This week I received my Falcon Amazon Explorer figure and was blown away by it.
I have been through my share of repro 12" Joes and have preferred some over others.
All of them seemed to have a general feeling of Joe and here was my feelings toward them:
First there was the 12" mail away Joe Colton with the Hall of Fame body, 30th anniversary sets (which I waited on the TRU line for during the Joe convention on the Intrepid), and the WWII 50th Anniversary (which I picked up at KB Toys).
These were great figures albeit with oversized bodies and sometimes with painted white lips or unpainted lips but I was grateful to have them.
Then there were the Masterpiece and Timeless Joes with the return of the original Joe body. I preferred the Masterpiece head sculpt but still managed to pick up all of the Timeless Joes when they would appear in stores.
Ahhh the days when Joe could be found in stores.... The sculpts still felt like a copy of the original but still grateful to have them. I pretty much felt the same way about the club repros.
The 40th anniversary sets were next with the sleepy eye sculpt and the Walmart exclusives with the same sculpt and hunted those down as well.
On the Foreign front:
I picked up some nice 40th Action man sets. Loved the uniforms and the sculpt were nice.
Hasbro Japan made a beautiful Father and Son set in the 90s. The son used a Joe Colton head and body in a baseball uniform but the father was on a classic Collection body with a sculpt that looked almost like the original Joe but with slightly oversized hair. A picture is below:
Estrella in Brazil returned to making their version of Joe in the 90s with Classicos Falcon. It was on a 70s muscle body and the sculpt looked original. The eyes and eyebrows were painted different but I still liked them.
Here is a picture of one of mine that was redressed:
Which brings me to my latest acquisition. The Estrela Falcon figure that was released in 2017. I didn't know it was happening last year, and when I found out this year I preordered. These were released for Estrela's 80th Anniversary.
The 3 figures include a Turbocopter Falcon, a Fantastic Freefall Falcon (called parachute mission) and the Amazon Explorer (which I purchased).
When I arrived in the mail, it brought a tear to my eye. Joe was back. This looks like the original sculpt used on GI Joe with the muscle body and kung fu grip. The flocked hair is a little shorter but I like it. The grip is a little harder than normal (hopefully that will make it last longer) and I can't say how the body will hold up over time. FYI- The hands are removable.
But just the feeling of opening this up brought me back to my childhood and ranks as my favorite repro ever. Although I really should just call this a continuation of the line instead of a repro.
Here is a picture of my latest Joe:
I understand the line will be continuing with a deep see diver with blond hair and a beard.
Yes I know, Geyperman is being offered again as well as Action Man but this Falcon from Estrela to me is the real GI Joe.
Hasbro should have borrowed the molds from Estrela and released them for Joe's 50th Anniversary perhaps through mail order. But that, as well is this whole post is just my opinion.
I have been through my share of repro 12" Joes and have preferred some over others.
All of them seemed to have a general feeling of Joe and here was my feelings toward them:
First there was the 12" mail away Joe Colton with the Hall of Fame body, 30th anniversary sets (which I waited on the TRU line for during the Joe convention on the Intrepid), and the WWII 50th Anniversary (which I picked up at KB Toys).
These were great figures albeit with oversized bodies and sometimes with painted white lips or unpainted lips but I was grateful to have them.
Then there were the Masterpiece and Timeless Joes with the return of the original Joe body. I preferred the Masterpiece head sculpt but still managed to pick up all of the Timeless Joes when they would appear in stores.
Ahhh the days when Joe could be found in stores.... The sculpts still felt like a copy of the original but still grateful to have them. I pretty much felt the same way about the club repros.
The 40th anniversary sets were next with the sleepy eye sculpt and the Walmart exclusives with the same sculpt and hunted those down as well.
On the Foreign front:
I picked up some nice 40th Action man sets. Loved the uniforms and the sculpt were nice.
Hasbro Japan made a beautiful Father and Son set in the 90s. The son used a Joe Colton head and body in a baseball uniform but the father was on a classic Collection body with a sculpt that looked almost like the original Joe but with slightly oversized hair. A picture is below:
Estrella in Brazil returned to making their version of Joe in the 90s with Classicos Falcon. It was on a 70s muscle body and the sculpt looked original. The eyes and eyebrows were painted different but I still liked them.
Here is a picture of one of mine that was redressed:
Which brings me to my latest acquisition. The Estrela Falcon figure that was released in 2017. I didn't know it was happening last year, and when I found out this year I preordered. These were released for Estrela's 80th Anniversary.
The 3 figures include a Turbocopter Falcon, a Fantastic Freefall Falcon (called parachute mission) and the Amazon Explorer (which I purchased).
When I arrived in the mail, it brought a tear to my eye. Joe was back. This looks like the original sculpt used on GI Joe with the muscle body and kung fu grip. The flocked hair is a little shorter but I like it. The grip is a little harder than normal (hopefully that will make it last longer) and I can't say how the body will hold up over time. FYI- The hands are removable.
But just the feeling of opening this up brought me back to my childhood and ranks as my favorite repro ever. Although I really should just call this a continuation of the line instead of a repro.
Here is a picture of my latest Joe:
I understand the line will be continuing with a deep see diver with blond hair and a beard.
Yes I know, Geyperman is being offered again as well as Action Man but this Falcon from Estrela to me is the real GI Joe.
Hasbro should have borrowed the molds from Estrela and released them for Joe's 50th Anniversary perhaps through mail order. But that, as well is this whole post is just my opinion.
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