G.I. Joe Winter Operations

Toy name: G.I. Joe Winter Operations
Assortment: N/A
Price: MSRP $19.99
Availability: June, 2005 - Toys "R" Us Exclusive

As I sit here and prepare to write this review, I can't help but hear the classic Clint Eastwood movie music rolling through my head...maybe it's because ESPN Radio is playing in the background, but as I prepare to type, all I can think of is "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and laugh at how accurate that statement is when directed towards the G.I. Joe 6-Packs of recent memory.

There have been some good, no doubt in my mind. The Tiger Force set was nice, I though. Some great homages to the foreign exclusives and nice paint apps, even if none of them really matched. I enjoyed the Night Force set, too, and begrudgingly thought the Greenshirts were even pretty nifty.

The "Bad" can only be attributed to sets like the Desert Ops set, with potential cool paint jobs being wrecked by bizarre plastic quality and shifty arm paint apps. The naming conventions for that set and the Anti-Venom set also needed some serious work.

But how about the "ugly"? Ugly is definitely a subjective term, especially in the world of G.I. Joe. So many times I see the 90's figures saddled with that term, and while I can't help but agree that the description fits, that alone doesn't necessarily mean a bad figure. Can something be "Ugly" and "Good" at the same time? Sure. How about the Winter Operations set? Is it a "Good Ugly", a "Bad Ugly" or a just plain "Ugly Ugly"? It's ugly, no doubt about that, but let me try to convey which camp it really falls into...

We'll start off with...well...the just plain bizarre.

I've always been a fan of the Mega Marine figures as I'm sure you've been able to tell if you've looked at my site over the years...I even somewhat focused on them during one of my dio's, even though they weren't fully featured or anything like that. Every single Mega Marine figure that ever came out is in sore need of a paint job change. Their molds were all terrific, in my opinion, but their color pallets were far from it.

When Joes first started making their real resurgance a few years ago, we finally got one of the Marine's in a decent paint scheme. Mirage made his first appearence then, looking pretty darn cool in greens, browns and silvers. It was proof positive that the Mega Marine molds were great, and could really make nice figures when given the proper deco.

Well...then we got another Mirage. And another...and two out of the three were packaged with army builders...so all of a sudden collectors were choking on Mirage figures, and he quickly lost his luster. Well, it's been about 3 years without a Mirage figure, which is a great thing...but then they decide to make a dramatic revival...with this?? Eh?

Okay, okay...I get the joke. He's "Mirage"...so he looks like a.... "mirage", right? Errr... hmmm. Okay, okay...maybe the filecard makes some mention of some cool stealth technology or something? Some explanation as to why Mirage is...well... see through?!?

Ummm... nope. Well, thankfully I have a good imagination, and I can at least PRETEND that there is a reason why Mirage is clear, but the fact remains, do we really NEED a clear Mirage, and what kind of sense does he make coming with an arctic set? Truth is, he makes very little sense coming with an arctic set, or any kind of set for that matter. The figure? Well, realism aside, it does look kind of neat in this strange pseudo clear paint scheme. But really, it only looks neat, not amazing or even incredible...just kind of there. And of course the worst thing to me is that the figure isn't really usable as anything, so, well...I'm not going to use it or display it. In fact he looks incredibly out of place here, even in a set that doesn't really seem to HAVE a place...no arctic gear, no solid colors...just some strange "ice sculpture Mirage" or some such. There are some interesting trimmings on the figure, though, I have to say. The green bandolier, forearms and leg-wiring stand out nicely, but still the figure ultimately has no purpose. All Hasbro really had to do was put some sort of indication on the filecard that he was testing some stealth tech...some optical camouflage. That would have at least shown some forward thinking. Instead it just looks like someone was trying to make something neat without really thinking how it would mesh with the rest of what is quickly becoming a pretty interesting 6-pack.

Next in line would have to be Snow--- errr... I mean "Frostbite". You'd think I'd be used to the naming conventions by now, wouldn't you? Yeah, I kind of am, I suppose, but certain figures have such an iconic look to them, that it's tough to see them as other characters. This mold is one of those. Snow Job was really one of the first "specialty" figures that I got...and I spent hours with him in my sandbox, skiing down pretend slopes and finding all sorts of interesting ways to take out COBRA troopers. Snow Job WAS the arctic devision back in the day, and like it or not, it's just tough to see him as Frostbite in all of his recent renditions.

Character weirdness aside, I actually find myself liking this figure more than I really thought I would. When pics first surfaced of this set I was pretty taken aback. Don't get me wrong, I really, REALLY love color on my Joes. I like vibrant, bright, exciting color, and these figures definitely have it. But they have no cohesive theme, and the color choices seem almost arbitrary and strange. But, just taking the figure on it's own merits, I do find myself loving this figure as a figure in it's own right.

The vast majority of this figure has a strong white base, and it would have been very easy for Hasbro to go that way to produce a set like this. Let's face it, plain white works against a snow backdrop...so why not? Well, thankfully Hasbro decided to step it up at least a little bit and present a very cool camouflage pattern on the pants of pretty much all of the figures (except Mirage). It's unfortunate that it's so tough to see in the pictures, because it works very, very well...it's actually the same camo pattern Snake Eyes has, but just in slightly different shades of white. This little added detail really looks nice on all of the figures and adds a great bit of detail where things could have been somewhat dull. Still, Hasbro seems to want to add even more colors to these figures...and not necessarily the same ones. So with Frostbite, Hasbro went the blue route. Blue really makes little sense when dealing with an arctic environment, especially a blue as rich and dramatic as this. But, when it comes right down to it, I really, really love the color, and I dig the application, too. First of all, the torso looks terrific in this bright blue color scheme...it really stands out and looks sharp. But then they continue this blue onto two underarm swaths, and that also blends in really nicely with the torso, but also makes the color mesh with the white arms and not appear to kind of jump out of nowhere. In fact, the two-tone arms seem to be a theme of the set here, and it really works nicely in all cases, I think, surprisingly enough.

Beyond the white and blue, there is ample black trim, and like in fashion, I suppose, you can never go wrong with black. The black pouches, scarf, belts, gloves, and boots all bring a nice darkness to the figure and another realm of color that looks nice and mixes well.

Yeah, the mold looks kind of old, especially when packaged with these muscular molds from the 90's. But the arctic gear works, the colors look pretty choice, and overall I really dig this figure, a lot more than I thought I would. The accessories here aren't too bad in this figure, or in any of the figures. There is a smattering of arctic-specific gear...I really wish Frostbite had gotten a pair of skis (or that there were more than just one pair), but all in all, the machine guns and spike shoes make sense here, as they do with all figures packaged in this set. As usual with some of these six-packs, I can't quite get my head around which weapons go with whom, so it's tough to single out accessories in each figure review...but I'll try to touch on it here and there.

The third figure we'll take a look at here is the one Hasbro likes to call "Short Fuze". You know, I have no issues at all with giving existing characters a winter appearance or arctic look to them...but taking a character that really doesn't resemble another one and calling him by that existing name simply because you don't have a trademark? Doesn't make much sense to me. I'm sure they could have found another new name to use for this particular character...or done something to come up with something new besides "Short Fuze". Or if they were determined to use Short Fuze, just take Downtown's head and use it. No one would complain.

But as it is, I have a very hard time seeing this figure as Short Fuze...I mean, he doesn't even have blonde hair (or a mortar launcher, for that matter).

But strange naming conventions aside (and there are a few of them in this set) the figure itself isn't all that bad. I'd be lying if I said I didn't find the color pallet at least a little on the dull side...I mean whites, tans, and a smattering of blacks isn't exactly a dramatically new and interesting assortment of colors. However, Hasbro does apply them in a way to make the figure at least still seem cool. Different shades of tan and brown are sprinkled throughout the parka here, so it's not a straight, flat color, and that really adds a lot of depth and detail to the mold.

Speaking of the mold, I'm kind of excited to see it make a return...we haven't seen it used since 1997/'98 and it makes absolute perfect sense for a winter operations trooper. The head sculpt is clear and distinct (which is perhaps why I have an issue with it being Short Fuze) and the body sculpt itself is a normal, bulky, well detailed late 80's mold. The bulky parka and snow pants are scattered with a great assortment of straps, holsters, pouches, and some funky armor plating on the thighs, which all brings out a little extra detail and makes the figure all that more interesting. The layered look of the parka is great, and when all combined together, even with a somewhat bland color scheme, everything looks pretty nice over all.

The colors, I suppose, aren't really that bad. I mean, this figure's gonna blend in with the snow better than any other figure in the set (well, except maybe the "invisible" Mirage...) and I do dig the tannish "dirty snow" color of his jacket. It blends with the white in his pants nicely enough to create a believable arctic figure, even if the colors aren't real exciting. But including this figure in a set with lots of flash and color on the other figures just works to bring out the blandness in THIS figure, which has some negative effect on him, unfortunately, even though the figure itself actually ends up okay.

I would have loved to have seen some more of Blizzard's gear inside this set, but alas, it looks like it wasn't to be. We did get plenty of crampons to go around, and at least ONE pair of his skis, but a helmet for this guy would have been nice...he's gonna have a cold head!

So, this is a look at the first half of the Winter Operations set... click here to proceed on to the second page and check out the rest!

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