G.I. Joe Convention 2015 Lifeline

How can you go wrong with a Lifeline repaint? One of the shining examples of what the 30th Anniversary did right, Lifeline was the epitome of great toy design with his release in 2012. While he borrowed parts from the Pursuit of Cobra Snake Eyes, the new bits that were added flowed seamlessly with the existing ones, and his head sculpt remains one of the cleanest and most versatile three years later. When this year’s Convention theme of Tiger Force was announced, it made perfect sense for the Club to revisit Tiger Force Lifeline, and they did so to perfection.

I’ve never been a big fan of Tiger Force in general, mostly preferring the original versions of those characters to their brighter repaints. I know that back in the day Hasbro did this to get some of their most popular characters back into circulation, but aesthetically I never found the domestic vintage Tiger Force to be all that appealing. Honestly I much prefered the blue and orange themes of the UK exclusives. Those were always a much nicer splash of color and interest compared to the ones released in the United States. All that being said, I know there’s a wealth of Tiger Force fans out there who were clamoring for more characters from that subteam, and to that end, the Club was quite successful here. Lifeline retains the same parts as his 30th Anniversary version, but with faithfully reproduced Tiger Force deco, looking much like the vintage version in a modern era format. Color tones are spot on to the original the striping pattern is accurate, and although the lack of breaks on the pouches of the torso is a bit disconcerting, it remains accurate to the original, which is what most fans are looking for, I’d think.

Accessories

Like the 30th Anniversary version, Lifeline comes loaded. He has his removable helmet, the stretcher, and his Rescue case along with all of the medical instruments crammed neatly inside. The IV is there along with the clear plastic tubing, the facemask, his hypodermic, knife, and pistol. A ton of gear with this figure, and the Club brings it all forward quite nicely.

Lifeline is a terrific figure and is executed faithfully and well. Thematically, not my first choice, but I cannot argue with a job well done, and this one clearly was.