Flint (2002)
In remembering back to the time of the new GI Joe 2002 series, there was a clamor by fans for the well known classic characters of the 80s. Most folks also wanted to see their favorites decked out in their old duds as well. Flint obliges, although he’s more than a little odd looking, like some other figures from later waves in the first year of the relaunch.
From the waist up, this isn’t a badly done figure. It’s got the hallmarks of the old Flint, with the familiar beret, black shirt and chest harness. The head seems to read as younger than the classic Flint, though I can’t fault that. Kids probably wouldn’t be too interested in a fortysomething action figure. This head always looked to me like it would make a better Falcon than Flint.
The legs are where the figure goes a little crazy. To say they’re stylized would be an understatement. Stylized sculpts aren’t a bad thing, but when the line suddenly had figures like this mixed with more subdued molds like Sgt. Stalker, the differences made me scratch my head. For another example, witness Flint’s robotically fugly pack mate, the Baroness. Those two were a weird pair. The changes in style were unlike the 80s line, in which the figures conformed pretty rigidly to a standard buck.
I’ve got nothing against throwing a little funkiness into GI Joe now and again, but I can’t really find much usefulness for this Flint. He kind of exists in a strange little pocket dimension of cartoonish oddness.
Funny you should mention the head looking more like Falcon than Flint–a lot of people have used this head for newsculpt era Falcon customs, while the legs used to adjust the height of the 2003 Roadblock.
I think I would use this figure’s arms for that custom Flint I mentioned in an earlier entry.
Good greif. Those feet are gigantic. No worries about him falling over on the shelf. You know what they say about big feet. Must make Lady Jaye happy
@Skymate: LOL. I knew you’d go there.
Hasbro was basically throwing stuff against the wall to see what stuck during this time: No o-ring, Lego tie-ins, chunkier sculpts, leaner sculpts, and so on until the 25th anniversary style which also met with fan dissatisfaction. Nowadays, they’ve settled on extensive use of web gear and the return of launching weapons for their latest movie line.
True to the brand’s history G.I. Joe has been constantly evolving since 1964. The RAH era of the early to mid-80’s seems to be its most stable period in terms of product development.
Maybe it’s just me… But I always thought his face sculpt looked a little too much like Billy-Bob Thornton in Sling Blade. “I reckon knowin’ is half the battle. Mmm..Hmm..”
It’s been said that the wave 3 of 2002 was sculpt by Takara (Hasbro’s Transformers partner), not Hasbro’s people. If you look at the other figures, you see a Japanese style influence. IIRC, this was done because wave 2 was retooled to be made o-ring style, after Hasbro realized that fans weren’t going for that t-crotch style.
I ‘ve heard that the designs for the whole relauch were done by Takara. I’d really like to know one way or the other because while there are some great figures from the JvC, ST and VvV lines they all did seem rather oddly designed coming from Hasbro.
As for this Flint, I was really excited to get him back then, but the thrill wore off rather quickly due to the off-kilter proportions.
A little step…
It’s Mr.Joe’s brother! http://www.joeaday.com/mr-joe/
He does look a lot like Karl Childers. I love that film.
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