-Steel Bridage Trooper: Not much to say that I have not already said when I got one of these last year. I grabbed this one for the same of customizing. I need to sort through my bits box. But, I do have some (exceptionally) vague ideas.
-"Pursuit of Cobra" Duke:
I initially picked this up for the sake of customizing in to Trooper Cuu from "Gaunt's Ghosts".
http://www.yojoe.com/action/10/duke42.shtml
This Duke even has a menacing looking knife.
The only problem I can see is that making a good figure of Trooper Cuu is that it would obligate me to make the rest of the Tanith Ghost regiment, which would get expensive. But, damn......
In any case, this is a solid Duke figure on its own, and is unique for being the only rendition of the character (in plastic) that is not a clean-cut hero. If anything, this Duke looks more like
Kaspar Hauser (on a bad day) than Conrad Hauser.
The "Pursuit of Cobra" is an odd Joe line, being to "GI Joe" as a whole what all of the "yellow package" TF toys ("Reveal the Shield" and "Hunt for the Decepticons") were to "Transformers" in late 2010. In other words, "Pursuit of Cobra" is an example of confused and vague branding. The character descriptions do not quite match the movies or other established sources. The moulding of the figures is not consistent with the movies. (This Duke more strongly resembles Marcus from "Terminator: Salvation" than it does Channing Tatum's Duke from "Rise of Cobra".) This is just sort of a vague "Duke" figure that was sold as part of a vague "GI Joe" line.
There is no Duke figure (out of damned near 50 others) that even slightly resembles the sculpt of "tone" of this one. The two nearest precedents in fiction that I can come up with are still pretty tenuous. The first is the wheelchair bound fanatic seen in the dystopian future shown in DDP's second Joe/TF crossover. The other is the traitor from "GI Joe: ReLoaded". But, even the latter Duke looked like he would purchase or cook his meals, rather than stalking and eating his fellow man. (Seriously. Look at the figure! How often to I post links to pictures of toys that I have not taken myself? I did that for a reason here.)
If there was a dedicated SG Joe line, this toy likely would have been repurposed for Fun Publications to be SG Duke.
Grade: A (if only for being so damned interesting).
Dom
-trying not to research how to make the rest of the Ghosts.
It's the extent of saying you don't care about the upcoming Springer until it's already out.
