2005 Lonzo R Wilkinson
The Comic Packs from the mid 2000‘s really got a lot wrong, which is probably why they floundered so hard at retail. Many of the set’s and especially the early sets were an endless sea of deep green and yellow, which made for a boring and tired retail line. This early impression one might have of the line really overshadowed the great figures that came from it later, such as Lonzo R. Wilkinson.
And, if you have even a cursory knowledge of the Marvel comics you’ll know Lonzo here is Stalker, but from when he was a soldier in Vietnam instead of a GI Joe member. It was a great issue of the comics and the perfect inspiration for a comic pack set, as the included Tommy Arashikage and CLASSIFIED figures are also quite good. It’s unique, interesting and new, while avoiding a concept that’s too niche to make for fun figures.
The part combination used for Lonzo is pretty solid, with a few issues that are emblematic of the era. The figure makes use of Duke’s torso, Tunnel Rat’s upper arms, Gungo Ho’s lower arms, Roadblock’s waist, General Hawk’s legs, and the older comic pack Stalker’s head. The General Hawk legs are the weak link in this recipe, and like many of the 2000‘s ARAH sculpts, the head on Stalker is very, very small. The colors and uniform look good enough that this would be one of my favorite Stalkers were it not for these issues, but they can still be overlooked.
The colors are pretty nice on this release too. They’re vivid and rich, but without relying on the obnoxious amount if neon comic colors that prior figures had opted for. While the green color is very rich and bright, the brown-yellow trim is muted and looks reasonable.
For accessories, you get the comic-pack era M-16 sculpt, and a SAW Viper backpack. The M-16 is a good sculpt, and very nice that they took the time to include a period appropriate gun with the figure. The backpack is pretty dumb though. Was there nothing else they could have included that might’ve looked a little more standard for a Vietnam War soldier?
The comic packs are now unfortunately hard to find, I’ve learned this from experience while trying to fill gaps in my collection. Lonzo on his own seems to float around $15? They pop up so infrequently it’s honestly hard to tell, but this figure and his entire set was fairly popular without being too common, so that sounds about right to me.
This is a nice figure, with a solid design. The Tunnel Rat upper arms were an incredible fix to the terrible painted sleeves of the 1997-2004 Dukes.
One thing that is a concern with the Comic Packs with new heads, is that they’re liable to cause the torso to crack. I’ve seen it on Lonzo, Tommy Arashikage the issue #3 Stalker, Hawk and #9 Breaker and Scarlett.
So it’s not just mine then. I army built those damn Cobra Gas Mask troopers only to have most of them get cracks, and one that did not I just disassembled…what do even do with it? My comic Tommy Arashikage is probably the worst.
A fair amount of new sculpt/Gen 2 figures have that problem, too. It’s their version of elbow cracks, I guess.
There was at least one too many Stalkers in the comic pack line for its relatively short run, this one gets a pass for mixing things up. It was the the October Guard one that was probably unneeded (we should’ve gotten FLASH from that issue), though not bad per se. Or I suppose issue 3’s Stalker could’ve been nixed for FLASH instead.
1983 torso with a 1992 legs is an awkward mix, though.
I just discovered your site through Forgotten Figures and can’t wait to start reading your previous entries! Now I have two Joe sites to hit everyday!
This is basically the same thing I wrote as a reply to the Forgotten Figures review of the comic pack Clutch: the green looks too much like Forest Ranger green, and the way the light falls on it looks extra shiny, like polyester. The yellow might have look more tan if it had been paired with a less saturated and dark green.
But it’s a decent figure and that was a surprisingly good use of the Duke chest/back.
If only that head were about 15% larger, because it’s otherwise perfect.
For me, this guy is one of the highlights of the comic packs. I was disappointed to find out, though, that a Night Force Falcon pack won’t fit into the back hole. And, I’m not modifying the NF Falcon pack.