{"id":18893,"date":"2012-05-28T04:40:18","date_gmt":"2012-05-28T09:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=18893"},"modified":"2012-05-28T10:52:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-28T15:52:00","slug":"g-i-joe-collectors-club-footloose-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=18893","title":{"rendered":"G.I. Joe Collector’s Club
Footloose Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Initially, I was going to treat Memorial Day like a regular Monday because my review backlog is really piling up of late, but none of the usual suspects seemed like a good fit. And it didn\u2019t seem right to just skip the day either. Luckily, I thought of the perfect Joe. <\/p>\n

I know there’s a lot of bad press revolving around G.I. Joe right now because of the delay in the movie and ramifications it could<\/em> have on the franchise as a whole. I haven’t really weighed in on it because I don’t generally worry about G.I. Joe like I do other lines. While Hasbro must tread carefully at times with the franchise (and it’s definitely gone through some low periods), I don’t worry about G.I. Joe because, at its core, it’s based on a very permanent archetype: the soldier. <\/p>\n

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Pardon me, as I’m about to get a little philosophical about toys here… Some archetypes rise and fall as time goes on. Toy Story<\/em> coyly pokes at how outer space replaced the wild west in the hearts of children. And science-fiction has long since replaced that simple interest in the real outer space. MOTU Classics simmers along despite a seeming lack of mass interest in its swords and sorcery core. The super-hero archetype is somewhere in the middle depending on the specifics. Hasbro makes a lot of money on robots. And Hasbro makes a lot of money on soldiers (even if they’ve occasionally made them not-soldiers). <\/p>\n

When Hasbro brought the Joes back to the soldier archetype in the early 80s, I wasn’t quite old enough to play along. So I missed out on the earliest basic Joes like Grunt, Clutch, Steeler – the years when G.I. Joe was predominantly a bunch of green-clad soldiers with a couple slightly fancier dressed comrades. By the time I was getting Joes for birthdays and Christmas, there were orange-clad firefighters, bright red medics, and half-naked martial artists. While I cherish those guys and still love a good zombie viper to this day, I think GI Joe is at its best when it sticks near its soldier core. <\/p>\n

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My grandfather was in the Air Force and my uncles served in the Army, the Air Force, the National Guard, and the Coast Guard, but by the time I was born, all of them had served and retired, so I wasn’t exposed to the family aspects of having relatives in the military directly. It doesn’t sound right to say that I come from a military family, but I really do. One way that I have to remember that is G.I. Joe. My grandfather and uncles all encouraged my interest in GI Joe. They all had their favorites, from Cutter to Mainframe, that reflected their service. I never really thought about it at the time, but it’s always been something cool to think about since I realized it was their experiences that influenced their likes and dislikes.<\/p>\n

I got two of my all-time favorite Joes from my uncle that had served in the Army: Footloose & Bazooka. As far as I remember, I don’t think those two ever did much together in the cartoon or the comic, but if you were like me as a kid, then you might’ve closely associated toys that you received together with one another. Martian Manhunter & Red Tornado became inexplicably linked in my Super Powers play because they were received around the same time, for example. And so, Bazooka & Footloose became two peas in a pod when I’d play with them. And since I never had the original Joes like Grunt, Footloose became my basic, de facto infantry trooper (fun fact: Larry Hama at one point suggested that Footloose be an update of Grunt!<\/em>). <\/p>\n

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Footloose and Bazooka went everywhere together until something happened that gave Footloose an even more memorable role in my childhood. When I was maybe seven years old, I was playing with Footloose and Bazooka at the living room coffee table, a usual spot for Joe & Cobra battles. When dinner time came, I left the Joes at the foot of the coffee table and ate at the dining room table with my parents. When I went back, Footloose was gone! <\/p>\n

To this day, nearly twenty-five years later, I still can’t tell you what happened to Footloose. My parents didn’t sneak away from the table to steal him (but leave Bazooka), there were no pets who could’ve absconded with one of my most treasured figures, the pesky little brother was still too small to move about under his own power. Footloose just wasn’t where I left him. My parents looked all around for him. They moved the table. They moved the couch. They checked the nearby black holes (floor vents). They questioned my recollection of events thoroughly and concluded I simply must’ve been mistaken. I know I left him at the foot of that table, but I’ll never know what happened to him. Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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I never got another Footloose. He wasn’t in stores when my parents tried to replace him and I didn’t live close enough to anywhere that sold old toys. When Hasbro brought out the 25th Anniversary Joes, Footloose was at the top of my list (years ago, we championed Hasbro continuing the 25th Joe line<\/a> and you can see Footloose was the first Joe I placed in the graphic). It wasn’t to be though, the line wrapped up and transitioned to ROC figures with so many figures I wanted undone, including Footloose. I did skip the ROC Footloose because I didn’t like the head re-use (he was really Airborne) and bided my time. It took a few more years, but the GI Joe Collector’s Club was finally the one to come to my rescue, making Footloose the 2012 Membership figure. <\/p>\n

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The Club has been having its share of problems (2012 just isn’t a good year for Joe Collectors…), but I was able to sign up by check and then only had to sit tight and wait for Footloose to show up. The great thing is that he was worth the wait – not just the few months between mailing the check and receiving the figure, but also all the years I waited to get the update of this childhood favorite. <\/p>\n

Footloose is a cobbled together figure, but he’s the perfect kind in that you’d never question his construction. SDCC Slaughter’s legs, the ROC Sgt. Stone’s torso and arms, and the head from last year’s JoeCon Exclusive Captain Claymore. Yes, that means that this is another example of the dreaded “one head sculpt for two different characters” thing that I can’t stand, but I’m overlooking it in this case for a couple reasons. One, the vintage Claymore used Footloose’s head (so, really he’s just paying him back twenty-five years later) and two, I will never own the JoeCon 2011 Mission to Brazil set, so it’s never going to be a visual issue. The head does echo Tom Selleck, but honestly, that just makes Footloose that much cooler. <\/p>\n

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Since Footloose is built with mostly recent parts, his articulation is top notch. My only complaint is the ball-jointed head is reduced to swivel cut (which does combine with his eyes to be a real annoyance, but hold that thought). The rest of the figure is great though – ball-joints at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles, the mid-torso joint, and double-hinged knees. They’re all tight on my figure and they all work great, making Footloose a ton of fun to pose and play with. The paint on the figure was pretty good too. I wish the mustache was done a little more cleanly, but it’s only the eyes that really bug me – he’s constantly looking up and to his left. It’s fun sometimes because I can use the eyes to draw attention to the IAT logo or “shine” the flashlight the way he’s looking, but in other poses it’s just annoying. <\/p>\n

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The other cool thing about Footloose is the ton of accessories that he comes with! I don’t know if it’s just because the Club didn’t have to mold any new pieces or what, but he’s got a ton of gear. The webgear swiped from 25th Anniversary Falcon isn’t removable, but the helmet (also used for the modern Claymore) is! Removable helmets are always one of the coolest things in Joedom. In addition to the helmet, Footloose also included a backpack, a rocket launcher w\/ rocket, a rifle, a pistol, a machete*, a flashlight that can be stored inside the backpack, a file card, and the basic Joe stand. All the accessories are great, but my Footloose didn’t come with his machete. Sad day.<\/em> While the flashlight can neatly stow inside the pack and the rifle or rocket launcher nest in the elastic straps on the pack, I do lament the lack of a holster for the pistol or a sheath for the machete. <\/p>\n

After Dial-Tone last year and Footloose this year, being a Club member is filling the holes in my collection nicely. Footloose is particularly excellent as the parts reuse and giant accessory load (even without the machete) put him right at home with the great 30th Anniversary figures. He would’ve been a must have for me no matter what I think, but I’m elated to have him gotten treated this well too. If only all the Joes could’ve been updated as well as the 2012 offerings. Most of all though, I’m happy to finally have this “lost” Joe back on my shelves. For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, I’ve got two of my favorite Joes back together again.<\/p>\n

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I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day today. I mentioned my family and their service. I’m very fortunate to have my grandfather and my uncles all still with me. I have the benefit of experiencing the legacy of freedom they’ve left for us without the pain of losing any of them, but that’s not the case for so many others. Whether we’re personally connected to someone that died in service of this country or not, their sacrifices should be considered personal to each of us. Take a moment today to reflect on those that we’ve lost, on their courage & their resoluteness. We are in their debt. <\/p>\n

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For more G.I. Joe Reviews, check out our Review Index<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Initially, I was going to treat Memorial Day like a regular Monday because my review backlog is really piling up of late, but none of the usual suspects seemed like a good fit. And it didn\u2019t seem right to just skip the day either. Luckily, I thought of the perfect Joe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[32,34,10],"tags":[247,1289,1532,1531,215,2568,33,1530],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-4UJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27815,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=27815","url_meta":{"origin":18893,"position":0},"title":"G.I. Joe Club Membership Figure: Cross-Country Review","date":"May 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "G.I. Joe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23501,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=23501","url_meta":{"origin":18893,"position":1},"title":"G.I. Joe Club Membership Figure: Iceberg Review","date":"May 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I am seriously backed up on G.I. Joe Reviews. I happily subbed to the Joe FSS (& the Joe FSS 2.0) and, so far, only the first month\u2019s figures have made it to the site. Did I mention I have all thirteen? Oops! And here I am reviewing the Membership\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "G.I. Joe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28141,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=28141","url_meta":{"origin":18893,"position":2},"title":"G.I. Joe Subscription Service 3.0 First Three Reveals!","date":"June 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "G.I. Joe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28528,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=28528","url_meta":{"origin":18893,"position":3},"title":"G.I. Joe Subscription Service 3.0 Fixed Hit & Run!","date":"July 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "G.I. Joe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17461,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17461","url_meta":{"origin":18893,"position":4},"title":"G.I. Joe: Collector’s ClubDial-Tone (2011) Review","date":"March 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m setting a bad precedent doing two consecutive weekend spotlights, but you guys don\u2019t really mind do you? I mailed off a check to the GI Joe Collector Club this week and that got me thinking about last year\u2019s figure, Dial-Tone. Turns out he never made it onto the review\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "G.I. Joe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28359,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=28359","url_meta":{"origin":18893,"position":5},"title":"G.I. Joe Subscription Service 3.0 All Twelve Revealed!","date":"June 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "G.I. Joe"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18893"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18893"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18907,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18893\/revisions\/18907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}