Clean Sweep (1991)

“Cobra has unleashed a crushing blow to the earth, dumping tons of hazardous toxic sludge into the environment in their quest for world domination. GI Joe and Cobra are armed with all new, sophisticated water launching armaments with exciting color-change Eco-suits! Even now the future of the earth hangs in the balance!”

Such was the story of the Eco Warriors, another Joe subset from the 90’s. Environmentally conscious cartoons (and tie-in toys) were a dime a dozen for a few years, and Hasbro jumped on the bandwagon. The series was interesting for its gimmick of water firing weapons and color-changing paint. Each figure came with a squirting backpack or accessory. Squirt the Cobras with neutralizer gel (water) and clean up their act!

Clean Sweep comes onto the scene with his toxic sludge-sucking robot to clean up the polluted messes that Cobra creates. I have to say with all the gimmickry involved, the figure itself is very nice. The hazmat suit is appropriately bulky, and the sculpt blends the removable helmet into the design effectively. Under the helmet unfortunately is probably one of the most unattractive Joes ever. Check out the size of that melon. No wonder this guy covers his mug with a helmet. One downside to the Eco Warriors in general is that over the years, the color changing paint seems to have either reacted with the figure’s normal paint or started to break down.

Based on his unique specialty and a nice sculpt, Clean Sweep is one of those figures that manages to be useful in spite of coming from one of the stranger sub-groups. As a companion figure to other environmental and rescue figures like Airtight or Barbecue, he certainly fits into a realistic Joeverse much better than his other Eco Warrior comrades.