Shockwave

Shockwave E-7
MOS: Special weapons and tactics SMOS: Choir

Here's a figure I got from a trade and not too long ago. I'm thinking 2008 into 2009 is about when I traded for this figure, really a still a fairly new-to-me item. I was using the v2 Sure Fire head on the v1 Sure Fire body as my Shockwave for many years. I still continued using my head-swapped-figure as Shockwave really up until it came down to me deciding which figures were going to be on my small GIJoe team. Since my usual Shockwave wasn't THE actual '92 DEF version (with dark hair), I went with the more unfamiliar-to-me, yet most original, 1988 figure.

Over the years, I had a little made-up sub-team in my collection that I thought of as my Security Force, which consisted of figures that were more law-enforcement in nature. Like Law and Mutt, very police-like with their animals. As I was going through my decision process, I wanted to keep the Security Force aspect of my collection, without it becoming overbearing.


I never really have had Shockwave on the beat, so to speak. But I think he's going to work the best for my team. At a rank of E-7, and I know that "rank" is very subjective for GIJOE, I think he's got that angle of squad leader going for him, too.

I would like to perhaps trade him in for the Night Force version, in order to blend more with the more olive-drab military colors that cover most of my other small teams figures, also the Night Force version will fit better in the wilds of an imaginary exotic battle zone somewhere around the world.

A little Joeverse background story that I might make up is a personal grudge that Shockwave has against the Headhunters. As a member of the DEF, and now the absence of these other figures in my collection, I wonder if I should make it where those DEF characters were killed in action? Only Shockwave remains?








Shockwave is seen with a Steel Brigade helmet on here, shooting from the back of the Humvee as part of my old Security Force.


My former class of 1988, 8 remain....

Roadblock

Roadblock E-6
MOS: Infantry Heavy Weapons
SMOS: Cook

My first Roadblock was given to me by my old best bud from way back. Consider our ages, the 1984 Roadblock he gave me was probably one of his very first GIJOE figures. It was well used by the time I got it, too. The backpack peg was snapped off, the machine gun barrel long-snapped off, the tripod lost to who knows where, and the usual figure wear that comes from play. I also later added to the wear when I was putting this Roadblock figure on a vehicle's figure peg and a huge chunk of heel splintered off.

It wasn't until the "Double Blast" Roadblock was out that I essentially "retired" the old 1984 Roadblock figure. With Double Blast, well, THAT is Roadblock to me. I liked the TRU Night Force Roadblock, too, but I didn't like that they essentially replaced skin with the fabric of a shirt. Either way, all the swivel-head-jointed figures were traded out of my collection.

I was happy with the only Roadblock to remain, the Anti-venom Task Force Roadblock. This re-do of the 1992 figure has been THE go-to figure for not only being the famous Roadblock character, but being a really nice figure in itself. (and coming with the original machine gun!)

With my small team, I had to choose which figures I would be happiest with being limited to. This was one figure that was always in my top pick piles. Plus, it is Roadblock. This is a character that is darn-near just as famous to me as Beachhead, Tunnel rat, and close to closing in on Snake Eyes level.

GIJOE Renegades really added to my own characterization of Roadblock, too.



That is my best buds original 1984 helmet on the figure. I was very happy that it fit, as the original 1984 figure that it came with has since gone into the realm of parts donor. I think it is a nice way to remember my old best bud, as well as give the figure some real sense of age in this "older" version of a popular character.



Choosing Roadblock was very easy, too. But there was one little issue that I had to take into account: Roadblock vs. Rock & Roll vs. Repeater.

Essentially three GIJOE machine gunners. I chose to keep them all. But, I gotta wonder if I missed out on keeping another figure that would add more talent to my team by doing this?

Which would you choose if you could only keep one of the three?

Eco Warriors

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

But, if Cobra is manufacturing weapons grade plasma-tox, well, you might want these guys.
The GIJOE Eco-Warriors!

If you look back at my last post, I mentioned how I just got Barbecue, so I thought I would take out all these Eco-Warrior guys and set them up and share some thoughts with you.

I think the Joes are looking good here, a real stand-alone team. Side-by-side, can there be any doubt they are working together?


The original 1991 trio of Joes all had removable helmets, a very cool detail, but it would have been cool if Barbecue had had the same option! Of course, Barbecue in this form ended up going into space as another figure multiple times as Payload. And that makes sense, the suit on Barbecue is self-contained, afterall.

While Barbecues Eco-Warrior figure-body made it into space, Barbecue, technically, did not. BUT, Ozone did make it into orbit!

Ozone has his special gear, which I guess I have used as more of a testing device mostly. That little tube on it looks like a sample holder to me. But, I suppose it could be a way to send out neutralizing air as well?


Now Flint here was my main Flint for many years. I did have an '85 Flint from way back in the day, but the o-ring snapped, and this was back when I didn't know about the screw removal to replace it :( . But Eco-Warrior Flint did the job just as well for many years, despite being green.
As an Eco-Warrior, I think his helmet is the weakest design of all, especially when you look at the card-art and notice that he has a screen instead of a fully-contained Eco-Warrior hazard suit.
Flint also brought "the most" firepower with him, though. As huge as that gun is, I gotta say the handle is very figure-friendly, and the curved butt end really allows the weapon to hold to the upper torso-shoulder area of a figure.


Clean Sweep brings in the serious gear, though. Where Ozone seems to be the air quality specialist, Clean Sweep seems to be the sludge specialist.
His water-gun in disguise is kind of interesting, is it not like a PAC/RAT in some ways? I mean, it's bigger than Lightfoots little robot, but not quite a vehicle in itself. I imagine it is controlled by Clean Sweep with his backpack, which features a cool little control console.

Clean Sweep also has a sensible-sized weapon, and a truly sludge-resistant looking helmet.
Now, I was looking at Battle Corp Dial Tone the other day, and could not figure out why his waist seemed so familiar, but, well, now I figured it out!



Other than Clean Sweeps robot, the other three have the same water-blasting sludge-neutralizing equipment. Size-wise, I don't think it's too over large, I would think perhaps in imagination it's like a two-part tank, and then the nozzle ends are specialized to handle shooting some very non-standard liquid at high-velocity.


The Eco-Warriors already have their bad-guy counterparts, too. Cesspool leads the Cobra effort with his own sludge-shooting Backpack, as well as chainsaw!
These three below were the core of the "polluters" side of the Eco-Warrior side in my collection. Cesspool has been used quite often, much in some command role just under Cobra Commander. Sort of similar to how he was used in the Marvel Comic.
The Toxo-Viper and Sludge Viper haven't gotten as much use, though. Kind of neat figures each, but I think the fact that they both received the exact same accessories treatments kind of "cheapened" these two figures.

It's like the Toxo-viper almost should have been the standard hostile-environment trooper that they were before. Perhaps some accessories that were more akin to the 1988 Toxo-Viper that might have looked a little more like dangerous gas-emitting weapons.
I think that would have helped this newer Toxo-Viper stand apart from the Sludge Viper. The Sludge Viper should have been the figure with the big weapon that spews the armor-eating weapons-grade sludge. Hence the name, "Sludge."
Also, consider that the Sludge Viper is much more muscular-looking than the Toxo-Viper, that says the Sludge Viper is a little more a "heavy weapons" operator to me.

Cesspool has a different backpack and squirt nozzle than the GIJOE Eco-Warriors, however, and I am glad for that. They can't ALL be using the same equipment, for me, that's a bit of a downgrade in GIJOE figure originality.

It still all works out in the end for building up a Cobra hostile-environment army, though. Every body gets some wild colors!

Something interesting about the backpacks of the Sludge and Toxo-Vipers, is that there is a big white spot that almost seems like a hose-connecting post might have been there. Perhaps there was more to the complement of accessories planned for these guys, but I suppose these are figures with larger accessories, and they were up a little higher on the retail price as-is. Perhaps some latter cost-cutting measures by removing some accessories?

Also, I wonder about that flat part that extends from and down the barrel of the big sludge shooters? Perhaps something was to attach to it?




The Eco Warriors were kind of my first sub-team assembled, in some ways. If you consider just the first year of Eco-Warriors in 1991, just those 6 figures.

It didn't happen by plan, either.

I bought Flint, Ozone, Cesspool, 1 Toxo-Viper, and the Sludge Viper ALL at the old Childrens Palace store in Duluth, MN.
Not because I really liked these figures, but at that time, which was most likely between 1992 and 1994 (or so) because that is when Childrens Palace was going out of business!



When we moved to civilization, I "discovered" Childrens Palace. I'm not sure if it was just one of many Toys R Us big-box competitors or what, but no matter what, it was an AWESOME store.

However, due to funds and transportation, I was not able to take FULL advantage of the gradual "going out of business" price drops.

By the time I got up there for the big percentage off, most all that was left was Eco-Warriors.

But I still win, since I didn't pay full price!


Clean Sweep came in last, though. I found him later at Kay Bee at Northtown mall for $1.87






I also had the Eco-Striker and a Septic Tank. These were a couple of the first vehicles to be trimmed away though a few years back.

Just a couple years ago, pictured below, was my hostile environment squad. Recently, I've traded out Airtight, Flash, Blowtorch, '85 Barbecue, as well as the GIJCC club Dragonsky.

Going forward in my collection of less, even my Eco Warriors posted about today may go away, as well.

General Flagg III

General Flagg, son of the original GIJOE commander, General Flagg. As well as being a "version 2" repaint that didn't get a splash of bright color like so many in the Battle Corps.

When I was playing organizer and setting up shop for a big growing GIJoe team, General Flagg was always on the top of the list. Being an officer, and at the rank O-7 as GIJOE General, the only other GIJOE figures that were higher on the list were HAWK, Admiral Keel Haul, and GIJOE, himself!

As the number of my figures grew, General Hawk became a little more inactive, almost like a boss at the base. (Even Cobra Commander ended up more of an unused culprit that stayed in his own little base as more figures entered my collection...) Admiral Keel Haul had no U.S.S. Flagg to command here, but I found him very useful in my "sea squad," as the commander of those operations. I got GIJOE through the mail-in UPC offer, but over the years I just didn't use him, well, that I can remember.

As I look at my collection going forward with a goal of less but more all-around useful and fun figures characters, General Flagg hasn't really been a large player. He's pretty much been one of the top-four ranked GIJOE figures standing around a pretend battle table working out the finer points of missions to come.

He's a decent figure, has a decent removable hat, and a rather nice gun.
Below you can see the "clearance" sticker on the card. This is how I got much of my collection from the last couple years of the classic toy run.

I like the gun, but the like many of the Battle Corps, there is the "action accessory." In this case a catapult! The rocket is pretty big, too. Aside from just trying it out, this is something I never used. The launcher has some wheels styled into the form, so in some ways it almost looks like a trailer, with some fabric draped over it.


As I'm looking at this guy now, I think it makes some sense to have someone "just under" Hawk to take over the GIJOE team. I wonder if General Flagg was going to be the new head honcho in the toy line, though, because in some ways the file card continued the Marvel comic story line with the original GIJOE commander, General Flagg. With this "son" figure, "dead is dead," actually stayed true to that once "concrete" rule idea that has since gone out the window. (which is just fine....)

Perhaps Hawk was going to be phased out?

On the file card, it states that this General Flagg had FIVE preceding generations in the military.
Now, even though it states that the U.S.S. Flagg was named after this Flagg's father, I wonder if it shouldn't be more of a family name as a whole? And while it says one thing, I wonder if the "world war II" style hat indicates that perhaps this Flagg's Grandpa (the original James Flagg) was actually the one that the Flagg was named for?

Well, maybe not.





Something else I wonder about now:

So, here is mention of the U.S.S. Flagg, first mentioned on the 1992 file card, and carried over to the 1993 file card. Now, this is a 1985 play set, a HUGE play set.....and it is being mentioned on a file card SEVEN YEARS LATER?

????

Now, also consider that Admiral Keel Haul made an appearance back on the pegs in 1993.

Do you think Hasbro was thinking about putting the U.S.S. Flagg back out in the early '90s?



Well, either way, it makes me wonder. And at worst, I still have General Flagg III here to figure out!

Do you use this General Flagg?

Should Hawk be replaced?

Would veteran GIJOE team members accept a new commander like Flagg?

Will General Flagg simply man the battle-planning table?

1991 GIJoe rise of the action accessories

This is what the GIJoe team had in 1991.

This is an older picture I took in 2009, most every figure stayed pretty much the same since them.
The only additions I made that are not in the picture are, Skymate. I also did not put in my Talking Battle Commander General Hawk in the picture.

There's a lot of things going on with this years assortments. In 1990, it was really a solid release of figures with a lot of accessories. With the exception of Rapid Fire (and Capt. Grid-Iron, to an extent), nothing was too far out there in 1990.

In 1991, I think a few figures really carried similar 1990 stylings. Dusty, Sci-fi, Red Star, Heavy Duty, and Hawk, really carried through solid design form and a good amount of accessories that ranged from specialized weapons to removable headgear. I don't have the 1991 release, but Low-light is another figure that has a lot of gear, and really seems to fit in with the 1990-style figures. Lots of gear and rather simple, solid figure design.

However, 1991 was also the introduction of the spring-fire missile launcher figure accessory. While I am not a fan of these, and they were on Transformers years prior, SOME of these are pretty darn good.

Red Star's RPG-style launcher is really a nice looking launcher. Heavy Duty's "man-portable" weapon system is fairly technical looking, and I thought it was interesting that the missile-tubes were also used on the Sonic Apache!

Sci-fi got a launcher, but in his case, it seems like this accessory was less a rocket-shooter, and more a true "energy" blaster. The yellow rocket (actually "energy?") makes me think this.



Was 1991 more a transition assortment....

Some figures had a little less "1990-style" to them, too, but these were still fairly straight-forward figures, except their accessory list included some kind of new-specialized equipment. And these figures also bring in some of the "neon" that is often moaned about, but more in the guns and such. The figure package backs often led me to think this, like the back here, you can see which 1991 figures are on it, and which are not....

Mercer for instance, is really straight-forward, despite the "orange" weapons. The backpack with the mechanically moving missile tube that swings out to the side is where the specialized accessory angle starts to come into play.

Snake eyes also gets the same straight-forward figure-style, but instead of "just" a backpack, he gets a spring-fired grappling hook launcher with a string. Spring-fired, but it's not a missile. Would you say it is an "action accessory?" Snake eyes also has the "orange" weapons.

Tracker brings an orange weapon into play, too, as well as oars. Instead of a spring-fired action accessory, Tracker gets an inflatable raft. To me, this is an "action accessory."

Grunt falls close to feeling like a 1990 figure, but like the 1992 Duke, his "elbow-out" arms have sort of bugged me. His (to me) Army football pants really feels like this guy did leave the team and is not just getting back from his engineering college days, and as "Infantry Squad Leader," the guy feels like he could be a leader of some sort.
Grunts "action accessory" is some kind of huge massive mortar tube, or some kind of huge massive anti-armor bazooka. And the gun, which is also huge, attaches to the massive spring-fired launcher. But he does have a removable helmet, but I'm not sure if he would fit with the accessory spread of a 1990 figure, or if he is more a step into the realm of a 1992 figure (where spring-fired action became the norm).




Rise of the "action-accessory" and other gimmicks


This is where the often-called gimmicks really start to kick in, and these often get separated out with their "sub team" labels.

I'm talking the Super Sonic fighters, where Zap and Psyche-out are actually really good figures, but unlike their 1990 Sonic Fighter counterparts, the Super Sonic Fighters got sounds AND LIGHTS to compliment their original weapon accessories. Unlike the 1990 Sonic Fighters that simply got a sound-emitting backpack and re-issued weapons, these 1991 Super Sonic Fighters actually have some unique equipment to employ.


Of course, the other action features that are out this year are the water-activated-battle-damage Eco-Warriors. While this color-changing feature was more known to me with Hot Wheels color-change cars, they put it on the action figures. This is something I did not mind. This was kind of neat in that I could use "toxic sludge" to fight with. The "toxic sludge" was actually water. And the figures got mini-squeeze-activated water gun backpack accessories.

And while I'm mostly talking about the figures, and limiting myself by faction (Joe or Cobra), I think a good note to make is about the vehicles that also contained these same features were out there. The Septic Tank and Eco-Striker both have water shooting capability.

The hole in the plot, though? Is the stuff that the "good guys" are using an anti-toxic-sludge "sludge?" In reality, it's all water getting shot around, but, are we fighting sludge with sludge? (Like in Ghostbusters, positively charged slime against the bad ghoul?)



And the "action accessories" don't stop there!!!

If you remember the motorized action packs from 1987 and 1988, "action accessories" are obviously not a new concept in the GIJOE line.
Heck, even 1984's Deep Six figure was a whole "other" type of figure.
Now, do you remember the motorized vehicle packs?



When does an accessory become a vehicle? When it is the Air Commandos or Battle Copters!

By itself, I guess I never considered the battle copters a vehicle in a sense, like I would consider the Dragonfly a vehicle. I've never had the opportunity to try on of them out, but I'm more the guy who would NOT be sending my GIJoe figures up into the air outside. I would be more worried about losing them or their guns!
To me, the Battle Copters really feel like more of an "action accessory," big ones.

And this applies to how I thought of the Air Commandos, too. I've never had the chance to fly these, either. Nor have I even seen an original glider from the very early days of GIJOE, but, even the 1991 gliders don't feel like "vehicles" to me. And I'm not the type of collector/ fan/ person that would be tossing his vehicles around.


Where 1990 was a straight-forward year for the most part, 1991 really starts to split things up where a lot of it fits great with the 1990 figures, but the others sit firmly in with what we got in 1992.

While I very much enjoy all things GIJoe, I will admit that even in my own thinking, I tend to stay between 1985 and 1991 for most of it.... and with my recent organizing project of a small team, I find really taking a close look at the whole and seeing what I really like about each.

Oktober Guard

The Oktober Guard has only really been fully assembled in my collection since the 2005 comic pack figures made their way out.
The two sets from 2005 were very elusive for me. The Marvel comic had its influence on me, and I wanted to add these characters to my collection. It wasn't until a chance stop at a Target in Dubuque, IA, where I finally found these. And it was just the two of them there! The only packs of these I saw at all.

Looking back at them now, the heads are a tad on the small side, and some of the hands aren't formed quite right. Especially on Brekhov's figure.
The accessories must not have impressed me, as I've obviously armed them with Marauder, Inc. equipment pretty much across the board with the Soviet-style (at least to me it is) items.

The Oktober Guard was present prior to these comic packs, I actually got the 1998 Oktober Guard 3-pack about the time it came out. YoJoe has a picture of that here.

I had these 3 TRU exclusive figures with me in my small travel tin container when I was doing the school thing. I wanted some figures to set up in my room, and the 2000-'01 figures were what I had in it. And the 1998 Oktober Guard. I have since traded off the "Brekhov" and "Volga" from that pack, as those were straight repaints of previous figures that I still intended to use. "Volga" wasn't as obvious as Lady Jaye, but pretty much was that figure, ball-cap and all. And "Red Star" was most likely present in my collection, already. So that "Brekhov" just couldn't be THE Brekhov...., it was Red Star.

Plus, I lost THAT Brekhov's hat in a dorm room. Go figure..., a 10'x15' space, where something is on a shelf or in a tin, and I lost it... ???

Red Star is where it was at for on that figure. The guy was an original figure afterall, this was a more tangible character to me from the start. If I remember right, I pretty much had to trade to get all his accessories assembled for this figure below. And Red Star has some seriously nice stuff. From the rifle, to the mini-gatling gun, all the way to the RTO backpack with knife. Add in that Red Star has one of THE BEST spring fired missile launchers out there, well, it's a darn nice figure!

I think Big Bear was added in loose to my collection, too, and I know that I did trade for his double-barreled launcher. I'm not too concerned about the missiles themselves.

Just above in the picture with Red Star and Big Bear are the other "newer" Oktober Guard members, Lt. Gorky, and Sgt. Misha. These are the 2006 Comic Pack figures, and the Comic Pack Dragonsky came with them. I think the trio of these figures have better sized heads. Misha is really a nice figure with a unique hat.
Lt. Gorky has a nice head, but got the shaft with the 1964 soldier body. I've tried to find a better body for the guy from spar parts, but it just hasn't happened. I guess it isn't so bad. At least THIS Gorky isn't looking like the Big-Bear-look-alike Gorky from the 1998 TRU 3-pack.


It's the look-a-likes and characters that could be what was supposed this character issue that faces my Oktober Guard today.

Below, for example.

We had a Dragonsky in 2005 from the GIJoe Collector Club. And it's a great figure, but it's Blast-off. With the comic pack figure and the GIJCC figure, which do I pick? How do I avoid the matching uniform issue with the 2005 Gung-ho?
Also, was Big Bear intended to be Horror Show the whole time? Two big guys, in that dark solid green uniform, both with some kind of anti-tank weapon.... A coincidence? Should Horror Show "die" in my Joe-verse like in the comic book, so Big Bear can stand apart and get some use?

"Dead" characters were considered "dead" for a time when the new figures started coming back at the beginning of the century, after all. Brehkov would have to suffer the same fate if in my Joe-verse, Horror Show were to be considered, "dead." I think it was a later Marvel issue that kind of explained that Red Star looked similar to Brehkov, too, but with such a small team, do I have two leaders present at the same time? Just figure-wise here, I prefer Red Star over my Comic Pack Brehkov, quite easily.


Below you can see poor Gorky. If the hands weren't a lighter tone on the 1998 Gorky, I wouldn't mind just swapping the heads. It's too bad, I think Gorky could really have been a strong figure/ character in my Joe-verse had the body been a little more, I dunno..., good?
It's not that I dislike the '64-style body, it is just fine, it really has the feel of the 12" guys from that time. I did play with some of those, too!



On the forwarding collection issue:

Now, "dead is dead," this is an issue that didn't make sense to me. Sure, in the comic, they're gone, not to be seen again. In toy form, they're still here and just as functional as any other toy.
However, should I reduce the Oktober guard? Should I completely bring them into my GIJoe team?
Should Brehkov, Horror-Show, Shrage, and Stormavik, be sent away so the "newer generation" of Oktober Guard character/figures get a chance to get developed?

Do I need an Oktober Guard team?

What do you think?

Cutter GIJOE coastie

If I had to pick a favorite character, I might say Cutter. Of all the service branches represented in the GIJOE team over the years, Cutter is the only representative of the U.S.C.G. All respect to all services, always, but the Coast Guard gets left out it seems sometimes. In war, it's under the Navy, but in peace it has its civilian roles here at home. From navigation assistance, maritime law enforcement, S.A.R., patrolling for smugglers, or breaking ice on shipping channels (hence my code name!!!), or whatever. A very useful service that doesn't always get the acknowledgement. Cutter even had to fight to get U.S.C.G. presence on the GIJOE team.

I guess in many ways, as "my favorite," nostalgia really kicks in here, too. Above, I'm pretty sure that THAT Cutter is my original Cutter. And he is showing the wear. And as I think of it more, this might be the oldest figure in my collection from my very original figures from way back in the day.

I think it is interesting that in looking back that my old Cutter has that much play wear on him. The guy has no weapons, and has a life preserver on. Not a front line modern army action figure by any means. But, sure enough, back in the day I must have had more imagination with a much more limited selection of figures and vehicles. Cutter must have been kickin' it with 1986 Hawk, 1986 Low light, and 1986 Sci-fi pretty hard.

The 1992 D.E.F. cutter gave this character a little more muscle. And this 2nd version of the character became my default quite easily, and in thinking back, the 1984 figure just ended up floating around in whatever storage method I was using in the years since.

I did get the Shark 9000 around 1993 or 1994, most likely on clearance sale at that point. And most possibly at the Prange Way store that was shutting down in 1995 or so. Many good priced items bought at that place at that time. With the Shark 9000 came the recolored Cutter, and while I liked the green PFD and big gun, the white pants left me wanting something more.

And then I got the repainted ARAHC Cutter with the Night Landing Craft (N.L.C.), a vehicle which lost a lot of value to me when I learned that it (and the Cobra Mantis) were reused Johnny Quest vehicles. Even though they were decent vehicles, for me it was like picking out any old vehicle, putting a GIJOE label on it, and calling it a GIJOE vehicle. I might be a bit too picky or strange, too.

One of these days, I should bring up the topic of consistent hair color on Cutter, as well as other figures. A figure like Flint seemed to have no trouble staying consistent in various media and toy form. Cutter slides between a sandy blonde and extreme red head in figures, though. I suppose, it is possible depending on sun exposure, that the hair may take on a different tone..., perhaps a little more red in the summer?


I guess, while each Cutter figure has its own unique points that I like, I think the D.E.F. single version is just slightly my more favorite. Minimal white details aside, the guy has his ball cap, a not-so-obvious life vest, blue "coastie" pants, etc. He's also very buff, as a guy who would be boarding vessels at sea might have to get into some tight quarters for combat. Close combat. And he would possibly end up having to swim at some point.
The gun that this figure came with is kind of nice, too. It's not too big. The flashlight is kind of different, too, instead of the smaller ('87 style) flashlights, Cutters light pretty much could become a weapon in itself.
The grappling hook launcher (with lights!) isn't as important an accessory to me. It made me pass up some of these figures back in the day since their "gimmick" bumped the price up. The launcher is kind of interesting, though. I would expect to see something like this on a cutter or patrol ship.
And I could almost say I have a "Cutter Collection." Almost.

But, do I want Gungwreck? I shouldn't make bad humor like that, but really, some covers are unique looking, and that looks like Gung-ho to me still. Otherwise, had the head been a more Coast Guard looking ball cap, I think that figure would have sold me. Mostly for a removable life jacket. (I think of Marty McFly landing in 1955...)

If I trimmed all swivel heads out of my collection, having many Cutters would not be something I would have the, too.