Review by Fred Meyer & Chris Chung
Pics by Fred Meyer
 

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

The Area of Operation (AO) is overrun with hordes of Compound Z infected humans.  If the outbreak isn’t contained, the plague could spread across the globe resulting in the end of civilization as we know it.  One team is already in the field trying to find a cure but the number of infected keep growing at an astronomical rate.  Someone has to get in there and stem the tide-- whittling down the numbers of the shambling hordes by any means necessary.  That individual needs to be adaptable, able to function without support for however long is necessary, and still make it out alive to tell the tale.  That individual has to SURVIVE-- and there’s only one Joe who is a perfect match for that description.  It’s time to send in Outback.

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter OutbackG.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

How exactly does one take an abandoned concept like “Zombie Hunter Outback” and bring it to live with minimal tooling?  It takes some real creativity (ha!) and so the Club dipped into the well of the Pursuit of Cobra line to bring this updated version of Stuart “Outback” Selkirk to life.  Almost the entire body, save for the head and lower legs, are from the PoC Recondo v7.  This body gives Outback a sculpted t-shirt, harness, wrapped arms (including the darts on the left forearm), gloves, and even some detailed upper legs.  Possibly to avoid a complete body reuse, the GIJCC then opted to use the lower legs of the PoC Duke v42 (“Jungle Duke”) which removes the boots that were present on the jungle specialist.  It’s a bit of a mistake, IMHO, as I liked the more tactical look of the Recondo lower legs.  Otherwise, the body isn’t really a bad choice with the arms being especially appropriate.  Someone who is potentially going into melee with an opponent who can infect you with a bite would want their arms protected.  Over the top of this is placed the vest from the “Sand Storm” disguise found on the PoC Zartan v20 figure.  It covers up the painted “SURVIVAL” logo from Outback’s t-shirt but also provides some nice visual difference from all of the previous versions of the character.  For the most part, this body works quite well… with just one detail leaving me scratching my head.

 

Umm, hold on a second…

 

The Pursuit of Cobra Recondo is infamous for one aspect of his design and that is the exaggerated slope of his neck.  

 

Oh, okay, nevermind.

 

The result of the slanted neck peg is that Recondo can’t actually look anywhere but down without bending his torso joint backwards as if to thrust out his chest.  This was such an issue that it was actually corrected when Hasbro reused the body for the Retaliation Joe Colton action figure a few years later. (And Burnout in BBTS 'Nok set.)  Sadly, the Club went with the Recondo torso over the Colton version and so Outback tends to look down more than he should.  I don’t know-- maybe he’s looking for spare change?  

 

That’s an understatement!  If you look at Snow Job, err, Outback sideways, you can see his neck is so hunched and so bloody bent forward; it looks like he suffers from Kyphosis!  The Club did say Hasbro specifically required this recipe for Outback, but did that include the flawed Recondo torso?  Did anyone object and suggest the revised version instead?  But more to the point, did not anyone at Hasbro preproduction during the time of PoC see that Recondo’s neck was so sloped?  And why in the world did anyone think that looked good?!   Bueller?  Bueller?

 

For the most part the modern figures have been good, but there are two sculpting flaws that for whatever reason, the Hasbro guys keep perpetuating----hunched necks, and ‘J’ grip hands.  This really needs to stop.  Sadly, Snow Jo---gahhhh, I mean Outback, suffers both.  But that’s not the worst part…

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

When Outback was first announced as a member of the Zombie Hunters team it generated a great deal of excitement.  As a survivalist, Outback is a logical addition to a team heading into a hostile environment where society has broken down.  Up to this point Stuart “Outback” Selkirk had only had one Generation 3 update near the end of the 25th Anniversary line and so there was much speculation as to what tooling would be used for the head.  When the GIJCC finally previewed the figure design, a lot of fans were disappointed by the decision to use the 2010 Snow Job v7 head from the Pursuit of Cobra line, myself included.  It’s not that the PoC Snow Job head is a bad design-- quite the contrary.  (I actually think it’s bad.) Rather, the reaction seemed to be based around the fact that the head just didn’t evoke the character of Outback as strongly as it did that of the team’s premiere cold weather specialist.  

 

Maybe it’s the goggles or the headphones-- but something didn’t quite initially scream “OUTBACK!”

 

Here’s the worst part:  He has red hair. So does Snow Job!  Thus this is freakin’ Snow Job through-and-through.  Any other bearded head could have worked if it would have had hair color different than red to make a successful character delineation.  But ohh noo, in the infinite wisdom of Hasbro, they picked a polar head with the same hair color and tried to pass it off as someone NOT Snow Job.  It certainly is a snow job as far as I’m concerned.

 

Furthermore, the head---even with red hair, does absolutely nothing to harken to Outback. It’s just a blobby, fat, ugly circle that looks more like a piece of chewing gum that someone picked off an orange shag rug.  The only thing the Club could do to “make” this Outback instead of Snow Job, was to give him the “SURVIVAL” on his shirt to re-emphasize the floundering characterization.  How pathetically lame to get more of the same.  

 

And you want to hear the final nail in the coffin?  Even the art in the convention comic realizes this is a terrible Outback, because in every single shot Outback is in, his goggles are up.  They are never down over his eyes.  Huh.  So much for being true to the actual figure.  “Product and colors may vary.”

 

I won’t even get into the inappropriateness of short sleeves, or the headphones, or his weapon.  What, so Outback; a guy who is a wild man and lives off the land, is now a sniper?  So if the Club shoehorned him in as a sniper, then why not use an actual ‘Joe sniper instead?  And nevermind that Barrett only has 10 rounds, but okay.  Pth, whatever.

 

WTF?!   The figure design was based on an unused concept from former G.I. Joe design manager John Warden for a Zombie Hunter Outback figure.  In this version, Outback was stated to be more of a Spec Ops Operator in design-- which the Snow Job head does accomplish.  

 

 

Hardly.  Warden’s concept had Outback in a ball cap with a big “Grizzly Adams” beard.  All Snow Job's head does, is give him a big beard.  Yeah, that’s great.  A nice ZZ Top face tail that a zombie can grab onto.  Oh, but wait, what’s that over there?  Why it’s Retaliation Clutch that came with the Tread Ripper tank!  And whoa, what is Retaliation Clutch’s head sporting?  A ball cap, a beard, and sun glasses!  And the hair is brown, not read.  Maybe that would have been a better choice.  Just sayin’.

 

In fact, aside from the shocking resemblance to the Rankin Bass character of Yukon Cornelius, the head actually works better for Outback than it did for Snow Job in the first place.  Here’s my reasoning: in the comics, file cards, and cartoons Snow Job is portrayed as a smooth-talking con man.  (He’s almost a bearded version of Face from the A-Team.)  His appearance is always well kept and his beard is always well-trimmed.  Outback, on the other hand, is a survivalist.  He spends long periods of time alone in the woods testing new survival gear for the Army.  In that respect, the PoC Snow Job head with its scraggly beard is actually a better fit for Stuart Selkirk than it is for Harlan W. Moore.  So, it’s not the best choice in the world for Outback but it is serviceable.

 

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

How exactly does one outfit an operator to stave off hordes of zombies?  There’s a school of thought that advocates the use of firearms and headshots for quickly dispatching the shambling menaces.  Or there’s the melee approach in which bladed weapons are used for decapitations and the severing of limbs.  There’s also the thought that “fire is good” and that it’s best to merely light the infected on fire and let combustion do the work.  Outback seems to believe in the “whatever works” approach because his kit contains something for everyone.  

Included with Outback are:

  • M107 Barrett .50 rifle
  • Savage/Stephens 320 12 gauge shotgun wit tac light
  • Machete
  • Kukri
  • Axe
  • Radio
  • Gas can
  • Antenna
  • Backpack
  • Figure stand
  • Filecard
  • Vest


This kit is pretty much a “cornucopia of death”.  We see some of the Pursuit of Cobra Recondo’s gear mixed in with the kukri from Shadow Tracker for the melee side of things while Recondo’s rifle and a shotgun round out the ranged aspects.  The bladed weapons made logical sense although the machete handle is too small to really fit into the figure’s hands.  It would appear that they’re also supposed to be able to attach to the backpack but only the axe (which was designed to mount on the side) and the thicker-handled kukri can do so.  Personally I see Outback opting more for the kukri and hatchet combination anyway so this isn’t a big issue for me.  The rifle is a great inclusion and I like the attention to detail in color-matching the simulated wrap with the figure’s pants.  

 

Speaking of color, I already hate this figure, but since I’m on a roll, I will add that I thought his colors were fairly tepid.  The green that’s his base is an odd shade---similar to the wall paint in mental institutions or hospitals, and the dirty white T-shirt and suspenders screams hillbilly.  It used to be in prior convention sets, we’d get figures loaded with paint or intricate camo patterns.  But not anymore.  The Club is seemingly taking the deco short-cut that Hasbro decided on, but it has the consequence of making the figures look chintzy and blasé.  Nothing like dropping almost $400.00 for a set that looks like Dollar General offerings repackaged.

 

Sure, zombie hunters aren’t fashionistas but it adds a nice visual cohesion to the figure.  Plus, there’s the shotgun-- a staple of zombie and monster hunting in media for years.  If you’re looking to drop a Compound Z infected individual, it’ll more than do the trick.  Overall, I like the gear selection more than I would have thought and I’ve got no complaints here at all.

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

When I first saw the early pictures of this figure online I wasn’t all that impressed.  The reuse of the Recondo body combined with the Snow Job head just didn’t seem to be a good fit for recapturing the spirit of the team’s premiere survival expert.  I was completely prepared to write this figure off as the “dud of the set” and move on.  However, my reaction lessened once I had him in hand.  He’s not a perfect figure by any means and he’s definitely overshadowed by many of the other excellent pieces in this set.  However I’ve found that he’s grown on me the longer I’ve owned him.  Maybe it’s the Compound Z talking but I actually like this figure more than I would have initially imagined.  He’s not perfect and with some parts adjustments he could have be truly great but I don’t have the buyer’s regret I thought I was going to have over acquiring him.  Honestly, he’s not a replacement for the 25th Anniversary Outback but he’s not a complete waste either.  Of course, that’s just this Joe fan’s opinion.

 

The Bottom Line: An interesting update to a classic character that retains the design issues of his “parts parents”.  Not an essentially purchase but a decent addition for fans of Outback.

 

This is the dud of the set.  Well, maybe Flint is.  Oh well, they both tie for ‘First Place Suck’. To me, nothing about this figure even remotely characterizes Outback.  His role as a sniper is questionable, his colors are milquetoast, his design is flawed, and you can’t even play with him or pose him unless you want him looking down at his feet.  (Probably in shame at how bad he is.)  This was an artificially designed figure haphazardly thrown into the con set with no rhyme or reason.  Why exactly is Outback even on this team?  He’s a guy who stays out in the wild for months, but the fiction clearly states the zombieoutbreak is urban, and has to be contained right away so it doesn’t spread.  But if the zombies aren’t in the wild; and if the ‘Joes don’t plan on fighting them for an extended period of time, why is Outback there in the first place?  I think we all know the answer to that, but honesty, I would have rather had the Eco Warrior version of Outback even in Crayola colors, because then at least he would have made sense.  I was so disgusted with this turd; I actually gave it away for free.  

 

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunters

G.I. Joe Zombie Initiative Zombie Hunter Outback

 

Back to the Zombie Initiative Review Index

 

 
Copyright 2003 JoeBattlelines.com