Guile (1993)

In 1993, the Street Fighter II video game characters made their way into the 3 & 3/4 inch o-ring format (and were officially part of the GI Joe line thanks to a tiny logo on the packaging). The fighting figures also appeared in the revamped twelve inch Hall of Fame format. While the idea of these characters inhabiting the world of GI Joe didn’t seem to make much sense, one of the fighters did I think meld well with the concept of a group of military special forces: Guile.

Of course, the GI Joe brand was trying everything it could to compete with the many other popular properties of the 90s, one of which being video games. It most likely made perfect sense to pull some of that heat into GI Joe. While the Street Fighter franchise didn’t at first glance feel like it could coexist with the Real American Hero, I didn’t have much of a problem with it. I Still find a lot to like among the figures that were released. Some were duds, but the concept and the reuse of some older molds piqued my interest. Part of that interest was with the Hall of Fame line, as I had been buying them since the first assortment hit. Guile was the first of the twelve inch Street Fighters that I picked up.

This figure is a lot of fun, at least to look at. The playability of the Hall of Fame bodies wasn’t impressive, as the elbow and knee joints had a limited range of motion. This is particularly annoying considering the elaborate fighting moves that the video game characters achieved. Guile can’t maintain too many poses on his own beyond a fairly straight stance.

The character design is what impresses me the most. That hairdo is just incredible. This has to be the only twelve inch figure I’ve seen that can balance on the top of its hair.

The uniform is simple and effective, more so than the small scale Guile figures, which sort of blend together thanks to the basic greens of an ex Special forces fighter. I’m particularly fond of the camouflage pattern that Guile is wearing on his pants. I should have waited to use this one in a 2015 edition of Nice Pants Week.

Accessories fall in line with the other Hall of Fame figures of the early 90s, including a missile firing attachment for the rifle, as well a well-traveled pistol and sword. While I don’t really know why Guile is sporting a katana, but the presence of melee weapons seems like a natural inclusion.