Footloose was the first 1985 figure I purchased in February of that year. (I got Airtight at the same time, though.) He was just so cool. He had amazing gear, strong colors and a design that seemed like a substantial upgrade over the 1984 figures. Footloose quickly became a staple of my adventures. He would wait inside the Hovercraft until it landed and then emerge to devastate the Cobras in his way. I even made up a little song for him when he jumped into battle. He was one of the most important figures in my collection. Sadly, though, I then broke his rifle. Once that happened, Footloose's value to me plummeted. I took the figure apart and used his parts on many of my customs of that era who represented new characters in my collection.
As a collector, I ensured I acquired a couple of Footloose figures. They were in good shape. And, now, I'm afraid to put his rifle into his right hand for fear of breaking the thumb. I should work on it. Mainly because I don't feel I've ever gotten a good photo of Footloose. I've tried many different situations for Footloose. But, none of them ever really capture my childhood essence of the figure. I've seen many other people adequately capture just how cool Footloose is. But, I've never been able to do it. So, here's my latest attempts to make Footloose look great. I still don't feel I've captured him, though. I'll keep trying.
Footloose was also one of my fav figures as a kid. Probably tied with Lt. Falcon. That rifle was brittle, though. My dad was a smoker (as I'm sure most of our dads were). Consequently, there were butane lighters laying around my house. One day, I took a lighter, heated up the broken ends of Footloose's rifle, and held the melty ends together as they cooled. This created a new bond, repairing the rifle (albeit in an ugly way). This new bond, however, was weak. The rifle broke again within a day or so. I repeated the process a lot. (It worked better than electrical tape.) Eventually, I accepted the rifle's fate and gave Footloose someone else's rifle. The figure looked too good to abandon because of a brittle rifle.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. I did the exact same thing in an attempt to fix it. I think I used a soldering iron, though, to try to melt them together. The bond lasted one or two play sessions and then broke, again. It looked like garbage, too.
DeleteI think I actually still have that gun somewhere. It's probably in one of my junk boxes. I should find it.
His face does have that glazed over look, like he's miles away... You're right, he is a hard figure to make him look cool, even with his awesome accessories.
ReplyDeleteAs a character he gets lost in the sea of white guys with mustaches of the early years. Mutt, Recondo, Cutter, Crankcase, Heavy Metal, Keel-Haul, Dialtone, Gung Ho, Leatherneck, Sgt Slaughter, Wild Bill...
ReplyDeleteAs figure, he'd great but not star material. That's fine, but also contributed to his underuse in media. Even in Sunbow he's got maybe one starring episode, Hearts and Cannons. Then speechless in Season 2.
Footloose is all right, but he's got this weird puke green color that looks he's discolored right out of the package and that foliage on his head ain't doing him any favors. I do have the Slaughter's Marauders version, that's a much better figure.
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