Crazylegs. The very name evokes silliness and confusion. Joe collectors might wonder who among us was the one clamoring for an update to Crazylegs. Well, look no further my friends, it was me. Though my excitement for the figure was tempered by the arduous search to find him on the pegs.
In my childhood collection, Crazylegs probably got a little too much play considering his bit status in Joedom. I don’t believe he was ever featured on the cartoon, and the most important thing he did in the Marvel comics was die. And yet somehow, he rose through the ranks of my personal army and became an integral member of the Joe Team until he was claimed by The Great Flood™ along with nearly all of my other Joes.
The original figure was an entirely unique sculpt and was probably most notable for his goofy grin, strange rubbery backpack, and that his file card took the time to point out that he could have been a great organist. Lucky for the Joes, his fingers were too short (what?) and he ended up being a world-class paratrooper instead. Despite the original figure not having a working parachute, he went on many a jump from the back of my Tomahawk (one of all-time best Joe vehicles ever). When the 25th line started gaining steam, Crazylegs was on my short list, but he didn’t make the cut up in Pawtucket. Patience has paid off though, as the line is again bringing some classics designs back to the pegs.
But collecting this line of late has also required a lot more patience. Between Wal-Marts dropping pegs or Target loading up on Duke & his personal missile battery, it’s been tough finding them. If you follow us on Twitter (@itsalltruenet), you’ve no doubt seen my tweets about “#WhereAreAllTheJoes”. It’s been rough finding them here. This is the only Crazylegs I’ve come across, there was just the one Low-Light (much to Vault’s dismay) and – even though he isn’t classic – neither of us ever had a shot at that last Arms Dealer Destro. It’s been a frustrating year as a casual Joe collector here at IAT.
So when I found Crazylegs, or Crazy Legs as he’s now called on the packaging, I was appropriately ecstatic. The line’s had some really great figures of late and I expected nothing less of Crazylegs. And he did live up… mostly.
Crazylegs has a great sculpt that, at first glance, appears to capture most of his classic details. But upon closer examination, you realize that Crazylegs is entirely built with reused pieces. There’s nothing unique to the base figure. The torso hails from Snake Eyes v3, the legs from Arctic Snake Eyes & the Snow Serpent, the arms from Lift Ticket, and the one that really surprised me – the extra head from the POC Desert Zartan, his “Sandstorm” disguise.
It’s not a knock against the figure that no new tooling was used, it’s actually rather amazing that all the pieces came together so well and made a sharp looking Crazylegs. Aside from a vestigial peghole in his chest and the loss of his trademark smirk, this Frankensteined Crazylegs get the job done.
Crazylegs features standard articulation for the POC line thanks to so many re-used pieces. Nice range on his ball-jointed head, more ball-joints at the shoulders, elbows, hips, and ankles, wrists swivels, the torso joint, and double-hinge knees. The oversized parachute gets in the way of the hip articulation a bit, but the straps can be moved around a bit to most of the poses you’re used to from a 25th/ROC/POC Joe. He’s a lot of fun to pose and play with. I think that’s one thing the Joes have always been good for since the beginning and it’s no different here. Continue to Page 2…
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.
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.
“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.
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.
So G.I. Joe re-uses parts and its clever, but Matty does it and its a rip-off?
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.
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.
“Have to agree” with Prfkt, I mean.
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.
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?
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.
The very successful pianists and by association organists and really any other keyboard musicians generally have really long dexterous fingers.
Like freakishly long fingers.
Crazylegs’ goggles is from Dusty