Recondo
Somehow, some way, even as a youngster, Recondo managed to become one of my favorite characters in those early days of G.I. Joe. He never got much face time in the cartoon and didn't make a splash in the comics until the late 30's, but as soon as I got him in hand, I really just loved the character and his look. Recondo was one of those strange fringe characters that really never played a heavy role in much of the comic or cartoon, but had a very devoted following. This makes him a tricky proposition for Hasbro in the Anniversary line. He's got a lot of folks who are clamoring for him, but does he have a wide enough appeal? Turns out he did...
Recondo got several new versions as the years went on, but really none of them caught on as well as the original look did. For the 25th Anniversary version, Hasbro dipped back into 1984 and attempted to give us a version of the Jungle Trooper...but it wasn't just an attempt, they succeeded exceptionally well.
I've said in previous reviews that I prefer when Hasbro takes the elements of the classic version, but improves them and tries to make the figure better. In this case, they pretty much just went for a duplication of the original, and I really cannot complain at all. They picked very good base parts, using a lot of Dusty (which is an excellent figure in and of itself) and the "fixed" arms from Tiger Force Duke and recent versions of Flint. The head sculpt appears to be all new and looks great as Recondo.
It's nice to see that Recondo was an important enough character to warrant tooling for a new head sculpt, with a nice removable hat, to boot.
Recondo's accessories pretty much cover all bases, too. He's got the new hat and rifle, both of which look fantastic and character-accurate. His backpack is a repaint, but it still works great, even if it lacks that trademark arch handle that the original did. The figure is polished off with a Hawk shoulder holster/pistol, which does a decent job simulating the look of the original Recondo, too. Nothing outstanding, but they're all solid accessories that work well for replicating the vintage look.
Along with Ripcord, Recondo was a pretty obvious vacancy in the Anniversary line up, and Hasbro did a nice job filling that hole here. An awesome look, very good articulation, and an exceptionally accurate update to the original. There are some quirks, as is the norm with the Anniversary stuff (the Flint hands still aren't perfect by a long shot) but by and large the figure is very nicely done and looks great on display.
Buy this set at Big Bad Toy Store!
GRADE: 
