G.I. Joe Convention 2013 - Nocturnal Fire Night Force Chuckles

It's almost hard to believe at one point in G.I. Joe history, Chuckles was barely a footnote. He was that crazy figure that came out in 1987 and wore a Hawaiian shirt who was more a Miami Vice rip off than any credible G.I. Joe character. Sure, he appeared in the Marvel Comics quite a bit over the years, mostly as a suit-wearing spook, but only appeared in the Sunbow universe as a mute, oversized cookie cutter character that remained relatively undefined.

Brandon Jerwa took the character and totally explored his mindset in the realm of being a true undercover agent, rather than just a government agent. He developed the character quite well in a short Frontline limited series, bringing him back into vogue for a limited period of time. Devils' Due then pretty callously killed him off shortly there after in a mostly meaningless battle, relegating his great character development into a single panel hackneyed "shock value" death that almost completely undermined the character they had developed (in my opinion).

Thus, Chuckles once again faded into the background... until Mike Costa and Christos Gage came along and completely redefined the character in the G.I. Joe: Cobra series from IDW. In that series, he wasn't just undercover, he was deep undercover and went almost completely into the black world of Cobra in his quest to bring them down. Along the way, we got an updated figure in the Operation: Flaming MOTH set from the Collectors Club, an actual Hasbro figure in the Attack on Cobra Island 7-Pack, and now we get this one, which is the best of the bunch.

At one point in recent history, the 25th Anniversary line was going to bring us a Silver Mirage motorcycle with Chuckles, and this Chuckles was going to have a gray Hawaiian shirt in an effort to "tone down" his appearance a bit. This figure obviously uses that idea as an inspiration, giving us a really great "Night Force" version of Chuckles that does fit into the Night Force aesthetic, yet still manages to have that very unique look and feel of Chuckles as we know him.

His gray shirt and dark green pants match the Night Force deco of other items within the set, as well as his 2-pack partner Freestyle, but apart from Night Force, this Chuckles can also stand alone as a great tactical version of the character. As an added bonus, the light flowers on his Hawaiian shirt actually glow in the dark! How cool is that?

There are no new parts used here, but he really doesn't need them. He's got a familiar collared shirt with the arms from 30th Anniversary Law, which works nicely for a Hawaiian shirt. Using Law's arms gives him the added wrist articulation, which is great, especially for someone who fires pistols. His legs are also the same combination from Law and G.I. Joe: Renegades Duke with the Snake Eyes upper legs and lower legs that first appeared with that same Duke.

The end result is a figure that still greatly resembles the Chuckles of old, but with newer tooling used, resulting in better articulation and a much higher level of detail than previously seen in the 25th Anniversary version. It's all good.

ACCESSORIES

Chuckles comes all decked out with great assortment of accessories. He has the same tactical vest that originally came with G.I. Joe: Resolute Beachhead, only with a radio on the shoulder strap rather than a knife sheath, which I love. He comes with two machine guns, both of which are very cool designs. Handcuffs are here as well, which makes sense from a law enforcement perspective, and he also comes with a pistol and silencer, which fit into the sheath on his leg. The shoulder holster is very vintage appropriate, and lastly, he comes with a great motorcycle helmet as another homage to the canceled 25th Anniversary version that was slated to come with a Silver Mirage.

These accessories are amazing. I love that they gave Chuckles a more tactical look. I can totally envision Chuckles finishing an undercover assignment and joining Sure Fire, Shockwave, Bullet Proof, Law, and Wide Scope as they prepare to launch an attack to take down the subject. Great stuff.

I can't think of many ways to improve this figure. I'm not a huge fan of the head sculpt, but it is Chuckles and it resembles Chuckles, but I just think head sculpting has come a huge way since this head was originally designed. That being said, it's a very minor issue, and in spite of it, this figure is absolutely stellar. Great work on this one.

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