When it comes to Joes from 1987, Falcon and Outback are hands down my favorite figures. Falcon has obvious charms, and so does Outback, but I feel like more of Outback’s appeal lies elsewhere. Falcon’s a way more major character in the Joe mythos, and has more versatile specialties too. Outback on the other hand is fun for what you can see in him, more so than what he was.
Like many I’m an action movie buff, so obviously when I look at Outback I see a GI Joe version of Chuck Norris. It’s not an original view of the figure, but the resemblance is there. It’s important in my opinion because Chuck stared in so many great adventures, the childish part of my brain can’t help but start to imagine similar stories acted out with this figure. It makes what might have been a less memorable figure into one you can’t help but see in all kinds of scenarios.
The sculpt on this figure is awesome, plain and simple. His face and muscles all have lots of detail and definition for what’s otherwise a simple design. The detail in his hair really brings the head sculpt to life in particular. Overall, this figure looks great, and while wearing a white t-shirt to battle may not be practical, it really adds to the look and personality of this figure.
Outback comes with some fantastic accessories too. A flashlight that mounts on his thigh, functional web-gear, a cool and LARGE backpack and a nice riffle featuring a strap to finish off the whole package. This is some impressive gear for a toy of the time, as not too many action figures came with such detailed parts. Hasbro was seemingly experimenting with PVC parts like the web-gear on this guy, or the holster on Chuckles. It’s really too bad we didn’t see more like this out of ARAH.
I think Outback might just be one of my all time favorite GI Joe figures. He just provides so much for me, I can’t imagine my collection without him.
Ginger Chuck Norris is an excellent figure. Especially his original. I think the DTC Major Barrage body Outback comes close though.