2000 Law

It’s hard to believe that the 2000 Real American Hero collection is older now, than the A Real American Hero line and continuity had been in existence, when the ARAHC figures were initially released. Because of this, I’ve noticed that there’s going to be a level of nostalgia and rose coloured whenever I think about any of these figures.

Nostalgia is a weird thing, to me, and when trying to write about this Law and Order figure from 2000, I had a weird, almost unwarranted fondness for the figure. It’s a good figure, but isn’t even the best use of the 1987 Law mold, but I associate the figure with a timeframe where G.I. Joe was still something that was truly “Mine” in a way. I would read about G.I. Joe on the internet, but wasn’t truly an active participant in the G.I. Joe community. The second you really start to participate in a “community” for your hobbies, your world expands, as now you’re hearing different takes and opinions. Once your eyes are opened to  certain things, you can’t really put the genie back in the bottle.

G.I. Joe has always been something I could immerse myself with, but upon learning more about Foreign figures, or figures from eras I wasn’t as familiar with, it changed how I viewed G.I. Joe. I’m at a point where my collection is something I’m very content with, but I doubt I could go back to what I was interested in, in 2000, and feel all that content about it, even though to be perfectly honest, I was probably genuinely happier with my G.I. Joe collection in 2000.

When I re-acquired this Law in 2022, rather than the mundane “checking a figure off the list” feeling I usually get, I was reminded of some of the “fun” that G.I. Joe used to be. I usually don’t get those kinds of reactions when I get figures in the mail, with the last couple being the initial Black Major COBRA Troopers, as those were figures that were a dream come true, and the first Brazilian COBRA De Aço I bought, as that was probably the initial foreign figure to truly capture my imagination, and was obscenely priced for a long time, so I’d reserved myself to never buying one. Not going to lie, it was nice getting to feel some joy about a figure, as in a lot of ways, G.I. Joe is a relatively joyless hobby, as the price and fellow collectors are quick to dampen a mood.

This is the third rendition of the 1987 Law mold, and in some ways might be the most sensibly coloured version. One of the gripes from the fanbase about the Real American Hero Collection, was the bland and drab overall look to the line. The initial wave (Which this Law is from) featured more vibrancy, but it was still pretty dull, in comparison to what came before and what came after. However the Law mold’s first two renditions were both quite colourful and vibrant, so it’s not like this figure was more of the same, which for figures like the 2000 Snake Eyes or the 2001 Roadblock, Tripwire and Torpedo repaints all happened to be.

Clad in dark brown fatigues with a bluish grey vest, Law is a lot darker than previous figures, and looks like a uniform that would work well at a base setting, or perhaps in Urban areas, depending on your view on field use for Law. The darker colours on the figure, work well because they contrast with the bright white t-shirt the figure is wearing, which might be a little much for realism buffs, but these are action figures. The detailing on the figure was pretty good, without going for broke, there’s still enough to make the figure stand out. The silver highlights on the badge, buttons and handcuffs all really stand out from the overall dark figure, without being details painted for the sake of details. It was nice to see Law in the first wave, because I could see some of these paint apps being skipped over if it were any later in the ARAHC line.

I like the colours on this figure, they’re not over the top, like some G.I. Joe figures have been, without being too concerned about being 100% realistic. This Law, and the Dusty that came packaged with him, were probably the two most vintage like figures, that were still somewhat “new”, as in they’re not like figures previously seen. The rest of the Wave I 2000 figures were either re-treads of things already seen, or an attempt at doing something never before seen in G.I. Joe.

The first wave of the ARAHC line had one really strong benefit to it, and that was for the most part every figure included their original accessories. Law came with the entire contingent of accessories he had in 1987, including the return of his K-9 partner, Order. Law was a figure who had very figure specific accessories, so getting the night stick, helmet and dog and leash really benefits this figure. He also includes the uzi he originally came with, though there’s a bit of modification to the mold, and the muzzle has been rounded off. I’m not entirely sure if that was a change for this version of the figure, or something that happened between 1986 and 1987. Law’s helmet looks fairly similar to the 1987 original, however there is now a slightly different MP font from the original, and an American flag on the back of it.

The A Real American Hero Collection, in many ways, might have been the optimal format for post-1994 non-exclusive G.I. Joe releases. It was just a spartan form of packaging, releasing repaints of existing molds. It was an economical line, that likely existed, because there was a market for it, it kept some trademarks in play, and provided some form of release for the brand that made Hasbro. It was obvious that nobody with any real power actually gave a damn about the ARAHC.

I mentioned the “spartan form of packaging”, as it was a generic card back, featuring an Apache helicopter, that wasn’t ever going to be available for sale. It did however, have something that had been missing from G.I. Joe since the glory days of the late 1980s, and that was it featured an explosion on it. I bet that the line would’ve done better if it’d featured a black card back instead of blue, as it would’ve been much more reminiscent of the classic line. One thing that the so-called Modern Era proved, was that people would get sucked in by that early 80s style packaging.