Iceberg (1986)
Iceberg was the opposite of Snow Job, accessory-wise. Where the Joe team’s first arctic trooper came equipped with snow traveling gear, Iceberg has nothing. Not even a pair of snow shoes.
He did get a rifle, and a handily colored white one at that. I’ve often wondered why Snow Job didn’t get a white rifle, or at least one wrapped in some sort of camo, like Recondo’s.
Where Snow Job looks like he could be a simple ski bum as much as a military arctic specialist, Iceberg is outfitted like he’s going to hang out with Shackleton. He is absolutely bundled up. I bet his mother would be so proud.
His colors are appropriate without being gaudy. The outer vest could have been any color, but the ice blue looks nice and makes a lot of sense in a snow covered environment. A green or brown outfit would scream “Shoot me!” against a snow field.
Iceberg is most memorable to me for being in one of the weirdest Sunbow cartoon episodes. Seeing a man turned into a killer whale is not something you’d expect to see watching after school cartoons. A bit of very freaky nightmare fuel for a young mind. Gotta love Sunbow.
I have a slight issue with this guy’s waistpiece–it seems like it’s too small, and the legs, when put in a sitting position, jot out like the 2006 Viper Pit Vipers. You ever encounter that?
I never had that problem.
most of this pack is wearing “shoot me!” colors http://www.yojoe.com/action/05/cardedimages/winterops_pkg_front.jpg LOL
Every figure in that pack would have made for a great arctic team, but the colors killed it dead. What a waste.
which episode is that? he’s a transformer?!
I don’t recall watching “Iceberg Goes South” as a kid. I was out a lot with my friends and heavily interested in girls around ’86 so I missed most of those episodes. I did catch it on The Hub not long ago and was impressed by the story, animation, and sheer number of Joes who got air time throughout. It’s one of my favorites eps now.
As for Iceberg, he’s everything Rob said alright. Since he carries only one weapon and wears similar gear I view him as Frostbite’s partner, riding shotgun on the Snow Cat. A neat figure all around. Iceberg has yet to receive a 25th/30th update but I hear that he’ll be the Club exclusive for next year’s subscriptions.
“Iceberg Goes South” was one of the strangest cartoons I’ve seen. The Springfield 2-parter tops that list for most bizarre cartoons though, but those 3 episodes aren’t the only ones. GI Joe had more than its fair share of those. Season 2 (86-87) seemed to have more even though it was half the size of Season 1. Transformers steered clear of that level of creepiness (“Sea Change” was strange, but tame by comparison), though its Season 3 (86-87) had a very strong horror streak running through it (ashen gray zombies with red eyes, an undead Optimus Prime, Lovecraftian monsters, an insane leader vs. a leader partly crippled by the doubt he has in himself (when each #2 was the more capable one), stealing Metroplex’s eyes, various energy-sucking monsters, not to mention the very diseased-looking super-powered Scourge. Both factions had their graveyards visited that season).
Great figure!
I made my Iceberg the Battle Bear driver, otherwise he had to walk everywhere…
The caucasian foreign edition is pretty good too.
Liked him well enough but his arctic role limited his usefulness to a kid living in the southwest.
Here’s an interesting comparison not often made (because people see the Battle Force 2000 and run away like it’s the Vorpal Bunny or Rabbit of Caerbannog)- how does Iceberg compare against Avalanche? Both had very few accessories unlike snow of their other cold-climate Joes.
Having looked at both figures’ entries here, I have to say Avalanche looks like the better one.