G.I. Joe Infantry Division
Toy
name: G.I. Joe Infantry Division
Assortment: N/A
Price: MSRP $19.99
Availability: February, 2005
- Toys "R" Us Exclusive
Sigh...
Green shirts? Oye.
Okay, I really can't explain it, but the whole green shirt concept just rubs me all sorts of the wrong ways. G.I. Joe is a team of individuals who are the best at what they do, and what has always made me love this toyline is quite simply the characters. Nameless, faceless, green-shirted soldiers do not seem like they belong in G.I. Joe. If they were good enough to be on the team, they'd have a codename and they'd get a real uniform. So immediately when I heard of this 6-pack, I rolled my eyes...did we really need this?
Well, I have to admit, I'm somewhat pleasently surprised with the results.
What we ended up with isn't so much of a faceless horde of green uniformed nobodies, but a group of trainees, working their way up the Joe ladder...and the way Hasbro has outfitted the trainees is somewhat interesting and really calls back the first days of G.I. Joe in a somewhat cool way.
These figures are loaded with accessories and gear, and are not as completely useless as I once suspected. Is the set perfect? Definitely not...far from it. But it's not the useless waste of plastic I was thinking it might be originally. Hasbro did something neat here. They used classic styled molds and added some interesting changes to really make this look like a cool team of Joe recruits. Not necessarily an infantry support team, but new recruits who aren't quite ready for the Joes yet, but may still go on missions from time to time. Troops who wear the introductory uniforms (as the Joes did originally when THEY were first starting so many years ago) as they work into a permanent place on the team. That concept itself isn't so bad, and it's something I can work with and appreciate, even though these figures will most likely not get seen in my dio's.
It's tough to break these figures down to do a proper review, because there
are really only two different figures, and merely an assortment of head sculpts.
But these two different figure molds work really well as classically styled
Joes.
First we have the famous "Grunt" style uniform, with the twin straps and by now, well known look. The same uniform base that Grunt, Stalker, Hawk, Snake Eyes et al wore back in the day. There's some very cool shades of green used here to make the figure stand out and look neat, while at the same time meshing well with the older comic pack figures, too. The monochrome green look works pretty well, with the nicely hued lighter trim.
But,
really, it's the molds that use the HISS Driver torso that really look cool,
I think, just because they're something new and different. Using that mold in
this way looks very neat and works well, and is a great compliment to the other
style used as well. It looks classic, but still also looks new and different,
which is something that Hasbro sometimes has issues with. Here they do it, and
do it well.
The head sculpt (s) actually works for me, too, but it would have been nice to see some different heads mixed in. This variation on Downtown looks neat and would work well for a few of the figures, but not for every single one. Even though they mix up the hair color and facial hair, all of the heads essentially look the same, and unlike the COBRA's, who had helmets and masks, these wide open faces make this look like a team of clones.
The wide array of accessories here is actually much appreciated, and almost surprising. Hasbro doesn't seem to go out of their way to make a nice accessory compliment...but now they really went all out. The assortment of cool weapons (and footpegs!) is much appreciated and will stock up many folks' arsenals in good form.
But perhaps the coolest thing about this set, that seems to be somewhat overlooked, are the filecards. You can actually give these guys your own code names! Since they're trainees, they still have to finish training before becoming full on Joes...once they're good enough to join the team, you can give them code names a la the Steel Brigade figures from back in the day. This is really neat, and I honestly hope the kids are scooping these toys up to use their imaginations and make their own team members to use with their Joes. That would be very cool.
So, in retrospect, I really did not even want to think about this set coming out, yet it came as a nice surprise to me and works quite well. The interesting, classic mold choices and the very cool shades of green all come together to make an assortment of very interesting looking toys. Add in the open ended filecards and huge weapons arsenal and you have a pretty decent set, even if I don't appreciate it conceptually.
Of course it helps that the figures are completely loaded with accessories and great helmets/military backpacks. All of this combines to create what is really a desirable set, even for non-fans of the "Greenshirts". Are the older molds dated and a little scrawny? Yeah, sure...but as trainees, they're supposed to be. Are all of the heads the exact same one, just painted differently? Yup, you got that right, too. But the ways they're painted make them almost seem somewhat unique, even if you can tell they're basically the same guy up close. I love the way the guys look, though...they just look like a scruffy ragtag bunch of roughnecks that need to shape up or ship out.
It's not as bad a set as you might think...give it a try.
Ratings (out of 10)
Characters:
0
Molds: 6.75
Paint Apps: 6.75
Value: 8.5
Overall score (not an average): 7
