I was just thinking about this last night and thought that I would pose the question to the group. Which year do you think produced the the best army builders, and Why? For me I think that it would have to be 86 with 85 as a close second. I have always liked the AVAC, Vipers, Strato Vipers, and BATS. All around I think that was the best year. What are your thoughts?

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Chuck Norris doesn't Tea Bag. He Potato Sacks.

I'd like to answer this, but I don't honestly know. Like, I like the stuff they are doing now! So whenever the Blueshirts and Vipers came out (2007?), those are the bomb to me. Or whatever year produced the NeoVipers (w/ o-ring).

'85 is my favorite Joe year. Some of the most iconic Joes were released, not to mention the best version of Snake Eyes, great Cobra troops (CGs, Serpents, Eels), the Twins, the 3 main 'Noks, and of course who could forget the vehicles!

After '85 would definitely be '84. Similar to '85 there were some great Joes that year like Recondo and Roadblock and Ripcord to name a few. The Cobras that year were also top shelf stuff! As we saw Zartan, Stormy, and the Baroness. Not to mention we got both the Whale and the Water Mocassin.

Other than those as my big two I'm really fond if '86 and '83. There was a lot of killer stuff in particular around '86, like General Jones said. '87 to me was kind of a blah year but there were some good releases in it. Then there's '88 which in my opinion is one of the most underrated Joe years.

I guess to map it out I'd go with:

85
84
86
83
88
82
87
89
90

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1983, if only due to the fact that there is not a bad figure released. Cover Girl is the worst and even then she's a write-off due to the fact that between 1982 and now there's been one decent female figure mold.

85 has two really bad figures (Tollbooth and Quick Kick) and was marred by a design change (Tomax and Xamot, Flint, and the Tele Viper are big victims of the new neck joint) 86 is a dawning of a new era and 84 is better in theory than execution (IE: Recondo is nice figure to look at, except his torso's mad bulky and gun is terrible) and had a real stinker (Blowtorch)

1985 to 1988 is the golden period for me, with 1989 almost getting in there too. For pure army building it's hard to beat 1985 - CG's, Tele Vipers and Snow Serpents are all super cool. Then there's 1983 - it's hard to beat swivel arm Cobra Officers and Troopers!

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"The future's uncertain and the end is always near." - The Doors "Roadhouse Blues".

From best to worst:

1985 was the most awesome year. Cobra could've stop right there and be fine, except lacking a basic generic pilot.

1986: For better or worse, redoes the basic ground forces. Adds two pilot classes, plus the so-so Motor Vipers.

1983: Swivel arm Troopers, officers, glider pilots and HISS drivers...I could almost be content with those alone.

1990: Solid bunch of enemy army builders, weakest being SAW-Viper, based on his appearance.

1989: new troops and repaints. Some of are limited use (TARGAT) though.

1987: Techno Viper, Royal Guard (strange but cool) and some nice drivers.

1991: Immortal and Desert Scorpions, plus some other decent troopers

1988: IG's stand out here. The rest are honestly disposable in the big picture, except maybe Toxo Viper.

1992: Flak Viper and Headhunter and Air Devil

1993: Some new molds that deserved better.

1994: Much the same.

1984: Wow...stinger driver.

What could you have against the head ball joint? I thought that was a excellent upgrade. More poseability the better.

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My JoeDios photos | Flickr

2008! Those 25th BATs are SWEET!!!

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