25th Anniversary Outback

by KansasBrawler

I have fond memories of my brother’s Outback figure growing up. The figure was pretty simple, but at the same time, that look fit the Joe’s survival expert very well. When I first heard Outback was up for inclusion in the 25th Anniversary line, I was happy. He definitely deserved it. I wasn’t sure if he was the best figure to include with a vehicle like the F.L.A.K., but at least he was getting released. However, when his vehicle set (F.L.A.K. vs. Cobra C.L.A.W. Glider) got cancelled, I was disappointed. After it got cancelled, he got shifted over to the Assault on Cobra Island set and I was pleased to see that. Then his vehicle set got uncancelled and Hasbro had to find a way to make the two Outbacks coming out at basically the same time look different. They decided to make one Outback based on his classic look and the other Outback reflected his time with Night Force. While I think it would have worked better had the Cobra Island set’s Outback been done up like the original Outback, but that’s really neither here nor there, I suppose. What matters is, I finally have Outback and while the years have not been kind to this version of Mr. Selkirk, he’s definitely got some strong points to him that come close to outweighing his negatives, something that can’t be said for all of the 25th Anniversary figures.

Outback reuses a lot of parts, which isn’t surprising since he started his life as a vehicle driver. Surprisingly, at least to me, his chest comes from the 25th Anniversary Snake Eyes. I didn’t realize how good that piece could look as just a generic shirt. Combined with the 25th Anniversary Tiger Force Flint arms, you have a decent approximation of Outback’s simple t-shirt look. However, those parts are pretty dated and have some problems. The Flint arms have some pretty funky anatomy on his forearms and his hands, while serviceable for holding Outback’s gun, are best used to hold a shotgun in a two-handed firing position. Outback’s gun fares better than some when it comes to fitting in Flint’s hands, but it’s still not great. His chest also has the early 25th Anniversary very-obvious mid-torso break. Hasbro got better at obscuring this as the line went on, but those early torsos looked pretty rough. Thankfully, Outback does benefit from having a brand new vest to cover his chest gap. It’s a very well designed and detailed piece with appropriate pockets all over it. It’s a bit of his departure from his original web belt, but it’s still a great piece. His legs are a combination of old and new parts. His upper legs come from the 25th Anniversary Cobra Trooper while the lower legs were molded as new pieces. The main reason for this was that they wanted to recreate his classic boot knife and surprisingly, up to this point, there weren’t any boots with knives so if they wanted to keep that, they had to make something new. Despite being very old parts, the Cobra Trooper legs do mesh surprisingly well with the new lower legs. His thighs do look a bit thinner than his lower legs, but part of me can chalk that up to the fact that when you blouse your pant legs into your trousers, you get a little bit of a fabric puff right at the top of the boot anyway, so while the lower legs may in fact be a little bit larger than the upper legs, it still looks okay. The Cobra Trooper legs are also modified slightly. The two hooks to hold the Cobra Trooper’s stiletto have been removed and his survival flashlight plugs into those two gaps in the thigh. It’s a great way of referencing Outback’s classic accessory while not having to tool up a brand new leg for a one-off use. However, it’s still not ideal because that means the flashlight really doesn’t look right any place other than on his hip and he has a gaping hole in his thigh if you decide to have him hold it. Outback’s other new piece is his brand new head sculpt and I’ve really grown to love it. I’ll admit, I initially wasn’t that sold on it, but when I pulled him out of storage for review, I had to admit, they really did capture Outback’s look very well. It’s not quite a perfect recreation of his vintage head, but honestly the look reminds me of the couple of issues of the comic where he was the only Joe to escape when Stalker and Quick Kick (and I think someone else, I haven’t read the issue in a while and I haven’t got super easy access to it) were captured and taken to a gulag. The matted hair and the intensely determined stare remind me of how he looked while he was escaping through the sewers. Outback definitely has the look of a guy who spends a lot of his time out in the field and living off the land. The detailing for his hair is very impressive and it meshes very well with his beard. My only real complaint is that his head sits up just a bit too high on his neck ball. It leaves Outback looking a little giraffe-necked. He’s not the worst offender, but he’s still got a little bit of an overly long neck.

While I’m a little disappointed that the Assault on Cobra Island is rocking his Night Force colors instead of his classic whites, the Night Force look is actually okay and I’m sure anyone lucky enough to have gotten the Night Force Joe Con set from 2013 probably likes that this Outback can hang out with them. Outback’s shirt is a dark gray and his pants are a darker-than standard-release green. It works well as a nod to the Night Force figure, but at the same time, it’s a little bland. Add in the fact that his backpack and vest are still a very light tan color and it creates a bit of an awkward pairing. Had they gone all in on the Night Force homage and made the vest and backpack black like they did for his web belt and backpack on the original Night Force figure, I’d be all for it, but since they’re so light they really stand out against the dark of this figure and it kind of defeats the Night Force vibe they were going for. The skintone is also a little problematic because the color they painted his face doesn’t really match that well with the color his arms are molded in. Add in the fact that apparently his head was originally molded in orange plastic and you have a bit of an issue. Outback’s hair looks especially plastic-y. I’ve
heard reviewers on other toy sites say that oranges, reds and yellows are hard colors to make look natural on a figure that’s suppose to be an actual person and while the Joe line doesn’t have this problem a lot, Outback’s hair does really look more like a toy than a person and I think that’s a bit of a shame. Even though you can’t see it with his vest on, Outback still has “SURVIVAL” written across his chest and I’m glad they kept that detail. The black stands out surprisingly well against the dark gray of his shirt so it’s readable and that’s a big plus. I know it sounds like I’ve been really critical about Outback’s paint choices and I have been, but overall, the actual application is spot on, I just wish they’d made a couple better choices. I’ve briefly mentioned most of Outback’s accessories during the rest of this review, but I’ll still run down everything here. First off, he’s got the vest which is a throwback to his old school web belt. Outback was one of the first Joes with removable webgear and it’s amazing how far they’ve come in the last 30 years. It’s a bit more substantial than Outback’s original piece, but I’m okay with that. The vest looks really sharp and looks like something a guy like Outback would wear in the field. Unlike a lot of 25th Anniversary figures, Outback gets a backpack. It’s a simple piece, but it’s nice and big—again, an advantage for a survival expert. Its overall design reminds me of Low Light’s backpack just without actual storage capacity. It’s a great addition to Outback and it meshes well with his vest. On his left leg, he’s got a removable flashlight, and while I appreciate that they went as far as to make it removable again, the two pieces that plug into his leg really do make the flashlight look a little awkward. It’s a decent stand it, but I kind of wish they’d given him new upper legs too…ones that were actually designed to hold a flashlight well. His final accessory is his submachine gun. I really do like the piece and they did a great job recreating his classic gun, but it still looks just a little bit too big. It’s kind of out of scale. The detailing is great, but I wish it looked a little more appropriate in his hands. If he could hold it in a convincing two-handed firing position it would help, but thanks to the Flint arms, that’s not really possible. They’re great updates of his classic gear and I’m glad they were able to include his classic kit with him in his updated form.

Like most of the Assault of Cobra Island set figures, time hasn’t been very kind to this Outback, but he’s actually a lot better than I remember him as being. While the choices for his parts aren’t perfect, they’re at least serviceable. Honestly, the head sculpt for Outback makes this figure. I have a lot more respect for it now than I did when I first bought him. I think having read more Joe comics since getting him and seeing Outback on the pages of the comic with a similar look to his face as the sculpt here really helped me like him more. The sculpt isn’t a super accurate update of the original figure’s head, but it’s a great version of a more comic based Outback. That, right there, really saved it for me. While I still wish he was rocking his classic colors, I’m okay with the Night Force look. It’s a decent color scheme and while it’s not his iconic white shirt, I can also see a survival specialist maybe wanting to avoid wearing a white shirt while he’s working. Yes, it would keep him from getting overheated, but it also stands out a lot more than a darker shirt would. Like the rest of the Assault on Cobra Island figures, he’s not perfect, but he does the best he can…and his best is still surprisingly good.