I must have bought my Repeater back in 1990, because as I think about it now, I had to look at the picture of my old '83 HQ weapons tray. On it the weapons tray, for whatever reason back in the day, I decided to label slots for my figures gear.
On the tray is just one Iron Grenadier, as well as Bullhorn. Bullhorn, being a 1990 figure, leads me to believe I bought Bullhorn in early 1990, therefore labeling of the weapons tray I did sometime in the first half of 1990.
Then, I know I also bought my 2nd Iron Grenadier at the same time as Repeater from the old Amery mall hardware store. This was most likely done in the summer, or late summer of 1990 before school started back up again.
And to make my guess at my estimated time frame of purchasing Repeater (and the Iron Grenadier), I know that when we moved to a new town in the summer of 1991, I had Repeater in my "original" team picture from the early fall of 1991.
All of this information means nothing to most of you reading this, though. But when and where a figure came from, essentially the origin of a toy, became a bit of a factor in deciding which figures to keep on my small team of 28 GIJOE figures. While for many years I denied sentimental feelings had anything to do with figures or vehicles as a collector, well, in some cases they do. To an extent.
With Repeater, it isn't so much where the figure was purchased that kicks in an emotional connection, but rather it is who I was with at that time. And from there where I opened up the figure and set it up for the first time. (versus my 2nd Iron Grenadier, at that!) There were actually many toys that I purchased, or were purchased for me, over those years long ago in the same very same area that Repeater came from. I think Repeater is the last actual figure that's left of all those toys, though, the others all gone away now.
So essentially, Repeater got the "sentimental emotion boost" when all other factors were in my decision process of figure elimination.
Other than that, Repeater really hasn't stood out that much to me strongly over the years , and I had heavily debated if having three machine gunners on my small team was overkill. If it came to simple preference, my Roadblock and Rock & Roll I find much more fun.
I think some of my lesser use of Repeater over the years was due to his waist tab (I think "tab" fits, not sure what else to call it.) Now, I like the concept of the machine gun snapping onto the figure, at the same time it kind of detracts from the figure for me. Another Joe that was a possible pick for my team, but got the cut, was Pathfinder ('90). Pathfinder has two tabs for his guns, and those guns seem like they would pack more of a punch for that matter. Pathfinder also came from the same small town that Repeater came from and had been purchased with the same people. It kind of came down to that versatility factor of a figure here, where one had one tab, the other two. It was a lot of really close decisions where it was just little things that at the time, I made myself make the call.
Vehicle interaction can become less fun with waist tabs sticking out on a figure, especially in earlier "arah" vehicles.
Like a few of my picks for my small team, I think Repeater has that one figure aspect going for him, with a strong touch of "blank slate" for characterization. Not a "star" character at all. Read through his file card, and you'll find he has many years in the army with his MOS of Infantry and SMOS of Heavy Weapons.
My figure literally has many years in my collection and like the file cards highest rank indication, Repeater has never stood out to rise above other figures. But it has been a solid figure, and I hope to make good use of it as a part of my small collections GIJOE team. Aside from the unique gun, Repeater has a fairly versatile style in cammies with a tactical vest and cap.
With the modern Iron Grenadier and the smart gun being placed on many of the modern customs of Repeater, I take a look at the old classic figure here and really don't see the Aliens smart gun connection. I think it definitely works for the modern figure, though. On this old guy, I'm thinking something like an ammo-conserving-make-your-cover-fire-count sort of gun. The steadi-cam could be more like the camera rig, where Repeater could be on the run and still have effective cover fire.
What do you think: too many "machine gunners?"
How have you used Repeater?
Repeater in action in the mid-'90's.
