February | 2017 | The Viper Pit

Monkeywrench is a weird figure. By far, he’s the most forgettable Dreadnok and his accessories don’t fulfill his role as an explosives expert. Despite this, he’s not my least favorite Dreadnok, in fact, I actually rank him higher than a number of other’s including Road Pig and Zandar. He does have flaws, but they don’t ruin him as a figure.

As a sculpt, I find Monkeywrench to be rather impressively detailed. The grenades, patches, pistol, the weird red ties around his legs, it all contributes to a fairly detailed look, at least compared to other early Dreadnoks. I think the only thing I dislike about the sculpt is the size of his head. It’s a bit small, but really I think it just looks worse when compared to other vintage figures that have larger noggins. Still, it’s an inconsistency that hurts him when displayed with many of his contemporaries.

The worst thing about this figure is his accessories. The only thing he comes with is a grey, trident launching harpoon gun. The character mainly deals with explosives, and yet they just included this random piece of junk with him. This weapon is one of the most boring, useless parts in the entire ARAH toy line, it definitely doesn’t add anything to Monkey Wrench here. Personally, I have a tendency to equip him with a grenade launcher, usually the one from ROC Heavy Duty.

I think a big draw to this figure is just his usefulness as a generic Dreadnok who looks pretty good. He’s easy to throw in a diorama with just about anyone. He never really did get much character development, appearing only briefly in the cartoon and not doing much of substance in the comics either. It’s easy in that regard to use him as pretty much anything you’d like.

So for all things considered, Monkeywrench is probably one of the best fillers you can get to pad out your Dreadnok ranks. He goes well with almost anyone and can be acquired at fairly cheap prices. He’s not a strong figure or character that stands well on his own, but he fills his own niche nicely.

I’ve been thinking about the convention Iron Anvils a lot lately, and namely how these have a reputation for being well received convention items. Years ago I enjoyed these a good bit as most other GI Joe collectors did, but as times have passed I’ve slowly begun to see faults in the figure that prevent me from enjoying it as much.

The Iron Anvil is made from the 1994 Battle Corps Viper mold, which was due for a repaint so many collectors enjoyed this figure’s appearance in the 2005 Joecon set. Switching from purple and orange to the classic 1988 Iron Grenadier color scheme was a move met with enthusiasm from GI Joe collectors. I must admit, the new colors do bring out a lot of the mold’s potential, and the Iron Grenadier color scheme is a dashing contrast that’s hard to object to. The downside to this is that the colors take away an element of uniqueness from the mold, perhaps a side effect of this palate being widely applied to too many Iron Grenadiers.

The filecard describes them as being paratroopers, which strikes me as being slightly odd since there isn’t much on the sculpt to really make them appear as that. I suppose it’s as okay a specialty as any other, but you’d think they might’ve played off the bulky, ballistic armor they don a bit more. I think they look more well suited to heavy weapons and shock tactics personally, but there’s probably some other specialties that might’ve fit better than the paratrooper angle.

Lastly, the accessories leave much the be desired. Being paratroopers, they of course come equipped with the typical foil parachutes. I don’t value these much, and they have a tendency to quickly become a mess. As such, I usually leave these in storage and completely forget about them. His armaments include a gray version of the Annihilator’s SMG, and the Hydro Viper’s knife. I find neither of these accessories to be greatly exciting, but if nothing else they’re alright.

Looking back on it, the 2005 convention set left a lot to be desired, and the Iron Anvil which is usually regarded as the highlight of said set, is neither perfect. It doesn’t provide an interesting niche, and the colors don’t distinguish the Iron Anvil from the normal Iron Grenadier, leaving him slightly on the bland side. My feelings for this figure would’ve been more positive years ago, but as I’ve grown to better appreciate brightly colored figures such as the Viper this figure is based off of, I no longer can value these based solely on their colors alone, hence the diminishing opinion I have of them.

The Viper Pit

Monthly Archives: February 2017

1986 Monkeywrench

2005 Iron Anvil