2003 Convention Falcon

2003 Convention Falcon

I think on this blog I’ve had a habit of being harsh on convention figures, including popular ones like the Iron Anvil and less popular like Buzzer. Falcon puts me in a weird spot, because I think this figure has some serious issues offset by some highly attractive elements as well.

The 2003 Convention set is not held in great regards by most collectors I encounter. I attribute this largely to the somewhat bizarre figure choices for the set, and also to the fact that a few of the figures were of questionable quality. Oddly enough though, this set’s one of my personal favorites. Compared to other items the club pumped out, everything here except for the Cobra Commander is fairly unique and original, which scores a lot of points with me.

Falcon is in uniform colors with the Lady Jaye and Major Storm in the set. This cohesion makes the figure a lot more fun and I enjoy the trio as a team. The deco looks really solid, and the paint applications also highlight all of the sculpted details present on Falcon.

The construction is where this figure is fatally flawed. Although the upper half is of V1 Falcon, the waist and legs are from V1 Grunt… This combination of parts looks extremely awkward. The difference in sculpting between the ‘82 figures and the ‘87 figures are like night and day, and the proportions look mildly off like this as well. It’s such a shame, as almost any other set of legs might have matched better, but instead they went for this.

I acquired this figure without his parts, but it doesn’t really matter to me as they’re a pretty generic set. He came with the M4 from V11 Duke, the M16 from V2 Ripper, V1 Shockwave’s pistol, and Red Star’s backpack and knife. In other words, a selection of generic parts ranging from mediocre to terrible.

As you might expect, a fifteen year old convention figures isn’t the easiest to find. But they show up, and don’t go for an awful lot when they do. The few I’ve seen of late have gone between $20 and $30, but I’d bet more often you could acquire this figure for $20. For that much, I think there’s a lot of other Falcon figures that are a bit nicer you could acquire. The figure certainly isn’t bad though, and personally I enjoy the camo and novelty he provides enough to overlook his flaws.

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2003 Convention Falcon Links:

Yo Joe

Generalsjoes

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4 Responses to 2003 Convention Falcon

  1. Mike T. says:

    This is definitely the worst Falcon figure. But, that’s more a testament to the quality of the other three than an indictment of this version, per se. But, the legs and accessories ruined what could have been an excellent figure.

    This 2003 set is kind of the bastard step child of ARAH sets. It was forgotten almost immediately upon release and collectors of the time were genuinely upset that it wasn’t 15 Vipers or Bats. So, it sat around for a long time. Even now, if you find the figures at open auction, they sell stupidly low in comparison to some later figures that exist in far higher numbers.

  2. A-Man says:

    Seems like other legs they could’ve used, like Gung-Ho 1992? I don’t know what fits right off hand, but I’d imagine there were more compatible options.

    And this was the only post-vintage use of the Falcon mold. No 6-packs, no comic packs.

    At least the Club tried new things back then instead of half-heartedly remaking everything in modern style for like $30 bucks or more a figure.

  3. Matt says:

    Great colors. Shame about the legs.

  4. R.T.G. says:

    The 2003 set is a real oddity, as it’s kind of a disaster, but there’s some solid ideas behind it. Falcon is kind of the epitome of the set, he’s a good figure, but the legs kill it.

    I’m guessing the legs being used here, are part of the reason the comic pack figures were all so wack.

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