Short Fuze (1982)
As a kid, I had only Flash (my first Joe figure) and Snake Eyes in the straight arm format. Both figures were well loved by little me. Flash’s right thumb breaking off (a side effect of putting his laser rifle in his hand a lot). Snake Eyes often accompanied me on trips to visit relatives (there weren’t a lot of toys at my grandparents place). Snakes’ satchel charge didn’t last long, getting lost in one of those many car rides.
After completing my run of swivel arm versions of the original 80s Joe team, I set my sights on picking up the straight arm versions I had missed. At that time, I found the straight arm versions were a bit cheaper. If course, that was the time of Usenet, so your mileage may have varied.
The 1982 Short-Fuze still stands out to me as with its less refined style, and I’ve come to find a new enjoyment of that first year’s figures. They’re a little clunkier and chunkier, but they represented the beginnings of one of the great toylines of the 1980s.
Short-fuze is one of my favorite characters. I managed to find one at a fair but he needed repairs from his previous repairs. Someone had tried to fix him with araldyte
Never really had the broken thumb thing happen much on Joes. Now CORPS on the other hand…
I found the simplicity of those early Joes exciting back in ’82. I think because they were less individualized and hadn’t been defined on television yet, there was more room to apply your imagination. And most of those first-year Joes really felt like classic green army men figurines expanded in size and detail.
I was on the fence in 1982. I liked that they could move alot more than star wars figures, but they still didn’t look right holding most weapons. Once they had swivel arm, now they were something special. My first Joe was 82 Flash, because he had a laser rifle! And it even looked high tech. Plus the wire going to his backpack was awesome! I was really sad he had basically no role in the cartoon.
Great review!
Ah,82 Short-Fuse,a classic that was very common back then, even to this day. I had a complete collection of the 82 figures that I had to part with for a hundred bucks, including a mint Zap with no thumbs broken, and a complete Snake-Eyes.I didn’t mind-the 83 versions with the slimmed down waist and swivel arm battle grip are vastly superior to their 82 predecessors, and much more rare and valuable. I have a friend who’s a toy dealer, and buys private collections all the time, and he says he rarely comes across the 83 revisions. He rarely if ever comes across an 83 red pad Grand Slam, as opposed to silver pads or the red pad straight arm version. That being said, if you notice carefully, there were details on the 82s not seen on their 83 counterparts. Flash and Grand Slam of the 83 class don’t have sculpted on upper bicep pads, probably due to the updated construction. Steeler’s 83 version use Wild Bill arms and lack the gold stripe on the arms like the earlier version as far as I can tell.
Short Fuze was my 3rd figure; bought at a grocery store. Not sure why I bought him; he’s almost so plain that he’s forgettable. I was with my dad, and he probably explained that the mortar was heavy-duty firepower. I’ve always liked that accessory, and Short Fuze is the guy to lug it around. Unlike his rifle-toting brothers, my SF never lost his thumbs.
Short-Fuze is one of only two straight-armed Joes I have, and unfortunately he’s lost a thumb.