Battle Corps Metal Head
There’s a lot of strong V2 and V3 figures that came out of the 90‘s. Some of them I feel are clearly better than their predecessors. Others are strong, but can’t surpass their original figures (Beachhead and Duke). V2 Metal Head is one of the former, and is a figure I consider to be a clear cut upgrade over V1 Metal Head.
To explain my affinity for this figure, I have to first mention that I’m really not a fan of V1 Metal Head. I love the character and appreciate him as one of the few Iron Grenadiers who isn’t a troop builder, but the toy has way too many problems. The accessories made the figure far too delicate and it’s hard to find one that isn’t broken. Furthermore, the sculpt just looked lame. His head is poorly defined, and his stocky proportions have always given him a “Dad bod” look to me.
This Metal Head largely avoids all of those problems. Starting with the sculpt, it’s amazing how much sharper the figure looks being only four years newer than his last incarnation. The head is full of personality that reflects Metal Head’s character, with a deviously smug expression and a lot more detail overall. The metallic vest and asymmetrical arms have a nice and unique look too. He’s rounded off with the waist and legs of the Rock Viper, which look good and appropriate with the rockets on one thigh.
Like many ‘94 Joes, his paint applications are few to be seen. He’s mainly the plastic colors that he was cast in with silver and black detailing the majority of the figure, and a little white for his teeth. Nothing important is left unpainted, and the colors are relatively strong for a figure from this time period.
The figure’s parts are somewhat of it’s weak point. They’re all recycled guns from older figures just like with the rest of the Battle Corps line, but at the very least most of the guns are appropriate for once. Both the SMG and pistol are from other Iron Grenadiers (the Annihilator and Iron Grenadier respectively), giving a nice touch of consistency with his weapons. For some reason, I really don’t mind the purple on the Iron Grenadier pistol, so the coloring doesn’t hurt it much in my eyes. His last weapons are the PSG1 from the Rock Viper, and the V2 HEAT Viper’s missile launcher. Neither elicit much interest.
Overall, he’s really only a slightly better than average ‘94 figure, but when you compare that to a slightly worse than average ‘90 figure, you’re left with an compelling upgrade. As such, he is and almost always has been my default Metal Head. As a figure that won’t run you more than a few dollars, even MOSC, I highly recommend him.
I like this figure. He was one of the three or four Cobras I actually found at retail back in the mid 1990’s. So, he holds a special place for that reason. I still see him as a different character than Metal Head, though. He represented one of my “new” Cobras back in the 1990’s that were the residual of my index card sketches from 1994. But, I now forget which one he actually was.
I’m so glad you showed him with Voltar. I was wondering how that would look.
I got this figure, Major Bludd, and Flint in 1994. Aside from some Mortal Kombat guys, I think they might have been the only Joes I received that year. I think I was getting much more into Exosquad and the Playmates Star Trek line around then.
I always liked this Metal Head, but used him as a Cobra, since the time for Iron Grenadiers had passed. And I think he was marketed as a Cobra. I’d seen the character in the DIC series just a bit, and that was kind of how I characterized him. No one in my collection really used the copious amount of spring loaded launchers I had except for him and 93 Bazooka.
I like this figure, though the design for v1 is one I’m a bigger fan of. The shot with him beside Voltar is very nice, especially since it shows how nice a combo the two are.
“Others are strong, but can’t surpass their original figures (Beachhead and Duke).”
There’s a sort of “George S. Patton” aura about Duke v1 that rather annoys me, like he’s not wearing a uniform but rather a carefully-selected ensemble of *parts* of different uniforms (and even outright custom pieces) intended to come together as a *costume* evoking the idea of a uniform without actually being a uniform itself. Just feels a bit too vain for someone with Duke’s attributed personality. I much prefer him wearing standard cammies (or something as close to it as possible).