GI Joe review: Tiger Force Flint

This weekend, I managed to find the rest of GI Joe wave 8- Roadblock, Major Bludd, Baroness, Cobra Commander, Python Patrol Officer, and this one, Tiger Force Flint.



This guy seems to be the most in-demand figure from this wave. I've only seen the one I own, while seeing all his casemates at least three times now. Of course, after the extreme disappointment that was the wave 1 Flint (whether you found him or not) people were looking forward to this one.

This figure rights the wrong Hasbro did by using the dreaded Duke arms on the the first version of Flint, which, while the hands lacked gloves, were completely incapable of bending to a 90 degree angle. While I have lots of toys without elbow atriculation, the fact that a modern-designed GI Joe couldn't bend his elbows while a 25-year-old version could was ridiculous, I felt. This version of Flint not only has the gloves, but functional elbows as well. Functional, that is, if the elbows on your sample actually move. The right elbow on mine refuses to bend at all, but in time, I'm sure it will. I just got it out of a hot car a few hours ago.

The Tiger Force paint scheme is, well, dumb. Even in 1989 it was dumb. It was a great way to get figures and vehicles out again that had not been used in a few years. Myself, I had the Tiger Fish (repainted Devil Fish) and Tiger Paw (repainted Ferret) back in the day, so I still don't hate the idea, it's just dumb to use brightly-colored vehicles. However, the Tiger Force idea for the figures (and even this new Flint) seems to work, just being a different form of camoflauge.

I guess Tiger Force wasn't such a dumb idea to a kid back in 1988-89, especially since it's the only way many of us got our hands on those awesome vehicles and certain figures from early in the line. It's great to see Hasbro paying homage to that, and even with a character that's been difficult to find in this anniversary line. I have no doubt this new version will get a classic paint scheme for one of Hasbro's Battle Packs, so if you're just looking for a Flint, it's probably wise to wait and see what happens there. Or, hell, it's only seven bucks and it's a kitschy homage. If you have a sense of humor about yourself or are a hardcore Joe fan, you own it already. If not, well, just wait and see.

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