The Annual JAD Barbecue
It’s the Fourth of July here in the US, and that means fireworks and barbecue. I did the same thing last year, but this time I thought I’d go with a Barbecue figure that is actually equipped to put out a wayward grill or firework. Sort of. Barbecue (1992)
I ain’t got no beef with the Eco Warriors, but to me the 1985 Barbecue is the best version. And I also prefer the Slaughter’s Marauders version over this one. This one is o.k., but, if this figure would have been made with a removable helmet, then maybe it would have been my default version. Happy Independence Day, everybody.
This is a good figure. Mr. Acer’s suggestion of Funskool BBQ accessories for this figure really goes a long way towards improving him. I think this guy gets a bad rep from the fact that this version isn’t terrible easy to find and it was used so many times for Payload in ’93 and ’94. So, the originality that brought us a nicely updated version of a classic character was diluted.
Happy independence day to everyone in the US.
The eco warriors [and just about every 90’s sub team] gets bad rap [like the G2 Transformer commercials] as they were seen as trying to leech off what was popular. The figures overall, I have no problems with.
Barbecue was a good fit for the Eco-Warriors. He could’ve been trained since his debut version to specialize in fighting chemical, radioactive, fires or other hazardous materials, substances. The figure itself is a bit plain but reasonably colored for his role.
I would agree though v1 > v2 > v3.
Eco-Warriors were fine. Environmentalism was in vogue at the time (Captain Planet debuted the year prior and Earth Day 1990 had a big promotion/awareness campaign. It was a feature of the early ’90s). It doesn’t take much of a leap to redefine the Eco-Warriors as combating chemical, biological, radiological warfare (essentially a Joe hazmat team) and Cobra’s Eco-Warriors basically being their WMD division. The water battle damage gimmick was also something not too unusual for the time.
Transformers jumped on the ‘water’ bandwagon too with several colour changing figures at about the same time. Ironically, one of them was named ‘Gobots’
The original Barbecue’s my favorite, but this version is the only one I had and it’s a quality figure.
Happy Indipendence day my U.S. friends!