Bronze Bombers - 1997

In 1988, the toy company Olmec - specializing in African-American themed toys - released a line of 3 3/4" G.I.Joe-like action figures named the Bronze Bombers. The action figures touted, "They stand for justice, and they never lose!" While the project was very ambitious and produced interesting toys, unfortunately the figures did not match up with the quality of the Hasbro counterparts.

In 1995, Olmec purchased several 3 3/4" G.I.Joe action figure molds from Hasbro - all the molds were vehicle drivers. The villains were unchanged and recolored, while the heroes were recolored and given newly sculpted heads.

After many delays, the Bronze Bombers finally reached Toys R Us shelves in late 1997. They were very popular with 3 3/4" G.I.Joe collectors and quickly disappeared from toy shelves.

The twelve figures came packaged in one set, retailing for $14.99. The back of the box contined twelve filecards. Inside, the set also came with a large poster of the figures and filecards.

Eight of the figures are part of the "Bronze Bombers - The Defenders of Justice", while four of the figures are part of "Pyro's Band of Thugs".

Identifying the Bronze Bombers can be a real problem. While the filecard artwork identifies the four villains, the filecards do not help in identifying the eight Bronze Bombers heroes. Take care when purchasing or referring to these figures, as one person's "Krunch" may be another man's "Shortburst".

Bronze Bombers: Defenders of Justice
Roughshot (?)	Krunch (?)	411 (?)	Justice (?)
Shortburst (?)	Hard Drive (?)	No Flak (?)	Suppressor X (?)

Pyro's Band of Thugs
Crazeblaze	Firebomb	Backdraft	Scorch

Accessories: The boxed set came with a clear helmet for Firebomb, three white "Frag Viper" rifles, three brown "Track Viper" handguns, three brown "Tele-Viper" hand-held scanners, and three white "Darklon" rifles. The set also came with three recolored Eco-Warrior water shooting backpacks with cannons, and eight cardboard tribal shields for the Bronze Bombers.