Static Line (1990)
Over the years as a Joe fan, and in the course of this blog I’ve said it time and again: this is a cool sculpt that would really benefit from a better paint scheme. Static Line, being a member of the Sky Patrol, was made up of reused driver molds. The original mold upon which he was based, Backstop, was victim to such a random paint scheme that the strengths of the sculpt were essentially lost.
I’ve said it with other Sky Patrol figures, and this one is no different: it’s one of the great repaints in the RAH line. You can’t go wrong with blue, silver, and grey as a color scheme. Painting the shoulder pieces silver makes for a much more effective armored look than the previous version of the mold.
The figure has the usual exclusive Sky Patrol exclusive accessories. This time it’s a helmet (unfortunately without a moving visor), a handgun and an interesting chest mounted double barreled machine gun.
The Sky Patrol also managed to provide a variety of specialists (Static Line being a demolitions expert) within a group that could have easily just been simply a bunch of paratroopers. I think that kind of variety perfectly encapsulates what’s always made the Joe line great.
The paint work on Static Line worked wonders for Backstop’s old sculpt. I only wish his helmet had been similar since the card art and cartoon allowed you to see his face. Static Line is still a winner along with the rest of Sky Patrol since they remain my favorite Joe sub-team. That said, he ended up with the WORST voice characterization in all of the DIC series! (Save, perhaps, for Metal-Head…) He sounded positively whiny and dorky anytime he was onscreen. Those guys had so much promise and deserved a lot better.
Great figure, my best Sky Patrol paratrooper!
I really think that Rise of Cobra’s wrong Ripcord’d be a perfect Static Line!
I dig the Kid n’ Play haircut.
If it’s got a new head, it’s not strictly a repaint.
How many people could peg a year to Static Line based on his haircut alone?