Rock & Roll E6
MOS: Infantry SMOS: PT Instructor
(Specialized education: Covert Ops)
I bought this very Rock & Roll figure back in the day at the old Children's Palace in Duluth. I didn't get up to that store as often as I would have liked to, but this figure only cost me $2.79. That's right, with tax a figure like Rock & Roll, a standard single figure pack came to exactly $3.00.
It was probably late 1991 at the earliest that I bought this 1989 figure, but it could have even been halfway into 1992, as well. I tell ya, though, that Children's Palace store had a great selection of GIJOE figures from all years at that time. No matter exactly when I bought it, this is a figure that has been with me for awhile now. (I recall liking how his camo pattern on his pants was sort of similar to my 1986 Hawk's pattern, in a slight way.)
I've really enjoyed having this figure over the years. Often Rock & Roll was in the mix of figures, not exactly as a "gatling gunner," either. As a figure, it is pretty straight forward in design. And it is those fairly basic features that really make this figure stand out as one figure I could almost call a favorite simply because, for no real exact reason.
Some figures, like Fast Draw ('87), are dressed to operate their gear. Like Zap ('91), for instance, has the leg armor and chest shells as part of the figure mold. However, Rock & Roll comes with some fairly large gear, but it is all removable, leaving, well..., Rock & Roll. The big ammo and other elements that adorn some figures doesn't "stick out" on this figure.
That puts Rock & Roll into the "versatile" figure category for me, and this works well for my small team.
Rock & Roll is not only a 1989 figure here, but also an "original 13" character, so the figure represents in my collection that "origin" angle of the first characters, but also fills in the range of years present in my small collection. 1988 and 1991 had surprisingly high top picks for my small team, and in between '89 and '90 fill the gap of those years to sort of represent personal "best of" through the years presence. (if that at all makes sense?)
In taking a look at this figure now, and reading through his file cards, I see Rock & Roll became an E9 rank with his sonic fighter figure. I'm going to keep him at his E6 rank, but with that sonic fighter version, I'm wondering now if I should consider the weapon qualification of "sharpshooter" for my figure?
Consider taking a look at JMM's comic home page on Rock & Roll!
My former class of 1989, all that is left is four now...
