SCC Figure Spotlight - BAZOOKA (Versions 1, 2 and 3)
MISSILE SPECIALIST - BAZOOKA (Version 1)
Bazooka made his first appearance as a member of the G.I. Joe Team as part of Series 4 in 1985. He served as the team’s Missile Specialist. According to his file card, he was originally a tank driver but quickly transferred when he came to the realization of how easily an expensive tank could be destroyed by someone with a handheld rocket and minor training. His transfer was obviously into learning to use Armor Defeating Missile Systems. He used to drive tanks, but now he is stopping them! Depending how you look at it, his position was kind of a replacement for or an addition to, the other armor-defeating Joe member, the Bazooka Soldier - Zap.
For the figure, Bazooka’s uniform is a bit unorthodox. He is clearly a football fan, particularly of the New England Patriots as he wears their red jersey with a blue number 14. For the rest of his uniform he wears more standard military olive drab pants. The figure came with a removable green helmet, rocket launcher and a backpack with molded on extra missiles.Bazooka had several great ways you could use him. He was a good figure to pair up with Alpine, as the cartoon depicted them as good friends. You could use him to take out your HISS Tanks. For me he was often riding on the AWE Striker! Also, since he is still a qualified tank driver, he could occupy the second seat in your Mauler Tank next to Heavy Metal!
I would give the original Bazooka a rating of 4 out of 5 Anti-Tank Rockets! He wasn’t a top favorite, but he was still a great figure! He walks the line with his normal and unusual uniform which brought a fun element to the character. He had proper accessories for his specialty.
The figures of Tiger Force were all existing Joe characters (except one) that simply had recolored uniforms. So Bazooka’s sculpt and accessories were the same, but now in Tiger Force-related colors. His New England Patriots jersey was now white with an orange 14 on it and his pants were a darker green with yellow “tiger” stripes. His accessories were the same, just now the helmet was brown and the backpack a dark green.
Like the original Bazooka, I thought this was a cool figure! While the Tiger Force paint scheme varied from figure to figure, there was just something I liked about this updated version. It’s not better or worse than the original in my eyes. As with the original, I would give it 4 out of 5 Anti-Tank Rockets!
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Bazooka got a third and final update in 1993. As this was the era of the spring-loaded missile launchers, it only made sense that Bazooka would be one of the chosen characters to get an update. This time he was displaying his fandom for another sport. Despite all of his weaponry, Bazooka looks as if he is heading out on a fishing trip. He appears to be wearing a fisherman’s hat and vest. That is an odd choice for a figure that is carrying some heavy firepower! This look was apparently deliberate though, as the file card reads that when he enters battle he is in a rage because he misses home and his favorite pastime - fishing.
The file card also says his Secondary Military Specialty is now “Blockbuster Driver”. This is strange because the Blockbuster is a snow vehicle that was released the following year, in 1994. It had its own driver too, Windchill. I wonder if they meant the Mudbuster - a vehicle that came out the same year as the figure but did not come with a driver. Seems like it would be a better fit. Note however, the file card for Cross Country (v2), also refers to Bazooka as driving the Blockbuster.
The figure has the fisherman’s hat, a red shirt with a tan vest and aqua blue pants with black camo marks. He has a bracelet of grenades on his wrist. The file card says it is a “grenade wrist launcher”…? Not entirely sure how that is supposed to work... He comes with a blue spring loaded missile launcher and an accessory tree with three guns (recycled rifles from Hit & Run, Ambush, and Big Ben), two missiles and a figure stand all molded in lime green.
This figure is okay... It's not a bad figure, I just don’t know how necessary a fishing-themed figure was. The figure’s colors are okay. The accessory colors are horrible. He would fare better with unique accessories that properly fit him and his specialty. I would give Bazooka (v3) a rating of 3 out of 5 Anti-Tank Rockets!
The first two of the figures seemed like more of a natural progression… obviously because they are the same figure with different paint schemes. But the third version seems to jump off track just a little. The fishing and the description of Bazooka’s rage seems out of character to me.
Another thing that breaks the progression of the figures is the inconsistency of the file cards. The first one mentions Bazooka serving in the “Third Horde” (Third Armored Div.) and his transfer out. His transfer was obviously into learning to use Armor Defeating Missile Systems and then eventually joining the Joe Team. The second one mentions him serving in the “Third Horde” and then transferring “directly into Tiger Force''? How is this possible? He joined the Joes in 1985 and Tiger Force wasn’t created till 1988. The third one blurs things more saying he was in the “Third Hord” (spelling change?) and fighting Cobra.
One thing that does tie the characters together is the head sculpt. I do think they did a good job making Version 3 look like Versions 1 and 2. Not all figures were fortunate in that way.
In the end, Bazooka is a great character! But what do you think? Which was your favorite? Did you like the fishing version? What could improve the character?
Behind-the-scenes and thanks!:
--- The picture of Bazooka (v1) was taken on the beautiful beach of Topsail Island, NC! Yeah... I took action figures on vacation! I knew I would want to take advantage of the awesome scenery.
--- Special thanks to one of my best friends - code name: Deathwish, for letting me photograph some of his Tiger Force!!! His name will likely come up pretty often around this blog!
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