Operation: Gator Blast (2001 Double Duty)

“Fully equipped with all the gear to complete two missions!”

Over the course of the GI Joe line, Hasbro hasn’t been afraid to experiment with new ideas and permutations of our favorite toyline. The cynical might say this is sometines borne of desperation for sales, such as the far-out Super Joes of the 70s, or the gimmickry of the 90s. Whatever the case, those little detours often offer some interesting alternatives to the norm.

The 12 inch scale went though a couple of kid friendly assortments in the midst of the late 90s relaunch. The Adventures of GI Joe 2010 thrust Joe ten years into the future, turning him into an adventurer in the vein of the old Adventure Team, with a little James Bond thrown in. Another gimmick based series was Double Duty, which though it offered up only four figures, brought some fun playability in the form of reversible uniforms.

Operation: Gator Blast seems to be a bit mis-named, as I can’t find any reference to alligators on the packaging, although the team does do some blasting with grenades, as illustrated on the comic panels on the packaging. Maybe the gator refers to the amphibious nature of the outfit. Yeah, I’ll go with that.

There’s only one element of this figure that’s reversible: the vest. One side is green fabric while the other is a blue vinyl. The figure is meant to function both on land and in water, and includes a scuba mask, clear blue flippers, and a pretty impressively sized missile firing harpoon gun. I can see how the “blast” comes into the name also, since he’s equipped with six grenades, that handily attach to the land version of his vest.

The effect of a wet suit is achieved simply with a black painted rather than flesh toned figure. Much of the Double Duty effect here is made through replacing equipment, so this set really doesn’t impress as an example of the overall concept.

The figure I have features a face sculpt that has a lot of personality. It’s not the usual chiseled Caucasian that populated a lot of the previous offerings, which is a refreshing change. The 12 inch head sculpts in general became more diverse during the late 90s and early 2000s, which made for some great customizing opportunities, and put a lot of variety into a 12 inch GI Joe display.