Pursuit of Cobra Crazylegs

Okay, who the heck asked for Crazylegs? Come on... admit it! You're out there, somewhere...

While we're still missing some core members of the G.I. Joe and Cobra teams like Footloose, Cover Girl, and Jinx, somehow there was enough fan outcry to warrant releasing a Crazylegs figure, an '87 release with a goofy grin, a bright color scheme, and whose most notable appearance was his own death.

But dammit, Hasbro designers went and made one kick ass action figure.

Yes, that's right...ignore everything you've heard from other fans out there. This figure is THE figure to own of Wave 6.

Sometimes you can't explain why...sometimes a figure is just...right. It's poseable, playable, photogenic...everything just fits. To me, Crazylegs is that figure. I know he's got that rehashed head sculpt. I know he's got the hole in his torso (though it's covered up nicely by the parachute pack). I know he's saddled with the parachute backpack that cannot be removed without a screwdriver. But dammit, as soon as I got him out of the package, he just had it. He was fun to play with, fun to pose, really fun to take pictures of, and I just couldn't nitpick.

Be aware, though... this wave in general, and Crazylegs specifically, seem to be made of a somewhat softer grade plastic. It doesn't hurt anything, and in fact almost makes the figure more moveable, but for folks who care about that stuff, there it is.

I'm far from a Crazylegs fan. I'm not sure if its due to his wacky name, but while I always thought his specialty was great, the figure itself never thrilled me. His bulky quilted tooling from the 80's looked silly as a regular combat trooper and while his parachute was really cool, it restricted his motion quite a bit.

Granted, his Night Force version was a huge improvement, and I really loved the darker colored hues, but still...this figure just didn't float my boat in the 80's. Times sure have changed.

This figure is awesome. Flat out awesome. Yes, it uses mostly existing tooling, a combination of Snake Eyes v.3, Lift Ticket, and Snow Serpent/Arctic Snake Eyes, but I find this combination to be amazingly effective. It really retains the bulky, quilted suit look of the paratrooper, yet he's got a much better range of motion and a more subdued color scheme all told. The light paint wipe over the entire figure dulls things down a bit, yet still retains the overall color scheme. Yes, the torso has a hole smack dab in the middle of it, but that's just something you deal with when it comes to re-used tooling. I've heard fans wonder why they don't just "fill in the hole"...well, it's not that easy. Filling a hole would require retooling the part at significant expense...an expense that would make a Crazylegs figure financially unfeasible. I'll take a little hole in the torso if it means we get awesome figures like this, especially because the parachute pack covers the hole for the most part.

He uses the head sculpt from the "Sandstorm" disguise that came with Zartan, which works really nicely, and isn't instantly recognizable as someone else. The face is a lot grittier and better than the goofy smirk we saw in '87.

Crazylegs actually comes with surprisingly few accessories, based on other Pursuit of Cobra figures. He's got the parachute pack from the Cobra Island Sgt. Altitude/Ripcord, the machine gun from Pit Commando, the pistol from the PoC Zartan Sandstorm disguise, and the old school machine gun from the Anniversary Firefly. I'm not sure why they even included that older machine gun, other than perhaps because it's at least somewhat reminiscent of the '87 version.

I really love how the accessories all work with the figure. One thing that is certain to bug people is the non-removable parachute. It flips up and the belt can be unhooked, and you could disassemble the figure to take the parachute off, but the legs are too thick to slide it off. So, a determined person could remove it, but it would require a screwdriver.

The leg straps do restrict leg movement a touch, but really not to a large extent. Of course, it's tough for the Crazylegs to work as a ground trooper with a parachute permanently attached, but he still looks pretty bad ass, and at some point I might try and snag a second one who can be used without the pack on. Of course, I follow the Marvel continuity in my little dio-story universe, so unfortunately I can't use this figure to that extent anyway. Wish I could!

Okay, this one surprised me. I was expecting an okay figure, and another neat addition to my Anniversary display. What I got was a very nicely articulated, well designed assault trooper update, and a figure that will be featured prominently in my Pursuit of Cobra line up. The combination of parts is excellent, the paint apps are fantastic, and I found myself very pleasantly surprised by the end result. Folks who aren't sold on this figure would do well to give it a try. You might be surprised like I was. Quality.

GRADE:

Buy this figure NOW at BigBadToyStore.com!

1987 Represent!

In Memorium...