The 1984 Blowtorch is one of my favorite figures. His gear just made him so much fun to play with. Sadly, my childhood figure quickly fell apart from overuse. So, I've long lived with the lament of not being able to use him to his full potential when I was a kid. I've attempted to compensate by tracking down all the Blowtorch variants from around the world. But, even that won't solve the disappointment from the mid 1980's when Blowtorch's mask and flamethrower ripped apart.
That being said, the real story of Blowtorch is how the figure changed from his marketing designs to the production figure. Originally, Blowtorch's accessories were going to be a bit different. And, they give some insight into Hasbro's evolution from wires that were simply part of the accessory's design (like Flash's laser rifle) to the separate black hose pieces that would debut with the Dreadnoks in late 1984.
Here is the best image I can get of an early Blowtorch. You'll see what appears to be some parts differences on the arms. The biggest difference, though, is the mask. You'll note that this early version has open eye holes. And, then, instead of a yellow wire to plug into the figure's body, you'll see a black hose. This is very different from the solid piece mask that was released on the production figure. The final difference is the black hose that is attached to the flamethrower. The production figure has the hose molded as part of the weapon as one, solid piece. Here, it's a separate hose to run between the weapon and the backpack. This image, below, is a screenshot from a 1984 toy commercial.
But, the same figure was also showcased in the 1984 marketing catalog that was included with every vehicle and playset. You can see Blowtorch still has the open eyes and the black hoses. More interestingly, though, you can see that the hoses were intended to attach to Blowtorch's backpack instead of having the air mask hose plug into his body.
Hasbro changed the hoses, though, to be solid pieces that were part of the mask and weapon. In late 1984, though, Ripper would be the first figure released to include black hoses that connected two accessories. These black hoses would remain the Joe staple for the remainder of the line until they were phased out after 1991. It's likely that Hasbro realized the limitations of attaching plastic hoses that were part of an accessory mold to a backpack. Even back in 1983, it was common for Flash's laser rifle or Breaker's headset to have broken wires. In their quest to always be improving, the separate hoses were a novel way to solve this problem. While they may have explored the idea on the 1984 Blowtorch, they must not have been ready to get it into production. So, they made Blowtorch in a more traditional format and delayed the black hoses until the 1985 series.
The eye holes on the mask, though, make more sense. I can see these being problematic. They would have been a likely source of plastic flashing. So, many pieces would have been opaque, anyways, as excess plastic leeched into the small spaces. And, the top part of the eyes would have been extremely thin. It would have easily ripped and torn; especially as kids stretched it out when they affixed the mask to the figure's helmet. Hasbro was concerned about making quality toys back in 1984. So, making a solid piece that was more sturdy made sense.
Personally, I'm a bit torn on this. I do like the color continuity between the flamethrower and mask and their hoses. But, at the same time, the addition of the black coloring adds a new dimension to Blowtorch's look. I'd have loved for my childhood Blowtorch to have not torn. But, the hoses would have only solved for the flamethrower as it was the connection pieces that wrapped the mask around Blowtorch's helmet that ripped on my childhood figure. I'd have likely gotten frustrated that the hoses got lost, too.
Still, it's interesting to see how the figure evolved prior to release. And, it shows how methodical the Hasbro team was in getting things right before they moved them into production. But, when you know you have a hit toy that's going to run for years, you can be a bit more cautious in your approach to innovation. I'll leave you with a final commercial screenshot. You can see the the figure more clearly since he's not wearing all his gear. He looks like more of a kitbash. But, really, I'm putting it out there because I have idea what's going on with Cutter's head in this photo. But, that's probably something to dig into in a future Rarities post.
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