With the myriad of GI Joe specialists who serve unique, but sometimes limiting purposes, it’s fairly logical to have a few guys who are good for almost any situation. Recoil is one of those figures, who provides a lot and doesn’t do almost anything wrong.
1989 was a fairly hit-or-miss period for GI Joe. You had some of the best figures and sculpts from the entire ARAH line, as well as some pretty lousy figures I still can hardly appreciate. Thankfully, Recoil is one of the former. Recoil is a “Lurp” or Long Range Recon Patrol, a guy who goes on his own behind enemy lines for extended periods and sneaks out undetected. This is a really cool specialty, especially the nature of how you can almost use this guy anywhere.
The sculpt on Recoil is pretty good, lots of little details in his web-gear and uniform. I think his torso seems a bit long, but the proportions on him are mostly good. His colors are perfect for the figure, and again are very versatile. He features a lightly colored uniform with dark green trim that works well in most outdoor environments, but I don’t think he’d seem that out of place even in an urban area.
His parts are a bit weird, though not totally bad. He includes a customized M16, which is very detailed. It features a scope, grenade launcher and bayonet, and the piece is sharply detailed in general. It’d be one of my favorite vintage guns were it not for the strange choice of casting it in sky blue. The same color was used for his pistol, a strange sci-fi weapon I’ve never really understood or liked. Also included is a dark green backpack with an antenna similar to 1987 Falcon’s, as well as a lighter green mine case. This part is one of my favorite aspects of the figure, as it lends him a certain element of sabotage.
All in all, this is an excellent figure, and one I really think no ARAH collection is complete without.
Recoil is a figure I’ve grown to like. His helmet is straight-up late ’80s Joe, and I’m not crazy about his officer’s boots, but his M.O. is important and his uniform works.