I was never really a Corps! action figure fan growing up. In fact, I do not really recall seeing G.I. Joe’s distant cousins until 2007 or so. This is when I began my second foray into collecting Joes after spotting Snake Eyes facing off with a much more modern looking Storm Shadow in a comic book advertisement. My first historic search for action figures on eBay not only resulted in all of those wonderful gems from my childhood, but these horrible, barrel-chested reserves made by Lanard.
As I launched headlong into re-collecting Joes (modern first, then vintage 1:18th scale figures), I filtered out all of those off-brand, Lanard military flunk outs and maintained my focus on a singular collecting point. Eventually, something odd began to happen. The more I saw o-ring figures from the ARAH line, the more the Lanard Corps! figures began to blend in and feel a bit more like home. Gone were the days of odd-shaped heads and turnip-shaped torsos pushing me away from the line. Rather, three-wheeled motorcycles and futuristic looking space-age football players (I don’t see him as a Capt. America type, as so many others do) with wacky names like Steve Wyoming began to demand my attention.
Ultimately, I gave in to the desire and began buying lots (and LOTS) of Corps! lots online. They were cheap, plentiful, and seemingly unwanted. I bought an entire collection off a friend. I began to store them in gallon bags. Then in huge drums. Well, 2 huge bins at least. And while collecting these wonderful o-ring rejects, their modern day counterparts started to beckon as well.
G.I. Joe’s migration from o-ring to New Sculpt (Joe vs. Cobra, Valor vs. Venom, etc…) was fairly ugly, bulky, and most just do not look natural (yes, I collect them anyway, and yes, there is some gold in them ‘thar hills). However, their migration from New Sculpt to the modern era of 25th anniversary style was a thing of beauty. Corps! made the migration along a much rockier trail, leaving me devoid of any interest in collecting their modern offerings. But something happened along the way.
Over the past couple of years, Corps! figures have taken on better articulation, better details and sculpting, and revamped design. Lanard has picked up several monster movie licenses, which has likely brought in more revenue to help infuse their military figure line. And that is great for the collector’s market. If you take a look at Corps! offerings that Walmart current offers as exclusive three-packs, there are some wonderful figures at a great price points; you can even buy online using coupons from Raise. Locally, these packs are selling for $5.00, making each figure less than $2.00. Each comes with a weapon or two, and a small, one man vehicle is included as a throw-in. You are getting four toys for less than the price of your diabetes burger at McEverywhere!
I didn’t intend to turn this into a discourse on why a line of toys that I once actively filtered out of my searches ended up being something that I actively collect, but it appears to have become that exact kind of writing. Rather than add even more words and driving hits away from the site with unattactive verbosity, click through and look at the pictures of 2018’s figures, and see if they make a space of their own in your toyverse.
