Shipwreck (2015)

Joes in something other than full combat gear are interesting to me. We’ve all seen Duke, Snake Eyes and many others outfitted in either variations on their usual designs, or at least representations of some kind of field mission gear. Shipwreck has been seen in his classic 80s sailor getup, as well as various other interpretations in the modern era. This most recent 50th Anniversary release takes him in a bit of a different direction.

This Shipwreck even goes beyond the sweater wearing Devils Due like iteration, or Navy SEAL land warrior that we saw through some of the new sculpt era and the more recent Dollar General releases. Shippy here looks to be somewhere between casual off duty and hanging out at the Pit waiting on a mission. Dare I even say that he looks like he might be making a guest appearance on an episode of NCIS?

Underneath the somewhat ill-fitting vest lies a basic t-shirt emblazoned NAVY. I much prefer to display the figure in this way, as it’s just such an interesting departure for the character. There’s a bit of weirdness going on with the different shades of off-white on the molded plastic torso and the painted sleeves, but this seems to be something more and more common to newer figures. The same thing is going on with the legs and the crotch piece as well. The sleeves may not look too different in the photos, but in-hand, it’s very distinct.

On a positive note, the accessory complement is nice, and there’s again some added paint detail on a rifle. Polly is a nice inclusion, but mine wouldn’t clip onto the back of the vest too well, thanks to some gloppy paint on his claws. Man, am I down on this figure, or what? It’s not that I don’t like it, but the fit and finish problems are disappointing. After covering all of these 2015 releases and their odd issues, I’m really itching to get back to some original o-ring subjects. For me, there’s not comparison with the modern product when it comes to the 80s and 90s figures’ and vehicles’ consistency and quality.