G.I. Joe Vs. COBRA Wave 1.5 - Big Ben
As anyone who reads my reviews, or my profiles section probably knows, I am a big fan of the molds Hasbro used throughout the 90’s. Some figures were a big departure from the norm, but I still think they did an excellent job with a bulk of those figures, and the good far outweighs any bad that came down the pipe. For every ’94 Muskrat, there was a Crimson Guard Commander, Headhunter Stormtrooper, and Flak Viper to make all the pain wash away. You need not look anywhere past the Big Ben figure to clearly see my point.
Coming from the United Kingdom, he was a much respected SAS Operative, coming to the Joes and bringing his wealth of knowledge with him. In my world, he worked for the ultra-secret Action Force team over in Europe, and was a liason between them and the Joes. If I am ever able to get any of those European Action Force figures, rest assured, there will be a meeting between the two teams in a future dio-story…but only if the price is right. :)
The gunbelts are cast in a nice brass sheen…and then there are the pants! Hasbro has experimented with the whole “marbleized” plastic thing before…see the 2001 version of Duke and Sidetrack to see some examples…but they really hit their stride here. The green pants are swirled just enough to give a real impression of camouflage without busting out the paint brushes. The dark and light greens mix together just enough to get the camo, but not too much to look kind of…fake. Big Ben’s legs are almost the highlight of the whole figure and really look very, very cool. Add the little G.I. Joe logo to that and you’ve got a sweet looking figure!
Not only that, but much to my surprise, Hasbro kept the bulk of Big Ben’s very cool accessories. He’s got the gun, the pouch and the grenades, and is only missing his oversized backpack. It almost seems as if Hasbro gave the Joes all the cool weapons and kind of stuck the Cobra batch of Wave 1.5 with the junk. But more on that later...
