Duke (2013 Dollar General Repaint)
I was initially nonplussed by the photos of this repaint when they first appeared. I guess I was so blinded by the orange sherbet Storm Shadow and vivid Cobra Trooper that I didn’t take much notice of poor Duke. Then again, it could be due to the fact that I didn’t find much of interest in his original release, outside of reminding me of the dorky Infantry Division set of the early 2000s. Those goateed goofballs still have a place in my heart, for some strange reason. A second look at this guy has at least brought me around to seeing the potential to turn this figure into any number of generic Joes.
Most notably, it makes for a pretty decent 25th anniversary style Short-Fuze, even though the head is based on a Pursuit of Cobra figure. The rest of the body is pure 25th blah. Those arms and the torso cut just continue to grate on me. I don’t want to start a flame war, but how many times do you actually utilize the torso cut when posing a modern figure? Is it really more useful than waist articulation? I think it breaks up the mold in weird ways most of the time. In fairness, the entire presentation is much better than the official release from 2008. The helmet’s an improvement, and though it’s not accurate to the 1982-83 style, at least it doesn’t fall of his head if you look at it crossways. He’s also wearing those cool ’82-83 style boots. They’re totally 80s-future-snazzy. I gotta get me a pair.
I largely agree that the construction is antiquated. I use most of the 25th guys made from the old parts as Zombie Viper victims or Joes in a Cobra prison.
I disagree about the chest-ab joints in general though. Yes the one here is terrible, but when done well it is a much more realistic portrayal of how the human body moves than a waist joint.
He looks like Grunt to me
Never mind having him as a stand-in for an existing character. Use your imagination and give him a completely new code name as part of the original line up.
With a change to the color scheme, this could be one of the generic Joes from the cartoon.
Surely a grey Short-Fuze is a UK Action Force Moondancer?
(goes off to look round Interweb)
http://www.yojoe.com/action/int/moondancer.shtml
Anybody else notice that the paint app is screwed up on the right boot on this figure? Can’t tell from Rob’s pic, but every single one I have come across is. Oh yeah and BTW only a head swap away from a custom orginal thirteen with this guy’s two color releases.
@Vaughn Allan
Shooter?
I find nothing useful with that mid-torso joint. I agree it breaks up the flow of the torso, and the vests have been out to basically cover up the reused parts. It’s sort of original, but sort of re-using the “skeleton” to me, it works. As far as realistic movement comparisons, at the 1/18 to 1/16 scale size, I mean, I want to see some real people bend as “realistic” as the figure. My back and torso have a little twist, but not like this bubbly superhero body joint.
The non waist area seems to skinny to me, and what would be the upper leg bone joints really stick out to me. The “pants” look is, I don’ know, spandex-y?
I loved the waist articulation and preferred it over the torso joint. Even without an o-ring, waist articulation makes more sense than messing with the torso.
The use of web gear to cover up stuff is a far lazier move than the vintage repaints ever were. With repaints, there was always room for creativity without hindering articulation. Not so much with the modern figures.
Nice face sculpt!
@Skymate
Shooter’s a girly
I read somewhere on line that said the modern era joes look like “pin-heads with spindly legs and man-boobs.” :)Yep, that about covers it. No need for chest articulation.