GI Joe Kre-O Re-Enlists With More Great Mini Figures

The best Kre-O collection ever expands with a new set of blind bagged mini figures.

GI Joe Kre-Os broke onto the scene a year ago, and they quickly won the hearts of many Joe fans and building toy collectors alike, myself included.  Now, Hasbro and Toys R Us have launched the second year of Joe-themed sets and mini figures, starting with a great new assortment of blind bagged minis from all corners of the Joe universe.

I continue to be impressed by how fun– and how deep into the character selection– the GI Joe Kre-O line is willing to go.  The latest diverse assortment brings twelve more figures to the lineup, ranging from the classic 80s Real American Hero to more recent 90s characters, a comic book style Cobra trooper and even the return of Mike Powers, the Atomic Man!

On the RAH front, this wave includes Lady Jaye, Doc, Footloose and Low Light for the good guys, and new Cobras such as Scrap Iron, Dreadnok Torch, Tomax (whose brother Xamot will be included in the Terror Drome later this year), and a Snow Serpent.  Each figure does a great job of capturing the classic look of the characters and their weapons– Torch looks great alongside last year’s Ripper, and Lady Jaye is one of the last a-list Joes we needed for the collection, so she’s a welcome new recruit.

The accessories with these figures are also perfect– Doc gets a great block-style stretcher, while Scrap Iron gets his rocket launcher as a mini-build.  Even silly pack-ins like Low Light’s food rations are a great detail, and add to the fun of these little guys.  Some choices seem strange– the Snow Serpent, for example, features a blank torso with the accurate detailing, with a park overlay that covers it.  While I’m not sure why they did this, it’s cool to have the extra parka pieces to make other Cobra characters fit in the arctic style.

If the Real American Hero figures weren’t enough, this wave is rounded out by more fun characters.  Mike Powers is back, with his first new toy since the 70s.  The cyborg hero features his trademark clear plastic bionic arm and leg, his camo Hawaiian shirt and a mini-build of his hand-powered helicopter accessory (if you’re not familiar with the Atomic Man, he could fly by holding on to this rotor blade accessory and spinning his robot wrist really fast, because reasons).  Also included here is a Marvel Comics colored Cobra Jet Trooper, with an all new jetpack entirely different than the previous released glider version.  And if you love 90’s GI Joe, this set is finished off with two ninjas– a Night Creeper and Ninja Force mainstay Nunchuk,both of whom help fill out the martial arts corner of the Joe-verse.

I’m beyond impressed with how fun and addictively collectible these mini figures are.  At only three bucks a pop, they’re a great value, and the military theme of Joe lends itself perfectly to army builders, weapons and vehicles, wonderfully adapted into brick toy format.  GI Joe Kre-O made a splash by offering clever, charming and totally fun new toys last year, and I’m glad that the same attention and love is being paid by Hasbro’s design team as we enter year two.

The new GI Joe Kre-Os all come blind bagged, but Hasbro prints product stamps on the back of the packaging that mark which figure is which.  Here are the stamp codes for this assortment, so you know which figures to hunt for.  Look for the stamp printed on the back of the bags, with these numbers as the last two in the sequence:

• Polar Assault Eel (Snow Serpent): 03
• Tomax: 04
• Torch: 05
• Night Creeper: 43
• Nunchuk: 44
• Mike Powers, Atomic Man: 50
• Doc: 51
• Cobra Jet Trooper: 52
• Footloose: 53
• Lady Jaye: 54
• Scrap Iron: 66
• Low Light: 86

Look for these GI Joe Kre-O figures at Toys R Us stores now.