Headman (2002)
No, it’s not the infamous Star Wars bootleg, but a second version of the former Headhunters leader. My, how times change. A character who was once a drug kingpin changed to a smuggler and thief in just one decade. I wonder if what was once an up-front bad guy for the brand was deemed a touchy subject during the early 2000s? Headman’s file card this time out simply touted his prowess as a thief, an interesting inclusion among the early Cobras of the relaunched line. He was packaged alongside General Hawk, an odd pairing considering that one of the Joe team’s law enforcement specialists, Sure Fire, was among the same year’s figures.
Then again, this could be a completely different person, as his hair has changed from blonde to black. He’s also definitely a part of Cobra this go-round, evidenced by the sigil on his double-breasted jacket. Maybe someone watched the DIC animated two-part episode featuring Headman, remembered his unfortunate demise and came up with a less offensive successor.
The business suit mold is an oddity in the small scale GI Joe lines. Where the original Joe line from the 1960s made use of military dress uniforms as toy inspiration, the 80s and 90s saw limited use of the non-combat apparel. Gung Ho made it in as a dress Marine, but the Army didn’t have its Class A’s represented. That’s a shame, as collectors have often pined for not only Joe officers like Hawk and General Flagg in their dress outfits, but also Tomax and Xamot in business suits. Parts of this mold were actually later used for Flagg and the Crimson Twins, but the zoot suit legs really took away from the business attire look for the twins. What works for a flashy drug lord/smuggler doesn’t work in the boardroom.
If this is Cobra’s new pimp, what happened to Destro?
I plan to equip him with one of the extra Tommy guns from the Marvel Universe Bucky. It looks like a good fit for him.
Not gonna lie. Bright orange pimp daddy Headman is one of my favouritiest Joes ever
I greatly enjoy this figure. The color was something so odd for the time and the character so obscure that it made for a great release. (It would have been better had it been released with the ’86 Hawk mold as planned….) I was not a fan of the original Headman figure, but this guy changed all that. Sadly, the overuse of the suit body kind of diminished this figure and likely cost us a solid repaint down the road. (Who wouldn’t have bought the crap out of a TRU 6 pack with Headhunters, Headhunter Stormtroopers and this guy in new, equally outlandish colors?)
I’m not aversed to cobra using Gangsters but drug dealers i’m a bit unsure about. Its a good figure though
I like him, just not a fan of the Lone Ranger mask.
Nah, look at that goatee & you’ll see that it is Zorro.
I know I would have. although I heard that the original Headhunter and Stormtrooper moulds were MIA.
I got this version of Headman in the two-pack with Hawk not long ago. Dude looks like a cross between Buttons McBoomBoom (who, in turn, reminds me of actor J.D. Cannon) and Zorro by way of the Beagle Boys. I blame that wacky mask.
Still pining for Hawk and Flagg in comic-accurate dress greens as well as the Twins in cartoon-accurate Extensive Enterprises blue suits.
Haha, the Hamburgler joined up with Cobra.
For me, as awesome as a Headhunter Stormtrooper is, this guy is not.
A TRU repaint pack of figures people actually wanted? After Cobra Infantry, that didn’t really happen again
The orange was muted…flat, not glossy neon. It’s amazing how much of difference than makes. Also, you don’t have to worrying about his gold pin stripes wearing off like the original.
This was a decent figure, get too much flak because he was very common and wasn’t another Firefly or balaclava wearing type.
When I got this figure as a trade bonus, my kid called him “evil secret agent”. I don’t want all the Cobras to wear black, but the v1 of this figure was too good to try improving on.
Nice pajama!
@Clutch
On the subject of C.O.P.S. Did you know that Checkpoint is Beachhead’s son
I think he might be his grandson, actually.
The carmel suit actually seems to work out well with the Hamburglar mask. Stylistically, he does seem like the mold of another toyline (maybe C.O.P.S.? That line had a number of names that got used in GI Joe later on) that got adapted to the GI Joe scale and format. Here in 2002 he seems more goofy in the 1987 weird ideas way than like the cliched stereotype of a drug lord in the late 80s/early 90s that the original looked like.
Yes, COPS’ Checkpoint is Beach Head’s son:
http://copshq.generalsjoes.com/figures/Series%202/checkpoint.htm
I’ve been meaning to pick up a Checkpoint, so I can cover a bit of COPS here. I guess the construction style might be enough to tangentially relate to GI Joe. Then again, I could do the same for the Visionaries. Hmm…
@Jmm
Thanks for the confirmation. A pity that was never devled into in the Cops cartoon
The only cops figure i have is CooCoo but someone gave him a haircut.