G.I. Joe – Big Lob’s move is for the win!!

I collect G.I. Joe figures, specifically the ARAH o-ring figures. Where I deviate with many collectors that have clung on to the passion for this long is that my interest is really in the figures themselves, their nostalgic trip, and their value in representation and presentation. While I am fully aware of elements like scarcity, variants, character and figure history; I am not at all somebody who can or even has an interest in breaking down figures by their individual parts, in terms of being able to get angry if a particular hip mold was just used for the 22nd time in the last 8 years, nor can I tell if you if a particular figure was made of a softer or lower grade of plastic.

The only thing I can tell you about Big Lob is that he’s awesome.

Can even I tell he resembles Mercer perhaps too much? Perhaps, and for people like me who never saw either except in the ’87 animated film (that was nearing the time I’d break from the toys, as the movie essentially killed G.I. Joe as fans knew it before) even more so. For myself, I loved Slaughter’s Renegades (remember when they and Falcon broke into the Terrordrome—awesome!) and especially Mercer, who was the ex-Cobra Viper, but it still works for me because finally we have a character that fans have been asking for, and beyond even that, they even released him in vintage style. If there are two characters that seem to be consistently requested by fans – especially holdovers from the film – it’s Big Lob and Pythona. What does that tell us? It tells us that the stigma and fallout from the ’87 movie ultimately doesn’t play a huge roll in what figures we want to see. Pythona usually tops lists and she represents everything most people hate about the movie.

With Big Lob being the G.I. Joe Club’s free (with membership) figure this year they’ve finally completed the Rawhides: Chuckles, Jinx, Tunnel Rat, Law and Order, Falcon, and now Big Lob. One wonders how prominent they would have been if the movie ended up representing a new platform and era for G.I. Joe (where Falcon would have continued the succession of popular frontmen for the team – Hawk, Duke, and to some extent Flint). Chuckles and Jinx played or continue to play significant roles in IDW relaunch (I love the Cobra series) so some did pan out, and want I love here is they kept a bit to character’s roots (and only appearance), giving him a grenade launcher sure, but they also have him rocking the bandolier with the grenade on it so you can’t miss it. Remember:

This isn’t the first time I’ve talked about this release (you can check out my initial thoughts over at Vogue immunity), but it is my first in possession of the figure, and I can now say it passes both the eye and in-hand test. At some point, you have to be happy with what you asked for, and if you’re an o-ring guy like myself, getting Big Lob in 2010? This is all win. I put him right next to the rest of the movie figures I have, the rawhides, and yes, Mercer and the renegades. No love loss.