Tracker Kwinn (2004)
Sometimes, Hasbro gets points just for having the chutzpah to get a figure out to market, even if it doesn’t live up to expectations. In the case of Kwinn, could any figure made mostly of existing parts live up to fan wishes? I can remember wanting a toy version of the infamous mercenary ever since reading Marvel issue number two way back when.
Yes, there are issues with the figure, but in 2004, I was so jazzed to have an official Hasbro Kwinn figure, I didn’t care that he wasn’t absolutely “right.” I suppose the most obvious issue was the fact that the Kwinn we finally got was outfitted in the parka, and not his iconic jungle togs. This, like other nags about the figure, probably just all comes down to parts availability . The only shorts-wearing figures I can think of that were available at the time were Sagat from Street Fighter, and the new sculpt Alpine.
Despite the fact that Kwinn is a repainted Big Ben mold, which I had grown tired of during the 2000s, the newly created parts make the figure as a whole more palatabl. Sculpting a fur collar onto the new head was a fairly ingenious way of adding a missing clothing detail to the mold, and the inclusion of the weasel skull necklace is an awesome touch. Sure, he’s not the hulking presence that he was in the comics, but the old o-ring style just doesn’t allow for much in the way of larger build characters.
The weapon is a case of close but no cigar, as even the file card states that Kwinn’s weapon of choice is a belt fed .30 caliber. Roadblock’s Ma Deuce was a nice try, but I have to wonder if anyone at Hasbro remembered that Sgt. Savage’s Dynamite figure was equipped with a proper .30 cal machine gun. I don’t want to sound like a whiner, because I still have a soft spot for this figure. It represents what the comic pack concept did well; give fans figures that most likely couldn’t see the light of day as a single card release.
Heh, I’m getting an extra one from troublemagnet here! It was awfully nice of him to offer it in the first place. Sure, it doesn’t have the necklace, but I’ve gotten an idea for a custom using everything below the neck: an “arctic rescue ops” Big Ben using the head of the Road Rebel driver version (to match the 2010 POC arctic Doc). I just hope that the dog’s included too….
Anyway, I think Hasbro could’ve saved themselves a lot of fan ire yet still have kept the fur collar–they could’ve made it a separate piece that swivels around the neck joint, that ‘locks’ onto the torso. Whaddaya guys think?
Ive never been able to find any of these comic packs in my neck of the woods so i made a 25th/30th Kwinn out of a R.O.C Stromshadow head and an Ice viper body.
On the subject of comic packs. I would have loved to have seen a 3 3/4 Lancaster with DR Venom [even though such an aircraft would in Joe scale would need to be as big as the Flagg]
This figure was about as good as we could have hoped for given the constraints of the molds that Hasbro was willing to use at the time. But, when you look at the comic packs through the Oktober Guard wave, figures as good as Kwinn were pretty few and far between. At least he offered some color that was more than the standard green that ultimately killed the comic packs as a retail item.
I never knew they actually made a Quinn. Cool!
Stupid auto correct, Kwinn.
I honestly never expected a Kwinn figure given that the character was killed off so many years ago. (Keep in mind that he only appeared in issues #2 and the story arc running from #12 through #19 in addition to his burial at sea in #22 of the Marvel comic.)
I passed on this version but was amazed that Hasbro got around to making him along with other deceased but beloved characters such as General Flagg and four-sixths of the original Oktober Guard.
I had just started getting into the old Joe comics right within maybe three months of this guy coming out. Marvel had started putting out tradepapers (but only got to Volume 5 before giving up) and I remember finding them when I was at my grandparents. I read Volumes 1 and 2 so much because my grandparents didn’t have cable and in the summer, if you don’t like watching baseball games on the weekend, you’re pretty much SOL. I read that first issue with Kwinn and was instantly hooked on the character. I think I was probably one of the few people that didn’t mind we only ever got his arctic version. While I liked his later appearances, I thought his first appearance in the Joe comics (holy cow, a bad guy without clear initial ties to Cobra–having grown up on the Joe cartoons, that idea was so new to me, I just loved it) was just so impressive I really liked having a version that represented that particular look. Honestly, my only real problem was recycling Order for one of his sled dogs. It just didn’t look like a dog that could handle arctic exposure like that. Don’t get me wrong, German shepherds are a hardy breed, but there’s a reason they use Huskies in the Iditarod. The removable weasel skull necklace just blew my mind too. I really loved being able to recreate Snake Eyes’s look from the very end of that issue.
I think the old o-ring style does allow for larger build characters. Road Pig, Slaughter, Big Boa, Gnawgahyde,
@Acer It’s in the mail today! I paid 15 bucks for another Kwinn on e-bay, not realizing that the collar is a part of the head making him pretty much useless for my customizing needs. It’s an ok figure, but even the new one coming isn’t what he truly looked like in the comics. I would love to see Hasbro or even the club make an o-ring Dr.Venom but it won’t happen.
They got the comics packs off on partially the right foot by making a long requested fan favourite, then General Flagg in the next wave, then the Oktober Guard (with a shortened production run on their wave), then no more comics-only characters at all besides the later 3 OG members. But we got a Destro with white gloves, a weak Scrap-Iron repaint, an orange “red ninja”, a transparent Cobra Commander and Cobra gas mask guys that appear in one panel in one issue!
@troublemagnet
Thanks again! I’ll show you pics of the polar rescue Big Ben custom when it’s done.
Awesome figure!
I too am happy with this figure. I never quite understood why he was used in the jungles of Sierra Gordo. His comfort zone for me is definitley with Cobra’s Arctic forces. On day I’ll track down the 1/18th scale dog sled I saw once in a store in Switzerland.
He’s probably been featured in his jungle outfit more often in the comics, but when I think of Kwinn, I always visualize him in his arctic gear. This isn’t the best looking figure, but I think it does a good job of bring about a nice likeness of Kwinn. I really like the reuse of Order in an all black paint scheme!