G.I. Joe Collectors Club "Mission Brazil" 2011 Convention Exclusive
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Page One The Cobras |
Page Two The Joes |
While to some folks out there, the main draw of this year's convention set might be the Python Patrol and being able to round off their collection of that subteam.
For me, the minute I heard about it, I knew what the draw was going to be, and it was definitely going to be the Joes. I could not wait to see what we were getting there. The end result is a team of Joes that met my expectations in some ways, didn't quite in other ways, but at the end of the day was a fantastic team of great characters and cool plastic representations.
Claymore
Anyone who has read my reviews probably has noticed I have a tendancy to review the subpar figures first and move towards the better stuff, keeping the good stuff for last. Well, I figure I should organize this one by team and by the leader of each team, so while I reviewed De Aco first on the Cobra side, I figured I should cover Claymore first here, even though he is definitely not the worst figure in the set.
I have a very strong and deep affinity for Claymore. I never had any Toys "R" Us stores near my home growing up, so I really never was introduced to the Special Missions Brazil set. Before I was even on the internet, I was trying to finish up my domestic collection of figures, and when I bought a bunch from a childhood friend, he had all these weirdly colored '86 Joes. He couldn't remember where they had come from, so I had to do some leg work. In those days legwork involved actual paper magazines, phone calls, and convention trips...and with thanks to Tomart and James DeSimone, I learned about Special Missions: Brazil. But there was one figure my friend didn't have in his collection, and that was Claymore.
When I first got on the internet (outside of college, anyway) in the very late 90's, and first discovered eBay, you can bet my first action figure search was for "Claymore". I found him mixed in with a lot of a bunch of early 80's figures, and $50 later he was at my door. Back in those days (before the days of worldwide internet access revealed all of these hidden secrets, test shot figures, prototypes and the like) Claymore was almost like a holy grail. He certainly was mine, and I was thrilled to get him.
Well, not long thereafter, while on The Pit mailing list, a G.I. Joe uberfan at the time was offering reproduction Claymore file cards... these days he goes by the name of Mark Bellomo. Since eBay was in its infancy and there was really no major resource for stuff like this, I snagged one of these bad boys and when it arrived, I was stunned. Turns out Claymore was born in my home state of Vermont, and had gone to college at Dartmouth, a school I knew well (since I went to Junior High and High School in the same town). As if I didn't love Claymore enough, this put me right over the edge! His personality in the file card was impeccable as well, and he was instantly an all time favorite of mine. I loved it when he was featured by Brandon Jerwa in the Devils' Due comic, and while I have long wished for a much more covert operations version of the character, I was still beside myself when the Club announced his inclusion in the Con set. The final version blew me away.
Don't get me wrong, I still would have loved a purely jungle ops version of the character, but the way they put him in a more covert black T-Shirt (with that incredible special ops logo on it) the great Outback flak vest, and with just a hint of the "giraffe camouflage" that the figure sported back in the day. It was a great tribute, yet still remained an update as well. Of course what set the figure apart most of all was the totally new head sculpt and helmet, both of which suited Claymore perfectly and gave me one heck of an awesome team leader for this jungle operation.
The figure isn't quite perfect. He does sport Outback's arms, which have some elbow-bending issues, and hands that don't quite hold weapons as well as you'd like them to. While everyone loved to see Anniversary figures with short sleeves and gloves, the Pursuit of Cobra is worlds apart, and it's a little bit tough taking a step back...but still, on display, the figure is magnificent.
As previously mentioned, he has a totally new head sculpt (and I don't care what anyone says, that's Tom freaking SELLECK not Burt Reynolds!!) an awesome new helmet, a MAC-10 submachine gun as a tribute to the original, and really is an excellent, excellent figure, minor articulation gripes aside.
I mean come on! Honestly!
This one character and one figure alone was a major selling point to me on the Con set...but once all was revealed, it turns out there were even more cool things on the horizon.
GRADE: 
Mainframe
Yes, as I mentioned, more cool things. Unfortunately Mainframe is not really one of them.
The Collectors' Club took some flak throughout the convention reveal process as many fans had wanted them to just do straight reproductions of the original Special Missions: Brazil set. I am SO glad they didn't do this. They did make some homages to it with Mainframe, putting him in tan colors, even though he's not a straight match.
Really, the Club can't be totally blamed for the lackluster Mainframe...after all, he is just a straight repaint of the somewhat crappy figure that Hasbro had already released. But I guess I was kind of hoping maybe they'd tool him up a new head and removable helmet instead of using the ole squish-faced original.
Like Claymore, Mainframe has those funky elbows that permeated the line back then, though his arms were originally Spirit's. Some fans have complained about the whole two-finger salute, that was originally designed to be a way for Spirit to pull back a bow, I guess (even though he didn't come with one). Personally, though, I love that they used them to simulate typing. A very cool touch.
The figure is straight up the same as the original release was, warts and all, but done in more Special Missions: Brazil colors, and the end result is decent, but not thrilling, and somewhat lackluster in comparison to the rest of this excellent set.
Mainframe comes with his familiar computer, a machine gun and removable knife, and they all work well for the figure, giving him some offensive firepower as well as the computer that we've all seen before. He doesn't come with a whole lot, but what he has works for him.
Unfortunately, Mainframe is probably the low point of the set, with a sketchy head sculpt, somewhat uninspired paint scheme, and not many interesting accessories. He also doesn't fit especially well with the rest of the jungle operations theme, yet his homage to the original isn't quite there either. Not one of the better selections here.
GRADE:
Sparta
As an original Brazilian release, it made a lot of sense for the Club to include Sparta in this set, and she serves her purpose fairly well. They chose her, I would imagine, to try and make a nice homage to Cover Girl that the fans could include in their classic collections, but the end result doesn't quite mesh with Cover Girl's aesthetic, and the figure ends up being just a little bit bland with a pretty uniform paint scheme and not a whole lot of "wow" factor.
Still I have to say the figure ends up being pretty nice, and if there were more colors or a more exciting paint scheme it would probably be an overwhelming success. It seems evident to me (though maybe I'm looking too deeply into it) that the Club's original intention was to give us a nice Cover Girl tribute, but perhaps they couldn't squeeze enough dollars out to give her the paint ops or the vest that they originally wanted to. So the end result was a figure that ends up pretty monochromatic, which is unfortunate.
Mostly because this figure is a very clear example of just what strides were made from a technique standpoint between the 25th Anniversary line and the Rise of Cobra line. Even with a somewhat dull paint scheme, this figure is very well articulated, very well designed (using mostly the Rise of Cobra Scarlett tooling) and would be exceptionally cool with just a few Cover Girl-esque additions.
The head sculpt is a very unique concept, taking the popular head tooling from the Cover Girl DTC figure back in 2005 and engineering it for this new body. The head fits surprisingly well with the figure aesthetics, considering how many years ago it was done. Swept hair is tough to get across, but they manage, and the figure overall, even with a pretty much straight tan paint scheme, is pretty nice. Not fantastic, but good enough.
For accessories, Sparta borrows from Resolute Scarlett, sporting her terrific sniper rifle, which she can almost hold well enough to shoot. Almost. The pistol compliments her well, too, though, and even with only a pair of weapons I don't find myself all that disappointed.
A jacket swap and quickie Photoshop mock up of a potential Cover Girl
Sparta could have been something terrific. She could have been something the fans were clammoring for to close out their '84 Anniversary roster. Instead, while still being a neat character to have, she compliments Mainframe, but doesn't do a whole lot more.
GRADE:
Dial Tone
In his own strange way, Dial Tone is kind of the focus of this set, and another thing that I called out for in my initial comments wanting this set. With the female Dial Tone coming into history and rumors that she was the original Dial Tone's sister (or neice, I don't remember) with the original Dial Tone being captured, it only made sense to make this Special Missions: Brazil set a rescue mission. It was something I suggested a couple of years ago, and here we are! Very cool.
Like Mainframe, Dial Tone obviously takes some queues from the original Brazil version, using a black and red/brown base color scheme, but that's about where the similarities end. While the original was a straight up Dial Tone repaint, this figure is much more elaborate, borrowing heavily from Arctic Snake Eyes and Sgt. Airborne (for the arms), with the trusty newly tooled Dial Tone head. The figure actually looks quite good, in my opinion, though it's a bit odd that this jungle ops set features a guy who looks like he would be more comfortable in arctic conditions.
The head looks great as it did with the mail away figure, and I am a huge fan of the Airborne arms. Interestingly, the flesh tone on this figure is a bit lighter than it was in the mail away version, a fact that kind of bothered some of the fandom out there.
Dial Tone here is nicely articulated and very nicely designed as well. While he doesn't really fit the jungle operations theme, I still enjoy the figure and it makes for a cool and versatile version of the Joe comm trooper. I especially love the patch on his sleeve. Great detail and a nice touch by the Club.
Another complaint some fans out there have expressed with the mail away Dial Tone's weapons is fixed in this version. This convention Dial Tone comes with the lighter gray backpack and machine gun that mimics the original '86 version, while the mail away figure had darker almost gun metal gray ones. The newly tooled up communications pack is great and the weapon is pretty spot on.
No, he doesn't fit with the jungle troopers, and he's only sort of an homage to the original Special Missions: Brazil set, but the figure is still really nice, and it suits the character well.
GRADE:
Leatherneck
The Club had a choice to make here...do they give us a straight repaint of the same figure we've gotten a couple times already, only in a more straight 25th Anniversary homage, or do they reinvent? In the end, they kind of did both.
Leatherneck probably earned Hasbro the most fan ire when you really stop and think about how everyone's second favorite Marine got treated at the designer's hands. Considering how much of a main focus the character was during the second season of the Sunbow animated series, you would think that he might be pretty high on the list of characters to do in the Anniversary line...well, Hasbro did do a pair of Leatherneck figures, but neither one of them were quite what the fans wanted.
The first figure came with an AWE Striker, and not only was he a somewhat shoddy repaint of an odd Buzzer and Snow Job conglomeration, but he was also (ironically now) in his Special Missions: Brazil desert paint scheme. Yes, even though he appeared through several Sunbow episodes in his traditional jungle camouflage, the first chance Hasbro had to do the figure, he ended up in tan and brown.
The second time around, Hasbro dipped back into the classic well for the Rise of Cobra, yet not only did they release him with a vehicle that ended up almost being canceled completely, but the color scheme was a much darker green and brown and did not match the classic version one iota. I mean, really? You know the fans want a traditional Leatherneck...you're releasing a jungle version...why not just do what the fans want? Well, needless to say, they didn't, so even with two Leatherneck figures on the books, there was a pretty big hole in folks' 1986 collections. Now, I think it can at least somewhat be filled.
I say somewhat because this version of Leatherneck is not a blow-by-blow reproduction of the original (but really, what 25th Anniversary figures are?). Instead the Collectors' Club took the spirit of the Joe Jarhead, gave him a somewhat modern day update, but retained enough of the classic color scheme to fit this figure in with his fellow 86'ers. The end result is a good looking figure that works for the Anniversary fanatics, but also gives him enough modern updates to satisfy those of us who might prefer something newer and shinier. The Club borrows a lot of the Leatherneck tooling that Hasbro used before, just swapping out the torso with Dusty's (instead of Buzzer's). They also gave him the Pit Commando vest with the right amount of tan paint to almost simulate what the classic version looked like (though not exactly). Where this figure especially shines, though, is with the camouflage pattern and the paint scheme. The bright green base with other scattered darker green and brown camouflage really does look similar to the classic, but is modern and detailed enough to make this figure exceptionally better pattern-wise than something we might have seen at retail. So while the Club adopts the color, and fits the figure in that way, the pattern itself is miles above the classic and also meshes with more modern collections.
Of course he suffers from some of the same issues that most Anniversary figures do, and he has some trouble holding his weapon realistically. This is something that the Pursuit of Cobra has improved on greatly, but with this set of tooling, the issues are still evident.
Looking at the accessories, Leatherneck comes with pretty much what you would expect. The same machine gun with slung-under grenade launcher, a machete, and a pistol, along with his backpack and vest. Pretty basic weapons compliment, but works well for this figure.
The end result here is a figure that makes for a nice vintage homage, yet also has some great modern elements. It all comes together to give us a very cool update to Leatherneck, and a nice job by the Club.
GRADE:
Wet Suit
I've always loved it when my toys match my media, but unfortunately many times in the 80's it didn't quite work out that way. Right off the bat, the Sunbow Scarlett showed up wearing a long ponytail that didn't match the action figure from 1982. Lady Jaye didn't have a baseball cap, Destro's collar looked far different. It was kind of a fact of life back then, but that's been one cool thing about the 25th Anniversary line...they've been trying to fix that.
So yes we've finally gotten pretty show accurate versions of great characters like Destro, Lady Jaye, and Scarlett...but in all honesty, one of the most glaring differences to me were the Navy SEALs. In the real world, SEALs aren't just underwater guys. They do a hell of a lot of their damage on dry land, and relegating them to simple wet suits and rebreathers I think does them a serious disservice, especially in light of recent world events that has brought them into the public eye (probably against their better wishes).
Sure, the SEALs spend a lot of their time underwater, but they're also dropping from helicopters, doing combat in the deserts, jungles, and the bulk of the SEAL based figures in the G.I. Joe line are bogged down with wet suits. Larry Hama seemed to recognize this, and did an awesome job exploring characters like Torpedo and Wet Suit outside of the confines of their underwater gear, putting them in very cool woodland uniforms and letting them get down and dirty in the Special Missions title. How appropriate then that a Con Set with "Special Missions" in the title gives us our first real credible look at a land-based Wet Suit. It's a great looking Wet Suit at that.
The figure uses a lot of Dusty tooling, from the head down to the feet, using Duke's reconfigured arms to simulate the rolled up sleeves. The figure on it's own is a great generic camouflage trooper that just so happens to work infinitely well as Wet Suit. Speaking of camouflage, the Club did fantastic work on that aspect, with perfectly applied splotches of light tan, black, and brown over the olive green base. It ends up simulating woodland camo quite nicely.
Of course, as cool as Wet Suit looks, once you get all of his equipment on him, he looks even better. He comes with the Pursuit of Cobra Beachhead's vest, which was a surprise to me, just because I wouldn't have thought the PoC tooling was available so quickly. I really love this choice, though...not only does it work perfectly for a jungle ops figure, but with the flippers and the spot on the back for the flippers to be housed, it makes it an even better choice for a land based Wet Suit. He's got his trusty boonie cap which he often sported in the Special Missions books, a trio of knives (instead of just the one that Beachhead initially came with) and two pretty awesome machine guns.
If I have any real complaints, he does have a hard time holding his weapons, as do many of the figures using tooling of this era. His problems aren't quite as bad as some others, thankfully.
In the end, Wet Suit is probably the shining star of this set, though Claymore and Leatherneck are not real far behind. Very good parts choices, awesome design aesthetic, a great concept, and an overall very military, very cool looking figure, which fits the theme nicely, and also manages to fit the "Special Missions: Brazil" idea. Perfect execution on this one.
GRADE:
And this really wraps up the main boxed set for 2011. Diehard vintage fans got their Python Patrol roster filled nicely, folks who are just into cool military figures got their share of greatness with the G.I. Joe side of the house...all in all, I'm extremely happy with this year's set. I know many fans put up a stink (myself included) over the 2009 set which featured a "redo" of the Crimson Strike Team, but with this being the GIJCC's first real creative foray into modern style Convention sets, I have to consider it a resounding success. There were some odd choices, I do admit, but by and large, the parts worked well, the paint apps were good, the accessory compliments worked wonders, and the cohesiveness of the set as a whole was remarkably well done. It's nice to see the Club able to kind of let loose again, without restrictions on what tooling was or was not available. This was a very fun set, I only wish I had been there to get everything I wanted.
There is a Page 3 of this review, covering the Python Patrol Specialists 2-Pack, and the Water Moccasin (graciously contributed by Mike). I don't have a Stinger (yet) so until that time comes, though, check out Page 3 for Lightning, Trigger, the Water Moccasin and lots more pictures of the figures already featured!
Page One The Cobras |
Page Two The Joes |
