Zombie Initiative Clean Sweep

by KansasBrawler

Growing up, I only had one Eco-Warriors Joe and that was Clean Sweep. Because of my long ties to the figure, I was really excited that he was tapped for an update in the Zombie Initiative con set. However, this also meant that the modern version of the figure had a lot to live up to. I thought Clean Sweep (and his toxin eliminating robot) was the coolest Eco-Warrior. From what I’ve seen online, though, Clean Sweep isn’t the most popular figure from the subset, so I’ll admit to being pleasantly surprised that he made the cut for E.C.O Force. I’m very glad Clean Sweep got a modern update. I think that his hazmat suit is probably the closest in look to real hazmat gear and as much as I love Airtight, Flint and Ozone, that added element of realism really makes him work for me.

Once again, I have to applaud the GIJCC for their parts choices for Clean Sweep here. They really did a great job of capturing his original look while also updating it a bit. His legs are pulled from two different figures but the GIJCC did a great job at replicating the high boots his original figure had. The upper legs come from 30th Anniversary Airtight while his lower legs come from Resolute Destro. While at first glance, that seems like an odd choice, his upper and lower legs comes together very well to create a complete look. Clean Sweep wore some pretty high boots back in the day so I’m really happy to see this detail in his modern figure as well. His entire upper body comes from the Retaliation Data-Viper and that’s a great call for Clean Sweep. It’s got a lot of built in details and the wrinkles are appropriate for a suit like this. To break up the design a little bit more, Clean Sweep is also wearing 25th Anniversary Shockwave’s belt. While I’d never really noticed the original Clean Sweep’s belt, this piece does an excellent job of standing in for it. He’s got some grenades and pouches on it and while they’re not necessarily oriented the same way as it was on the original figure, it’s there and it really helps bring everything together. Like Ozone, Clean Sweep gets a brand new head and while I like it, I do kind of find myself missing his original look. The original Clean Sweep has a pretty bushy mustache and kind of a curly white guy ‘fro with a bit of a fuller face. This time, Clean Sweep is bit thinner of face with a more neatly trimmed mustache and a nice full head of hair. It’s not a bad look, but I’m still a little surprised the GIJCC didn’t ask the guys over at Boss Fight to try and make something a little more like the classic figure. That said, though, it’s a very nice head sculpt and now Clean Sweep looks a little bit more like a military operator than a high school janitor. To me, though, the most defining part of Clean Sweep’s look was his unique protective hood. The GIJCC also had a new piece molded for that and here, they did not disappoint. Boss Fight did a great job of bringing the original details over to this piece and adding in things like wrinkles to make it look a bit more realistic. The little electronic device that was originally molded to the 1991 figure’s chest has been moved to the removable hood and that’s fine. It looks nice there and it faithfully recreates the original design very well. The hood looks rather bulky like it should. The overall look reminds me a bit of the bulky fireproof suits that I’m sure were used in real life somewhere along the line but I remember more from an action sequence in the somewhat forgettable sci-fi movie Reign of Fire where a dragon attacks a field being harvested early and the main character and his protégé rescue the harvesters wearing suits similar to this. My only real problem with the hood is that it doesn’t sit terribly flush on his shoulders. I understand that it can’t sit flush if you want to retain the neck articulation but I always find it a little bothersome when a figure’s protective gear doesn’t look like it would actually effectively protect them. It’s a minor nitpick, but one that I felt I should bring up. Clean Sweep is a great modern representation of a Joe that doesn’t get a lot of love. I think someone at the GIJCC must have liked Clean Sweep a lot as well. They could have pretty easily phoned it on this figure by just completely reusing the Retaliation Data Viper mold, but they didn’t and they made something really great here.

Like all the Eco-Warriors, Clean Sweep was original colored pretty brightly. Unlike Flint and Ozone, though, the GIJCC didn’t really tone down his colors for his E.C.O. Force version and I’m perfectly fine with that. Much like Airtight, Clean Sweep wears a lot of yellow and green, however, his hues are just a bit brighter. The yellow is cleanly done and while it looks a tad plastic-y, considering hazmat suits are made out of a very high grade plastic material, I’m okay with that. The bright green trim really pops against the yellow and really brings out the detailing that is built in to the mold. Like back in the day, Clean Sweep is also wearing dark brown boots and gloves. That little splash of dark color helps darken things just a little. If his gloves and boots had been a matching bright green, it would have been a little too bright, but with the dark brown there, it doesn’t get too overwhelming.

To me, Clean Sweep’s accessories really made him and while I’m a little disappointed they didn’t include some sort of robot with him, the accessories are pretty good pieces. Clean Sweep’s primary weapon is the kind of funky-looking assault rifle that came with Retaliation Cobra Trooper. While I wasn’t a big fan of it there, much like E.C.O. Force Flint’s weapon, it actually works pretty well when repurposed into a weapon that shoots the Z+ cure. While Flint’s weapon launched canisters of Z+, I see Clean Sweep’s as one that fire a small stream of it. It’s more useful in tight spaces than Flint’s would be, so it’s nice that E.C.O. Force has all the bases covered when it comes to using Z+ against the Cobra Toxo-Zombies. Clean Sweep also carries the computer case that Resolute Destro came with. Inside it, there’s a place for a submachine gun to be carried and in the event that Clean Sweep can’t use his Z+ weapon, he does have a more lethal option to deal with zombie hordes. The inclusion of the computer case is a great call. The original Clean Sweep had a really cool backpack that had a control system for his toxin neutralizing robot (which also doubled as his water-shooting weapon for the purposes of the Eco-Warriors gimmick) but it’s kind of a one-off piece so I understand why they didn’t tool it up. Considering they went to the trouble of including a computer to control it, it would have been really nice had they included a robot. Even the little bomb disposal robot that Hasbro included with Rise of Cobra Tripwire and the GIJCC has used before in a Joe Con set would have been a decent addition. It may not be useful for cleaning up a toxic spill, I could see it being very useful for containing a spill by going into a toxic environment and sealing off the spill. Despite his missing robot, Clean Sweep does have a nice set of accessories. My only other complaint is that I miss his neon green weapons. I realize I’m probably in the minority there, but Flint and Ozone both got colored weapons that referenced the original crazily-colored gear the Eco-Warriors had back in 1991, so why not let Clean Sweep have a bright green submachine gun?

I realize I was probably one of the few people that had them, but I had some pretty high expectations for Clean Sweep. Between smart parts reuse and excellent investment in tooling dollars, the GIJCC really made a great Clean Sweep figure. He looks like an updated version of his classic self and he seems a bit more impressive than he used to. I don’t know why, but the original Clean Sweep always seemed kind of short and dumpy. I still liked the figure, but he felt a little out of place on my Joe team sometimes. This version feels more like a real military specialist who is good at his job and can handle the stress of such a dangerous specialty well. While I still wish they’d included a robot for him to command, the GIJCC really did a great job of updating his kit to reflect his specialty as the E.C.O. Force engineer who not only develops the anti-toxin dispersal technology but also tests it in the field himself.