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.
Lifeline
Character
Sculpt
Articulation
Paint Deco
Accessories
3.9
Summary
Great parts choices, as it’s tough to go wrong with the 30th Anniversary Lifeline body. The Tiger Force deco is very well applied, and he comes with all the essential Medic’s gear. A solid vintage update with great sculpt and articulation.
I set out to write this article, and was immediately surprised by the fact that there was actually some stuff happening with the G.I. Joe brand in 2014. I know the fandom is eager to jump and say that G.I. Joe was high and dry in this momentous year, and from a practical perspective, it was, but even so, there were lots of things happening this year worth exploring. Not on any grand scale, however.
I suppose that’s a commentary on the state of G.I. Joe these days, where it remains somewhat relevant, but just barely. And one is forced to ask what’s worse? Being totally irrelevant, or being just relevant enough to cling around, but not relevant enough to try and push harder. It’s like the brand is stuck in this murky middle ground where it’s got the slightest hint of popularity enough for Hasbro to keep it hanging on, but not enough to get a real push. Yet, until it fades away completely, it likely won’t get a full rejuvination either.
All that being said, there were still some discussion points throughout 2014, and here are my top 10. I’m going to try very hard to maintain a sense of positivity and optimism, because dammit I still love G.I. Joe, even if the rest of the world currently couldn’t give a crap. 🙂
The folks here at GeneralsJoes would like to take a moment to wish you and yours a very Happy Holiday season. Whatever you celebrate, and however you choose to enjoy this time of year, I want to thank you all for making the site a regular place to visit.
For many people, 2014 was a tough year, and please join me as we put it in the rear view mirror and look ahead to a hopefully better 2015.
Being a G.I. Joe fan during the 2002 – 2005 era was an exercise in enthusiasm, excitement, and on occasion bitter disappointment. Those formative years of the new era of G.I. Joe were surrounded by an extremely vibrant fandom who latched onto G.I. Joe’s new retail presence and celebrated through Devils’ Due comics, the G.I. Joe convention, which now catered more to the 3 3/4″ fans, and a lot of folks embracing the excitement and wacky nature of G.I. Joe for the first time since the 80’s.
From a conceptual standpoint, Hasbro was developing an impressive resume of characters from the old days as well as new characters, establishing almost a perfect formula of vintage and modern. The only problem was, back then, the toy design process was a bit hit or miss, and the actual product wasn’t measuring up to the concepts. Seems we’re at an opposite place now, where we have this process to develop fantastic figures, but conceptually there seems to be a struggle. If only we could get the JvC enthusiasm and marketing muscle with the modern design technology…
But I digress.
Over at their new podcast, Nerdrahtio, Sam Sears and Tom Mathias spent some time speaking with Sam Wells, formerly of Devils’ Due Publications, who shares some magnificent concept art from the Joe Vs. Cobra, Spy Troops, Valor Vs. Venom, and even DTC days. Back then, Draxhall Jump was doing amazing work building these terrific character designs, which unfortunately ended up somewhat limited in execution. But looking back at these spectacular concepts, it can’t help but make G.I. Joe fans wish for “what might have been”. Not only that, but there is a wealth of unreleased characters featured in the artwork as well. Amazing looking stuff, truly.
Still, kudos to both Sams and Tom for sharing the information. I’ve mirrored a couple of images below, but you should check out Nerdrahtio.com for the rest. You will NOT regret it. While you’re there, listen to that first episode as well, a great interview with Mr. Wells along with discussion about the concept art shown.
Alongside the stalwart cohorts at YoJoe.com, we’ve put out our list of Top 10 G.I. Joe toys from 2014.
I know to many Joefans, 2014 felt like a lost year, but looking back on it, there were some great things to enjoy, and the crew at YoJoe runs them down.
If I did my own list it would be pretty different from this, but that’s the cool thing about bringing different opinions to the table…
The way episodes have been posted lately means that a somewhat larger gap happens between them, which actually has the benefit of giving us more to talk about. For episode 98 we come close to our self imposed three hour limit, but it’s tough to say that any of the discussion was extraneous. We talk to good friend of WOJM Bill Ratner about his latest adventures, and he never fails to entertain. There’s some great discussion about regional events as well, encompassing lots of real estate from Iowa all the way to Southampton, UK… wherever there’s trouble, WOJM is there!
Of course we also talk about latest rumors of a 6″ G.I. Joe line and get back to basics about what G.I. Joe means to us. Lots of stuff crammed into that three hours, hopefully you’ll enjoy it.
Check out the latest episode at Podbean.com or embedded below and show notes are after the jump.
