6 INCH COLLECTION: GI JOE CLASSIFIED: FLASH
A brief history. Christmas of 1982. I found a whole slew of GI Joe toys under the tree. I didn't get everyone (and that's okay). I thought these things were the greatest toy in the world and would feel that way for the next 4-5 years. To a degree, even in college when other toylines were out there like Wetworks, WildCATs, X-Men, TMNT, Power Rangers, and whatever else there was in the 90s (for me, let's say up to about 1998), I felt GI Joe set the standard. Now, I knew of the 90s GI Joe and a bit of all these weird special teams and it just wasn't an era I was interested in. But GI Joe got me spoiled on articulation. It had articulation that Star Wars didn't have. GI Joe may have had some other faults (in my book), but Star Wars, like Transformers, would take a lot of imagination. As a kid, not as big a deal.
My loss of interest in Star Wars almost happened right off the bat. As a kid seeing the movie, I loved that 1st movie. The toys, on the other hand, were just weird. I still played the hell out of them. But I questioned why they couldn't bend their arms or at the knees. Why did the light saber come out of their hands? Why no eyeballs? In terms of Storm Troopers, why can't they move their heads? And more importantly, I was irked as a lil 5 year that I couldn't pose the Storm Troopers like in the movie (or the packaging image). Imagination can go only so far.
GI Joe came on the scene and it was like, steps ahead of Star Wars. They could move at the waist! Heads moved! The elbows and knees had joints (and later, swivel arm which was nice and much appreciated). The articulation points set the standard for me, but apparently not the rest of the industry. And why the frak not??? Don't get me wrong, I understand that Transformers was a very different toy and articulation wasn't going to happen. But MASK and He-Man, c'mon... By the 90s when aforementioned Wetworks showed up, how did McFarlane not take note on how to make toys? Or Toybiz doing X-Men? My issue with GI Joe came sometime around 1986 or 1987 when I realized the head molds looked pretty much nothing like the card art. I remember looking at toy Falcon and saw that it didn't resemble the card art. The body did and that was probably easy for Hasbro. The heads kinda left a lot be desired and then, I saw this for all the figures.
GI Joe came on the scene and it was like, steps ahead of Star Wars. They could move at the waist! Heads moved! The elbows and knees had joints (and later, swivel arm which was nice and much appreciated). The articulation points set the standard for me, but apparently not the rest of the industry. And why the frak not??? Don't get me wrong, I understand that Transformers was a very different toy and articulation wasn't going to happen. But MASK and He-Man, c'mon... By the 90s when aforementioned Wetworks showed up, how did McFarlane not take note on how to make toys? Or Toybiz doing X-Men? My issue with GI Joe came sometime around 1986 or 1987 when I realized the head molds looked pretty much nothing like the card art. I remember looking at toy Falcon and saw that it didn't resemble the card art. The body did and that was probably easy for Hasbro. The heads kinda left a lot be desired and then, I saw this for all the figures.
Hasbro has come a long ways. But it's still not perfect. But let's get to the real focus of the topic here. Other than I'd like to have an O-13, it's going to be a tall order due to prices on some figures. As of writing, Flash was recently released. Figure, MSRP is around $30 (I'm rounding up). For $30, I kinda expect a higher level of craftsmanship. The visual design is top notch as are all the characters for the Classified series. The construction design is another matter which I think has been a point of contention for sometime. The execution of the figure (mass production) can be 50-50. The short; the wrist design is poor. My Flash's wrist is incredibly weak. I thought the swivel was just really tight, which it was, but it also stressed the peg. Basically, I couldn't tell if it was swiveling or not. (I did the warm water technique to remove the hand and found the joint is a 2-piece construction, I had weakened the peg but it's also about as strong as JoyToy wrist construction on the San Reja figures.) At the moment, I'm having to be very careful with him and just posing him for the figure put additional stress on the hand. (I drilled out lower forearm hole a tad so the hand could swivel better but the damage has already been done.)
As for Flash, this is a nostalgic purchase. He was my fave Joe from the 1982 series. I have to admit, I don't remember if he continued to be a fave once I got the 1983 figures (several came on my birthday). I don't know what it was about Flash that made him the fave. It might have to do with the helmet/visor combo and/or the departure of standard green palette (the red padding). Plus, he had a pretty good dynamic pose for the packaging. The Classified Flash is pretty good. His role in the Zedd Universe? I'm not sure but I'm considering a VS story for him.
As for Flash, this is a nostalgic purchase. He was my fave Joe from the 1982 series. I have to admit, I don't remember if he continued to be a fave once I got the 1983 figures (several came on my birthday). I don't know what it was about Flash that made him the fave. It might have to do with the helmet/visor combo and/or the departure of standard green palette (the red padding). Plus, he had a pretty good dynamic pose for the packaging. The Classified Flash is pretty good. His role in the Zedd Universe? I'm not sure but I'm considering a VS story for him.
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