Toys
Despite the Oktober Guard's debut in the comic book in 1982, and their animated debut in 1985, the Oktober Guard were not featured in the related action figures until Red Star was initially released in 1991. An early packaging error listed him as a member of Cobra. However, this was soon corrected, and the package color and logo represented his alliance with G.I. Joe, although he was listed as an Oktober Guard character on his file card.
Big Bear was initially released in 1992. It should be noted that despite Red Star's resemblance to Colonel Brekhov, both Red Star and Big Bear were entirely new characters developed for the action figure line.
Big Bear was recolored in 1993, and offered as part of an "International Team" mail-order set, which also featured re-colorations of Big Ben (representing England), Spirit (representing the U.S.), and Budo (representing Japan).
An Oktober Guard three-pack was produced in 1998, which consisted of Colonel Brekhov (a re-coloration of Red Star); Lt. Gorky (a re-coloration of Big Bear despite little resemblance); and Lt. Volga, initially intended to be Daina.
The original Oktober Guard was released in 2004, as part of the comic-based sets, in conjunction with sets #6 and 7, which were the issue numbers in which they originally debuted. The three-packs featured Colonel Brekhov, Daina, Stormavik, Schrage, Horrorshow, and G.I. Joe Team member Stalker, who played a significant role in the comic book story.
A Dragonsky figure, was part of the 2005 Official G.I. Joe Collectors' Club series of figures in a separate three-pack, which also featured Gung-Ho and a new character called Steel Brigade Commander.
The remaining members of the Oktober Guard were released in 2006, in a comic-based set based on issue #101, which featured the debut of the "new" Oktober Guard, and featured figures of Dragonsky, Lt. Gorky, and Sgt. Misha, using entirely different molds.
A 25th Anniversary-style version of Red Star was produced, and sold in a comic-based two-pack alongside Duke. The comic story, entirely original, features Red Star, Daina, and Horrorshow teaming up with Duke and other Joes to fight Cobra. Red Star seems to have assumed Colonel Brekhov's role as leader of the Guard.
The 2012 G.I. Joe convention featured a convention box set with an Oktober Guard theme, producing many new convention exclusive Oktober Guard figures in the 25th Anniversary molds. The set is called Operation: Bear Trap, and the Oktober Guard will be facing the Iron Grenadiers. The Oktober Guard members in the set includes Colonel Brekhov, Daina, Stormavik, Schrage, Horror-Show, and new Oktober Guard member General Iron Bear. An Oktober Guard Convention T-Shirt was also available as a attendee exclusive.
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Famous quotes containing the word toys:
“The child that is not clean and neat,
With lots of toys and things to eat,
He is a naughty child, I’m sure—
Or else his dear Papa is poor.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“If there is a species which is more maltreated than children, then it must be their toys, which they handle in an incredibly off-hand manner.... Toys are thus the end point in that long chain in which all the conditions of despotic high-handedness are in play which enchain beings one to another, from one species to another—cruel divinities to their sacrificial victims, from masters to slaves, from adults to children, and from children to their objects.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“The great passion in a man’s life may not be for women or men or wealth or toys or fame, or even for his children, but for his masculinity, and at any point in his life he may be tempted to throw over the things for which he regularly lays down his life for the sake of that masculinity. He may keep this passion secret from women, and he may even deny it to himself, but the other boys know it about themselves and the wiser ones know it about the rest of us as well.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)