I am seriously backed up on G.I. Joe Reviews. I happily subbed to the Joe FSS (& the Joe FSS 2.0) and, so far, only the first month’s figures have made it to the site. Did I mention I have all thirteen? Oops! And here I am reviewing the Membership Joe instead of a subscription Joe… Double Oops!
Long-time IAT readers know that I’ve been clamoring for “More 25th Anniversary Joes” for years. So long, that I’ve technically been clamoring for More 30th Anniversary Joes! The last four years have been somewhat kind to me – eight of the ten Joes I highlighted in that article four years have been produced (Gung Ho in Dress Blues now tops my list) and three of those have come about via the G.I. Joe Club. Iceberg is the latest as their 2013 Membership figure.
It’s both good and bad that Iceberg ended up as the Membership figure. On the one hand, I’m super-excited to finally have an update of him, but I’m not entirely thrilled with what the Club put together to get him out. That’s partially because the Hasbro updates have moved into “amazing” territory – Low-Light, Lifeline, & Sci-Fi are prime examples, but the Club also doomed themselves a bit – both Dial-Tone & Footloose received nicer figures than Iceberg as well.
I shouldn’t be so hard on Iceberg. There was a lot done right on him, but there are two areas where he falls a little short. One I intend to fix – a lower portion for the jacket. I’ve just got to scavenge one from another Joe and paint it to match. As you can see from the photoshopped image below, it really helps balance the figure and gives some much needed bulk around the waist & hips.
But the other thing, I’m pretty much out of luck on: the head. Now, I don’t think it’s as bad as some folks say, but it’s definitely a downgrade from what we’re used to when looking at previous Club Membership & Subscription figures. Now, I haven’t followed up on all the news and rumors about the head. I’ve heard crazy things like the production factory used an original Iceberg head instead of the newly sculpted one (the original was sent for color matching). I don’t know if it’s that elaborate a thing or not, but I do find this head lacking the detail-level we’ve gotten used to. It definitely keeps Iceberg out of the front of the shelf where I’d want to place him and gets him mixed into the middle to hide some of the figure’s flaws. Continue to Page 2…
DAMN IT ALL TO PUS-SPEWING, BLOOD-GUTTED HELL IN A SCRATCHY WICKER BASKET!!!
I’ve been waiting ages for them to update this guy, and they make him a sodding subscription figure?!! Normally, I’d have no problem with this (being an avid MOTUC subscriber), but at some point a few years back, Hasbro stopped taking international subscriptions and orders, effectively rendering me “mangosteened,” (as I believe the local patois puts it). Been wanting to pair this guy up with Titanic Brewey’s “Iceberg” beer in my Action Figures & Their Beers series for a couple of years, and now . . . denied. Like, forever. }Sigh.{ Rassafrackin’, brick-a-brackin’ Hasbro, mumble grumble chumble spuzz.
Having said that, darned good review and pics, Noisy! And seeing as how they cut corners and cheapified him, I’m not as furious about missing out on him as I was when they pulled the same stunt with Dial Tone, another character I was waiting ages to get. Jinx, Dial Tone, Iceberg . . . I tell ya, whoever’s deciding how to release these characters over at Hasbro, I’d like to meet with him/her for a . . . chat. And then insert a garden gnome in them!
As you say, I hope they redo him better later down the line . . . and make him more widely available!
that head looks really like the old one and they just went with the white in the eye paintjob rather than the old doteyes. haha, oh man, i hope there’ll be a new one out later down the line along the ‘ultimate’ renditions.
As you point out, Iceberg’s main issue is that he is way too top heavy due to the fur collar, with no lower portion of the jacket to help balance him out. I could forgive the head sculpt but why not just repaint the Snow Job buck in Iceberg’s colors if this is the end result? The figure has also gotten some flak for using Spirit’s legs, although I honestly might not have noticed this if it hadn’t been pointed out.
Hasbro should pack the remaining vintage era arctic Joes such as Frostbite, Avalanche, Blizzard, Windchill, Sub-Zero, Cold Front, and an improved Iceberg in a seven-pack along the lines of the Cobra Island sets which helped deliver lots of favorites which otherwise wouldn’t have made it to retail on a single card.
I do give the Club an A+ for the accessories. Shades of the ’85 Snow Serpent, anyone? 😉
Ixnay on the Avalanchay…haha
Help me recall but for some reason I think he needs a Killer Whale for some reason. Why I can’t figure out.
Still neve had as a kid but a nice update.
It’s from his spotlight episode in Season 2 of Sunbow. He gets turned into one. The running joke now is that they could’ve given us a variant Schleich orca that’d be better than this thing.
Looks like they did an awsome job of duplicating the original Icebergs almost featureless face. Maybe that was what they were looking for?
And yet I’d trade all of those accessories for the new headsculpt.
I’ve harped on this thing enough over on the Tank, but dammit all, they messed this one up, and bad. An ARAH head on a modern figure is just inexcusable (nevermind how they unveiled it all so close to deadline and to cover up the error). In the 21st Century, I need ears on my figures.
Semi-related question–
My Joe collecting / display habit has basically come to be “Get a large vehicle and load it with figures. “. For example, I have the Cobra Rage / Fury and it’s swarming with POC Alley Vipers.
I’m strongly considering getting the Wolf Hound / Snow Cat but don’t know there are enough modern style Snow Joes to make a decent display. I know of the guy it comes with and the POC Snowjob and ROC Snake-Eyes.
Anyone else? (I think Iceberg here’s kinda ugly.)
Hey cool, it’s Kryten from Red Dwarf.
But why is he black?
actually, Krytie has more edges to his face. 😉
If you want that particular skirtpiece, I’ve got a spare…..
I dunno, is the skintone painted on or is it molded in brown? It almost looks like an amateurish cast? and the painted whites of his eyes aren’t doing him any favors.
(I know there was one JLU customizer who insisted on using this warped female head mold, one sunken cheek, triangular head, just plain goofy looking, yet he kept re-using it!)
That fur shawl is definitely from Snow Serpent and I don’t really recall the original figure coming with it? I do recall he was one of my B-lists to play with, mostly because Stalker had all but fallen apart and Clifton here was one of the few “Joes of Color” I had besides Lonzo, Jinx/SS, and Fridge.
I don’t mind missing him, but I do think I need to add him to my larger custom Joe list (trying for 6″ MLs, but throwing in a few HALOs for the armored and BATs figs)…which I haven’t touched in ages….. >_>
Looks like he’s either got a pantyhose on his head…or he’s being suffocated with a piece of Saran Wrap.
I love how all these cold-weather Joes are released in the frikkin’ SUMMERTIME.