2002 Firefly
When Hasbro debuted the New-Sculpt style figures in 2002, I was still firmly a kid. I think this makes my perspective on them a lot different than most collectors who first saw them as adults, as there’s a few figures from this era that have some sentimental value to me. These days, I don’t think a figure like this Firefly is anything to write home about, but 18 years ago I thought it was a pretty cool looking figure.
My childhood collection of Joes started off with mostly ‘94 clearance figures, so mostly stuff like Armor Tech and Ninja Force figures that were still easy to find. For the most part, I totally missed the glory days of ARAH, but I had a lot of ‘87 through ‘94 figures that I had open access to thanks to my brother’s collection. With that and Sunbow on VHS tapes, I had a pretty good taste for GIJoe even if I came in on the brand late, but the 2002 line was my first chance to experience getting Joes at retail.
As things would turn out though, I only bought 1 set of Joes from the Joe vs. Cobra line, this Firefly and Nunchuck set. I wanted to try and remember a specific reason why I didn’t get more, but thinking about it, there really wasn’t one. I sort of slept on the figures just for a lack of seeing them around much. I’ve long thought that one of Hasbro’s biggest missteps of that era was their lack of a decent media push, as I personally would’ve bought more had I just seen the brand around. Of course, I was also a poor kid and 2002 wasn’t a very good year, so that probably had a lot to do with my lack of purchases too.
To an adult that focuses more on quality aesthetics, these New-sculpt designs simply don’t compare to the ARAH sculpts. However, Hasbro was still producing the premier military toys on the market at that time, as there was nothing that really compared well to GI Joe. Even if you compare Joes from around this point to something like Star Wars, I think it’s safe to say Joe came out on top. Then if you go by today’s standards, these New-sculpt designs are more functional and way better looking than anything Lanard or Jazwares is pumping out. In some ways, I think they don’t get enough credit when you look at them like this.
Moving on to the figure… There’s a certain disparity between what I thought of this figure as a kid versus what I think about it now. As a kid, I liked this toy a lot. He had good articulation, wore reasonable colors, and fit in well enough with the rest of my collection that I had no issues using him with classic sculpts. Amusingly, I really hated bright colors for the most part, so figures like ‘92 Firefly were unappealing to me compared to a drab figure like this.
As an adult however, I can’t find much objective appeal in this figure. Anything I like about it amounts to mere nostalgia. The proportions of the sculpt are pretty wacky, and the design of the figure isn’t overtly appealing. He’s got super bulky biceps that make his arms stick out worse than any of the buff 90‘s sculpts. I also find the excessive silver armor and akimbo pistols on his chest to be a pretty cheesy, dated look now. Overall, he’s an especially mediocre figure but there’s nothing too wrong with him besides that.
There’s two sets of parts that came with this Firefly, one for the original two-pack release, and a different set for the single-carded mission disc release. The two-pack figure came with a sound-attack version of ‘84 Firefly’s gun, then normal versions of ‘86 Beachhead’s gun, and ‘91 Dusty’s pistol. The single pack figure has an arguably better load out, as it removes the sound attack tab from the Firefly gun, and then replaces the other parts with the Neo-Viper’s scorpion pistol, and three grenades from Big Ben.
This figure like most of his contemporaries, is virtually worthless. You can get this Firefly complete from a dealer for around $5, or MOSC for about the same price. Of course, the figure is so cheap because there’s almost no one left who collects New-sculpts. Maybe in 2035, there will be a wave of nostalgia for these old figures and you’ll see collector interest develop in them like there is for 90‘s Joes right now. I personally doubt that though.
The Viper Pit 