Jokes aside: I keep buying into SS and SE, but Duke hasn't impressed me that much over the years. I liked this one quite a bit back in the day, and the battle corps one looked kinda cool (though his existence totally skipped by me until recently) but mostly the figures have been...well...Duke. SE and SS - even if we get them often - at least manage some interesting costume changes over the years. Duke is a soldier most of the time. Just a soldier dude. I liked the 92 one 'cause he had some color and seemed to stand out, but the rest just seemed so boring. The JvC figure hit the peak of boring, and he only started to get interesting (a little) with the Spytroops figure. Problem there was his big cartoony square head (Eventually swapped it out with Blowtorch's head and had something respectable for awhile). The big dumb head carried over into VvV, but at least (after the action attack) the last one looked kinda cool.
Then we moved on to the 25th anniversary, where Duke suddenly came out in droves and one look based on his sorta-ready-for-battle-or-maybe-a-brewski-and-a-ballgame original look. And his terrible arms. Needless to say, Duke has failed time and again to impress me in any way.
That has changed considerably with this figure. Though the parts are extremely useful, I still have no problem actually using this guy as Duke. Duke who is ready to kick some butt, for once. Anyway, lets get on with it:
First off, something that I noticed about the card for the first time: they are cautiously walking through the jungle, but I never knew they were about to get attacked! They've got a Jungle Viper hiding in plain sight there! A testament to the design of the techno guillie suit. Moving on to the figure:
Without mentioning the awesome accessories, I am amazed to say that this figure is awesome. Look at the face, for one! Determined, stern, and watchful. There are so many faces that I can make fun of over the years because they just have this "duh" quality to them. Neutral, but in a way that makes it seem like they had a stroke. This one has some freakin' FEELING. It looks awesome, and I'm just amazed that they actually managed it with DUKE, no less. The scar even looks realistic for once (which seems to be carried over from the movie figures...?)
The rest of the figure just doesn't stop: there's the RoC body armor (which I love), the dirty streaks on it, and the dirt on the camoed arms. Then, you cover all that with the web gear! There's clips, pockets, the sheath for the machete...MAN it looks awesome! It's one of those rare figures that looks cool just standing there. Thankfully, he looks even better when posed, and BOY can he hold a great pose! I wana move on to those accessories, first, though.
As you can see on the filecard, Duke is ready for the jungle. Thankfully, he went into the jungle carrying weapons and gear! I was afraid I'd have to call his mom and have her drop that stuff off again. Anyway, the filecard is useless once again, but at least we know that his backpack has a needlessly long name to indicate that it HOLDS THINGS. Cool thing about it, though, is that it really does hold things! I'll get to that, though. Here's said gear:
I've mentioned before that I like a lot of accessories, but there is one thing better than that: just the right accessories. Duke comes with options, but not too many, and most of them can be carried on his person. In fact, I think the only thing he can't get on there is the pistol (which is kinda lame considering all the space they had to put a holster, but I find myself not caring what with all the awesome). He's got an awesome machete, I believe an M-16 (of some sort), a machine gun, and a flashlight that fits in his backpack. Not only that, but the backpack also has that strap for either of his guns!
The stretchy strap was a really nice touch, and it goes a long way to make this figure even greater. It's not just a molded place for a certain weapon, but an all purpose strap for any weapon you want, and that is what G.I. Joe toys are all about: versatility. Anyway, he holds all of the accessories very VERY well, and that's because of some of the best hands they've sculpted yet (mixed with weapon handles that work very well with said hands).
This guy was a blast to pose. He sets himself up, just about. His weapons slip right into his hands like they actually planned it out (for once) and no matter how you pose him he's ready to take anything that comes his way. The head sculpt just ROCKS so much that he cannot look boring. Duke has never looked this cool, in my opinion. I'll sum it up by gushing: he looks cool, comes with great accessories, each of those accessories fit in his hands perfectly, he poses like a dream and can get into actual firing positions, and most of his stuff could be removed or swapped, so it's a perfect figure to get multiples of. I suppose if these facts somehow bore you and he actually doesn't look awesome to you, then I guess you could skip him. I dunno what else to show you if that's your stance. The facts are above in the pics. It's just an awesome figure and toy. Fun to play with, great to look at. I wouldn't skip 'em if I were you, and if you like swapping parts to make new figures, then you should have a bunch of these missing pieces all over (I wish I could swap his hands with half the 25th figures, honestly). Go buy Duke.
On a final note: I know this and TRU Spirit are pretty heavy homages to Predator. I gotta say, though...I saw something else right away with this figure, and if I could paint I'd totally make customs of this:
Awwwww yeah. This and Spirit are the first Joes I've ever bought that seem perfect for Contra figures. I love it.
for everyone, one post at a time.
