Air Adventurer (2006)

I’ve always had a thing for GI Joe pilot figures. Ace, although he spent a lot of time in the cockpit of his Skystriker, was a favorite of mine as a kid. Years later, when I began to collect the 1960s GI Joes, I gravitated toward the Scramble Pilot and even the Air Police. At the same time (the mid 90s) I must have passed over dozens of Adventure Team era figures at the local monthly antique shows and flea markets. I didn’t bite on any at the time, but I was always interested in the figures in orange (or sometimes yellow) jumpsuits.

Now that I think about it a little more, I wonder if it was the jumpsuit that hooked me with the large scale pilot Joes. The 60s series had a couple cool versions, like the aforementioned scramble set, with its details like snap cuffs and thigh pockets. The later Fantastic Freefall added a nice G-suit as well. There’s something inherently groovy about a coverall. A bright colored jumpsuit (be it orange, yellow or blue) seems to me like it’s synonymous with the Adventure Team, almost as much as a fuzzy beard and big-ass medallion.

Again, I initially missed out on the WalMart reissues of the Adventure Team. The figures were a great value, considering what you got for just a few dollars more than a smaller scaled action figure. I can’t speak to the exact extent of the accuracy when compared to the original, but the head here looks a bit different from its progenitor, as if the features are smaller. The color of the skin tone on the head seems a little off, like it has a waxy, greyish quality. Maybe this Joe hasn’t gotten enough oxygen while flying his yellow copter.