HCC788 - 1985 TOMAX & XAMOT - Crimson Guard Commanders - Vintage G.I. Joe toy review! S03E19

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Twitter:
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Special Thanks to Geoff Adams!
Tomax on YoJoe.com:
www.yojoe.com/action/85/tomax....
Xamot on YoJoe.com:
www.yojoe.com/action/85/xamot....
Tomax and Zamot on 3DJoes.com:
www.3djoes.com/tomax--xamot.html
Tomax on halfbattle.com:
www.halfbattle.com/tomax.html
Xamot on halfbattle.com:
www.halfbattle.com/xamot.html
Jousting armor:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...
Corsica:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsica
By Tanos CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Algiers Putsch:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algiers_...
Gnomes of Zurich:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomes_o...
Napoleon:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon
The Battle of Algeirs (1966) on Imdb:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0058946/
French Foreign Legion:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_...
Fifth column:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_c...
G.I. Joe Pyramids of Darkness - Clip 2:
• G.I. Joe Pyramids of D...
G.I. Joe animated series images:
www.joetoonarchive.com/display...
www.joetoonarchive.com/display...
www.joetoonarchive.com/display...
Music:
Summon the Rawk, Noise Attack,
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
G. I. Joe is (c) Hasbro.
All copyrighted material is used for the purpose of
comment and criticism, which constitutes a fair use
of such material.
This video is (c) Bryan Lower.

[@Mighty-VizioN]

As a 45 year old man that grew up on GI Joe, the twin gimmick started with them. I know nothing about the twin link until I saw them. Outside of snake eyes and Storm Shadow they are my favorite. I've always loved their costume

[@laneneely1077]

The corsican brothers was written in 1844. They could feel each other's pain.

[@antionepalmer6748]

I don't care what anyone says. My generation has the ABSOLUTE BEST TOYS! The cartoons were great and the toys awesome! 😁👌

[@Cagliostro81]

You may be right, I mean they're still putting out new versions of the characters from ARAH (and other lines from the 80's, obviously).

[@petewallace9987]

Awesome looking figures. I couldn't get behind the psychic bond angle the cartoon played up but these guys were just as cunning and dangerous as Destro in my Joe universe. Great review man

[@christianhafer9819]

Great review? He didn't put these phenomenal figures in the top tier because of twin gimmicks? Terrible review.

[@chadkimmel8957]

Two of the best looking figures of the line, in my opinion, of corse.

[@bullognahunter2625]

Great breakdown of the file card. The Battle of Algiers is a great movie 🍿

[@user-gd8zg9if2t]

If you see the profile pictures in the file card of the twins, you will notice that they look like the French actor Alain Delon, as he was in the '50s and the '60s. He was half Corsican and he had the lead role in 2 great war films about the Foreign Legion and the war in Algiers. Adieu l' ami or Goodbye friend and The lost command. Just a thought. I had them as kid and liked them! Carry on the gret work!

[@chrisnwi1209]

Next to Zartan these guys are my favorite Cobra figures. I like them so much in fact I have 4 sets of them in my display. and from what I remember the darker scar on Xamots face is actually the harder to find variant. Great review and your humor just cracks me up way to beat the crap out of "your" twin

[@guitardudeguy3139]

I think that they originally just wanted twin figures and added the rest later, "island in the Mediterranean" = Corsica...hence the fairy tale gimmick of the Corsican brothers. Two twin brothers that could feel each other's pain and other senses. I agree with you on the lazy gimmickry. However, they were portrayed very well in the comics and the sunbow cartoons and the design is really good. The acrobatic circus attribute is not really needed. And the way they finish each other's sentences can be a bit annoying. I think the banker type role is okay , but after that they are all over the place with thier characters. Crimson guard leaders, bankers,acrobats and Corsican brothers syndrome along with other twin characteristics is , well, a bit too much and very far reaching. But the figures are great and a must for the vintage collector. Thanks for your awesome review!

[@yakito007]

As a kid I always wanted these figures, but unfortunately I never found them in the shops. Nowadays maybe their design don't impress me much; They look old fashioned but I prefer this rather than both dressed with a banker suit. Something that I have to recognise is the excellent idea of making a twin brothers sold together as one. I suppose that they should be a little bit expensive than a normal figure but the concept of having twins in the cobra army is great and made them special. Good review!

[@HCC788]

+Iñaki Matar o Morir I do like the idea of twins, but it's all in the execution. The execution was mostly pretty good! But I think they just had a few too many good ideas, and needed to trim it down a bit.

[@christianhafer9819]

@@HCC788 Top tier all the way, Hoodie!!

[@Timkasa82]

great review. I've always loved the twins. nice toy room.

[@Michael_Johnson_5446]

Remember my dad buying these and bringing them back on his lunch break one day. I liked the gimmick and the packaging because it made them feel like deluxe figures and I loved the zip line.

[@thundergodgamer118]

I just sold mine. I actually sold both of them online with armor Cobra commander. I sell action figures and video games online. Tomax and xamot are like the best vintage cobra figures.

[@jacobanderson9894]

Always tripped how the packaging artwork made the look like actor John Saxon

[@tntsk868]

Glad your back doing videos, great review!

[@craighofmann638]

Give a man a gun, he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, he can rob EVERYBODY. I also like that Cobra was given someone (Or in this case, two) who was involved in banking, corporate takeovers, property rights, etc. A well financed and organized crime syndicate would need people like that.

[@thephotoviper]

great review! love these characters, and their backstories. they are absolutely written to be from corsica, the feeling each others pain, and being lawyers and soldiers all are a nod to alexandre dumas' novela "the corsican brothers" from the late 1800's... one of my favorite things about the brand, was that there were always these educational easter eggs, full of historical, and literary references... :) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Corsican_Brothers

[@antiquariancrafts2454]

+myke horsley Good point!

[@HCC788]

+myke horsley Thanks for pointing out the Corsican Brothers. I wish I had included it in the review. It seems I always miss something!

[@jeremysnead9233]

Xomat and Tomax were most likely members in a Circus freak show. "The Corsican Brothers" were conjoined twins that were separated at birth and conjoined twins are big sideshow draws. If the Twins had escaped to the French Foreign Legion, from a Circus, it would explain a lot.

[@antiquariancrafts2454]

Cool review; I used to love these guys. I've just picked up a complete Tomax and Xamot for £7.50.

[@mgvillanmp478]

nice work man I had these guys kind of reminded me of the Corsican brothers

[@HCC788]

+M.G.Villan That's right. I wish I had mentioned the Corsican Brothers in the review. I always miss something!

[@ShadowlandPublishing]

They are the Corsican Brothers but not the novel version but the cheech and chong version

[@bondaren]

cartoon has these two physically close together a lot making it look like one complete person- may explain the opposing halves of neck/shoulder armor

[@rudeuno]

I always thought... they should of had CRIMSON coloring in their uniform!! Since they're the CRIMSOM guard commanders!!

[@panicfilms]

Awesome discovery you made on the file card! I had no idea. I just remember having them zip line across the couch and the coffee table when I was a kid :)

[@animalmother9764]

It looks like a calico pistol to me, which has a tubular magazine mounted to the top instead of a scope

[@rtd1409]

Just got an updated set of these guys and a Ferret in the mail today taking it back to 1985 have my cherry Coke in hand!

[@andrewbaker4204]

I really wanted to have these two as part of my G.I.Joe collection but back in the day they were too expensive for my dad to buy them for me. :(

[@k-dawgbroadcasting5444]

If they had explored these characters properly, they could have injected their past to be a mafia-related origin. Maybe like, they either had a front of a circus for their nefarious activities, or they were on the run from other mafioso and took up as acrobats for cover? There are so many Cobras that could have had awesome origins. Admittedly, I haven't read a GI Joe comic past 1994, so I don't know if they ever did answer these origins or not, but...it's definitely interesting

[@RabbitEngineering]

I think at 13:10 where you speak about how the card implies that solving problems through violence is better than solving it by law/paper/etc you may have missed a subtlety; It's not that GI Joe prefers the violent option - the card is written from TOMAX/XAMOT's point of view - for them, violence is the better way to solve problems (they are Cobra after all).

[@violagreene4643]

Also, the twins twist and pervert the laws to their advantage. Laws are supposed to level the playing field and protect the working of society. But laws are imperfect and open to be used for nefarious purposes.

[@lazarus30001]

I do like that idea of the twins hating each other while maintaining a tenuous peace to run their company.

[@Cagliostro81]

Fantastic review, and I agree File Cards like theirs is definitely a reason G.I. Joe: ARAH was a cut above other '80's toy lines! As a kid the Crimson Twins were always my favorite 'named' Cobra characters, mostly because of the cartoon ( I was 4, I ate that twin stuff up and thought it was so cool). Funnily enough your idea of them coming into conflict happens in the IDW continuity. If you want to see a more mature portrayal of them I HIGHLY recommend the 3 Cobra miniseries IDW put out written by Mike Costa & Christos Gage. Those three miniseries are why I'm a huge fan of the Twins *now* (same with Chuckles, who's the main Joe in the 3 series).

[@christianhafer9819]

What's so fantastic about his review? He didn't even put them in the top tier. These figures are definitely deserving of the top tier. They're superb.

[@RC51Legend]

Best of the Best!

[@peteortiz65]

I still own mine, pretty much in very good shape, I just don’t have the package nor the file cards. My favorite evil twins!

[@uhhuhhuh100]

I owned Xamot as a kid, but not Tomax. My mom bought him at a yard sale for me, lol.

[@BayushiGemma]

First time watching one of your reviews and I loved it, will continue to watch!

[@HCC788]

Thank you! I'm glad you found the channel! I hope you'll stick around. There is some fun stuff coming up, including COBRA MONTH starting in July!

[@racerxgundam]

Another great entry into the joe line, another top tier set in my book. complete bad asses. great accessories. while i tend to not like it when figures only come with a hand gun...their guns look crazy good. As a kid, i wish they held them better. The "mirroring" of the characters was a touch of absurdity which only makes the toys more brilliant. I don't mind their outlandish costuming either, as i never pictured them as front line battle assets. In the context of cobra it makes a bit of sense, their clothing reflects rather high ranking officers with their garb being almost ceremonial in nature...evoking both royalty and authority. Cobra is a bit of military cult if you think about it...so completely impractical military garb is not out of the question, its a sense of indoctrination. To harken to earlier times, the twins were essentially royal princes...allowed to stay behind their units on horseback, far from the battle itself but near their advancing army's standard. maybe they darted into the field for an easy kill or two...but when it was all over..they collected the spoils..they decided how it was split and they took the glory while they shouted from the back lines to DIE for cobra.

[@antiquariancrafts2454]

I always thought they might have been inspired by the circus twins in the Bond movie Octopussy (1983).

[@HCC788]

+Stay Dread That could be part of the inspiration. But they also had inspiration in the Corsican Brothers (as noted in comments below). They also had a French background, a finance background, and they were commanders of elite troops. I think all of those inspirations are fine! It's just too much-- the concept should be narrowed down just a little.

[@RedneckOgre]

I wanted a job with Extensive Enterprises when I was a kid.

[@ipokluda]

A lot of history on the file card, the Jimmy Johnson comment lol.

[@HCC788]

+ipokluda At least they didn't have Jimmy Johnson's accent.

[@Tr0nzoid]

I kind of wish these guys had been made with their suits. I disagree with the file card information being above a kid's head. Kids use to look up stuff in the encyclopedia. When I was 10, I was reading Jane's reference books in the library since I was into that kind of thing. The file cards added a level of seriousness to the toys.

[@NOBDY444]

I just subscribed to the channel, keep up the good work and thanks for the great video

[@cloudm.6337]

on the cartoon they were once referred to as viper twins and I do believe they color match vipers better but crimson guard elit troops are jus more awsome

[@shinmusashi44]

+Leeroy Poop Yeah I always thought it would make sense for them to be the leader of the Vipers, since the colors are the same.

[@MrJotunar]

Dood....I've been waiting for this one. Thanks for finding the time!

[@HCC788]

+Chuck Campbell (Jotunar) I'm happy to do it! Thanks for watching!

[@johnbryant6529]

So my problem with the Twins (which ARE in my top tier) is that in the cartoon, Xamot had the scare on his right cheek. So they weren't actually correct as figures. 18:43 of the video is one example.

[@HCC788]

+Johnny Good Good point. For some reason the switched the side the scar was on. Don't know why.

[@rtd1409]

Had to see this great review (One of yours I rate in my own TOP TIER!) again as I am working on the Classified version and its just such a beautiful memory for me having gotten them in the beautiful 2-Pack at Habers Toys in Santa Monica and the SCRTD 4 Line ride home just staring at them and the mirrored packaging. But wasnt there a tidbit from Ron Rudat somewhere that it was supposed to be one character but with split personalities? Of course it could not have flown well as an idea after that was attempted with Zartan however the subliminal cue to me is the mirrored appearance of them and the fact each is only wearing half of a full suit of armor.

[@konkyolife]

The circus aspect could be an origin story where they were poor street children who survived as street performers/thieves and entertainers before they were wealthy. Just an idea. You see a huge street performer culture in France.

[@CMB76]

I wonder if they were loosely based on the twin villain characters Mischka and Grischka from the 83 Bond movie "Octopussy" They were also circus related (knife throwers) and wore black gloves. Just a thought.

[@jacobanderson9894]

CMB76 , I believe the same thing. James Bond movies also influence was shown in Masters of the Universe’s Trap -Jaw! He was based off The villains Jaws and Tee Hee!

[@alejbr4]

i thought this when i was a kid to

[@freakometer]

i have a theory Dave Gibbons based the Comedian's outfit on these guys

[@Isolder74]

I have always seen these guys as based on a set of circus twins from James Bond.

[@fleetwarrior75]

Daredevil twins so much the same... one ones in trouble other feels pain... The Crimson guards the most dangerous foe of... you know the rest!

[@HIELOKING]

Loved it !!! Subscribed!! and LIKED!! Thanks for this great content!!!

[@HCC788]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. I hope you like the new ones this year. We'll be cranking it up to 11!

[@NOBDY444]

great video bro👍👍

[@nosferato140]

Had em!

[@AceSWhyld]

About as top tier as it gets. Even if the twin cliche is a bit played out. As for the last paragraph. What is more evil than using a countries laws and loop holes against them. In that way, the physical violence is more honorable.

[@TJ347]

Just noticed that they appear to be missing ears... Curious.

[@jmsberetta]

cool review

[@HCC788]

+james strickland Thanks!

[@troypol343]

I am curious how one can tell the difference between v1 and v2 of Tomax and Xamot figures?

[@whozyourdaddy]

Evil bankers. If anyone was on Cobra's side, it would be bankers. I always liked the sculpt of the twins but hated their heads. Something about the head sculpt drives me nuts. I think it's the eyebrows and the way the hair is pasted across their foreheads. Also their pistol was terrible. I had two sets of these figures as well. I used to pretend there was only one Crimson twin and that he could replicate himself using the little thing on his wrist, so sometimes one poor Joe suddenly found himself in a fist fight with four look-alikes. It made for some interesting battles. I never cared for the feel each others pain thing, though it did (and still does) make for great situational comedy.

[@williamjubi]

Great review. Always thought these guys were cool/funny. If Tomax's rubber band were to snap, does Xamot then get a serious pain in the stomach?

[@HCC788]

+ALAMO SOLDIER 7 As long as both o-rings don't break at the same time, I'm fine. I am indifferent to Xamot's pain, but replacing o-rings is a pain!

[@kaodik]

I introduced a couple figures from the Visionaries aeries into my Joe fun. There was one called Cravex who was red and black and had a blade coming out his elbow. they were about an inch bigger than the Joe's. I gave a couple of the Joe's bigger weapons to fit in and one of these guns were perfect. I can't remember where the other was from but it was a huge rifle. good stuff. but anyway..for these guys. the guns were terrible

[@michaelhcwang1982]

Tomas and Xamot has Cobra logo

[@JoeMotionVideos82]

HCC, how long does it take to make each video, especially with your superimposed, alter ego? I love when you do that!!

[@HCC788]

+Byron Kellogg It takes a couple days of shooting, and then several hours of editing. I work on the video throughout the week, looking for sources and information. Doing a double green screen like that shows things down.

[@JoeMotionVideos82]

HoodedCobraCommander788 Damn, I truly thank you, for all of the time you devote to your channel, and us Joe Heads. I've learned a lot from your show. Thanks to you, I was able to spot an incomplete action figure, that some joker was trying to sell me, as complete. You saved me $20.

[@blackwormboy]

I used to slowly bend there knees and pretend it was a mouth entrance like many cobra basses when I imagined I unleashed cobra.

[@HCC788]

That is.... very creative.

[@blackwormboy]

Just try it, focus in on there knees bend them open. Its just like the cartoon. well as close as i could get at age 7.

[@belldn3]

Come on, Cobra needs money.

[@commandonigward573]

I prefer today's era not the Vintage version of of them I don't know why but the Vintage version of them just look like craze stabbers

[@dy_b1265]

can you review the machine gun defense unit

[@HCC788]

+express videos Yes! I intend to get to it soon!

[@HCC788]

+HoodedCobraCommander788 Did it!

[@gaulergolf]

throw those accessories away and pop the twins on a ferret. done!

[@HCC788]

+kero wack Not a bad idea. I just need to get a Ferret first.

[@matthewneufer1758]

Tomax and Xamot are Very Occult , along with Dr. Mind bender hes a MK Ultra Mind control handler The monocle is because scientists ware them , In doctor mindbender was some sort of a scientist and mind control cloning expert According to the cartoons

[@robbyritter4245]

They look like Ted Bundy to me.

[@brunocolin960]

I've always interpreted their funny costumes as some sort of fascist propaganda. They're big, strong, powerful and wear the suits of "superheroes".

[@joeblaster8770]

IDW bid that.

[@lauramatthews1617]

Scar should b on the right not the left recall

[@christophergraham3160]

Tomax and Xamot could NOT have been French citizens in origin. The Foreign Legion doesn't permit it. Only foreigners. Perhaps the two were from Sicily? Maybe, even one of the Greek Isles.

[@ilarianannini2975]

Christopher Graham the French Foreign Legion allows French citizens to enlist but they won't get any benefits just for being French citizens. I agree with you about Sicily as birthplace of the Twins (or maybe Malta): Corsica is not at all in the middle of Mediterranean sea!

[@sophiakinasihlarasati7577]

i all ways joke this . what those cgi means? itnmeans crimson . guard . island . sorry for my english because im indonesia . speakingnof me indonesian . nice video and greeting from indonesia☺😊

[@HCC788]

That's kind of funny. :) Greetings from the United States!

[@RC51Legend]

C'mon. So many GI Joe tropes are gimmicks/cliche!