Action Figure: 4 out of 4.
These clown-faced robotic toy soldiers were part of the Super7 G.I. Joe ReAction line, which was meant to be a nostalgic celebration of the classic 3.75-inch action figure format popularized by Kenner Star Wars toyline, reimagined with modern licenses.
In many cases, the simplified figures weren't needed, looked off, and outright bad (Snake Eyes in this style, why?). However, the drones, having five points of articulation (arms, legs, and neck), worked for what they were and offered. Their stiff and limited movement enhanced the impression of programmed automatons. They were obedient, unthinking, and eerily efficient.
They were made to be a gleeful parody of the Cobra Snow Serpent, but for their faces. Their wonderfully cheerful permanent painted smile juxtaposed with the deadly "games" they played at the whims of the Gamesmaster. An eye-catching, little red clown nose is basically the cherry on top. Give them a gun to shoot, a backpack to give them bulk, and the figure had all it needed.
This may be outright my favorite G.I. Joe ReAction figure, given its excellent cartoon-to-figure actualization. The formatting benefits it because the drones aren't human. They look creepy and dangerous, but seem easily mass-produced, providing the Gamesmaster his instant gratification.
They have no trace of humanity, but the clown faces add a bit of cruel, childlike humor, so they end up having more personality than a Cobra BAT. A BAT was meant to clear a field of battle, while these drones were meant to serve as entertainment.
It's All A Game: The Gamesmaster is a top 10 episode in the entire series for me.
The best episodes of G.I. Joe by Sunbow always had a bit of subversive subtext; clever children might have caught on, or maybe it went over their heads. The writers knew how to promote the toyline while slipping in things so an episode could work on many levels.
The Gamesmaster was a large man with a bald head and a beard. Certainly, he was intimidating, almost brutish. His physicality evoked power, dominance, even menace (the larger brat who would bully other kids to serve his ideas while playing).
He was this wonderfully flamboyant, childlike billionaire with a private island, robotic servants, and the power to abduct anyone he wished for his amusement. The Gamesmaster's wealth gave him detachment from consequences, adulthood, and responsibility. His "best friend" was a robot doll-like clown named Koko. The Gamesmaster was wholly in his own world, where everything was in service to his entertainment.
"I want to play new game, Koko, a game where real people
fight for their lives. Where I can play, but can't get hurt!"
Different kind of drones were used to kidnap Baroness and Cobra Commander from Cobra, as well as members of G.I. Joe, Flint and Lady Jaye.
The Gamesmaster declared, "As there are no rules, it will be an easy game to learn." The players found themselves on his island, where a hidden one-man helicopter awaited. The winner was the one who escaped; the other three would fall victim to the island's deadly toys. If no one found the helicopter, all four would lose.
Toys Forever: Baroness, Cobra Commander, Flint, and Lady Jaye as action figures were always tools of children, to be played with, stripped of autonomy never having autonomy. They were just toys for amusement in real life for children.
"Thissss can't be happening again!"
- Cobra Commander, the quintessential tyrant, couldn't revel in his authority. His vanity was neutralized, his status rendered meaningless in a sandbox where someone richer and weirder has control ("Do you know who I am? You can't do this to me!").
- Baroness, typically poised and on guard, was denied relaxation. She was made a prisoner in someone else's aesthetic, reduced to visual eye-candy, forced to play the game in a bikini the entire episode.
- Flint, the second-in-command of G.I. Joe, who is a symbol of mission-focused masculinity, could not enjoy his home when his duties were done. The island was meant to warp his role from leader to pawn (but Flint is just too good).
- Lady Jaye was subjected to blatant voyeuristic gazes. She couldn't even find privacy in a changing room, as her body was judged and consumed with curiosity, amusement, and lust by the villain.
The Gamesmaster had no beliefs. There was no grand cause or reason. There was no ideology on his island. G.I. Joe and Cobra's conflict was trivialized to provide entertainment for this bored manbaby. Thus, the Baroness, Cobra Commander, Flint, and Lady Jaye were expected to do one thing: Play.
"Punishment, punishment, punishment"
The episode turns when the Gamesmaster, as well as Lady Jaye, believed Flint to be dead (complete with mechanical pallbearers and a coffin); Flint infiltrated the control room.
"hehehehehe"
In a small moment, Koko delighted in the ambush, seeming more interested in suspense and chaos than the Gamesmaster "winning" (sometimes, even your best friend liked watching you lose).
"You cheated! I'm gonna tell on you!"
The Gamesmaster threw a temper tantrum, the classic response when the rules no longer serve a spoiled brat. He's just a petulant kid who lost the game (well, actually, the episode goes on as Cobra and G.I. Joe forces arrive, but at this point, his drone armies are overwhelmed).
Childhood Crushes: Fictional animated characters served as harmless outlets for budding emotions and hormones. It's all part of growing up. Characters like Lady Jaye or other female animated IP were not real people, which meant that children didn't have to worry about potential emotional attachments or the risk of rejection that they might not be ready to handle at a young age.
The show allowed women to be feminine without reducing them to stereotypes. They all had distinct personalities. Even once-off characters, such as Bree Van Mark, Professor Attila, and Raven, we understood who they were by the end of a 22-minute episode.
G.I. Gals
Don't Be A Creep: Although the Gamesmaster claimed to KoKo that he didn't have a crush on Lady Jaye, the evidence on screen suggested otherwise (well, more likely an unhealthy infatuation). If pressed, I'd guess he would have deflected by saying that KoKo was the one actually ogling her (blame your friend for your actions).
As it stood, both of them watched her undress, just like all the boys who had seen countless episodes filled with fan service featuring Lady Jaye, as well as standard scenes of female characters looking attractive. G.I. Joe didn't shy away from this.
It's all perfectly innocent. Right? Riiiight.
The Gamesmaster was a stunted, sexual creep who was interested in infantilizing and objectifying Baroness and Lady Jaye, "owning" them, more "toys" for his playroom. He couldn't interact with women as people. The episode clearly positioned him to be seen as emotionally dysfunctional and not to be emulated.
"Can't a lady get a little privacy?"
The taking of Baroness and Lady Jaye were staged to emphasize humiliation, and these instances were carried out differently than the abductions of Cobra Commander and Flint.
The Gamesmaster aimed to strip Cobra Commander and Flint's authority as leaders. For Baroness and Lady Jaye, it was primarily about his own visual gratification before capturing each of them.
Cobra Commander/Flint's kidnapping resulted in humorous emasculation (well, only with Cobra Commander really; Flint is just better in a do-or-die situation), while the captures of Baroness/Lady Jaye were done in such a way as to provide voyeuristic control.
We were meant to laugh at what happened to Cobra Commander, his humiliations during his time on the island, as he deserved it. However, we were also meant to feel a sense of complicity and discomfort with how the Gamesmaster behaved while kidnapping the women.
The Gamesmaster deliberately intruded into feminine spaces. He targeted the two female characters during moments of undress, vulnerability, privacy, and leisure. For him, femininity is something to be leered at and interrupted and exploited, rather than respected. This was done to strip autonomy from the Baroness and Lady Jaye, reducing them to passive objects to collect for his amusement.
He couldn't deal with real human connection, so the Gamesmaster displaced any desire he had onto fantasy. Thus, his "games."
The Joy Of Learning Play Patterns: Another thing great episodes did was teach children more ways to play with their G.I. Joe action figures. Mix and match toylines! Cobra and G.I. Joe work together!
Instead of Cobra vs. G.I. Joe every time, The Gamesmaster showed children that wildcards could be introduced. This episode encouraged children to invent new third-party antagonists using other toylines or their imagination.
The two sides typically would join against aliens or monsters in my adventures. Often, G.I. Joe and Cobra forces would unite against Cobra La, as they were viewed as a significant threat to the world (and Cobra Commander didn't want to serve Golobulus anyway).
This also taught children more about the skills and roles of characters. G.I. Joe and Cobra could work together, pool resources, and share strategies that were not typically disclosed, while still maintaining a healthy distrust.
This episode encouraged children to experiment with new dynamics, team-ups, and character interactions, as the episode briefly teased a Scarlett and Zartan alliance, perhaps hinting at more cross-team romance (before Mainframe/Zarana was a thing).
Children were taught that if an adventure needed more soldiers, cannon fodder, civilians, vehicles, playsets, then look around with what was on hand, it's all there with what they already owned.
I used Star Wars figures as fillers, cannon fodder, or space invaders, assorted off-brand weirdos from a dollar store, sometimes McDonald's Happy Meal toys were used, vehicles meant for preschool, Legos, and Transformers could provide 'bases'. MUSCLES acted as gremlins/ghoulie-like trouble makers who wanted to eat people.
My vintage Krang even scaled better with G.I. Joe action figures than with the actual Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toyline.
Ewok Village was my Dreadnok base. The Fright Zone was a Cobra HQ. The Super Powers Batmobile was the stand-in for Flint's sports car. The Hall of Justice was my G.I. Joe HQers. Jabba's Dungeon was a torture/prison for Cobra. I'd even stuff prisoners or "dead" G.I. Joes in Jabba's lower throne area. Castle Grayskull was used as a point of interest for either side.
Cardboard boxes could become vehicles, forts, traps, or secret bases. The different foam insert shapes could add texture, twists, and turns, creating all sorts of sensory-rich environments for adventures.
And on and on it went throughout my childhood.
"This is treachery of the highest order! I've been stuck on this island for months!
Where are my forces? Why haven't I been rescued yet? This is all Destro's fault!"
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