In terms of GI Joe subgroups, it feels to me that even the detested Cobra La is brought up in conversation more than the Battle Force 2000. It’s a weird lot of figures that I think most people would see as ARAH’s low point, and Knockdown is a figure who could represent a lot of what was wrong with this group of figures.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of strange and unpopular figures I’m a huge fan of. I love 90‘s figures, Ninja Force, Star Brigade, I even like Cobra La and most of the Battle Force 2000 figures. However, as a subset, the BF2000 figures often had a few of the problems you see in Knockdown here. Knockdown just suffers the worst from having so many problems and looking like a Flash Gordon reject on top of that.
Starting with the sculpt, Knockdown is an ugly figure. He has an awkwardly large torso, it isn’t as bad as certain 90‘s figures, but it looks ugly to me. The sculpt isn’t very detailed and generally just looks like a generic sci-fi action figure. The majority of this figure was never repainted later in the line, and I find that understandable given that I can’t see him being very useful for much else. As an interesting note, his head was later reused to make Super Trooper, Rapid Fire, and modified into Charbroil. At the very least, the head isn’t terrible and it works for him as well as the other characters.
Next up, his accessories. He comes with a gun, and a helmet. The helmet has a few paint applications and is rather detailed for a vintage Joe bucket. It’s still kinda ugly, but it’s an okay part for what it’s worth. Now, his gun on the other hand is an absolutely terrible part. It’s supposed to be an “experimental ground-to-air pistol”, but it’s not really good for anything. The handle is really thick regardless of if you get the normal or skinny variant, and he has trouble holding it. Besides that, the quality of the sculpt is just terrible. If you compare it to almost any other GI Joe weapon, it’s honestly hard to believe this part is from the same toy line. Most of the BF 2000 had lousy guns like this, and sadly Knockdown is no exception.
It’s probably obvious by now, but I don’t like Knockdown very much. The only reason I own him is because I acquired him in a lot. I can’t find a place for him in my collection other than as a contemporary with other BF2000 figures I like better, so to me, he’s a prop for photos. If I had a Sky-Sweeper, the vehicle he technically drives, I’d likely still opt for a more traditional vehicle driver over him.
With that all said, Knockdowns are really cheap if for some reason the figure strikes your fancy. Complete figures range in price from $3 to $7, but if you look around you can have a great example for the lower price with relative ease. My disdain for this figure aside, that’s a really low value for a vintage figure. Likely, it’s another reflection of the figure’s quality, but it’s hard to really be too serious on a figure that’s barely worth the price of a cup of coffee.
This was one of my final childhood figures. He became the Boba Fett of my Joe world and flew an old Slave I as I really couldn’t find any other use for him. I did see his gun as kind of an energy weapon akin to what the Transformers used in the cartoon. He was fun for a few weeks when he was new and then disappeared forever.
I do need to track one down at some point and profile him: just for the few memories of him I have.
You make a lot of good points here. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Knockdown in person and noticed him. I do like Dodger and Blaster, and Maverick is okay too. I had DeeJay as a kid and used him as a crew member on my Crusader– usually the communications guy. I think Avalanche is almost kind of neat, too. Mostly due to his card art.
I agree that most of the BF2K guns are kinda bad, but I actually like this one. It came with Sonic Fighters Tunnel Rat, who I loved as a kid. I saw it as a huge, powerful machine pistol with the magazine sticking out of the side. Mostly because I wasn’t aware of what its original use was, and because of childhood imagination. That was always Tunnel Rat’s main gun, and I still have a soft spot for it. But it’s pure nostalgia.
Not a great figure but you made it look cool in that photo.
I’ve used the legs for sword & sorcery style customs.
I also see potential to army build a Captain Power type of squad with it, now that you have me thinking.
I’ve never quite understood why all the BF2000 guys were so damn asymmetrical. Knockdown and Maverick were the two that looked the most like vehicle drivers to me.
Avalanche and Blocker were the two I liked the most, Dodger and Blaster were probably decent too, but I’ve never seen ’em in real life before!
Yeah. Not a great figure. IIRC he’s a tight fit into the Sky Sweeper, but not as bad as Maverick is into the Vector. I barely remember because I didn’t get the sky sweeper until years after I had Knockdown, at some flea market. I even broke the handle off his pistol after opening the figure. Poor guy had no luck in my world.
Most of the BF 2000 guys had the blandness of the late 80’s Joe vehicle drivers. Knockdown ushers in the helmet with the one eye covered looked, at for the Joes, I think. The obligatory funky boots that are just odd because.
I will say Knockdow’s action figure benefits from having a few different colors. There’s late ARAH figures that were not only badly colored, but only had 2 or 3 colors on them, making them cheap and bland at the same time!