G.I.Joe Mudfighter

My HQ has not been very exciting.   Some days I think I should just sell off more of it and get it smaller.  Other days I think I should sell all of it.   Above are four vehicles I was contemplating trading in locally.  The Locust was one of the last BBTS purchases I made from their former vintage department.   It hasn't gotten a lot of use.  I have not even unboxed my vintage Tomahawk or Retaliator that has sat packed up since I moved from my former HQ.

Others have come into my collection since being in my current HQ.  The Eliminator 4WD came in in 2013, The Sea Ray in 2016 the Persuader in late 2017.

I decided against trading in today.


But I did get these, the Mudfighter (thank you, 3DJoes!!!) and a helmet-less Gyro Viper.  Neither are mint, the Mudfighter a C7.5 by my grade but complete.  I graded it down a .5 for the sight warp on the one rear landing gear/wing piece.  Dogfight had more play wear than what I have seen on the Mudfighter so far.  I like this pistol a lot.  Long before I ever had a Dogfight figure I had one of these pistols and 1988 Iron Grenadier Destro used this pistol in many adventures back in the day.

This is my first Mudfighter.  I can't recall seeing one in person before.   It's everything I expected, though.  I was not expecting a lot.  Dogfight has a bit of a strange CIA type of characterization vibe to me and this little propeller-driven plane just seems like something that could go hopping around somewhat unobtrusively, save for that loud noise.  But unlike one of the massive jets, like a Skystriker, this is the type of plane that can operate in those short, rough, rugged areas.  

The profile is kind of fun.

It really sits low on the ground.

It is really fully-loaded on the bomb side.
There was a prototype picture that I came across somewhere that had what looked like the Rattler/ Thundermachine cannons up on the nose and found that to be really cool.  As is, the cost cutting that likely occurred left the front guns something to be desired. 

The green of the 1989 Mudfighter carries closely over into the Generals 1990 Locust.  The green reminds me of my Mobile Battle Bunker, too, that's long gone, however.

 

G.I.Joe A.W.E. Striker

The new 2020 G.I.Joe A.W.E. Striker is, was, or may not have been at your local brick and mortar dealerships.

It was not at my local one, the "Retro" figures were, and they sold through.  Was it due to being cool, being there, or just the better option of whatever was left over the toy aisles generally?

I really am not a "modern" figure sculpt collector, as you know if you have followed along here, I stuck with the o-ring.  And I really am more of a vehicle fan.

The FIRST A.W.E. Striker I ever had was mostly the chassis, wheels, and lower body that was pretty beat up way back in the day. 

The Eco-Striker was my first real A.W.E. Striker.  I mean, as much as the V.A.M.P. seems to have claimed that iconic G.I.Joe vehicle title, the A.W.E. Striker always stood out to me so much more comparatively.  The Eco Striker in blue and yellow with a big water cannon did not replace the original green one in my mind.

The Stargate All Terrain Cruiser became my "go-to"  A.W.E. Striker after a chassis swap.    Below is how I was starting to roll it big time in 1997:

So for a few years that Eco Striker/ All Terrain Cruiser was my A.W.E. Striker.  (And yes, that Street Striker was my "V.A.M.P.").


That changed up in with the 2001 A.W.E. Striker.  That was my favorite and after subsequent models that I have had remains my favorite.  When I slimmed down my collection I gave it a lot of thought and I tried making any "getting rid of" mistakes, and I somewhat regret getting rid of the 2nd 2001 A.W.E. Striker I had.   With the "dirty" paint and wheels look, having two of the same, at the time took away from the uniqueness of an individual vehicle.  Or so I was thinking at the time.  At the same time, having the numerous different A.W.E. Strikers was something I also something I slimmed down one, so that there was only one A.W.E. Striker to keep as a more treasured item in my possession.


Today I took that "out of my way" trip, mostly due to me needing a reason to get some old gasoline burned out of  real life vehicle that has been wintering since the beginning of December.   I had checked the online checkers with the SKU's for nearby locations and I had at times considered taking a run to go grab some H.I.S.S. tanks to work toward my Cobra arsenal, even though I wanted to get away from the 1983 H.I.S.S. and make my Cobra forces seem more modern or a little less like everyone else's Cobra forces.  I never made those runs.  

As I did this one, the online inventory checkers indicated that the location I was headed to had 5 or more on hand.  Every other location had nothing all on anything.  I had the thought of using this modern A.W.E. Striker to get a few or more and give each one some sort of paint schemes to provide more transportation for the troops and be able to have a little more personalized collection.

Well, there was only one there.   I am happy that there was at least this one.  It wasn't a wasted Operation: Crimson Sabotage style trip (of which there were many of those that never panned out).

I did not expect much from this and I have very little excitement for new Hasbro G.I.Joe product.   The box was nowhere near information and excitement filled in the graphics, the most interesting part to me was this number.  I don't know what it means.  I want my imagination to think I have #02811.   Maybe the first 10,000 customers get something.

 

Just look at that rim below, as a "wannabe" G.I.Joe designer and not a very skilled one even back in the day, I would have gone a little farther than that with a marker rendering.   Is it toss it into Illustrator and go these days?

This is where this figure is going to stay.  The battle stand was a nice inclusion and while I got the $18.00 discounted pricing, at the original $24 and change I think a rifle would have been an easy thing to drop into the bag.

There are numerous reviews out there and I did notice the roll bar frame bend in some of these.  This box was in good shape but the roll bar bend was on this one.  I will say I was a little angry.   But what does a consumer do at this point?  Drive 30 miles back for return?  I was hoping this bend wouldn't be on mine but on the upside I paid $18-ish for what is a basic dune buggy that can become parts. 

It's not all doom and gloom for me, probably the largest upside of this purchase was this piece of cardboard.  Really.  Sure, it wasn't a full vehicle assembly, and unlike a G.I.Joe Sound Attack Spytroops flattened rear suspension, this cardboard kept the 2020 models springs tight.  A total contradiction in packaging to the curved roll bar.   I am going to cut some cardboard like this to put under my 2001 A.W.E. Striker now.

If you've followed along here for awhile, I have to look underneath the vehicle.

Here's a 2020 underside:

Here's the 2001 underside.

With the roll bar frame bend on the front I didn't want to look at that on a brand new vehicle.  I got the old Stargate All Terrain Cruiser frame out and considered using it despite the color difference.  Maybe something to paint at a later time anyway, right?

Well, the swivel and post are not the same size between the two.  I didn't want to use the spring fired rocket from the Stargate A.T.C. so I went with what I got.  Noticing that the top hole had that hexagon shape I haven't cared for but then realized that the Pursuit of Cobra vehicles weapons might fit on this.  I have very few of these but tried some out.

The new cannon does not fit in the Stargate roll bar frame hole.   No parts swapping today.

"D.T.C." is just a little smaller.

I kind of like this, if only some elevation could be had.

This gun lacks finer detail but with the hand grips it would make a third rear gunner seem really natural.

I have not seen a lot of Cobra Black Dragon use on the internet.  

I like the more gray tire look.

Here you can see that rear suspension sag.  And I have tried to keep the 2001 A.W.E. Striker elevated off its wheels over the years.

There's something more iconic or natural feeling with the side mount of the cannon versus the rear mounted cannon.  Having a roof-roll-bar-snap-on part like on the 1984 Cobra Stingers roof that would allow for different weapons or accessories to be used would have been a nice modern upgrade.

As much as I really like my 2001 A.W.E. Striker, I really like the green vehicles.

 

Retro Roadblock

I have had a hankering for some G.I.Joe toys lately.  There's not much on the new retail scene and most of what is or has been on the retail scene is really not my main cup of tea.

The Retro G.I.Joe product that came out did not even really snap up my interest like it did when the news of such things would spread onto the internet.  The 2003 Crimson Sabotage set hunt and me making fruitless efforts to distant (since there was none close) stores to find one still hangs in my head.  (Upon the nearer store finally getting these, they were all snapped up the day before.)

Toss in the extreme 3.75" figure construction switch in 2007 to the "25th style" figure, I've slowly become less interested in the figures.  Yes, I still ended up with a litttle over 100 "newsculpt" figures from 2002-2006, and even still, ended up with upwards of maybe 50 "modern" figures since then.  Many have left, but some I really kind of like but I don't feel like they fit with my classic old stuff seamlessly.

Needless to say, I am not going to overpay across the internet for an already overpriced product I have some interest in.  And I am not going to go way out of my way to the store that may or may not have the product to find the overpriced HISS or A.W.E. Striker that I have some interest in. 

Had the Retro G.I.Joe actually had had a classic retro figure in the package, my interest would have been much more there.  As things were revealed and a seemingly random bunch of "modern" figures were tossed into the mix I really didn't pay attention.  And only now that I have Roadblock am I looking to see what else came out or where this Roadblock figure sourced from.

I like that Roadblock is going global and I hope the toy brings fun for anyone that gets this, but this file card is the exact opposite of what the original Roadblock file card, or any original file card would do to add value to a figure, a real human character, quickly fleshed out.  Here, this leaves very little to inspire.

I also bought the Fortnite Omega figure.  I have never played Fortnite.  It might be years back when I came across a Fortnite figure that looked a lot like Firefly, and not just look, but looked better than the current on the shelf Firefly, and that caught my attention.   But I have to simplify, I don't branch out unless I can go further.

But 28 points of articulation, and after the G.I.Joe: Retaliation Fangboat's very limited articulation figure experience, I thought I would check this one out. 
Now, I have found more articulation to be less fun in a lot of ways with the "modern" figures.  Joints are moving all over or some taking more effort to move just right.  And I did try out an Acid Rain figure as well as a Marauder, Inc. figure.  I don't recall the number of points of articulation on those but the Omega figure has been interesting for the initial in-hand experience.  We do have Fortnite players at the HQ, but I am not one of them.  This Omega character could be something that I could work into my G.I.Joe Universe as what a Wraith figure could have been.  I like a little sci-fi edge like that in G.I.Joe but it has to really be designed and built well.   The actual Wraith figure suffered a couple snapped parts, clunky parts, and ultimately I just did not feel like that figure had some kind of Destro-designed armor.   Omega, and I know nothing about the Fortnite Omega, feels like a high tech suit wearing figure.

The Retro Roadblock had a peeling bubble and if not for the under tray inside the bubble loose accessories could have easily have been lost or stolen.  But this is modern 21st century packaging from a global company so this is a little bit of a let down to me from my wannabe designer perspective.

Outside of the outer bubbles both figures have the inner tray.  There's no real effort at putting these figures in some eye-catching action poses like some of the "G.v.C." through "modern" G.I.Joe figures have had.   The Fortnite labels here were fixed to the inner tray feeling very solid in a thicker plastic compared to Roadblocks.

Omega came right out of the inner tray, Roadblock took a little crunchy plastic manipulation but I was happy that I did not run into the tiny transparent little rubber-bands tying the figure and accessories to the inner plastic tray.  The scotch tape holding the barrel and ammo down required a little snip to free those accessories.  Upon removal, the handles on the large machine gun immediately fell off.  And these continued to fall off every time I have since moved this Roadblock accessory.  

Attaching the barrel to the big gun I could instantly remember the original 1984 Roadblock figure I got from my best bud back in the day which had a snapped barrel.  That's what my Roadblock had for many years until the 2001 Double Blast (basically Roadblock) put a full unbroken machine gun into my hand with a tripod at that.

Speaking of tripod, none was included with this Roadblock.  Not a deal breaker as with my limited "modern" G.I.Joe figure collection I have some vehicles and I am very interested in the attachment points that some of the figure accessories will fit onto on some of these vehicles.

I've passed over even just checking out these Retro Figures even on a whim at the original price of something like $12.87 or whatever higher point it was at.  The $9.70 price was much more reasonable, even maybe a little too high still.  These are still $7.99 figures tops in my mind as there is nothing really all that new to them.  I really don't have any background or insider knowledge at my level of collecting but the entirety of the G.I.Joe Retro line figures really look like just random pulls from a library of parts and put through the factory as cost-effectively as possible.  That quality of effort should be reflected in a lower price.
I might be wrong but the Fortnite figure looks like an everyday retail price that while the figure might not have the same amount of accessories but might be the better value especially when originality is factored in.

This was the first time I put the gunner mount in my remaining Eaglehawk and I wanted to try Roadblocks machine gun on it.  It fits, but it is not swinging out to the side. 

The Black Dragon holds the machine gun but the machine gun handles fall off easily.

I like the look of the machine gun on the 2011 VAMP

I did not really have the financial priority when the Renegades and Pursuit of Cobra figures out on the retail shelves, nor was I really in the best position to travel to locations that may (or may not have had) the product available in those years.  I like many of these figures quite a bit.  Airtight in particular.   With a new VAMP, these new but familiar figures were some of what the junior joes* were able to play with, versus any of the older stuff I had concern about breakage or loss with.   Surprisingly, many of the "modern" figures that I had expected to hold up to child's play since they were new absolutely failed from very minimal play action.  (Strangely, the o-ring figures held up solidly in comparison.)

And the vest has to go.  The vests are fine but sometimes they seemed like a cheap cover-up to make a whole new figure in cases.  I don't know which figure/s the parts on this Roadblock came from, but the torso feels like it was on a "the Rock" Retaliation figure that I had, the one that had the permanent handle-in-hand.
I really like the tank top here, without the vest on I am feeling that 1984 Roadblock a little more.  And I like that there is not that double jointed knee on this figure and the boots are just solid boots.  The torso for a more muscular body doesn't have that separate upper/lower torso split joint sticking out too horribly either.

The little I have read or watched on the Retro G.I.Joe figures on the internet seem to praise the packaging more as the stronger part but I think it is worse.  The back of the card has no value to me at all.  The front gave too much space to the yellow backer portion.  It's almost too generic on the front side.  And that Roadblock in the picture has a backpack and a tripod...., if I were buying this new with no prior knowledge I would wonder if I was shorted parts.