Baseball is my favorite sport. I got hooked in 1987 and haven't really looked back. It's great to have a game on in the background since you don't really need to pay all that much attention to the entire game and can pop in and out as action dictates. I attended my first ever MLB game on 8/5/1988. I know this because 8/8/88 (35 years ago today!) was supposed to be the first ever night game at Wrigley field in Chicago and I saw the first game of the series with the Phillies who would have been their opponent that night. But, mother nature intervened and the game was rained out. Regardless, I've been a fan, now, for more than 35 years.
All of this lead to the fact that when I first saw Hardball, I had to buy him. Despite the fact that I was too old to be buying toys, I felt that Hardball was a necessary purchase. And, he became one of only three 1988 figures that we owned that actually belonged to me. I didn't use him for long, though. Shortly after his acquisition, I packed all my Joe figures away in a red Lego storage container that I hid in my closet. My youngest brother would break in, occasionally, and remove various figures. But, most of my Joes stayed in this container until 1999.
Over the years, I've seen a few Hardball customs that were done in various team colors of Major League teams. I've never seen someone who has done a full set of teams, though. But, his look does lend him to repaint if you are a baseball fan. If you're not a fan, though, there's not much to do with the mold. Some of his parts were used in the convention era. But, we never got a full repaint of the character. And, that's too bad. An away jersey Hardball would have been a nice update to have.
I'm a fan of Hardball. While he's not overdone, his mold is full of little details that make him interesting. The long sleeve tee shirt under the jersey makes sense for Hardball given his design theme. The cap on his head is actually the right size and looks better than many of his contemporaries who had sculpted hats. And, he's one of the rare figures (maybe the only one!) who wears a baseball cap. His legs feature enough sculpting to be interesting without being overdone. Sadly, the white on his shirt tends to discolor and I've found mine yellowing in recent years. Some of the pics below are from just 5 years ago: and the figure was still white. It sucks. But, at least Hardballs aren't expensive or desirable. So, I should just update my figure one of these days.
Anyways, enough rambling. Here's some photos I've taken of Hardball over the years. He's a fun figure to have around and works well as a background player. But, I've enjoyed many of the photos where he's the main subject, too.
Hardball was the last 1988 Joe I got, I thought the sports thing was goofy. But once I had him in hand, was not a bad figure.
ReplyDeleteHis arms and chest were used on the 1993 M. Bison figures. A curious reuse but shows that Hasbro could creatively reuse parts sometimes.
I always enjoyed the dynamite sticks on his ankle to help him steal home or as a boost to catch those high flies close to the warning track.
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