1992 Gung Ho

In December of 1992, I went to a local Toys R Us on my lunch hour to buy some Joes.  I hadn't been to a toy store in over 2 years.  And, while I was up on the Joe comic, I was not familiar with the toys.  A wall of never before seen figures awaited me at Toys R Us.  And, having limited time, I had to make some decision as to which figures I would buy.  I ended up going with names from my childhood as I picked up a 1992 Destro, General Flagg and this Gung Ho.  With these purchases, I became a Joe collectors, even if only a casual one for the next three years.

My choice of these three figures seems somewhat odd in retrospect as there were cooler figures available.  But, there was a method to my madness.  General Flagg was bought because I had always wanted one as a kid (even if it was a different character) and I thought his gun was just amazing.  Destro and this Gung Ho, though, were selected because they were both favorite characters from my childhood, were solid designs that were true to the characters from nearly a decade prior and they had weapons that looked amazing.  This was enough for me to add them in lieu of other figures that were surely hanging on the pegs.

The biggest thing for me is that this figure looks like Gung Ho.  If you showed him to anyone who had played with Joes as a kid, they could recognize this figure as the Joe team's original Marine.  The 1992 release date, though, brought with it the added heft that was always missing from the 1983 design.  Gung Ho now had a figure to match up with the muscle bound physique he sported in the comics.  While his Marine Corps tattoo is smaller on his chest, it is there: further defining the figure as Gung Ho.  (Oddly, for the 1993 release, the tattoo was moved to the figure's arm.)  It was these features that drew me to Gung Ho as an early acquisition.  He reminded me of the figures from my childhood while also solving some of the limitations that were apparent on the old designs.

Truth is, this figure is solid but unspectacular.  While Gung Ho features nice detailing on his chest with the bullets and vest, that's about the extent of his features.  His lower body is non-descript and the arms do not stand out.  While the coloring is muted and realistic, it's also kind of boring.  Truth be told, I far prefer the 1993 red repaint to this original green.  Sure, it's nice enough.  But, it lacks any pizzazz like you see on many other 1992 releases.  Gung Ho is just that staid, solid figure that was the foundation of the Joe line.  In looking at him now, were it not for the childhood connection the figure forged with me upon my discovery of him, it's unlikely this Gung Ho would have ever really been someone I sought out.  If he showed up in a lot, I'd keep him.  But, there's nothing about him compelling enough to make him the focal point of a search when there were more recent retail releases of the mold and a more bold coloring from the following release year available.

Gung Ho included a variety of accessories.  The calling card of the figure is his American flag.  It's designed to be carried by the figure.  I find it kind of cheap.  But, it's unique to Gung Ho in the vintage line.  He then includes a standard spring loaded weapon and stand.  The main gear is a well done backpack (Again, the pack was overused in the 2000's.  But, it was very good for 1992.) and a massive machine gun.  The weapon is oversized.  But, due to the heft of the Gung Ho mold, it somewhat works.  I find that Hardball's grenade launcher is a much better fit for this figure, though, and is more true to the Gung Ho character.  But, the machine gun is acceptable for me as well.  The gear is in line with vintage releases and matches with what you can see Gung Ho using in combat.  1992 would be the last year that this was really true.

In the 2000's, Hasbro loved this Gung Ho mold.  Though they only released it as Gung Ho once (on the bland and pretty worthless 2001 version), the figure's parts showed up on many releases over the years.  The best use of the Gung Ho torso was for the 2006 Classified figure from the comic packs.  But, he also appeared on some convention releases.  His parts were probably overused, but Gung Ho remains under-represented.  I'd have loved a TRU 6 pack in the 2000's that contained the 1992 Gung Ho, Wild Bill, Ace, Wet Suit, Duke and Mutt painted in a scheme like their original figure releases.  It would have been both a great homage and a spectacular update to each mold.  Hasbro had all these figures and could easily have done it.  But, they didn't and this Gung Ho really only has this and the 1993 repaint as unique and distinctive colorings of the sculpt.

The good news is that this Gung Ho is still cheap.  You can get carded versions for under $25.  And, while dealers will price and sell mint and complete figures in the $12-$15 range, you can easily buy them for 1/2 that price on the open market.  For a figure of this quality, those prices are a rarity these days.  But, the Joe market is showing signs of softening for anything that's not an investor grade piece in terms of both quality and rarity.  So, we might be coming out of the darkness that has been the past 18 months.  In the meantime, this Gung Ho is still a worthwhile acquisition. He's been in my collection now for 27 years and still remains relevant.  That's not an easy feat and is a testament to this figure's ties to the original Gung Ho character and the quality of the overall udpate to his appearance.