Sure Fire (2002)
The mold used here stands as a testament for me that all was not lost for the GI Joe line in the oft-aligned 90’s. The 1992 DEF Shockwave mold, upon which this figure is based, is one of the better releases of the year, and was an effective redesign for the original 1988 masked version. Not to mention, he was also one of the few figures whose later version was “unmasked.” It’s the sort of thing that gives one options for a character within a collection.
Sure Fire is a novel idea within the Joe universe–A CID agent. He would seem at first to be a simple re-hash of the classic Shockwave. After all, the mold used is simply a repaint of the 1992 DEF version of that character. This wasn’t Sure Fire’s first appearance, as he was first a member of the 2001 Real American Hero Collection, albeit with a different head sculpt. Like other figures from that series, his file name is based on a prominent Joe collector.
I like the nondescript look of this figure, and it fits his specialty quite well. He’s not flashy and just sort of blends in. A simple head swap on this figure as well as the 1992 and 2001 versions makes for some easy custom generic security forces. His rather serious expression gives the impression of a determined, no-nonsense agent who’s seen his fair share of combat as well as the darker underbelly of military criminal investigations.
Like other figures from the Joe vs. Cobra line, he was packaged with a Cobra (Slice) and the file card points out that the two are bitter enemies. Not the pairing I’d expect–CID vs. Ninja, but oh well. He’s still readily and cheaply available, as are most of the 2002 figures based on vintage molds.
I dig the Sure Fire character. Wish this repaint had used his unique ‘Scott Bakula’ headsculpt though.
I have v.1 (better colors): http://www.yojoe.com/action/01/surefire.shtml .
I always hated the “rolling eyes” Look to the character, but otherwise cool.
Aside from that awful George Hamilton syndrome that the o-ring figures suffered during this time, Sure Fire is an okay figure. Pairing him with a ninja does seem kinda odd, but I chalk it up to Hasbro rushing to get stuff out. G.I. Joe is, after all, a kid’s line. There were a lot of collector “homages” during these years, though. You could probably build a squad with all the repaints that were named after familiar names in the field.
The ’92 Shockwave figure is one of the true gems from the final 3 years of the vintage line. But, making the mold an ego driven homage honestly tainted the original for me. This isn’t a great repaint, but was at least something other than the olive drab from 2001.
This figure was supposed to be the ’88 Shockwave mold. (The General Tomahawk in this wave was planned to be the ’86 version, too.) But, Hasbro couldn’t find the mold. Depending upon your point of view, it was either fortunate or unfortunate that master collector managed to find the mold a few years later.
But, since they named this figure Sure Fire, I’m glad the ’88 Shockwave mold wasn’t ruined the way this later version was for me.
I liked this version a lot but don’t use him as Sure Fire, instead he is a different character to me.