Blowtorch Blowout: Part 2

By Past Nastification

Continuing from the 80s original, Blowtorch got a second figure almost 20 years later. I was delighted to see the new color set was a light brown uniform with gold armor and black accouterments. The gold is a little much, but I can live with it. This is a new sculpt era figure with some sculpting issues. The torso between the sternum and the beltline is too short, creating bad proportions and dangling arms. But the wonderfully detailed helmet and expressive head help offset the proportions. The head is one of the very best new sculpt era heads, easily as good as any ARAH head sculpt and better than many modern era heads.

Hasbro should have reused the original flamethrower/backpack combo, which looked menacing. The 2002 combo looks like a pneumatic rivet gun paired with welding tanks. The backpack also featured a distracting sonic tab. Pretty underwhelming. The figure also included a rifle and a pistol, but they don’t really bring much to the party, especially since there’s no way for the figure to carry them when not in use.

Those of you who prefer a yellow Blowtorch lucked out, as this 2003 figure (with different lower arms and lower legs) was released in the traditional color scheme as a Built to Rule figure as well. Sometimes you can have your yellow cake and eat it too. The Lego-esque pegs on the lower arms and legs don’t interfere with the design, although the flesh colored hands are a misstep.

The BTR Blowtorch came with a building set, so there’s no gear aside from the helmet. There’s any easy fix. If you want to do something with the 2002 flamethrower/backpack combo, put it on this figure where its colors look more at home.

Then give the brown Blowtorch the tan backpack and green flamethrower from the battle gear accessories pack. This one is my personal favorite Blowtorch combination!

Tomorrow we’ll wrap things up with the modern versions of the Joe team’s fantastic flamethrower!