totally agree with you! Both Night Vipers and Rock Vipers make for great army builders too. Only the Night Viper looks way cooler than the Rock Viper (at least to me).
This was an enjoyable video, Tony and your top-10 list is on point. As a kid, I literally thought Grunt was an army-builder because of his generic look, accessories and name. Woulda been cool if Hasbro made Grunt the much-needed Green-shirt Brigade to counter the Cobra Troopers in battle. I mean, why not build an army for both sides of the aisle? After all, It makes perfect sense to army-build a Military based toyline. 😉
I don't really army build, but the Vipers are my favorite army builder. The BATS would be a very close second. Excellent list, although I personally prefer the Steel Corps over modern Steel Brigade. I just like the classic helmet design better. Especially since Hasbro provided the same style helmets with Grunt and the soon to be released Clutch. Not that the modern Steel Brigade figure isn't cool, because it is.
Great video once again sir,my favorite army builder has to be,well,the only one from the list I have multiples of at the moment,the Cobra Viper,but I would say your list is pretty reasonable.There is actually one other joe figure I have multiples of but I wouldn't consider it one of the best and that's Skidmark,I have about eight of him and I use them as my flight deck crew on the USS Flagg.
(upon arriving at an isolated arctic Cobra outpost to answer a distress call and finding no survivors...) Cobra Officer: He was killed serving Cobra, sir. Major Bludd: This is Fred XXV. Cobra Trooper: But in Cobra, we have no names. Major Bludd: No, listen to me. This is a man and he has a name, and it's Fred XXV, okay? Stinger Driver: Fred XXV. Major Bludd: He is dead now, because of your lack of haste in getting him fresh canned goods, all right? You killed him. You understand that? [Everyone stares at Bludd] Stinger Driver: I understand. In death, a member of Cobra has a name. His name is Fred XXV. Cobra Trooper: His name is Fred XXV. Major Bludd: Stop it! Shut up! All Cobra Troopers: His name is Fred XXV! All Cobra Troopers ( even louder): His name is Fred XXV! His name is Fred XXV!
@AnalogToys absolutely, I had both. But maybe I am thinking I had multiples of the same guy, and I am just remembering wrong. Though my brother and I got doubles of everything so we didn't fight over toys. That's why we have such a large collection in good shape still being played with today
I actually don’t army build in any line I collect. It drives prices up too much for other collectors. If I happen to wind up with driving unless if a figure I trade them or give them to people just starting out. I just sent a guy a Stormtrooper, an AT-AT driver and a Snowtrooper because I already had them. Might be stupid but that’s how I get the most enjoyment from the hobby.
Well next time you're feeling generous I'll take any Joe/Cobra figure you'd like to pass on my whole toy and comic collection was stolen I liked the more military looking figures better but I'm a desert rat so my favorite was Dusty and later the Cobra Sand Viper
This is a fun list. Though I would challenge that it's the "best", more your best. Which is fine. I love your thoughts on it for sure. I would put the BAT as my number 1, Viper 2, and Crimson Guard 2. But I would also but Night Vipers high and original Storm Shadow as a different option.
So is your complaint that he didn't articulate the phrase, _In my opinion?_ If so, that's implied by the very nature of the video. Do people honestly have to start Top Ten videos with, _"Now, remember everyone, this is my opinion, and yours may be different, and that's ok. We're all aloud to have our personal opinions..."_ Can't we just look at a video called the Top 10 Best... and think, hey, this guy is going to give me his opinion.
@@timothyward8695 I don't disagree with you, just starting a conversation. I really enjoyed the video. Not a complaint, just voicing my opinion in the comments section is all. ;)
Night Creepers Toxo Vipers SAW vipers and Range Vipers make good affordable army builders also Grunt v2 from 91 could possibly be a good army builder....
Honestly, I get you can use grunt to troop build and the Steel Crops but ive never been a fan of the Joes having troop builders. In my mind it defeats the idea of the Joes essentially being Special Forces, as in, an exclusive force of the best of the best.
Yeah, but people troop build Grunt because he looks like the generic soldiers in the background on the Joe side of the battle in the ARAH cartoon series.
Who is your favourite GI Joe army builder?
Probably Vipers, especially if you are tolerant enough of some of the later designs to fill out full squads with radio operators, combat engineers, heavy machine gunners, grenadiers, antitank weapons, snipers, and so forth. The BATs are pretty great too, but I always wished they'd come with a rifle.
Battle Android Troopers
Red Shadows for Action Force for sure though.
Eels, my favourite figure design, 2. Snow Serpent .
@AnalogToys A tie between the Snow Serpent and the Cobra Eel for me.
@@MichaelJShaffer I like those choices
Fantastic list. I too experienced the parental "I'm not buying you a figure you already have." But I did manage to get a few duplicates when other relatives would buy me a toy for Christmas or my birthday. I didn't have many, but the ones I had were treasured.
Great video, Tony.
Great list! Surprised that the Iron Grenadier didn't make it.
The Viper was the perfect cobra soldier, i never had a army of them but a squad for sure.
love ur videos- i did 20 yrs in the US Marines,( 94-2014) and to this day, i truly believe it was becuase i watched and owned , and played Gi-Joe during my childhood in the 80s.. ur videos rock.. every lawn i mowed growing up, was a possible new figure, if i didnt spend it on junk..lol, i wish, i still had my old toys now.. specially since raising 3 boys too. cheers fromt he woods of Maine !!! love these videos!
Thank you for your service Sir!
BAT & Steel Brigade in the Top 3, yeah!!! Awesome video, Tony - rad shirt, too.
We got “The Corps” figures for army building with our Joes.
When I collected back in the late 80's, my parents were quite happy to buy duplicate troops (once I'd explained). But I had a really odd experience locally here in the UK (Hertfordshire-Essex area). There were always lots of Cobra Officers but you couldn't find a Cobra (Trooper) for love nor money. In three years, I think I got around ten officers but only one trooper, so I had to swap them over.
Seemed daft having ten officers ordering around one trooper...
Alley Vipers and Night Vipers are definitely the best army builders!
A great list. A few years ago I learned that they did a Create a Cobra mail away as a counterpart to Steel Brigade, but it was in 1993 so the figure looked goofy as hell.
My vote is for one I recently discovered. I was an early joe kid. But my choice is 1988 Repeater. His look is very close to the uniform I wore in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. The Marine Corps didn’t have the money for dessert body armour. So we had dessert uniforms with green body armour. But I would want to change out his weapon.
For Cobra I like Iron Grenadiers. Easy to get. For my joes Leather Neck for good U.S. Marines and Lt. Falcon for a squad of Green Berets.
I would put Crimson Guard at the top just because they look better, the more you have in a display! Great vid as always, good sir!
Hit and run. Specific character, but it can serve as an army builder. I like its camo design
I think Alley Vipers and Headhunters REALLY belong on this list. Techno Vipers could take the place of Tele Vipers. Basic Cobra infantry and Cobra Officers could be combined into one slot IMO.
Not in _this_ list. On _yours._ Not on this list.
The Iron Grenadiers are my favorite army builders in the vintage line. I love their art deco look that makes them feel like throwbacks to 30s and 40s pulp adventures. Also Black Major did some amazing variations on army builders like Night Force Steel Brigade
Great figure indeed and definitely also suitable for army building; I'm sure Tony must have his reasons for not having even mentioned it as honorable mention, but I do agree that Iron Grenadier figures make for pretty cool army builders.
There's a bit of a split of fans and collectors at the tail end of 1986.
There's always the basic fact that someone likes something or not... that is a thing. But 1988 Hydro Viper is too fantastical here in the tops list. And that's a fine thing.
But, a 1985 Cobra Frogman that any old Cobra recruit could be vs. a Demon of the Deep that is "surgically altered to withstand nitrogen narcosis and other side effects of deep diving. Synthetic webs are implanted between their fingers and subcutaneous fat production is stimulated by chemical injections to provide natural insulation" creating near a super soldier....., well, some fans and collectors recognize what makes Cobra a little more of a "bad guy army" than just rank and file guys.
But that split, even where fans and collectors are well aware and familiar with most of the "A Real American Hero" years, some are still more dismissive of the 1987-1994 years consciously or subconsciously in general. No cartoon, Cobra La/the movie too sci-fi, etc, etc., etc.
But, yep, Iron Grenadiers. Excellent. If only a removable sword. And 1988 weak orings and elbow issues, but....
Too new to some still, even though they came out in 1988. But, Destro striking out on his own with his own army was probably too unsettling to those stuck in 1982.
Hence, G.I.Joe Vs Cobra in 2002. Destro is Cobra Commanders b*&ch. Storm Shadow is the bad Cobra Ninja. "reboot." What happened to Destro's army....., well, gotta fold it back in to the comfortable and effective stop originality in a toy line resulting in 24 years of the same old cycles in different sizes or formats.
@@forumicebreaker Hydro-Viper I think is also a pretty cool figure, despite maybe being a bit too much on the sci-fi side of things to some, and also makes for a great army builder.
I think that what's always been so great about Joe. Great army builders to really bulk out your forces on either side even if you may have waited until the 00s to get more Joe army builders
Holy Cow this brings back a lot of Distant memories. Great List. 😊 love the Back drop too. Wow on the SW MOCs ❤
I went way overboard with army building during the TRU o-ring days and into the anniversary lines. Learned my lesson. Get a few and leave it at that. Anything more and you are the one who gets overrun by superior numbers.
While I don't grow up with ARAH I grew up with 50th anniversary stuff so I gotta go with the Zombie Viper and the 50th Steel Brigade
Great video I got lucky with some figs like my techno vipers (18)
The rest like my tele-vipers, Eels, snowserpent, motor vipers, Stratovipers they all vary between 8-12 figures
I mostly do Small squads of at least 8 figures
Love that shirt!! Cobra Vipers number 1 !!!!
Great video (and shirt!) Tony 😎👍 The Steel Bridge trooper is an awesome pick for #1, especially since there were 4 or 5 unique “builds” of the figure (using different body parts depending on what options you chose on the mail-away form), so your Steel Brigade army can have some variety! 😁
Also, i think Hasbro did do a Greenshirt troop-builder pack in the Valor vs Venom line. It’s not _totally_ vintage, and i wasn’t actively collecting at the time, so i never picked it up 🙁
Motor Viper, Techno Viper, Strato Viper, Rock Viper, Heat Viper, Range Viper, Night Creepers and Lampreys! Cobra!!!
The Lampreys too! I mean, Tony even ranked Steel Brigade in this list. The Lampreys make for great army builders too despite being vehicle drivers. I'd say the same applies to Motor Vipers -a great figure too.
Great list! Loved the video! Thank you Tony!
O-Ring only!! Nice shirt.
My first army builder inclanation was the Star wars Stormtrooper, and I do remember trying to spend my birthday money on them and my mother saying, "but you already have a stormtrooper....From then on, my army building continued with the GI Joe cobra trooper. gotta have some bad guys to destroy!
My personal favorite are the BATs. I like having multiple weapon options, which gives BATs a lot of flexibility in either small or larger squads.
For the Classified line in particular, Hasbro has released several BAT variants with more to come in the future. Some are repaints, but others even include unique accessories for specialized deployment.
Alley Vipers are my personal fav - few diff colour schemes and the weaponry is quite unique.
I think Hasbro made a huge mistake not letting people who purchased steel corps figures not to let Them make custom file cards in some way like Bobby Vala and the og figure did. I had 3 as a kid. everyone had it's own background filled out.
I feel like they missed an opportunity to have that be a selfie series option
I see what you did there, deliberately using a picture of the Steel Corps with the alternative heads instead of the updated original looking ones.
From the 1986 Viper I don't see the designs as getting crazy but the whole concept of "the trooper" expanding beyond the basic "infantry" and entering into making each Cobra Viper a walking weapon more or less.
Such as Strato-Vipers undergoing surgery, or Hydro Vipers. Next level Cobra troopers.
Without going into Venom Vs. Valor level mutations.
The original Alley Viper could make an impresive army !
Man was he ever! Loved the shield! Great feature for a child's toys
I wouldn't rank it myself as top 10, but yes, that figure also makes up for a great army builder.
Well it has been hard to army build coming in so late, but I have managed to get a few Cobra Troopers and one of each Crimson Guards, but together the three versions I have form a nice body guard unit next to my hooded Cobra Commander. Grunt would be a one off for me as he is hard to find now where I can shop.
As far as GI Joe army building goes, I would include 1983's Airbourne. Of course he was his own unique action figure, but hey, as far as Airbourne troops go, it would be cool to have an army of Airbourne troops parachuting out of the skies.
I have army built Crimson Guards since the 80s. Multiple different lines with at least a dozen. 25th anniversary and the variants made that line my favorite for CGs.
Great countdown Tony!
They came out with some Green Shirt multi packs right before the release of the 25th anniversary redesign.
If you hadn't noticed, this video was focused on the vintage GI Joe ARAH line.
@@AnalogToys I get you! Just trying to be helpful!
Excellent list!!👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
With the bats, I also liked the credit sequence where Scarlet wastes a bunch of them.
Great commentary on the army builder and the desire’s potential origin. As a 10-14 year old lad I did squad build (more modest army building) with my money I made with my brother mowing yards and report card payouts from my dad for good grades. We collected Joes. My dad was like most parents, “Wouldn’t you prefer a new guy?” It is interesting I did not buy more than one type vehicles. I guess the cartoon didn’t affect me in that way. My dad was generous when he could be when it came to toys but he did scoff a more than one of the same guy. Three was my squad limit until the BAT. I got six of those figures. I absolutely loved the BAT. Still do. As a kid my brother would get the Cobra characters and I would get Joes. But that scene of Slaughter versus the BATs definitely influenced me. So after a couple trips to Toys R Us and K-Mart my brother and I had six. It’s my favorite army builder. I think then Crimson Guard, Viper, and Techno Viper. I started as a collector late in 84 and more in 85/86/87 maybe a few in 88/89 then I was into High School stuff then. I didn’t get Officer, Eels, Troopers as I had really missed them. I like them now. I’m a 6” collector mostly now but I did jump in on 4” collecting around 25th anniversary. I had no connection to Joe army builders, especially the Steel Brigade. While I am a 6” collector now, I do appreciate and have re-acquired some of the o-ring. I loved the Dreadnoks as a kid so that’s my current collecting goal to get those in 2024. I chuckled at the jab at Classified Steel Corps. Being salty with the Classified bias seems appropriate for the T-Shirt you wore. I find the Action Force versions kind of bland. Maybe they need a jet pack.
Looked good Tony, I was surprised but pleased to see Steel Brigade on your list and #1 at that. Yo Joe Tony it’s time for Action!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As a kid [70s/80s] I used to wish they made a SW Stormtrooper plaster moulding set [So you could make a lot of them, they'd be White plaster so you'd just put on the black bits with a maker pen]
So which is tougher? The SBS or the SAS? I don't see much about the SBS. Are they Marines? I figure they all work together.
Growing up dad let me play with his G I Joe guys (sorry action figures) and yes if he wanted to "army build" then he didn't get a new figure. My favorite figure is a tie between the Cobra Range Viper (love that skull helmet) and the Iron Grenadier trooper (the helmet and gas mask combo) great video guys
Grunt is my top choice. Plus he was also available in the tan uniform as well for some army builder variety as well
Tripwire, the GI Joe minesweeper, could be an Army Builder. Kinda like the Cobra Televiper. Airtight could work if his uniform colors were more traditional military like the original Joes
I’m a army builder way back in 86 when discount stores got the hold of palitoy stock I ended up with 200 cobra officers the following year international hero’s came out and added vipers snow serpents bats etc great days
My absolute favorite is the 1985 Crimson Guard, because of its aesthetics and back story 😎
Shipwreck is amazing. Not annoying.
Excellent review
I'm surprised there aren't any Iron Grenadiers (Destro's private army) or Headman's Headhunters (the original not the Stormtrooper version which was a bit overdone). Also, _no ninjas?_ I was around for the Night Creepers and liked them well enough, but I have seen the Red Ninjas and they look awesome as well. I would also make a case for the Alley Vipers, if they had been repainted in a more urban color scheme, rather than bright orange.
I think I would have put the Cobra Troopers, Vipers, Officers and Snow Serpents all in the top five, if only for their looks, numbers needed and overall utility. I had forgotten about the Steel Brigade even though I have two of them. I think they are a much better option than Grunt as Grunt (and Shipwreck for that matter) will always be individual Joes among the organization's increasingly diverse and ever growing ranks.
The Headhunters do make for great army builders too.
OG Blue & Black Mask Trooper and Officer will always be My #1 Joe Figures. COBRAAAAA!
Lovely choices - gotta be the Cobra trooper for me - but would prefer Red shadows all day long if we expanded the remit a bit! x
I’m sentimentally attached to the Cobra Troopers, but your logic is sound for your rankings.
That's definitely a solid option for a favorite
Serpent and Frogmen are awesome, but as they are environment specific so they don’t rank high for me personally. I personally love the viper most. I mainly have a bunch of vipers and a couple each of officers, troopers, bats, and crimson guards to supplement the team. I do enjoy my serpents and such as well though.
I tend to favor army building figures that have masks. That doesn't leave a ton of early joes and the masked figures I really like tend to be expensive for army building. But I'm trying anyways...
I like the V1 Steel Brigades. I just love the helmet and mask and the light blue color with green and silver. No patch needed! I also love imagining an army of V1 snake eyes. Also not cheap!
When it comes to cobra, I army build OG Cobra Troopers, Cobra Officers, OG Vipers and CG's. I'd love to build a Firefly squad too. But damn that walkie.
Thanks for hearing me out.
Action Soldier and Action Marine from 1994 Commemorative are great army builders.
The only army toys that my parents ever gifted me was a set of green, stationary army soldiers similar to what were shown in the first Toy Story movie
Awesome video Yo Joe!
Always love your videos bro!
I was fortunate to have 2 Snow Serpents growing up! Pure childhood bliss!
What about the Valor vs Venom ranges? There were several Cobra six packs and a GI joe infantry one.
Enjoyed this had the same idea of army building shipwreck if I was ever lucky to get my hands on a Flagg, I would have gone a little further though, mixed up top side and cutter too. I’d ask though who would you use to piece together flight deck crew?
Looking back, its surprising Hasbro never made a Cobra trooper four pack.
I would add the Cobra Night Viper to the list as well as, admittedly stretching the point, the1994 30th salute Action Soldier & Marine.
Kind of ironic that, despite being a mail away exclusive, Palitoy advertised Grunt as being a generic Action Force infantryman, implying that you could army build these figures.
another great video!
Never heard of anyone army building Steel Brigade before. You figure it would be a pain because of all the variants looking slightly different to each other.
Crimson Guard at 8???? STUNNED.
Too high? Too low? Or are you just getting a little carried away using the word... _STUNNED?_
Hey Tony, great list of army builders. It skews toward your preference for the more realistically military...except for the BATs. I never built armies as a kid, and I haven't fully embraced the scope of "army" yet. Though you might say I have a few squads. I agree that the Tele-viper is a sleeper. I even like the gaudy Python Patrol version. Like you, I love the Viper look. I picked up a few of those Viper Pit packs from Toys R Us back in the day. I prefer the Iron Grenadiers to the CGs, and economy steered me to the fantastic neon nightmare of the BAT II over the og. My personal #1 army builder is the Night Viper. Those guys look good together with their visors down.
Oh man, I have lots of vintage Cobra troop/army builders. Mostly Python Patrol figs, Iron Grenadiers, FRAG Vipers, Alley Vipers, Etc. But I have zero Joe builders.
All very cool figures.
my list is a little different. my #1 would be the 1983 Cobra Trooper, followed closely by the 1985 Crimson guard and the 1986 Viper.
all great picks tony
Hasbro and Larry Hama (who co created G. I. Joe) nixed the notion of the 'greenshirts' as the G. I. Joe Team was already supposed to be the Best of the best.
As General Flagg reminded Hawk in Marvel Comics' G. I. Joe #16: "The Joes are supposed to be capable of operating for protracted periods with no support at all."
The Vipers actually rank lower than the Cobra Soldiers. Their filecards note that, "If you want to get anywhere in Cobra you have to start out as a Viper. That's the bottom of the pyramid." The Cobra Soldiers even have rank equivelancy to E-4 (Corporal). Cobra Officers rank O-4 (Major).
Agree about the Eels. They were well designed and they're Cobra's most successful branch; from their ranks came the Snow Serpent, Ice Vipers, and Secto-Vipers.
And, yes, Shipwreck was indeed annoying in the cartoons.
Hey Tony,
Great video like always. For me growing up my sister was a chocoholic so I had way to supplement my pocket money to buy a joes. Anyway your top ten is quite interesting and very insightful but I might suggest a figure you might have overlooked from 89 and for me it’s one I certainly army build and it’s the night viper that figure is awesome and my honour mention is 90 rock viper such a great figure too
I glad you mentioned that the snow serpent reminded you of the arctic soviet soldiers from red dawn i agree with you. Another thing I like to mention is Big Ben reminds me of red dawn when Patrick Swayze wore similar outfit in the movie. Anyway, thanks for the video I really enjoyed it. Keep up the good work
Totally agree with you! Both Night Vipers and Rock Vipers make for great army builders too. Only the Night Viper looks way cooler than the Rock Viper (at least to me).
This was an enjoyable video, Tony and your top-10 list is on point. As a kid, I literally thought Grunt was an army-builder because of his generic look, accessories and name. Woulda been cool if Hasbro made Grunt the much-needed Green-shirt Brigade to counter the Cobra Troopers in battle. I mean, why not build an army for both sides of the aisle? After all, It makes perfect sense to army-build a Military based toyline. 😉
I don't really army build, but the Vipers are my favorite army builder. The BATS would be a very close second. Excellent list, although I personally prefer the Steel Corps over modern Steel Brigade. I just like the classic helmet design better. Especially since Hasbro provided the same style helmets with Grunt and the soon to be released Clutch. Not that the modern Steel Brigade figure isn't cool, because it is.
A great cobra army builder is w.o.r.m.s without its helmet because then he's basically a dude in brown fatigues and a balaclava
Great video once again sir,my favorite army builder has to be,well,the only one from the list I have multiples of at the moment,the Cobra Viper,but I would say your list is pretty reasonable.There is actually one other joe figure I have multiples of but I wouldn't consider it one of the best and that's Skidmark,I have about eight of him and I use them as my flight deck crew on the USS Flagg.
🎉Tony, can you make a top-10 weirdest Hasbro Cobra troopers? 😂
I used to army build storm shadows to fight snakes-eyes
(upon arriving at an isolated arctic Cobra outpost to answer a distress call and finding no survivors...)
Cobra Officer: He was killed serving Cobra, sir.
Major Bludd: This is Fred XXV.
Cobra Trooper: But in Cobra, we have no names.
Major Bludd: No, listen to me. This is a man and he has a name, and it's Fred XXV, okay?
Stinger Driver: Fred XXV.
Major Bludd: He is dead now, because of your lack of haste in getting him fresh canned goods, all right? You killed him. You understand that?
[Everyone stares at Bludd]
Stinger Driver: I understand. In death, a member of Cobra has a name. His name is Fred XXV.
Cobra Trooper: His name is Fred XXV.
Major Bludd: Stop it! Shut up!
All Cobra Troopers: His name is Fred XXV!
All Cobra Troopers ( even louder): His name is Fred XXV! His name is Fred XXV!
Excellent 😊
I dont recall how, but i had quite a few tan uniformed grunts. Did they come in a mulit pack? Maybe a garage sale...lol
The tan Grunt came packed in with the G.I.Joe Falcon Attack Glider. There was also a tan Clutch that came with the Vamp Mark 2.
@AnalogToys absolutely, I had both. But maybe I am thinking I had multiples of the same guy, and I am just remembering wrong. Though my brother and I got doubles of everything so we didn't fight over toys. That's why we have such a large collection in good shape still being played with today
Love the shirt! 😁 👍🏻
Also, nice video 😅
I actually don’t army build in any line I collect. It drives prices up too much for other collectors. If I happen to wind up with driving unless if a figure I trade them or give them to people just starting out. I just sent a guy a Stormtrooper, an AT-AT driver and a Snowtrooper because I already had them. Might be stupid but that’s how I get the most enjoyment from the hobby.
Well next time you're feeling generous I'll take any Joe/Cobra figure you'd like to pass on my whole toy and comic collection was stolen I liked the more military looking figures better but I'm a desert rat so my favorite was Dusty and later the Cobra Sand Viper
This is a fun list. Though I would challenge that it's the "best", more your best. Which is fine. I love your thoughts on it for sure. I would put the BAT as my number 1, Viper 2, and Crimson Guard 2. But I would also but Night Vipers high and original Storm Shadow as a different option.
So is your complaint that he didn't articulate the phrase, _In my opinion?_ If so, that's implied by the very nature of the video. Do people honestly have to start Top Ten videos with, _"Now, remember everyone, this is my opinion, and yours may be different, and that's ok. We're all aloud to have our personal opinions..."_ Can't we just look at a video called the Top 10 Best... and think, hey, this guy is going to give me his opinion.
@@timothyward8695 I don't disagree with you, just starting a conversation. I really enjoyed the video. Not a complaint, just voicing my opinion in the comments section is all. ;)
Agree
My Steel Brigade codename was Bullseye, which at 10 seemed very clever. I wonder how many thousands of kids were also Bullseye? 😅
It would be interesting to hear everyone's code name
Uff Great Jersey!!!!
I'd go snake eyes for a ninja squad
Did you know ice cream solider could be an army builder?
Night Creepers Toxo Vipers SAW vipers and Range Vipers make good affordable army builders also Grunt v2 from 91 could possibly be a good army builder....
Do you mean Grunt v2 that came with the Falcon?
Nice Shirt‼️
😂
Honestly, I get you can use grunt to troop build and the Steel Crops but ive never been a fan of the Joes having troop builders. In my mind it defeats the idea of the Joes essentially being Special Forces, as in, an exclusive force of the best of the best.
Yeah, but people troop build Grunt because he looks like the generic soldiers in the background on the Joe side of the battle in the ARAH cartoon series.
Budo Is my Favorite I have One
No Iron Grenadiers? Not even an honorable mention 😬🤦🏻♂️😂
This channel needs more love
Unfortunately my army builders were those knock off Joe's.😂
I'm sorry but right now there are no toys that are priced the price you can make army building with