Blood for the Baron!

The distinction for me is playability. Yup the Joes are infinitely more poseable, and that rocks, but they are far more fragile. You have a to go a LONG way to break an Action Force figure.

yeh i cant remember how many times ive tryed as a kid to put a gun in one of my joes hands and broke off a thumb. or the crotchs snaping off,and dont get me started on o-rings. I used to buy cheep Corps figures (joe knockoffs) just to canabalize their parts,in fact most the joes i still have from my childhood have at least one 'Modified' part.

That's true. I got through at least four Tele-Vipers and three Dusty's back in the 80's. You could often see evidence of 'crotch fatigue' (oo-er) as soon as they came out of the packet before you'd even played with them.
Not so with Action Force. Those guys were made to take a beating, and frequently did!

Gotta Go with the SHAD since they were truly committed to the Baron and his evil plans; cobra troops were disenfranchised people ( granted that is more likely in the US) but fanatics will stop at nothing

besides how could you compete with Kraken and Roboskulls at your doorstep

The Red Shadows had more of an appearance of an Army. Cobra were more like pirates.

I chose the Red Shadows but I like both organisations equally. I would love to have more Shadows but it's easier to build a Cobra army especially with the anniversary figures being sold.

Rot Shad all the fkn way gimps.

Sorry, But its Cobra all the way. I mean any orginization lead by a used car salesman is just freightening.

[sic]?

Marvel G.I. Joe Issue #55