Funskool Beachhead
For whatever reason, Beachhead was among the lot of Funskool figures I had the easy opportunity to obtain, but chose to ignore in the late 2000’s. At that time, I saw Funskool figures as a cheap and decent way to get some carded ARAH figures, but I only wanted ones that were a close approximation of their Hasbro counterparts (Can’t quit kicking myself over that!) such as Flint. Part of this, was because I was still getting over my childhood germophobia, which prevented me from buying loose stuff. If you’d believe it, I also had a fairly strong distaste for lime green, which put me out of Funskool Beachhead for a very long time.
Cut forward to late 2017, when a large crop of Russian release Funskool Joes showed up on eBay. As Funskoolers were already starting to shoot up in price, I didn’t screw around and made a few new acquisitions, even if it meant paying $20 a piece for them. As a recurring theme with Funskool figures, I love the way new figures will show up out of seemingly no where, saturate the market, and then suddenly disappear. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if more odd Funskool items showed up soon, from India or some other country.
Beachhead’s a nice figure, and oddly, a character I don’t use all that often. I think part of it’s that I’m lukewarm on most of Beachhead’s toys, besides the Battle Corps figure. I like the V1 figure a lot, but it’s a notoriously fragile figure, and that often frightens me into not touching him, especially with current Joe prices. While this Funskool figure isn’t a cheap alternative, it’s softer plastic does mitigate most worries over breakage, which is nice, as it’s opened me up to using him more.
If you can get past his ugly head (a staple of a 1986 sculpt), Beachhead provides a lot in his sculpt. My favorite detail in particular is the spare magazines on his chest, which is something you see less often on a GI Joe than a pile of grenades. The baggy BDU looks good too, it makes the figure look a little stocky with his head, but it has a nice commando look to it. It’s generic enough that it could be reused for another character (like Skydiver), but it still has a lot of detail, especially in all of the right places.
The colors are nice here. 13 years ago, I was very irritated by lime green, but I’ve since warmed up to the tone and like it on Beachhead just as well as the original’s darker color. Something refreshing about Funskool figures, is that they tend to have better contrasting colors than their domestic counterparts. The camo on Beachead’s pants is more vivid on this figure, and that’s a nice change of pace.
Included with Funskool Beachhead is all of his original gear: his SMG, satchel, and backpack. Beachhead’s SMG was always a very cool part that was easy for figures to hold. I also consider it an important part for the figure, since it matches with the sculpted magazines mentioned earlier. His backpack is pretty nice and has a lot of detail, although I never liked how boxy it was. I’m also pretty certain his satchel is just slightly more flexible, which comes across to me as a big plus.
Sadly, the cheap Russian Funskool figures from five years ago have all evaporated, and the era of the covid-collector has led to figures like this one pricing around $50 to $60. It’s really a matter of time before people go back to doing whatever they used to waste money on (traveling, kayaking, social gatherings that involve copious amounts of alcohol), but for now lockdown noobs are still a thing, and they make fun toys too expensive. If I hadn’t gotten this one back in 2017, I’d definitely wait until the current market dies down.
I’m at a point now where I consider this figure the default Beach Head with all others being alternatives. The lime green just seems normal and the 1986 figure seems too dark and dull.
I said something similar on Attica Gazette over the weekend. But, Funskool figures were considered cheap placeholders and alternatives to US figures. They helped drop prices on figs like Flint and Zarana and also give us great alternative army builders. But, the transitioned to collectible in recent years and it’s tough to see things that US dealers sold by the hundreds for $4 each be considered a high end collectible by people who actually think they’re rare.
I’m glad I got mine when they were cheap, too. I even bought extras to have the gear for things like the Night Force and Tiger Force versions. That proved fortuitous.
Hi. I am on the lookout for a Funskool Beachhead. Would you please consider selling one of yours to me? Please let me know. Thanks
Somebody at Hasbro must own one of these guys because the “Classified” Beachhead uses almost the exact same shade of green for the figure’s sweater and mask.