1985 Dusty
I think in all 12 years of ARAH, 1985 was probably the best year in the entire run. I think it represents the precipice of the 80‘s, building off what made ‘84 great, but just before the downward slide into goofy characters and iffy sculpting you saw in ‘86 and ‘87. In 1985, you had a wide-variety of specialist who were simple, yet distinct and highly detailed, well exemplified in Dusty.
I should have it out for Dusty, because I don’t tend to like desert troopers all that much. As an environment, I don’t tend to find deserts all that interesting, and I personally find them difficult to simulate for dioramas. But Dusty’s a fine figure like all of his contemporaries, so much so that he demands usage just to highlight the quality of his sculpt.
Dusty’s mold is great. It’s a simple looking outfit that’s brought to life by the details of his pouches, zippers and fabric folds. To top it off, Dusty is one of the rare GI Joe figures that utilized fabric for the back of his helmet. The only thing I tend to dislike about Dusty as a sculpt, is his goofy looking face. The camouflage does well to hide it, but his head is a little bulbous and his expression reminds me of some kind of Fisherprice Adventure People figure. The later 1991 Dusty really won out over this one for having a sharp head sculpt.
The colors are very nice on Dusty, too. The figure is cast solidly in khaki plastic, with brown camouflage adorning his entire outfit. His straps, goggles and boots are painted black, and he features a nicely detailed flag-patch above his right breast pocket. A very nice color scheme, though weirdly, there never really was another desert-camo figure that exactly matched with him. In some ways I like that he’s unique, but in others, I sort of with I had a Dusty that matched better with tan-Grunt and Mission Brazil Leatherneck.
Dusty’s parts are classic, though I myself have never owned his FAMAS. He came with the aforementioned rifle, a bipod, and a backpack. I think the FAMAS has become a lot more mainstream in recent years, but I’m not sure how common you saw it in media from the 80‘s, I think it’s an interesting choice that they went with. Dusty’s backpack saw a decent amount of early reuse, and came with Red Dog, as well as Dusty’s Tiger Force repaint, followed by several different colorations in the 2000‘s. That’s sort of neat, though this backpack is a little bulky and probably not my favorite sculpt from the period.
V1 Dusty’s aren’t pricing very consistently at the moment. Complete figures can be had for around $30, and ones missing the bipod are trending around $15. A random auction seems to shoot to the moon every now and then, but overall he prices similarly to a few other ‘85 and ‘86 figures. Despite the quality present here, I think he’s a figure that’s going for too much at the moment, especially for incomplete examples.
Dusty is one of the strongest figures in the line, he’s well done without being overdone, and as a role-player, he’s not taking the spotlight from the Flints of the line.
The “Adventure People” line nails it. I always felt Dusty’s ugly mug was reminiscent of something, but I couldn’t ever put my finger on it. Bravo!
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I want to like Dusty. But, even living in the desert, I almost never used him. I liked him as a kid. But, the head was weird and his thumbs were brittle. So, that kind of did him in. He’s a figure, though, that I can’t really see without his FAMAS. Kind of like Recondo, any other weapon just doesn’t look right with him.
I’m surprised Dusty’s with bi-pod are that cheap. Facebook guys go ga-ga over them. Which just goes to show that they live in a bubble there and don’t really have a gauge on the real market. I’ve found bi-pods in the wild far more than most other small accessories. So, they’re not as rare as newer collectors want them to be.
Dusty was great. Great big head! No, I liked him. Solid trooper. Not overloaded with sculpted on stuff, either. No grenade bracelets, double holsters, no quilted padded armor … He could hold his weapon well, too. His FAMAS, sometimes fun to use in Counter Strike on burst mode.
But…I got nothing. His later versions were never an improvement, not in ARAH or New Sculpt (add weird shoulder armor and plastic “skirt”!). I never owned a Modern era version. Were his only releases in that DVD set and as a weird repaint?
I’ve always wondered if there was intended to be some sort of French influence on Dusty that ultimately went unstated. It’s intriguing that the character seems to consistently favour French-designed firearms, like the FAMAS in 1985 and the MAT-49 in 1991 (and his ’91 redesign, with its beret and odd, sleeveless shirt, also seems to be evoking a French aesthetic). Even in Pursuit of Cobra, Dusty’s primary weapon is the KRISS Vector, which, despite being produced by an American company, is ultimately derived from the innovations of French gunsmith Renaud Kerbrat…