1989 Rock & Roll v2

Posted on May 16, 2017 by mwnekoman

I think I’ve said before 1989 is a real hit-or-miss year, at least in my opinion. You’ve got classics like the Night Viper and Recoil on one hand, and on the other you have Downtown and figures like this guy. But, of the 1989 figures that I like less, Rock & Roll v2 isn’t really that bad, though I maintain my reasons for lamenting him.

In my collection, the original 1982 look for the first thirteen will always be their “true” appearance. However, a handful of the characters like Rock & Roll and Stalker were lucky enough to get some redesigns for those that might’ve desired to see the characters in a way that gave them more personality and looked more unique. This figure succeeds in that way right from the start, now breaking up his solid green outfit with a more detailed tan shirt and camouflage pants. It’s an interesting look, though I think I’d appreciate it more if the colors were a tad more desaturated.

The sculpt on this figure leaves me ambivalent at points. Elements are perfect, the shirt and cap are nicely detailed and there’s a bit of muscular definition in the arms that looks good too. I’ve never been able to really think his face looks much like Rock & Roll however, and the figure is just a tad skinny feeling to me, which also doesn’t seem appropriate to the character. The detail is there and it’s certainly not a bad sculpt; it just doesn’t strike me as the character however.

The weapons are also something I have mixed feelings on. Starting with the bad, his akimbo double-barrel mini-guns are absolutely absurd, and put bluntly I hate them. Beyond the ridiculous concept, the figure looks far too busy holding both of these, with the thick ammo belts then connecting them to his backpack even more so. His last accessory really makes up for the other lackluster parts, that being his lever-action riffle. It’s a little hard to hold, but it’s an excellent sculpt with a lot of detail. I particularly like the little scope on the gun, it has so much more personality than the bizarre sci-fi mini-guns he comes with. It also can be stored on his leg, which is a fun gimmick although it does detract from his appearance a bit.

This version of Rock & Roll isn’t particularly costly. It seems like one that’s complete can easily be acquired for around $10, and he’s rather common in lots too, where you can get him for even less. I used to not like this figure very much, but he’s great for variety and easy to get by chance if you look around. In the past I’ve swapped his legs for a pair of Salvo’s which looks pretty good and does well to balance his proportions as you can see in the second photo below.

Rock & Roll V2 Links:

Yo Joe!

3D Joes

1990 Vapor

Posted on March 27, 2017 by mwnekoman

My earliest childhood with GI Joe was strange to say the least. I had a handful of my own figures, mainly clearance priced 1994 figures that were lingering on pegs into ‘97. For the most part though, I mainly experienced the brand through my brother’s collection and through reruns of the Sunbow cartoon.

I was very opinionated about my brother’s collection. For the most part, I hated the lot of what he had, mainly because it consisted of oddly colored 90‘s figures and not any that looked like the guys I saw in the cartoon. With that said, a few figures always tickled my fancy regardless of if I knew the character or not, Vapor being one of them. This guy struck me as some kind of psychopathic, murderous cyborg who was immune to reason and overall a really though fight for some unfortunate Joes who might encounter him. I liked coming up with exaggerated villains like that…

As such, I have some rather fond memories playing with this guy despite his otherwise obscurity. I mean, really, if you just look at the figure you really have to ask yourself what on earth he is. His filecard is rather vague, saying little to nothing about his character. It’s not even totally clear as to if he’s a generic or a singular person, but I see him as the later.

Vapor has a decent sculpt. My favorite parts are his head and the Cobra symbol buckle on his chest. Nothing too remarkable other than that, but these are at least some decent focal points that give the figure a memorable appearance. As you might expect of a vehicle driver, Vapor has a slight lacking of too many painted details. The ugliest part of the figure is his solid red waist that gives him that “underwear on the outside” type appearance.

I like his colors a fair bit, being mostly grey with some red and black for details, and silver on his head. It’s a bit different, but his appearance looks somewhat cohesive with the A.V.A.C.’s, which is good. He was repainted only once into the Air-Viper for the 2003 Joecon, a decent figure although it’s colors arguable lack the contrast of Vapor’s. For that reason I think this one is the better of the two versions.

Overall, he’s a mildly interesting pilot and Cobra to come from the 90‘s. Given how saturated the line is with different Vipers, Vapor is refreshing change of pace. I’ve never used him in many dios, but he’s certainly worth using more.

More on Vapor (v1):

Forgotten Figures

Yojoe!

3DJoes

1986 Monkeywrench

Posted on February 15, 2017 by mwnekoman

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.

2005 Iron Anvil

Posted on February 6, 2017 by mwnekoman

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.

Duke (Battle Corps, 1993)

Posted on March 10, 2016 by mwnekoman

Love him or hate him, there’s a number of good Duke toys that have come out over the years. While I don’t think many are quite as fun as the original Duke, this Battle Corps version does provide quite a bit, especially for a Battle Corps figure.

This Duke is almost strange for being such an especially well reasoned and realistic looking figure. At a time when GI Joe was mainly remembered for ridiculous colors and goofy gimmicks, this figure slipped out amazingly removed of those elements. His uniform and sculpt are so grounded looking I can easily understand why someone might use him as an army-builder, as I’ve been so tempted in the past.

The sculpt here is full of detail while remaining mostly simplistic, which I think works in it’s favor. The figure’s helmet is sculpted on, unlike the previous three Dukes. I think the figure gains the merit of a better head sculpt from that, although it’s a bit sad to lose that playability from a removable helmet.

His accessories were well chosen for this figure too, even if they’re generic parts. He includes a pump-action shotgun, MP5-K, machete, riffle, and a boring missile launcher. As the parts are cast in black plastic, he has a rather nice and realistic set of parts compared to many of his contemporaries. I feel like this figure was heavily influenced by the Gulf War and this area is especially so.

I think if there’s a downside to this one, his paint apps are pretty thin. Overall, the figure just looks a little flat and isn’t painted many colors. It especially hurts in areas where the sculpted details like the goggles on his helmet stand out, but lack any paint. It’s nothing major though, as the rest of the paint is decent enough.

All in all, this is definitely one of my favorite 90‘s figures, and one of the better Duke’s Hasbro made.

1983 Cobra Trooper

Posted on February 5, 2016 by mwnekoman

In a weird way, I find figures like the V1 Cobra Trooper harder to write about simply because there’s so much that can be said about them. I think the Cobra Trooper is the second most iconic GI Joe figure after the original Cobra Commander. Everyone knows this look, and it’s safe to say the ‘82 Cobras such as this guy established Royal Blue as Cobra’s defining color.

I think it’s because of this figure and his perceived importance to me that I ignored GI Joe somewhat as a child. As a kid I came really late on the GI Joe wagon, so most of the original figures were not accessible to me. The classic Sunbow cartoon on the other hand was more than accessible to me, where I was introduced to GI Joe’s excellent 80‘s cast. It always left me disappointed after watching the show to not have any similar figures to play with. Even going into the 2002 – ‘06 “New Sculpt” era, interpretations of the Cobra Trooper were sparse. As such, I lacked the most classic Cobra in many of my play times as a child, leaving me somewhat jaded at the time.

Years later I’ve acquired many fine Cobra Trooper variations including the vintage figure. It’s strangely fulfilling to acquire the figure so many years later, and I hold them as some of my favorite pieces in my Joe collection. However, I think I may be prone to over-rating the figure similar to a few other early ARAH pieces purely from my long held desire to own one.

Simplicity is one of the greatest charms the original Cobra has going for him. With later Cobras the detail on the sculpts grew to a very high quality, but likewise the figures often became busy with so many details. The Cobra Trooper avoids this, but still has eye-catching elements that makes the figure all the more interesting. In particular I always really liked the silver grenade-launcher shells and piano wire on his shoulders.

Speaking of the piano wire, I like others have often found myself puzzled as to why the lower ranking Cobra Trooper has a sniper riffle while the Cobra Officer has a fully automatic AK-47. I take the piano wire to be a hint that perhaps the Cobra Trooper was originally envisioned to be more of a stealthy, assassin like soldier than the brainless grunt he later became. It could just be a coincidence, but I sometimes like to view them as more competent, sinister characters.

In the end, this is just a figure I couldn’t imagine my vintage collection without. Like Duke, Roadblock and Snake Eyes, you just don’t have GI Joe without THE Cobra trooper. If I had to sell all but a handful of my collection this is a figure I’d always keep.

1987 Outback

Posted on November 9, 2015 by mwnekoman

When it comes to Joes from 1987, Falcon and Outback are hands down my favorite figures. Falcon has obvious charms, and so does Outback, but I feel like more of Outback’s appeal lies elsewhere. Falcon’s a way more major character in the Joe mythos, and has more versatile specialties too. Outback on the other hand is fun for what you can see in him, more so than what he was.

Like many I’m an action movie buff, so obviously when I look at Outback I see a GI Joe version of Chuck Norris. It’s not an original view of the figure, but the resemblance is there. It’s important in my opinion because Chuck stared in so many great adventures, the childish part of my brain can’t help but start to imagine similar stories acted out with this figure. It makes what might have been a less memorable figure into one you can’t help but see in all kinds of scenarios.

The sculpt on this figure is awesome, plain and simple. His face and muscles all have lots of detail and definition for what’s otherwise a simple design. The detail in his hair really brings the head sculpt to life in particular. Overall, this figure looks great, and while wearing a white t-shirt to battle may not be practical, it really adds to the look and personality of this figure.

Outback comes with some fantastic accessories too. A flashlight that mounts on his thigh, functional web-gear, a cool and LARGE backpack and a nice riffle featuring a strap to finish off the whole package. This is some impressive gear for a toy of the time, as not too many action figures came with such detailed parts. Hasbro was seemingly experimenting with PVC parts like the web-gear on this guy, or the holster on Chuckles. It’s really too bad we didn’t see more like this out of ARAH.

I think Outback might just be one of my all time favorite GI Joe figures. He just provides so much for me, I can’t imagine my collection without him.

1989 Recoil

Posted on October 20, 2015 by mwnekoman

With the myriad of GI Joe specialists who serve unique, but sometimes limiting purposes, it’s fairly logical to have a few guys who are good for almost any situation. Recoil is one of those figures, who provides a lot and doesn’t do almost anything wrong.

1989 was a fairly hit-or-miss period for GI Joe. You had some of the best figures and sculpts from the entire ARAH line, as well as some pretty lousy figures I still can hardly appreciate. Thankfully, Recoil is one of the former. Recoil is a “Lurp” or Long Range Recon Patrol, a guy who goes on his own behind enemy lines for extended periods and sneaks out undetected. This is a really cool specialty, especially the nature of how you can almost use this guy anywhere.

The sculpt on Recoil is pretty good, lots of little details in his web-gear and uniform. I think his torso seems a bit long, but the proportions on him are mostly good. His colors are perfect for the figure, and again are very versatile. He features a lightly colored uniform with dark green trim that works well in most outdoor environments, but I don’t think he’d seem that out of place even in an urban area.

His parts are a bit weird, though not totally bad. He includes a customized M16, which is very detailed. It features a scope, grenade launcher and bayonet, and the piece is sharply detailed in general. It’d be one of my favorite vintage guns were it not for the strange choice of casting it in sky blue. The same color was used for his pistol, a strange sci-fi weapon I’ve never really understood or liked. Also included is a dark green backpack with an antenna similar to 1987 Falcon’s, as well as a lighter green mine case. This part is one of my favorite aspects of the figure, as it lends him a certain element of sabotage.

All in all, this is an excellent figure, and one I really think no ARAH collection is complete without.

1984 Copperhead

Posted on September 28, 2015 by mwnekoman

The 1984 Cobras were the characters that really stuck with GI Joe for a long time. Although many more underrated characters would come out in the later eighties and into the nineties, there wasn’t a single year with so many classics of the same quality as there was in ‘84. It’s really appreciable how at this point in the line, even the vehicle drivers were nice, desirable figures, as is the case with copperhead.

It is presumed that Copperhead is native to or otherwise intimately familiar with the Florida Everglades. Intelligence sources venture a guess that he raced speedboats in high stakes races in Monaco and Japan. His major weakness is gambling. Odds are that he got started by placing bets on his own races. Apparently he compounded his folly by selling his services to COBRA in hopes of paying off his bookies.
Gung-Ho says: “Sure. I know the type. They’re all around the Gulf Coast. Trash. Drifters. They can drive a swamp buggy like the devil himself, rebuild a V-8 with a coat hanger and spit, fight all night and raise cain ’til the cock crows. They got a heart fulla gimme and a mouth full o’ much obliged . . . .”

-Copperhead’s filecard

Copperhead has a cool character with his gambling addiction that partially keeps him in Cobra. It gives him a sort of darkness and a bit of grit that makes him a more interesting character. I always saw Copperhead as more of a crook than the average Cobra, with a fair amount of skill to compensate. It seems like he’s one of those characters whose just a bit easier to imagine in a story than some others. It’s a real shame how the cartoon wrote him out early on, or at least until the DIC episodes (But no one cared about those, honestly.).

Copperhead is fairly buff for a figure from the earlier portion of the line, which gives him a little extra character and really helps to break him apart from the other figures that shared a similar build. I never really knew what was going on with that mask of his, but at the very least I like the look of it. His silver Cobra symbol really finishes the figure off nicely, with a nice contrast to his green color.

This version didn’t include any accessories, although the later Python Patrol repaint chose to pair him with parts from Leatherneck. Although the backpack was perfect, I’ve always really questioned him having an M-16. It could just be that I really hate the particular M-16 included with Leatherneck, but Copperhead just looks better to me with different guns. I’ve paired him with an AK-47 in the past, though thinking about it logically a smaller gun would probably be easier for him to handle while in the water. A Marauder’s G36c seems to fit the bill rather nicely, but when I want something less modern the AK-74U also looks pretty good.

Do you like V1 Copperhead? Feel free to drop me a line on Twitter.

1984 Copperhead Links:

1990 Range Viper

Posted on September 4, 2015 by mwnekoman

The Range Viper seems to have become somewhat of a love/hate figure among the Joe fandom. The DTC version from 2005 improved the character’s popularity by a good deal, with it’s updated design aesthetic. I like that version as well, but I’ve also always been a fan of the original here.

There’s not always as much imagination with other figures that’s as apparent on this one. Range Vipers are Cobra’s skilled and brutal survivalist, an exciting niche among the myriad of questionable Cobra specialists. The figure is nicely detailed with a bandolier of bullets, various belts, a scarf, and a very distinct and detailed helmet. I think the helmet is where fans tend to become split, with a group not finding the “brainy” look so cool. Personally, I think it helps give them a scary, tribal look that would work with their specialty.

Accessories are both pretty nice and a little iffy on the Range Viper. On one hand, really anything works with the figure because he’s a scavenger. On the other hand, it’s mildly frustrating that a figure that bears a bandolier of bullets doesn’t include a gun to fire them. He has a fairly nice grenade launcher as far as ARAH goes. There’s not much competition among vintage grenade launcher’s, and I definitely like it better than Hardball’s. He also comes with a knife that has a good amount of personality, a backpack with more ammunition, and a hand-held launcher with a little missile. The launcher is by far his most forgettable part, as it’s bland and he usually can’t hold it too well either.

For me however, I could never bear to equip two Range Viper’s the same way. After all, a big part of the fun with this figure is his bio as a survivalist.

The Viper Pit

Tag Archives: ARAH