 Alright.
I recently did a Retro Review for the Vintage GI Joe Navy Seal
Codename: Torpedo. With the advent of the 25th Anniversary
Joes, I had a plan. I was only going to get figures I didn't
have the vintage version of to help limit myself. To be
honest, I wasn't real impressed with the first few I saw. I
passed over a large number of them, as a matter of fact.
However, when I saw the modern version of
Torpedo, the temptation was too
great.I just had to know how did the new
Joes stack up to the vintage ones for the same character. My
other choice at the time was the Ace / Wild Weasel 2 pack. I
love the idea of Ace, but vintage or new I hate the helmet idea.
Appearance:
As I mentioned in the vintage
review, Torpedo is a little different than what I think of as a
Navy SEAL these days. I tend to think of a bad ass soldier
in a full complement of combat gear. Torpedo here looks to
be going on a very specific underwater demolition mission.
Torpedo here is decked out in an
updated version of the original's grey and black wet suit.
Overall, I have to say I'm impressed that the 25th Anniversary
figures stayed close to the classic looks for the characters.
Again, I don't really understand how a bright grey stripe will
help a SEAL infiltrate a Cobra base, but, it's true to the vintage
version.
The biggest difference with this
version of Torpedo is the removable mask. Instead of him
riding around in vehicles and hanging out in Command Base with his
regulator hanging out of his mouth, Torpedo can walk around with
his wet suit headpiece on.
Now that he has a face, I have to
say he looks less intimidating. His head reminds me more of
Dirk the Daring from Dragon's Lair that a hardened kick butt
soldier.
The wet suit has all of the little
doodads you'd expect. The pouches on his upper torso have
been updated to look more like explosives and, well, pouches.
The belt was updated from the original, but keeps the same styling
and some extra paint to boot.
 Two
of the coolest updates to Torpedo have got to be his legs.
The black sculpted knife has been upgraded to a sheath and
removable knife. Sweet! The explosive packs on the
left leg are gone. In their place is a holster for a pistol.
Torpedo is now well equipped to fight on land or sea.
Torpedo looks pretty good. I
don't know what it is though, I'm just not a big fan of the chest
joint. I have to say it looks better on Torpedo than the
Cobra Trooper though. With
the more form fitting outfit, it looks more like sculpted pecs
than anything else.
Fun:
The added articulation in the new figures allows
Torpedo here to do something that always was frustrating with the
vintage one. He can swim. The ankle articulation
allows him to kick like he's underwater. The
flippers work the same as the vintage ones plugging into the foot
peg holes.
 Speaking
of foot peg holes, the flippers have an extra set. This way
even with his flippers on he can stand on his ubiquitous stand.
I have to say that with the flippers, he doesn't really need the
stand, but the forethought is pretty neat. What would have
been better is if they would have included some sort of plastic
peg that you could pose him one like he was swimming horizontally.
Or so you could pose him like his card picture.
 I've
said it before. I loved GI Joe figures because of all of
their gear. It's the reason I had the vintage Snow Job and
Torpedo as well as Short Fuze and Flash. The last two had
those cool visors. Torpedo here has more gear than his
vintage counterpart. Two flippers, pack, mask, stand, knife,
pistol, and spear gun. That's a ton of stuff for a figure.
The knife was a bit of a surprise. It's
styled like a diving knife or military survival knife. The
thing that surprised me was the very edge of the knife blade has a
some dark silver paint on it. (You can see this in the pic
at the top of the page.)
The new pistol is small handgun with a silencer.
It fits well enough in his hand, and make perfect sense for a
stealthy SEAL to carry. It's certainly a better piece of
personal protection for when he's out of the water than a speargun.
Speaking of the speargun, it appears to be
the same as the vintage one. Like maybe the mold was
refurbished slightly to make the new one. (The new one is on the
top.) I never understood what the stock was for on this
weapon. It's not nearly long enough. The flippers
appear to have been reworked from the vintage versions as well.
The back pack also is very close to original.
It has some extra detailing around the bottoms of the small
rockets. The peg on the back of it is longer than a vintage
one. This pack has an opening on the inside that shows the
backsides of the air tanks. I don't know why this was
included but is one of those nifty details you don't see unless
you open your figures.
The mask is a one piece affair that has the
mouthpiece and goggles. It looks more like a fireman's mask
if you ask me. Or the vintage Rip Cord's mask. A word
of CAUTION. The hose is a separate piece.
I didn't realize it until I dropped it and had to save it from a
swooping dog prodigy. While the mask setup isn't horrible,
it does look slightly bulky on the figure. A separate head
would have been just as fine with me, but I concede the play
factor is cooler with the removable one.
 UPDATE:
I learned something after I posted this review originally.
Imceache at
TheFwoosh.com was kind enough to point out Torpedo's air tanks
are removable. I was wondering how they got them painted on
the inside. I figured they were glue in. Thanks for
the tip!
One last note. While overall I'm pleased with
the re-launch of this line, I do have some concerns about the
durability of these figures. They just seem a little weak at
the joints. Especially the wrists, ankles and knees. I
can't imagine these figures surviving some the "missions" my Joes
went on. (Thrown into a bush, parachuting from a 2nd floor
window, riding the VAMP down a staircase, etc...) Part of
the fun of the vintage figures was they were durable, posable, and
ready for action.
Overall:
 I'm
pretty happy that I decided to pick Torpedo up. I wasn't
sure at first if I'd like the update, but
he's pretty cool. Yeah, there are a couple of small things I
don't like. But they are just that small things.
Out of the four or five of new Joes I've picked
up, he's my favorite so far. He's got all the gear he needs
and is ready to go on those demolition missions.
All that said, I have to give the Joe team a
thumbs up on their update of one of my favorite vintage figures.
They kept the classic look, gave him useful articulation and more
gear. At the same time, there is no mistaking the spirit of
the original. Yo Joe!
Engineernerd Score: 90/100
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