FSS 02: Lt. Falcon

My custom 1/6th version of Lt. Falcon

Lt. Falcon has always been one of my favorite GI Joe characters throughout the entire 50 year history of the brand. That first figure was so well done in terms of military realism. Now in regards to his appearance in the GI Joe animated movie - nope, I don't have to acknowledge that spin on the character. No thanks. And he's Duke's brother or step-brother or whatever? Nope, I don't want any part of that.

The original mold was reused a couple of times, especially as a part of the Night Force sub-team. Falcon's first appearance in the modern era was a disaster. Such an awful figure. He had those early Duke arms that just sucked and that head sculpt was just a wreck.

Somewhere along the way, Falcon was reintroduced as a part of the BBTS exclusive Slaughter's Marauders set. I don't know the history of the figure, but he turned out pretty decent. He wasn't in his traditional colors, but still looked pretty decent. Finally, a modern version of Falcon that I was pleased with.

As a connection to the 2013 Con set, Nocturnal Fire, the GI Joe Club included Falcon as a part of FSS 02. He looked to be a direct reuse of the BBTS version, just in the Night Force colors. This version of Falcon was one of the few reasons that made me jump on board for FSS 02. The results just rock. 

Falcon doesn't come equipped with a lot of gear, but he is adequately loaded up. He comes with the backpack that his first modern version came with, along with two types of shotguns. Falcon also has the Cobra officer web harness - the only weak point about the figure. It works well enough, I just don't like the sculpt, plus it just looks a little flimsy.

I believe that Boss Fight Studios did the work on many of the head sculpts for the BBTS set as well as many FSS figures. Excellent work as usual. Oddly enough, Falcon is back to having brown hair. His BBTS version had him with black hair. His hair color has changed on and off over the history of the figure. I suppose only his stylist knows for sure.

The backpack is a great addition to the figure. I've never really been fond of the way that Hasbro originally sculpted the knife holders on the backpacks, but it worked well enough for the toys.

The backpack opens up and you can pull out the radio. It's actually made up of three pieces, the antenna and the two-part body. Pretty cool!

Here's Night Force Falcon compared to Marauder Falcon. For the Marauder Falcon, I removed the lower portion of his jacket and that flimsy harness and replaced it with the web gear that came with Spirit from that set.

Both figures are exactly the same construction. I never realized that the torso is from Dusty and has that lower waist joint. The Club even did away with the lower portion of the jacket during design. I'm thinking that there may be enough differences in skin tone and, of course, hair color, that I may be able to get away with considering these guys as different characters. Maybe?

Here's Night Force Falcon in his final form. He's now geared up with Spirit's web gear. I think that the colors match just fine. Besides, who says that Falcon always has to use a shotgun? Can't he be well versed in the use of other weapons as well?

The Club really kicked ass with this figure. Straight up repaint with nothing new, but still a damn fine figure. Where else is a collector to go for new GI Joe product? Maybe we'll get an answer from Hasbro at Toy Fair in February.

FSS 02: Cesspool

Back in 1991, Hasbro tried to inject some life into the GI Joe line by introducing the Eco-Warriors. These brave soldiers, led by Flint, fought against the evil Cesspool and his Toxo and Sludge Vipers. Hasbro even dipped into the zombie pool for the Toxo-Zombie. 

Sub-groups have always been a part of the GI Joe line, ranging from Tiger Force to Night Force to Battleforce:2000 to Eco-Warriors to the DEF to Ninja Force and I'm sure there a few others that I'm forgetting. The GI Joe Club has been quite effective in integrating these sub-groups into their figures. With FSS 02, they've integrated Tiger Force, Night Force, and now, the Eco-Warriors.

I'm really impressed by the way that the Club has been working all of these figures in with each other. Night Force Falcon links back to last year's (2013) Con exclusive set featuring the Night Force, while Airtight and Shipwreck are members of Tiger Force. Two more offerings for FSS 02 include members of the Oktober Guard which link back to the 2012 Con exclusive set.

Cesspool connects the Zombie Vipers and the Hazard Vipers from the PoC and 30th lines to this year's (2014) Con set, Zombie Initiative. So how did the Club do on their interpretation of Cesspool?

Damn fine job!

Cesspool is some serious quality work from the Club. Based on the figure, it looks like the only new piece of tooling is the head. I think that the crew from Boss Fight Studios did the work for all of the new head sculpts for the Club. Awesome work!

Everything just works with the Club's interpretation of Cesspool. The loud colors work. The gold weapons and the helmet work well enough when compared to the original. No power chainsaw this time? No loss. The extra accessory really kicks ass!

I'm not sure yet where the torso comes from, but everything else is easily identifiable. The arms are from Airtight, the legs and helmet are from Sci-Fi, and the vest is from the Techno-Viper.

The back-pack comes from Barbecue and the larger weapon comes from Money-Bags Destro. I don't recall where that pistol-thing came from.

Speaking of Money-Bags Destro, check this out! A briefcase full o' cash! Every corrupt businessman needs some funds to bribe local officials. Same goes for the nut job Cesspool. This is such an awesome accessory. I'm so glad I was able to snag an extra Destro and now have two of the original money-filled suitcases.

Such a handsome man! Boss Fight did a helluva' job on that scar. It's a huge bloody scar with that dead, soul-less eye staring back at you. Is the head a little too small? Maybe. I don't care. 

The only complaint I have about this figure is pretty minor. The knees seem to be a bit loose and he tends to fall backwards. Not a huge deal.

This particular set of two figures from the Club is a win-win. Both figures, Cesspool and Falcon, are very well done. Even with just a new head and a mix of various parts, the Club just rocked it with Cesspool. 
How about Falcon? Stay tuned!

Blowtorch's Backpack

I'm sorry, but I really don't like any of the modern versions of Blowtorch. He's just kind of goofy looking. The head sculpt is odd, the figure doesn't really stand that well. The vest/chest piece just kind of sits there.

I even read Justin's review over on General's Joes before buying the figure. One star? Really? And I bought him anyway. I totally agree with the review as well.

But I do like the flame projection unit, despite the fact that the flamethrower has not been used since before 1978 because of the horrific nature of the injuries and casualties caused by the weapon. So why did Hasbro make Blowtorch in the first place? Because shooting a jet of flame as a weapon just sounds cool!

Besides, with Cobra's use of the undead as soldiers/weapons, some flame projection comes in handy for burning the infected. I've got a couple of the kick-ass Airtight figures from the 30th/PoC series of figures and figured that I would try out how Blowtorch's weapon would work on Airtight.

Looks pretty bad-ass. But I don't have a picture of Airtight wearing it right now! I'll add one later.

So this morning, I'm taking pictures of the new GI Joe Club FSS 02 figures - Lt. Falcon and Cesspool and I'm looking at the various figures that formed the base of Cesspool and I stumble across Blowtorch's gear.

And I accidentally knock it to the floor and a piece falls loose. What the hell? I broke it!

Nope, the piece that came off is removable! What the hell? Why? There's a little screen and some dials and gauges in there. That's a pretty damn cool bit of detailing that I only just discovered.

So I'm a little happier about Blowtorch, not much, but a little. And what about Cesspool and Lt. Falcon? Stay tuned, reviews coming shortly. Let's just say, the Club kicked ass on these guys!

**Pictures of Airtight w/ flame unit as promised. Not bad?

Budo Update

Just a minor update to my lazy custom of a more combat ready Budo. I don't recall where this sword back pack comes from, but it belongs to Budo now.

I think that it works so much better for Budo.

Hey Hasbro! Pay Attention!

As someone who grew up playing with the original GI Joe back in the 60's and early 70's, I am absolutely stunned by the customizing skill on Oreobuilder's Blog.

He has been working on some exquisite customs of the classic GI Joe figures in 4" scale and they are amazing. 

I've been successful in making the transition from playing with the big Joe's as a kid to become a collector of the small Joe's as an adult. This is how to do a proper salute for the 50th Birthday of the grandfather of the entire action figure genre. I'm sure someone would have eventually worked up a boys' toys action figure, but Hasbro did it first.

GI Joe saved Hasbro's corporate ass, probably at least twice. I'd like to think that Hasbro has something in the works that is just slightly as awesome as Oreobuilder's work, but I doubt it. I don't know if Hasbro cares enough about GI Joe anymore.

Thankfully, there are folks out there in the GI Joe Collector/Fan community that keep GI Joe alive.