UNDERTOW

G.I. JOE VS COBRA (HASBRO)

“Any frogman can operate efficiently in clean water, under optimum conditions, but the UNDERTOW are specially trained to function and fight in the murky, polluted waters surrounding busy industrial and military waterfronts. Their wetsuits are made of a nontoxic, anti-corrosive material, and their face masks are coated with silicone to repel oil slicks. They are almost impossible to capture or defeat because others cannot enter the hostile water environments in which they work.”

It may have been my introduction to the smaller scale version of the franchise, but I haven’t talked too much about the early ‘00s G.I. Joe vs Cobra re-launch of the A Real American Hero incarnation of the brand.  While the initial offerings from the line were all-new sculpts, and in fact even moved away from the traditional O-ring construction, a stronger interest than Hasbro expected, and a need for product fast resulted in a lot of padding of the re-launch’s first year with older molds.  In particular, a lot of molds used for the 2000 drug store run found their way back into circulation.  One of those molds was Undertow, whom I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Undertow was released as part of the G.I. Joe vs Cobra line in 2002.  He and seven other figures made up a “Sound Attack” themed 8-pack of figures, which was a BJ’s Wholesale-exclusive set dropped near the holiday season.  While the original Undertow was introduced as part of Destro’s forces, this one moves them under the Cobra banner.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Undertow makes used of the entirety of his 1990 v1 figure’s sculpt, which I reviewed in its original form.  Honestly, it’s a strong sculpt.  I think it’s a bit more reserved than others of the era, and that works in its favor, making him feel generally more timeless in his design.  The change-up here comes in the color work.  The original release had a color scheme I described as “Christmas pageant reject” and I stand by that.  All the Cobra forces in this set went heavy on the red for whatever reason.  Undertow was almost entirely red and, honestly, I kinda dig it.  It’s bright, but less garish than the original.  The grey accenting works pretty well too, and the addition of the Cobra logo on the forehead feels like it’s adding an element that was missing from the beginning.  Undertow gets none of the original’s accessories, instead getting an…odd assortment of parts.  There’s a blaster pistol that originally belonged to the 1992 Destro (missing from mine), a chainsaw with a Sound Attack tab on it, which began as Buzzer’s, got refitted for the 2002 Zartan, and a backpack recolored from the original Snow Serpent.  Nothing remotely aquatic there, which makes it real hodgepodge and like they’re just filling space in the set.  His Joe counterpart, Wetsuit, was pretty much the same way, so at least they were consistent?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I jumped into the line with the first assortment, specifically the Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow set, and picked up quite a few others over the course of the year.  My parents made note of the interest, and this set was snagged for me for Christmas, and it was certainly a major focus. Of the figures included, this was my favorite, for whatever reason, though I pretty much never used him as a proper villain.  My original didn’t make it through my childhood intact, so I’ve been looking to replace him for a while.  I had tracked down the original, but he didn’t *quite* hit that same mark for me.  I was glad to find this one at Yesterday’s Fun while on vacation this summer.  He’s cool.  I still love the mold, and I do think these colors work better than the originals.  The accessories are weird, but otherwise, I really like him.