Soldier of Fortune Review: Duke 25th Anniversary

 When I was a kid Duke never resonated with me the same as some of the other characters. I liked him and respected that he was the leader of the cartoon Joe's but I was a Flint man myself. I always knew that he could get the job done but there was something about him that was too apple pie for me. The fact Scarlett was his main squeeze also never did anything for me either. I cared for her even less. To me Flint was the man all day with Lady Jaye also being my favorite Joe female. What that has to do with a toy review you ask? Well as a kid I had the Duke figure but never had the original Flint figure. This kinda ate me up but that's life.



   Dont get me wrong my Duke figure got all kinds of play as a kid but regularly was on my k.i.a. list. Oh yeah I kept a tally. Regardless its 2013 and I have finally discovered the 2007 G.I. Joe Anniversary line. Im sure I seen them in stores before but tried my best to stay away. Well this was the year that I finally broke and the flood gates are open. Now of the figures I bought I figured I would do things right and start with the Joe field leader Duke. I gathered all of my new toys up and planned to have a night of unboxing. Little did I know that I could barely get Duke open without being in complete awe.

    The package alone was enough to knock any 80s baby on his ass. Hasbro pulled out the f'n big guns with the foil embossed cardbacks. Anybody who bought comics in the early 90's knows that if there was a foil cover something serious was gonna happen in the issue. It could have been complete shit but foil embossed covers equals sales in my book! Regardless I had a couple of rituals as a kid that came back to me as soon as I had the figure in hand. First off I couldnt just open my figures I had to drink them in. Marvel at the packaging and meticulously look at details and accessories before releasing them of there plastic and cardboard prisons.

   Next on the list was check what other figures where on the back of the card. I always thought Hasbro was trying to sneak something by me. I was always sure there was someone I overlooked at the toy store and for some reason it was there fault. After this step I moved onto the File Card which gives you all the info you need to give your 3 & 3/4 in figure a life of his own. We should all kneel before Larry Hama because this guy brought the goods. As soon as I didnt know what something meant I raced to my mom to see what the deal really was. Bless her heart if she didnt know she busted out the Encyclopedia Britannica. Kiddies back in the day when we didnt know something we didnt have the internets as a crutch. What we did was bust out these archaic books that had dated information about everything. They were like cliff notes but for the history of the world.

   Anyway after this was all done then and only then did I open my new G.I. Joe. As an adult I dont have to bust out the dusty old books.(Internet wins!!)  What I wasnt ready for was the wave of nostalgia that punched me in the face when I had Duke in my hands. I think I played with him for an hour before I was happy enough to make some shelf space for him.Hell im still playing with him while I write this now.

I love the updated look and features to this 25th Anniversary Duke. He really looks like I remember him from the cartoon. He has a pretty good range of motion. I could poses him anyway I could think up without any real issues.Now I wasnt making him do hand stands or anything but dynamic poses. The only thing I dont like is he feels like im going to break him all the time. These new figures look great but would not have withstood the play and travel I put my old figures through.You never know when a womens clothes rack would turn into a cliff dive rescue attempt!

Starting with his head sculpt id like to point out that he really resembles what I remember Duke to look like. The face is far superior in likeness to the ones I remember as a kid. This is great for me as a collector but when I was a kid I loved that the faces were generic. This meant if I didnt have someone I could always sub a similar looking fig to play double duty. Hell face masks and espionage were a huge part of the shows....I digress.

      
  

As for the rest of the figure im on the fence. On one side the detail and articulation is great.
Just playing around with poses is always fun. The molded hands of these new figures takes a bit of getting used to but its not a deal breaker. It just seems that his weapons are a little loose fitting but hell ill make it work.I think if there is one thing I dont like about this figure is his legs. He kinda just bends and tips in any direction even on his stand.Maybe its a lack of visible screws and hard plastic but something does not scream play rough to me. Now if there is one thing I dont miss it is the O-ring. I have had enough casulities of war for a life time. It broke my heart everytime one would snap.

On to Duke's accessories.He comes with two guns, a backpack, a helmet, a bandolier, and his name plate stand.I love both oh his guns but im not gonna pretend to be a gun nut. Im guessing he has a M16 and im not sure about the hand gun.Both are really cool to me and I love his working side holster.Anyone that wants to inform me about the guns themselves I would appreciate it. As for the backpack I love the look of it but the little peg makes me cringe feeling like it will break off in Duke's back. I really like the helmet for some reason. He didnt really wear it all that often in the cartoon a cool accessory is fine with me. The G.I. Joe stand is pretty neat for collectors and I love a good logo as much as the next guy. These could have been a little more functional if the Joe logo wasnt so tall or just not there at all. I love the name plate in the front though.

At the end of the day I still really like this figure more than I think ive ever liked a Duke.This figure is fun to play around with and I would still recommend him to any fan of Joe. These figures make me excited for toy collecting all over again. I feel like my Joe team needs a leader and Duke gots the job until I get comic book Hawk that is!

Now on to my grading scale.
1 Yo Joe being not fun/unplayable

10 being gi joe childhood utopia.

Final score:
I give this figure 7 Yo Joes out of 10.