G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra
Wave 6 Crazylegs Review

The paint work on my Crazylegs was clean throughout and the muted colors are definitely an improvement over the classic figure. The figure has a great, rugged look to him. He’s been on a few jumps and it shows, I daresay he’s come out better being made now than when the 25th line debuted.

The only place I would’ve liked to see some more paint is on the parachute harness. While the sculpt certainly provides some opportunity, the whole piece is devoid of paint apps and that’s a shame. The harness itself is removable, but not without some work. It unsnaps at the back, and could slide off, but the straps around his thighs can’t slide over the pouches. If you want a packless Crazylegs, you’ll either need to cut the straps or use a small screwdriver to disassemble the legs (which is really a lot easier than it sounds).

Unlike a lot of his POC brethren, there aren’t a ton of accessories pouring out of the package when you rip open Crazylegs. There’s his harness, borrowed from the 25th Ripcord, but I don’t tend to view that as an accessory since it’s pretty well attached. Crazylegs did get three weapons: a pistol from Zartan, a rifle from Firefly, and the Pit Commando’s machine gun. He can hold all three well, but none of them exactly invoke the original figure’s weapon.

Crazylegs also includes his removable helmet and removable goggles. This is one nice upgrade over the original. I love removable helmets and it’s nice to finally give Crazylegs a more relaxed feel should he want it. I do lament the loss of the chin-strap, but I suspect the helmet is much like the rest of the figure and is on permanent loan from another figure. Crazylegs’ goggles might be the only unique piece on the figure. A stand is also included.

While I love most of the elements of this new Crazylegs – he looks great despite the part re-use, the drab colors help give the figure a realistic look, he can hold his weapons – there are still two big nitpicks I have with this figure. The first is simple – there’s no where to put the guns, nary a single holster on the whole guy. One of the greatest features of recent Joes was the ability to stow their gear. I’ve got all these guns, but two of ’em are destined for the parts bin since there are no holsters or straps to add them to the figure.

But my biggest issue is the exact same complaint I had nearly a quarter-of-a-century ago – Where’s the Parachute?! This guy is supposed to jump out of planes and helicopters to get behind enemy lines. He’s practically screaming to be given a working parachute. I have other Joes with working parachutes (though they sadly came after The Great Flood™, meaning Crazylegs never got to steal them), so why not give one to this guy here? The part reuse had to keep his costs down, but Hasbro left us out in the cold. I had to look for a quick fix to finally, finally give Crazylegs the flight he deserved. Sure, he could’ve asked Cap nicely, but where’s the fun in that?

Overall, I’m going to have to sum up with the notion that Crazylegs could be better. Just a little bit more love – a unique head, a holster, a working parachute, just something that makes him feel more unique or fun. That said, with me filling in the gaps with a heaping healthy dose of nostalgia, Hasbro did a good enough job and they easily got me to bring one home with me. At least once I finally found it (and worse still the Wal-Mart where I finally picked up Low-Light, Crazylegs, and Steel Brigade is now packed full with peg after peg of that Renegade wave).

Anyway, I’m happy to cross one more classic Joe off my list, particularly one I wasn’t sure we’d get. Now where’d I put that online petition for Marine Dress Blues Gung Ho, Payload, Covergirl, & Iceberg…

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15 thoughts on “G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra
Wave 6 Crazylegs Review

  1. This guy hung around my local K-mart for weeks. When I decieded to pick up some of the new Joes he was pretty much my only option. I like him way more than the original one but I have the same complaints you had. As a customizer, the newer lines are more difficult to rip into, so it is mainly headswaps. his head is now on Kickstart, I love the hat.

  2. Cool review, I was amazed at how cool he was for a fig that has no new parts. I rank him up there with Karmakura as one of the great Frankenstiened figures.

  3. “Crazylegs. The very name evokes silliness and confusion.”

    and breakdancing. 🙂

    i have to say, there’s an element here that’d i’d like to address… smart re-use of buck bits. you said it yourself, you have to closely examine that fig to notice that he’s all cobbled together from existing bits. THAT’S a buck system that i think most people would endorse. the flat, dull bucks we see in some lines just don’t cut it. we see this is the NECA gears figs too, a very detailed buck that allows for some crazy cool looking figs and then creative swapping of pats can yield some incredible looking toys. in a perfect world, we’d never have buck lines and we could get unique sculpts all the way… barring that impossibility, a creative use of a detailed buck system is the way to go. especially when it allows for this kind of articulation.

    1. Indeed. The buck system works well if you have a strong library of detailed and varied parts. Crazylegs is a good example since having 3/4 different sources creates a unique combination, instead of being 90% the same as every other figure. Even a figure with more direct reuse like the 30th anniversary Stalker feels fresh since the base parts (a recent Snake Eyes)is well detailed and the colour scheme brings out different strengths of the sculpt.

      1. By mixing parts, Hasbro saves money and you get a figure (Arctic Snake eyes) with good cold weather trousers and a figure (crazylegs) with equally good paratrooper pants. While you are getting components you recognise, you are getting figures you don’t. A+B=C and A+D=E both share element A, but the output is fresh. Do you see what I’m getting at here?

        On the other hand, Mattel will just give you the same medium or large body each time, with maybe five new parts to distract you from the same bland muscleman body you bought in the last 18 waves. Obviously, Hasbro does this sometimes as well (see the 30th anniversary Stalker), but it is nowhere near as prevelant in their quest to recycle parts.

      2. Have to agree here. I’m a Joe collector first and foremost, and the parts reuse is just as rampant, for better and for worse, as in any other line. Crazylegs, to my mind, is an egregious example of how BAD Hasbro’s part’s reuse is. Most Joe collectors hate those Snow Serpent legs, especially on Crazy Legs. I love the buck system and how it’s used in DCUC and MOTUC, and I think collectors are way too hard on Mattel (in general, really) for how they use it. Doesn’t always work, but it’s still the best game in town.

  4. Great bit with Cap there. I need me one of those pianos for a rec room dio! Where did you find it?

    I loved Crazylegs as a kid and he’s still among my favorites from the 1987 recruits. It’s amazing how all those parts came together to form a decent update. Shame about the chute and chin-strap, but at least we finally got to see him make his drop. Excellent pics as always, btw.

    1. I had him when I was younger, too, but he was lost along with most everything else from my younger days in the Storage Fiasco of 2007. (Bonus: a quick scan of what was left at dad’s revealed a corner of the hayloft with a small box of my old Joe stuff like the Tiger Cat and some long, wingless drop ship/sub with a mystery figure inside? too bad their was an ancient mouse nest in the TC. :/ oh, and a couple bags of comics!)

      I did see this guy at a StL Target a while back, but I wasn’t that impressed to rebuy him after all these years. (I think this was the same store that had the Assassin’s Creed wave I snapped up?) Details like the missing chin strap probably turned me off, and I think he wasn’t as red? More orange-y?

  5. Even though it isn’t perfect, I love this figure, and I’d like nothing more for them to eventually flesh out the entire rest of the 1987 lineup.

  6. The very successful pianists and by association organists and really any other keyboard musicians generally have really long dexterous fingers.

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