Tuesday, September 27, 2022

2022 Duke

I don't much care for Duke.  Not being a cartoon guy, Duke never really resonated with me.  His comic character was rather bland and there were far better characters for any adventures.  His original figure was cool enough.  But, it also felt like a retread since it reused accessories and even mold parts from other figures.  Among the class of 1984, Duke felt like an anachronism.  And, as such, he rarely found a role in my collection.  In fact, Duke's most memorable contribution to my childhood was the donation of his parts that were used on other figures.  My favorite being a new Hawk that used a Duke's chest that I had repainted.  But, you can't deny Duke's importance to the Joe mythos and his place of prominence among collectors.  So, his inclusion among the first 6 of the Hasbro Pulse releases makes sense.  And, while I'm not a fan of the Duke character, this new rendition of him accomplishes some things that failed Hasbro from 1997 through 2005.

Duke has been re-released a ton of times.  But, none of those Duke figures really lived up to the version that appeared in the cartoon.  During the 1990's and, to a lesser extent, the 2000's, Joe fandom was heavily skewed towards the Marvel Comic.  As such, Hasbro was steered away from any cartoon homage figures.  In the ensuing decades, though, this has changed as more and more cartoon fans have come into the fold.  Now, there's a pretty even split.  And, the cartoon has proven to offer some nice designs for toys.  Super7 has mined the cartoon mythos very deeply and produced some figures that are unlikely to ever appear in any form again.  What's sad is that Hasbro could have done this very easily in the 2000's.  It's a shame there is no cartoon accurate Baroness, Snake Eyes, Cover Girl, Flint or any other cartoon rendition of your favorite character.  But, this Duke and Cobra Commander release of 2022 takes a step towards rectification.  Both figures are based on their cartoon appearances and include cartoon inspired accessories.  It's probably 20 years too late.  But, cartoon fans finally have some figures that are inspired by their favored medium.

As you likely know, though, I'm not really a cartoon fan.  I watched it as a kid.  But, it didn't really resonate with me and most of my Joe inspiration was taken from the comic.  So, the homage aspect of this figure doesn't matter much to me.  The colors are interesting.  But, they also aren't great.  I love the deep green of Duke's pants and helmet.  It is a great color.  But, the yellow of his shirt just doesn't match anything.  I tried to pair him with a variety of figures.  But, couldn't get a look that I liked.  Duke just doesn't go with anything.  And, to me, that limits him.  I'd love a Duke that could be easily melded into photos.  But, this isn't that Duke.  And, while the paint masks are spectacular, the color palette just doesn't translate into a neat looking figure.  So, Duke is just a toy that I own.  He sits in his drawer and I have yet to have any real compunction to pull him out for photos other than those in this profile.  It's not a terrible fate as it's the same way I feel about many of the 2000's releases.  But, I was hoping for more from a premium priced toy.

One of the supposed perks of premium pricing is that we get a bunch of extra accessories with each figure 2 pack.  With Snake Eyes and Stormshadow, it was extra 1989 Snake Eyes gear that didn't really go with the released figure.  With the Cobra Trooper/Officer, there was a nice cadre of additional weapons.  Most of them were Joe weapons.  But, they also represented pretty much every weapon that was released with a Trooper or Officer all over the world.  For Duke and Cobra Commander, though, the ante was upped again.  The Commander included a nice batch of weapons, computer pads and even binoculars.  Duke, though, was the real plum.  Aside from his helmet and card art inspired XMLR, Duke also included binoculars, his backpack (which keeps the 1984 color and doesn't match with this figure at all!), a green M-32 like the original figure, a dark green bazooka (still missing the sight!), an American flag and pole, a figure stand based on the anniversary figure design, a bizarre shoulder harness and, the coup de gras, a silver JUMP backpack that's meant to be held by the harness.  It's a great complement of gear and seems like a deluxe figure.  I'm not sure it's worth the $21 for the figure.  But, it does help make this figure feel like less of a price gouge.  Personally, I'd love for every Joe to include a specifically colored JUMP.  It would be awesome.  But, I'll take it just with Duke for now.

The quality of this figure is pretty strong.  There is, though, quite a bit of consternation over the eye paint on the figure.  They eyes of most figures are not symmetrical.  In close up, macro photos, the eyes look terrible.  But, under normal vision, it's far less noticeable.  The head is goofy.  But, Duke has always been goofy.  The paint ops, though, are top notch.  They are a step up from the 2000's era.  The plastic quality is about the same as the 2000's, though.  So, you have softer overall plastic along with more pliable thumbs and crotches.  I do not, though, like painted hands as they are susceptible to wear.  But, few of these will be played with.  So, that's less of an issue.  

This figure is an all new Duke mold.  So, while Duke was released in 1984, 1988 and then in a variety of times in the 2000's, those were all different molds from this figure.  Hasbro is just releasing its first repaint of the Pulse era when the Stinger Driver shows up in a few months.  I'd love for Hasbro to start repainting some of these new molds.  But, I'd prefer them to come in a cheaper option for packaging.  I don't really want a Tiger Force Duke or a 1984 colored Duke on a full cardback.  But, I'd love one of each in a baggie for a cheaper price.  It would be awesome to get a Night Force Duke.  Or, even a figure based on the European Force Mirage.  I do hope that we see some repaints in the line, just to get more than 8 or so figures in a year.  We'll see if that ever happens, though.

If you want Duke, buy him right now.  He and Cobra Commander are $42 plus shipping.  You can even buy up to 5 of them.  Honestly, if I could just buy a Duke with all the gear for $21, I'd probably get one or two more: just for the gear.  But, I'm hesitant as the price seems high with the Cobra Commander.  The long run value for these figures is unknown.  I'm sure the Cobra Commander will remain desirable as it's the first release of that mold since 1984.  Duke is less certain as this is a specific look for the character.  But, the figure is solid and the gear is amazing.  That's usually a recipe for prolonged interest from collectors.  

2022 Hasbro Pulse, Duke, Cobra Commander, Quarrel, Action Force Palitoy

2022 Hasbro Pulse, Duke, Cobra Commander, Quarrel, Action Force Palitoy


2022 Hasbro Pulse, Duke, Cobra Commander, 2005 Stalker


2022 Hasbro Pulse, Duke, Cobra Commander


2022 Hasbro Pulse, Duke, Cobra Commander


13 comments:

  1. That face is horrible. If I do get the CC/Duke two pack, I'll probably keep Cobra Commander and the gear and sell off Duke. If I had the option of just buying Cobra Commander, I'd be more than happy. As far as the Duke character himself, I always found him redundant and just a copy of Hawk, who I like much better. Duke is just inoffensively boring in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention I already have the original and a few of the 2000's repaints. CC on the other hand, is a wise purchase in that it looks different enough from the original, which is rather expensive and fragile at this point.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting that you only mention the offset eye but not the goofy smile, which is far more noticeable at regular distance. I'm not as upset about this figure as some people (the hatred for it all over Facebook is downright toxic), but it does seem to be a well-intentioned idea that was inadequately executed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The only thing your pulling is Guard duty until I say otherwise!

    Duke is the all American as apple pie character. I love him.

    This figure is neat but I want some figures that haven't been done over and over again please Hasbro.

    ReplyDelete
  4. All these newly sculpted o-rings and not one ball joint head. Come on.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Another fantastic write-up/review. Admittedly I am viewing this line through the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia but I always loved the Duke figure, I have vague memories of using my older brothers beat up version 1 Duke. I am enjoying the o-ring collection as a whole. My only disappointment is Hasbro's unwillingness to provide us more news or let us know what the future brings for the line. I'd much rather be purchasing brand new figures that serve has faithful representations of the originals instead of investing in 30-40 year old plastic action figures at this point.

    I never had my own Duke V1, CC V1, Cobra Trooper, Cobra Officer or Snake Eyes as a kid so it's fun to acquire these as an adult. I can't understand getting emotionally upset about these figures especially as most of us are now in our late 30s to early 50s. Just enjoy the figures for what they represent or if you do not like them just don't acquire them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Completely agree here. The retro oring Stormshadow and Snake Eyes are faithful enough representations of each v1 figure that I do not feel the need to plunk down lots of cash on ebay to buy the originals. Same for the Cobra Trooper and Officer. And I think the '22 Cobra Commander is actually an improvement on the '83 original (the white helemet stripe and bonus accessories cinches it).

      It would have been nice if the the '22 Duke fell into this category, but he doesn't. The mustard shirt color is pretty off-putting in person. As is the peachy pink sin color. I would sell this Duke, if I thought I could get $20 for him. Instead...I'll probably give him away to a nephew or something.

      All that said, I'm looking forward to getting my retro oring Baroness and Stalker soon.

      Delete
  6. Duke was an early grad for me, mail-in class of 1983. He saw a good amount of use, as he was one of the few swivel arms I had. I never owned Hawk V1. And it was a boring figure compared to Duke V1.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It'd probably flop, but if they do more cartoon figures, I really hope they do Stalker vs. Ripper next. That would be a lot more fresh, plus they already have the Stalker mold.

    This Duke just doesn't hit right for me, though it's growing on me. Still, as a premium priced figure, it doesn't feel like Hasbro's best effort with the sloppiness of the head.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That face is really horrific. I wonder if it's the mold itself or just the paint app. Really makes me not want to get this set.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it's mostly the paint app. The eyes are slightly mis-aligned relative to the sculpted details, and the white of the teeth spills over onto the lips on many samples (though the one I got looks better than the photos above).

      Delete
    2. Uglier than 'Drunk Duke' imo- hard pass for me. Not sure why people think this set is successful either, seems to have been on offer for a while.

      Delete
  9. Mike! Been following you for years. The fact that Duke is a new mold kills me. Why they can't do re-imaginings in the 1985 and up style kills me. Have you heard about the Operation Recall Kickstarter with the original hasbro team? I'm way more excited for those than these tired hasbro offerings.

    ReplyDelete