Dusty (2004)
This redesigned version of Dusty from the Valor vs. Venom series is recognizable as Mr. Tadur thanks to his wearing a variation on his old helmet, complete with the fancy neck protector in the back. I remember for a moment in the 80s when those little flaps on hats were quite popular. Especially on painters’ caps. Checkered ones. Were we, as a general populace, worried about neck sunburns back then?
Dusty has a comic book/sci-fi edge to his uniform which was common in the 2000s GI Joe series. His outfit is probably one of the most futuristic looking of all the team at the time. Between the tchotchkes on it, and the color, he almost looks like he could be Dash Rendar’s brother-in-law or some such. Yikes. A Star Wars Expanded Universe reference? Look people, deep down, I’m a sick sick man.
Uh, moving on–A common element of the GI Joe uniforms of the time was some sort of layered armor about the chest and/or shoulders. It was sort of a standardized look, although not as rigidly similar among figures as the Rise of Cobra series’ body armor. To tell the truth, I really do like this uniform design. It’s a very appealing and clean look. At least it’s not a Liefeldian mess of straps and pouches.
Ugh, do I have to talk about proportions again? Dusty’s main problem is the size of his head. It’s tiny. The helmet somewhat offsets it, but the itty-bittyness of his noggin is still noticeable. The rest of the figure isn’t too bad in terms of its size. One articulation drawback is the long jacket that hinders his ability to sit.
The bandolier is a nice new added accessory, one that the character hadn’t been known for in the past. I’m all for giving the classics a little something extra as part of a redesign. Someone else must have liked this thing, because it showed up again on the DTC Grand Slam, albeit with yellow grenades.
The bandolier also showed up on the ROC Monkeywrench, with silver grenades.
I actually got this Dusty in single pack form (not the red carded ones, the ones on the Valor Vs. Venom cards with weapons). And I found them, believe it or not, at Fred Meyer.
A shadows of the empire referance? I remeber reading in a star wars magazine [Galaxy i think it was called] when “Shadows” first came out that Lucas was quit clear that he never wanted to make more star wars movies and that all he was going to do was “improve” the old ones.
Am i the only one who was disapointed that there wasnt [and still isnt] and Guri figure?
On the subject of Dusty from that era. I have the one that came with Spytroops dune buggy thingy. It irritated me because he couldnt sit in it properly.
If I weren’t on a G.I. Joe site and didn’t know better, I would think this was a generic Joe figure.
I think I used to have this figure for a brief time although the black hair and Leno-ized jawline didn’t remind me much of Dusty ’85. More like Dusty 2099? He certainly seems suited for trekking through Tatooine wearing that uniform. He’s even got the Joe equivalent of a Starfleet insignia there. “Paging Duke: Away Team reporting, Sergeant.”
The removable helmet and bandolier are nice touches and the overall look is still cool. The bandolier does work for Grand Slam as well. I still have that figure and it is one of the best ones from the DTC lot.
I had a similar figure like this that I found last year during the “Great Dollar General Chase”. I don’t know what I did with it. I know I was turned off by the big ol'”that was easy Staples button” placed prominitley on his chest.As noted,the proportions from this era of Joe is all wrong.
I just noticed he looks like Judge Dredd with that shoulder and forearm armour
Here’s a bit of trivia: The rifle that the Shadows of the empire [purple cards] Dash Rendar came with was a minor retool of one of Colonel Courage’s guns
High-tech armor but gave him something like a decades old style army helmet. Funny, since Dusty was one of the first ARAH figure to have a modern style helmet. He also has another cliche of the “new sculpt” era, the forearm guards. However, he has no biceps bands (thankfully they started to move away from those) and surprisningly no knee pads or a holstered pistol of any kind. If it weren’t for the bandolier and chest armor, he’d be naked by new sculpt standards!
Bad times…
I remember really liking him when I found him, but time hasn’t been kind to a lot of the Valor Vs. Venom figures. For some reason SpyTroops figures seem to hold up a little better. Though I have to say, with as frequently as Hasbro changed how characters looked at the time (looking at Duke, it’s hard to see how those guys were all supposed to be the same man considering how much his facial features changed at times), I was impressed that this Dusty’s head sculpt (even with its big chin) looked like the one released during the Joe Vs. Cobra days. While it’s not perfect, I do at least appreciate a degree of continuity between versions.