1986 Leatherneck

There’s often widely popular figures that people will admit leave them flat, usually they’re figures that are a little more out there than the rest of the design, that are generally popular, but will have some detractors, examples of this are generally figures like the B.A.T.. For me, the one figure that does nothing for me, but is a fan favourite, is the 1986 Leatherneck figure.

1986 was the year of major characters getting replacements, that were very similar to the original character, but different enough to justify the new character. So while, Gung Ho and Torpedo were available into 1985, they were replaced in 1986 with Leatherneck and Wet-Suit. Leatherneck checks a lot of the same boxes for the design that the first Joe Marine also checked. Both are wearing Marine Corps hats, both are moustachioed, and, while the shirtless in a vest design of Gung Ho isn’t shared, there’s a fairly strong similarity to it with Leatherneck’s tan vest that breaks up the green of the figure.

It’s something that was constant within G.I. Joe (Like how Falcon is quite similar to Flint), so I don’t find it entirely egregious, and there’s enough notable differences, to separate the two. Had a comic pack Gung Ho been made, at some point in the repaint era, using the 1986 Leatherneck head could’ve been a fairly solid use of the mold, and probably the only one I’d actually like to see.

The torso of Leatherneck is an interesting thing, because if you look at it, it’s incredibly similar to the equipment the 1984 Mutt figure is wearing, but there’s just a little more ambiguity to the design, that it instead just looks like it doesn’t match up with the rest of the figure, leaving Leatherneck looking a little out of sorts, since his limbs don’t match the torso.

Outside of the torso, the colouring is quite strong, I wish the green was a little more in the olive drab part of the spectrum, but it works for what it is. The brown camouflage isn’t the greatest pattern, but it’s unique and helps the figure a lot, and probably works better than it would have, had it been a more traditional G.I. Joe style. There’s a lot of colours on the figure, with the black and silver highlights really helping the contrast on the figure, without being too much. In fact, the lack of any additional “bright” colours, shows how well the colouring of the figure was done. A lot of Joes, would often get a splash of red to help them truly be eye catching, but Leatherneck is coloured well enough, that it isn’t required.

A sculpting area of Leatherneck, I’m not a fan of, is how plain his lower legs tend to be. If there was ever a figure that needed a weapon strapped to his lower leg, it’s Leatherneck. While his lower legs aren’t out of proportion or anything, the plainness of them provides an optical illusion of the figure having chicken legs. On the other hand, the sculpting on the Marine Corps logo on his hat or his wristwatch are quite well done details.

The overall design for the figure is quite strong, with lots of neat little details, but for some reason combined the figure doesn’t really do much for me. There’s a design strain through the 85-87 line up, where there’s figures with exaggerated aspects to their designs, big heads and a slightly more cartoonish vein to aspects of the figures. Leatherneck is one of these figures, with other such luminaries as Beachhead, Fast Draw, Psyche Out and Bazooka. It’s not a bad thing or anything, it’s just that I’d prefer a figure more in the vein of Flint, than Leatherneck.

Leatherneck’s biggest contribution to the G.I. Joe line, was his M-16/M-203 combo. It’s a gun that despite being oversized, is quite well done from a sculpting stand point, and had a solid colouring to it, for a year that didn’t include too many black weapons. The gun was a popular choice during the repaint era, so there’s plenty of options for it’s availability. It’s probably the third best of the Plain Jane M-16 sculpts from the early part of the G.I. Joe line, behind Grunt’s, and the one that came with Footloose, which outside of the strap’s fragility, might be one of the finest guns released in the G.I. Joe line.

I like the character of Leatherneck quite a bit, his most memorable trait in the comic book was the fact that he was constantly chewing out his teammates over things he found objectionable, be it Outback escaping while others went into the gulag, or over security issues like the Defiant being hidden under the PIT III. It was a refreshing change of pace, and helped Leatherneck stand out, as too often there weren’t any true conflicts between Joes, unless it was played up for yuks like Scarlett and Clutch.

While I don’t think about it too often, it’s a useful character trait for photography, as it allows an opportunity to show conflict, in a photo that is made up entirely of G.I. Joe members, something that’s often hard to pull off easily, because it’s an idea that’s somewhat the antithesis of the whole G.I. Joe team concept. However if Outback and Leatherneck are squaring up somewhat in a photo, it’s an identifiable enough aspect of the G.I. Joe media, that it’s immediately recognizable.

It’s funny, despite my overall dislike of the figure, I tend to use him. The 1986 figures all tend to be solid figures, that work well together. Leatherneck is also blessed with being a figure that photographs quite well, probably due to the vibrancy and multitude of colours used on his figure. I don’t rank Leatherneck very highly on my list of figures, but that’s just the way the things go sometimes, as I often don’t use figures that are my true favourites as much as I do ones that photograph particularly well.

I couldn’t tell you what exactly it is about Leatherneck that leaves me cold, but there’s something. I don’t think this is a mold that we missed out on not seeing in the repaint era, and despite being a big fan of desert figures, I’ve never once been motivated to get this figure’s only repaint, the Special Mission Brazil figure, which should indeed say something about my overall opinion of the Leatherneck figure.

2005 Backblast (Winter Ops)

Hasbro relaunched G.I. Joe in 2002, with an all new construction style, wherein the O-Ring was removed. The fanbase was quite upset with this revelation, and took to the internet to voice their displeasure. To Hasbro’s credit, they listened and brought the O-Ring back to the new sculpts, but at the same time also realized that re-using molds from the vintage line would be greatly appreciated by the collectors community. In doing this, the exclusive to Toys R Us 6 pack was introduced as a collector’s friendly item.

The first few 6 packs were fairly coherent and well thought out items, that followed a pattern, and would occasionally surprise fans with a mold long thought lost. As the TRU sets continued, sometimes the plot would get lost somewhat, and you’d wind up with some sets like the Heavy Assault Squad that was an unmitigated disaster, some sets that featured a lot of questionable choices, like the Desert set. The Winter Ops set, was probably the last good one for the G.I. Joe team. It definitely had some warts, but the overall set was quite good, featuring four not very commonly seen molds in surprisingly good colour schemes.

Backblast, was not a repaint of the Backblast we know, but rather a repaint of the Battle Force 2000 figure, Avalanche. Avalanche drove the BF2000 arctic tank, the Dominator. I think at this point, Hasbro was still recognizing the “no dead character” rule, or something. I never quite got the thinking behind that one. Either way, it was nice to see the return of the Avalanche mold, and while the Backblast name was a decent character to bring back, everyone knows it’s Avalanche. Early on, referring to figures by different names than what they were released as was something that I avoided, but now I don’t care, this is Avalanche. I think seeing someone online refer to the 2004 comic pack Clutch as “Double Clutch” really struck me as insane, and cured me of following too closely to release names. Especially because it seemed like they were using “Double Clutch” as an entirely different character from regular ol’ Clutch. Poor Mrs. Steinberg.

Battle Force 2000 figures tended to fall into two camps “overtly science fiction” or “G.I. Joe figure with futuristic tinges”. Knockdown, Dee Jay and Maverick tend to be the most overtly Sci-Fi figures, while Dodger and Blocker are the most G.I. Joe like, with Avalanche and Blaster being in the middle of the two schools of thought. Outside of the helmet’s centurion style crest, and the armoured shoulder pauldron, Avalanche is a fairly down to earth looking figure. The ammo bandolier, flak jacket are what one thinks of when thinking of a G.I. Joe. The nunchucks strapped to his leg are a tad bizarre, but it’s G.I. Joe, so what the hell.

This figure isn’t coloured particularly realistically, but it’s not a bad thing, as it provides some fairly unseen colouring, with the orange. The black jacket looks sharp with the silver highlights, and the white on off-white camouflage on the legs does a lot to give the figure an arctic theme. One thing I like about the TRU Winter Ops 6-pack, is a lot of the figures have colouring on their torsos that’s reminiscent of the kind of ugly ski jackets you’d see for about a decade from the mid 90s to late 00s. I wear a sheepskin liner courdory trucker’s jacket 8 months a year, partially because of how ugly I find most winter jackets.

One place criticism of even the good TRU 6 packs would often be found was the accessory compliments. The Python Patrol set included most figure’s original accessories, so everything afterwards was generally seen as a substantial step down. The Winter Ops set didn’t really include much in the way of the original accessories, but the Lowlight accessories, DEF Shockwave rifles and the newly sculpted comic pack M-16 are all fairly solid accessories. Another nice thing was that every figure included a 92 Gung Ho backpack, and a pair of the 1988 Blizzard snowshoes. Things weren’t perfect, but at least they weren’t as bad as the Greenshirt or COBRA soldier 6 packs. I just give this figure the black Avalanche gun that was included with Sonic Fighters Law, and call it a day. He looks better with it, and it frees up the really nice DEF Shockwave rifle for some other figure.

A final note of interest in regards to the colouring of this set, is that the Winter Ops set is one of the few times Hasbro used a skin tone that was reminiscent of the tone used in the 80s. It’s slightly paler, but it’s not as bad as ones like the 2001 ARAHC figures, nor is it as jarring a contrast as a lot of those really orange skinned figures released between 2002-2006.

This is a figure that’s superior to the original Avalanche in pretty much every way. The original isn’t that bad a figure, but the white and brown colour scheme takes away from the mold, and this one with the two tone colour scheme and more abundant paint apps really does a lot to showcase the quality of the mold. The fact Hasbro had such a vast library of molds, and would continuously parade a whole bunch of the same ones is one the biggest letdowns of the entire repaint era. This set was a highlight since Avalanche, Blizzard, Sub Zero and ’89 Stalker’s molds hadn’t been seen in a decade, but it still happened to include the 1983 Snowjob mold and Mirage, figures that had received too many repaints by this time.

Still, it is what it is, and while a lot of the repaint era definitely doesn’t hold up. This figure tends to work well with the vintage BF 2000 figures, so it’s nice to see. While he’s an arctic figure, he isn’t pigeonholed into that role. It’s funny, what were heralded as all time great figures tended not to hold up, and really oddball releases like this figure, are some of the best releases in the 1997–2006 era.

Pictures Of 1984 Firefly

 

Pictures Of 1983 Major Bludd

 

1988 Sgt. Slaughter (Warthog Driver)

The older G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero gets, the more drastic changes in how people are willing to view some of the aspects of G.I. Joe that weren’t popular, or tolerated amongst the fanbase two decades ago. Some of these are due to everyone aging, so someone who grew up playing with the gimmicky or neon figures of the 1990s is just as much an adult as someone who grew up with Storm Shadow v1, at this point. What was perhaps the biggest source of scorn for people who thought the line stopped being good in 1987, was Sgt. Slaughter, a character who now finds himself frequently used with no one groaning or complaining about the “phony wrestler”, like you would hear in 2002.

The Sarge was quite an important figurehead in the scheme of things for G.I. Joe. It was a huge brand, and having a celebrity endorsement, in some ways, makes it feel like a much bigger deal than every other of it’s contemporary toylines. Sgt. Slaughter had both the look and gimmick, to work with G.I. Joe, while also still being a fairly big “name” in pro-wrestling, despite no longer working in the WWF or NWA. He had a name that was perfect for the cover of a Pro Wrestling Magazine you’d see at the supermarket.

Sgt. Slaughter was very important to G.I. Joe at the end of the day. Without him, the line probably wouldn’t have taken that final step into being arguably the biggest toyline of the 1980s. However, if G.I. Joe doesn’t become the biggest toyline, I doubt that the fall from grace would have been as severe as it has been, as it’s devolved into either a anachronistic collector’s item, a personality-less trend following toyline, or a retro line marred by numerous issues, that doesn’t even warrant a half-hearted retail attempt, unless it’s riding the coattails of a Transformer.

To continue on in this vein, Sgt. Slaughter might be the only successful example of a celebrity tie-in with an Action Figure line. There hasn’t been too many attempts, that I can think of, and those that I do, were kind of duds. Chuck Norris and his Klan of Karate Kommandos might be the only other one I can think of, and frankly that doesn’t really rate very highly, and ol’ Norris is someone I really only give a damn about when he’s getting beat up by Bruce Lee.

This being Slaughter’s third figure in two years, Hasbro had to change things up. This version is a dramatic departure from the first two figures, as he’s now designed to look more like he’s actually a part of the G.I. Joe universe, rather than being the obvious celebrity endorsement action figure. The figure still has some warts, which is likely why it’s so seldom seen, but it has a lot of potential.

The biggest gripe about this figure, is the same as most Sgt. Slaughter figures, the giant head. This figure it is even more noticeable, because the Drill Instructor hat is now removable. So if you don’t have the hat, you still have a figure with a giant noggin. If the head had been downsized slightly, to be more in line with the rest of the line, you’d have a true hit and a figure worthy of fully being integrated into G.I. Joe, while still giving Sgt. Slaughter his due. Instead you have a figure that’s still a little hokey, though excellent from the neck down. I understand that the Slaughter likeness was probably something they had to ensure when doing a figure based on the character, and there was probably some required continuity in design from the previous two releases of the Sarge.

While, the figure’s hat is removable, I found myself not owning one, so I’ve pretty much gone the way of swapping the Triple T Sarge head onto the 1988 body, giving the same general look for the figure, without going out of my way to purchase a singular hat, something I don’t really have the desire or patience to do.

The colours on the figure are quite unique, from the typical G.I. Joe fare. He features a dark brown torso, featuring a strap of ammo, and one of those weird ass 1986 shoulder things. The torso is fairly monotone, since it’s 1988, but he gets a step up and receives two paint apps, silver and red. The sculpting on the torso is pretty good overall,  the big ass knife and the ammo are well done, the detailing on the torso, while hidden by the lack of paint applications, is quite well done. The bullet belt he’s wearing is better sculpted than the ones seen on figures like Tunnel Rat and Rock ‘N Roll, which makes sense, since as the years go by the sculpting always got better.

Other aspects of the sculpting work well with the character, the figure is really strong, he’s got big arms, and overall seems like a larger figure (as all Sarge figures were). His overall colouring fits in with the rest of his year, which is perhaps the year with the most cohesion in the figure’s outfits.

Since this figure is done up to be less of a celebrity tie-in, I’m far more willing to integrate the figure with other Joes, in a non-highlight role. I don’t really think of him much from a character perspective, but that isn’t because of the figure or the character, but more the release era that he came from. If this was a 1984 figure, I’d have come up with plenty of ideas and thoughts about Sgt. Slaughter and where he fits in on the Joe team. Alas, this is a figure from 1988 so I don’t really need to put any more thought on the figure other than “Does he look cool in the Desert Fox?”

I really like this version of the Sarge. I think it’s a workable enough figure, to use without too much suspension of disbelief, as it’s a sculpt that fits in with the meat and potatoes of typical G.I. Joe figures. Sure the head is a tad large and much larger than life than his contemporaries, he still feels more like an actual G.I. Joe than previous versions of the character. Of course, one of the biggest things that has changed fan’s opinions on Sgt. Slaughter as a Joe, is the fact, that the Sarge on twitter has leaned in and followed a ton of G.I. Joe accounts, and has done so whole heartedly. If he’d disavowed G.I. Joe, I’m sure his figures would have a worse reputation than they did in 2003, which might have been the height of the G.I. Joe fanbase’s intolerance on anything that wasn’t current Hasbro or a continuity based entirely on the Marvel comics.

Pictures Of 1983 Flash

2023 Retro Scarlett (Haslab Skystriker)

In the last week or so, everyone got their Haslab Skystriker, or was able to buy figures from it on the aftermarket, at a time when the prices of everything is varied to the point where you don’t know if you’ve over or underpaid for another couple weeks, when things stabilize. Because of this, Forgotten Figures, and The Dragon Fortress publicly pressured me into writing an article about the new Retro line’s version of Scarlett, where she is now wearing a space suit. Since I was cyberbullied, I agreed to write this.

The Skystriker was one of those things that had a lot of built up excitement, but that kind of went away, once people realized “Well, shit, I just pre-ordered something that won’t be available for at least a year”, which in the G.I. Joe fandom, can be a tad concerning, since I think it took like 8 or 9 years for some Eagle Force figures to eventually get made, even if Hasbro probably has a slightly better track record.

G.I. Joe is a line where it’s found itself between a rock and a hard place, as people want new and different figures, but at the same time, want the line to freeze in about 1985. In some respects, being adverse to “new” figures and characters isn’t necessarily the worst opinion to have. It’s a vast line with a lot of things that weren’t fully explored, and from 1998-2006 we were subject to a lot of really bad new characters, like “Double Blast” or “Switch Gears”. People really just want the same 2 dozen or so characters in new colour schemes.

So in one way, the Haslab Scarlett works very well at providing a new figure and idea, without bogging the line down with a character that doesn’t really bring anything to the table. Putting Scarlett in the Ace flight suit, is a relatively unique idea, but it fits in with the Sunbow “Everyone can fly a fighter jet” trope.

Scarlett’s been released as a pilot once before, in the 25th Anniversary line, where the figure that was supposed to be a Glenda from Argentina homage, was called “Pilot Scarlett” and received a funny helmet. That figure was predominantly blue, so that also ties in somewhat with the new Scarlett.

Ace’s flight suit is one of those figures that’s really well done, but also somewhat of a twist on G.I. Joe, and what it represented in 1983. While most figures from that era were fairly Vietnam war influenced, Ace looks like a dude who’s going to be standing around on a soundstage with Werner Von Braun and Stanley Kubrick. The colouring on this figure shows just how much more can be done with early G.I. Joe figures, if a little creativity and an expansion in the colour palette are used. The two tone blues are nice, and make things exciting, and the brown and grey highlights give the figure enough contrast, while also preventing it from looking too similar to Ace. Blue isn’t a common colouring for a Joe, so it’s always nice to see, especially if it’s still somewhat of a rarity.

The paint apps on Scarlett, aren’t as detailed on the body as Ace’s, which I like in some ways, as it’s not just a case of “copy and paste but this time it’s brown”. Scarlett’s head sculpt also required different paint apps, which were likely taken from what could’ve gone on the body. The eyelashes and eyebrows are well done and give an appearance of femininity. Where this Scarlett really changes from the status quo, is the fact she’s no longer a red head, but rather someone with light brown hair. I’m not entirely sure if it was intentional, but it’s a change for sure.

This figure, and it’s Ace counterpart have probably the most noticeable change in the thumb construction of any of the figures in the Retro line. Earlier figures like Snake Eyes had a change, but visually it wasn’t as blatant. Doesn’t bother me, it’s something that helps hold the brand new pistol sculpted for Ace, and now no one can claim this 2023 Scarlett was a “lost figure from the 1980s” on eBay or whatever.

The most notorious aspect about this figure, goes to the included accessory. Scarlett’s been equipped with a crossbow since the line’s inception, so it made sense for it to be included with this figure, even though the subpar card art showed her holding a pistol. Somewhere along the lines, likely due to a lack of knowledge about the vintage G.I. Joe line, the crossbow was re-created, but the pistol grip handle for the crossbow wasn’t added to the sculpt. So you’re left with a fairly blah weapon at the best of times, that is now impossible to use, unless you follow the rickety photos provided by Hasbro.

In some ways, you gotta hand it to Hasbro for refusing to admit to being wrong. Most people would’ve forgiven it if the response to the questions was “Our bad, we overlooked it! We’ll try harder in the future”, but instead it was “Nah, just have the figure hold it this way, like it’s designed”. I don’t know if anyone’s actually mad, but it sure has drawn laughs from the fanbase.

I’m not entirely sure what the figure’s role truly will be in my collection, the Ace mold is good, and there’s a few different versions of it, so it could be used as a special piece of equipment to be used by early Joes. I’ve toyed with the idea of turning her into “Glenda”, since she’s predominantly blue and has a different hair colour, but that’s one of those things that requires too much reasoning that I’m really willing to do.

The figure is strong, and I was happy that both Scarlett and Rip Cord made it in the stretch goal funding. I know some people were hoping the two other guys would make it, but I’m neither here nor there, and feel that the COBRA Ramp Rat figure, which shares everything but the head, was probably a better figure than either of those two would’ve been, especially since those two would’ve been far too similar to the Failsafe figure, who’s nice, but truly just the 1994 Action Pilot figure, done up in the 82-84 swivel head construction.

Of all of the Skystriker figures, I’d say Scarlett was the best. It’s unique, and has a vibrant colour scheme, without it being too far gone, like the Retro version of Duke that truly doesn’t fit in with much of the line. The Retro figures have the curse of not being entirely compatible with the vintage figures, but Scarlett is one that blends in better than most. In the end, the thing that causes a figure’s ability to blend in with the vintage line is the colours, while these shades of blue weren’t common in the 80s, they’re at least from the same rainbow, where if you were to compare it to figures from the repaint era, more often than not there’s no compatibility.

2022 Stalker (and Bumblebee as an AWE Striker)

Mold sharing is a fact of life, so when Hasbro announced the 2022 Snake Eyes was going to be a 1983 Snake Eyes do over, I figured we’d probably see at least one other member of the 1982 G.I. Joe team. Of the 5 figures that used the torso (Snake Eyes, Hawk, Stalker, Breaker, and Grunt), Stalker was the figure I most expected to see. He’s among the more popular G.I. Joe characters, and the most dynamic figure that uses this torso.

Did I expect him to come with an A.W.E. Striker that’s actually a Transformer? Not really, nor did I expect that Transformer to be Bumblebee, perhaps the second most popular Autobot, after Optimus Prime, and a guy I thought was a Volkswagen Beetle.

Doing a crossover with Transformers is one where there’s more on the line, than some of the other Transformers crossovers, where it’s “Oh hey, we have the license for Ghostbusters, let’s make Ecto-1 a Transformer.” With G.I. Joe, they’ve been a shared universe since at least 1985 (The Oktober Guard was mentioned in an episode of Transformers, prior to the Marvel comics crossover), so because of this, there’s far higher expectations, than your typical cash grab crossover Transformer. What fuels the expectations in someways, is these are going to have to be Transformers that scale with G.I. Joe figures, while still being a transforming robot. No one’s expecting that out of some rickety ass Back To The Future crossover figure, or whatever thing that has the “Iconic vehicle from a relatively similar timeframe” they’re going to use as a nostalgia exercise.

Now the way they implemented the G.I. Joe and Transformers crossover is a little less desirable, than what anyone was actually hoping for. They’re expensive, they don’t really provide anything new to one’s collection, and a pair of fan favourite figures, are now costing big bucks, though with how bad The Baroness was, I didn’t bother getting one to open.

The idea of turning G.I. Joe and COBRA vehicles into Transformers has it’s ups and downs, Megatron turning into a HISS, has some basis in history, as in Generation 2, he was brought back online by COBRA Commander, and since turning into a realistic handgun is a no-no, he had a new form as a tank. Turning him into a HISS isn’t ideal, since HISS Tanks have been a common release for the last 22 years, but it’s something that with a little finessing, would make sense. Bumblebee turning into an AWE Striker is a little more baffling. The Transformers has this character named Hound, Hound turns into a basic army Jeep, a thing that G.I. Joe, despite all of it’s various vehicles, has been missing the entire time. So while that would’ve been something that would make sense, provide the whole cross over with something new, we instead get an AWE Striker, which was seen a couple years back, that turns into a character who’s more known for being a Punch Buggy, and who’s first interaction with the Joe team, led to him getting blown up, and killed.

As a figure, Bumblebee, is somewhat awkward, he’s bulky, features a kibble backpack, and while he has articulation, it’s less like the current iterations of Transformers, and is more like the G2 Transformers, in that it’s there, but definitely not particularly fluid. The rear tires on the robot are neat, because they fall in with where the G1 Bumblebee’s rear wheels were. The front wheels are iffy, as they really get in the way. There’s enough yellow on the figure that identifies it as Bumblebee, but it probably would’ve been simpler to just do the whole thing in Tiger Force motif.

Funnily enough, the shade of green used on this AWE Striker, is probably the nicest green I’ve seen in a domestic G.I. Joe vehicle release. It’s a little richer than the early 80s small vehicle green, like the one seen on the VAMP or RAM or Skyhawk, and more in line with the  green used for Tripwire, Zap and Steeler. Funny how things like that happen, and if I was going to bother transforming the damn thing, I’d probably turn this into my main AWE Striker.

As a figure, Stalker is pretty solid. I spent a lot of time in 2022 paying attention to the various variants one could find of Stalker during the figure’s various releases produced in Hong Kong factories. This Stalker is reminiscent of the US domestic release, with the wide camouflage pattern.

The quality of this figure is pretty good, the paint apps are quite crisp, and considering this is the figure with the most complex series of paint apps in the retro line, it’s good to see. For some reason, the paint job on the figure’s face, and probably the colour used for the skin tone, is quite impressive to me. It’s not as glossy or shiny as the vintage figure, and the sculpting detailing on the figure’s face stands out more, because of this. The plastic definitely feels different from the vintage line, and there’s some changes made to the overall molds, as mostly evident by the figure’s thumbs, and I’m not sure how long they’ll last from a quality standpoint, as I have stress marks on the doors of my stinger already, but that’s something only time will tell.

However, his joints all work, he’s capable of holding his gun, and the paint apps are pretty stellar. I noticed his foot’s hole for the battle stand or Bumblebee gunner station, doesn’t fit either’s peg. Not sure if it’s mine, or just another example of QC foolishness in this line.

The choices of figures for this line definitely haven’t hit the bullseye with most of the fanbase. I think if the figures were more sensibly priced and released, people would be more accepting of what’s come down the pipe, but the online two-pack or Transformers crossover leads to excess packaging and a higher price point. So for figures that are re-treads to some collectors, or from an era they don’t care about, it’s harder to justify being happy with the figures. I own 20 Red Masked COBRA Soldiers by The Black Major, I do not need another COBRA soldier, so I’m not impressed with having to buy one to get an Officer who’s knees don’t bend. So the line not hitting the mark, is something I can understand.

I’d like to see some deep cuts or rarities, but I also know that vintage Stalkers are also pretty fragile and expensive, themselves, so I’m at least happy to have a more modern version of the ’83 Lonzo.

Pictures Of 1983 Gung Ho

Pictures Of 1985 Footloose