Big Brawler (2003 Tiger Force)
I covered the variant (or is this the variant?) version of this figure in a haiku post a long while ago. I think he deserves a more standard entry this time around. After all, he’s somewhat of a legend.
For me, the mystery of Big Brawler only deepened with the Toys R Us Tiger Force exclusive release. His initial figure was basically Outback with Christopher Lowell’s head. I can only assume that Hasbro didn’t want to sully the legacy of the Joe team’s survivalist with such a goofy head sculpt. The Outback body was replaced with Salvo’s, a move that I think makes good sense. He’s wearing a T-shirt, and looks like he has a solid build. For the head, 1991 Low Light fits the bill well, although he appears to be more well groomed than the 1987 Outback. Brawler certainly cuts a more dashing look with the nicely coiffed hair than his 2001 version’s receding hairline.
Since this variant features dark hair rather than red, I’d use this as a proper follow-up to the original Brawler. So what’s the other in my Joe-verse? I have to say he’s the Earth-2 Big Brawler, a pale-skinned ginger version of Earth-1’s Outback. It’s a timeline in which his hair didn’t turn white, and he wasn’t given a cute looking tiger t-shirt.
I’d have much preferred a TF Salvo than this figure. The variant at least made him interesting. But, the poor accessories and bland paint job left him pretty useless.
If it weren’t for this site, I would have absolutely no knowledge of Big Brawler. With that said, this is a decent looking figure. Not great, but not bad. My one criticism would be that for a Tiger Force guy, the stripes on his shirt don’t give off as much of a tiger vibe as the other characters.
I know the 200x figures are not everyone’s cup of tea but in hindsight, I wish I’d bought more of them instead of those stupid Armada figures instead
You’ve got a great take on the alternate versions of Big Brawler! I’ve made them different people who have all taken the brawlin’ code name. This particular brawler is very debonair, compared with the dimwittedness of the Funskool Brawler. I probably use this figure the most, but I recently dug out ginger Brawler to remind me I still have him. Can’t brawl BIG enough!