1986 Iceberg
The V1 Iceberg figure is a sculpt I’m pretty fond of, which likely comes from my frequent usage of the 1997 version as a kid. As an adult, the 1986 line-up was one of the first years of vintage figures I’d come close to completing, so eventually I made it a point to acquire V1 Iceberg even though I still had that ‘97 version and liked it plenty too.
In my youth, Iceberg was generally Snow Job’s sidekick. Any mission Snow Job was on, pretty much had to have Iceberg too. Blizzard would usually be present at first, but would typically end up a casualty early on into the play, leaving Iceberg and Snow Job to get through the thick of it on their own. Which, isn’t to say much for what kind of character I envisioned him as; I saw him mainly as an angrier version of Roadblock.
Of course, speaking of character the filecard and other media doesn’t really bring much to mind for Iceberg. He’s basically a guy who grew up in Texas and hates the heat… And that’s it. I remember the Sunbow episode where he got turned into a whale, but I don’t remember much about him other than that. I’ve always had a preference for cold-climate themed figures, but it is a shame that most of them are somewhat boring characters. The best I can think of is the Snow Serpent, but he’s not even an individual person, so that doesn’t say much for the rest of the arctic Joes.
Visually, V1 Iceberg is a very pleasing figure. The sculpt is very well detailed, well proportioned, and well colored. I think the chest sculpt is particularly impressive, with so many pockets, straps, side-arms and grenades adorning it, it gives you a lot to look at without being too busy. The bulkier shoulders are also a lot nicer than the Clutch/Breaker ones they replaced them with on the ‘97 release. For painted colors, Iceberg features three separate shades of green, light blue, some black for his eyes and a little red for the emblem on his arm. It’s really quite a nice selection of colors and a pretty large palate for an 80‘s figure.
Accessories are where Iceberg doesn’t end up so well off. He comes with only one part, that being his M60. It’s not a very impressive looking sculpt and comes with no source of ammunition for it. The best I can say is that he can hold it well, but that’s about it. To not come with any other parts than that certainly makes Iceberg a lot less interesting, and among the most poorly equipped figures in his year (the only other figure with one part being Monkeywrench).
As a side note about his accessories, if you were a cool kid in the 90‘s who bought mail-order figures, you had a chance to acquire a version of this figure with the awesome (terrible) Rock Viper riffle! The exact same gun as the one with the Rock Viper, the color wasn’t changed or anything. I guess the 2000‘s weren’t the only time Hasbro ruined figures with that horrible gun.
Iceberg’s are plentiful and cheap. Routinely, a mint, complete example can be acquired for around $6. For that much, he’s a great figure just to fill out a team of arctic specialists, and his accessory problems are easy to solve just with a spare backpack from someone else.
Iceberg works for what he is. But, when the other snow themed Joes get full ski packs and other gear, his single weapon really seems like even more of a letdown.
It’s a shame that Hasbro didn’t use the mold again after 1997. It was an obvious omission in the Winter Operations set and would have been a far better choice than releasing the Snow Job mold over and over again.
Iceberg. A character I had before my brother did. But he eventually got one…one of his last additions to his childhood collection. I didn’t have Snowjob, so Iceberg got the Polar Battle Bear anytime he wanted it…which was rarely growing up in the south where snow is uncommon. So while a solid sculpt, he didn’t get the use he would have if he had been non-arctic.
That weapon is an M-60? I never made the connection. I found it weird, long, no scope and no magazine. Big handle, too. Not the greatest.
On the cartoon he had a girlfriend, the daughter of that mad scientist.