SCC Figure Spotlight - ICEBERG (Versions 1 and 2)

    

SNOW TROOPER - ICEBERG  (Version 1)

    Hasbro was generous about getting us new cold weather specialists.  In the entire span of the G.I. Joe line, there was only a few years we didn't get one.  Iceberg, the Joes' Snow Trooper, was released in 1986 with the Series 5 line-up.  He was the third cold weather specialist to join their ranks behind Snow Job and Frostbite.

    According to Iceberg's file-card, he absolutely despises hot weather.  He hails from a town in Texas that is blazing hot in the summer and he found it miserable.  He found his place when he enlisted in the military and asked for duty in Alaska.  Whereas most cold weather Joes will tolerate freezing temperatures, Iceberg actually enjoys it!

    Obviously, Iceberg is geared up in mostly white with a light blue vest and some green and black highlights.  He wears a cap with some green goggles on his head.  He also has some additional detail like a pistol and some grenades on his chest and a green knife on his left leg.

    As far as accessories go, Iceberg only came with a white machine gun.  That's it.  Most cold weather troops were loaded up with gear.  Strangely, not Iceberg.

    Iceberg is a good figure.  The sculpting is well done and the colors are great.  But as a kid, I was really disappointed in the lack of accessories.  He only came with one gun and this was so underwhelming to me, that as a kid, I passed on the figure.

    Having the figure NOW, as an adult collector, I definitely appreciate it more.  Still though, even compared to other Joes in Series 5, Iceberg really got the short end of the stick.  But I do like him.  I would give him a rating of 3 out of 5 Snowballs!

ARCTIC ASSAULT TROOPER - ICEBERG  (Version 2)

    We got our second version of Iceberg in 1993.  He was now labeled as the Team's Arctic Assault Trooper.  This was the year that Hasbro produced some many figures, it was hard to keep up.  Among all the random figures, we got a landslide of cold weather specialists.  In addition to Iceberg (v2) - we got Frostbite (v3), two different colored Snowstorm figures, Bushido the Snow Ninja, and the Arctic Commandos mail-in set.

    Iceberg, once again, properly geared up in white, now also wore a yellow balaclava mask over his head.  He had highlights of yellow with his gloves and ammunition belts and some grey camo splotches on his jacket.  He also has some cool fur detail on his forearms.

    Iceberg had the typical 90's weapons-tree of recycled accessories molded in white.  He came with an uzi submachine gun and a pistol (Blizzard), a machette (Muskrat), a knife (Hit & Run), a snowboard (new) and two missiles.  His last accessory was not on the tree - his spring-loaded missile launcher, which was molded in green.

    Okay, I DO NOT like the weapons trees... but Hasbro did a decent job with Iceberg (v2)!  It's like they heard the fan-cries about short-handing the character the first time around and made up for it the best they could!  The weapons colored white - great!  The weapon selection - acceptable.  The snowboard - excellent!  The missile launcher - possibly the best one in the series!

    So why does he have ammunition belts?  They don't go with any of his accessories...  This isn't the first time that this has happened.  I suppose I can overlook this though.

    You can't really compare the likeness between the two as the second one has a mask on.  This is okay though.  We can safely assume this is Iceberg.  It's great he got a second go-around and they were able to correct the one issue with the original.

    

   I really liked this version of Iceberg!  Both figures are good, but this one really saw some needed improvements in the accessory department... especially considering they came from a 90's weapons-tree.  Iceberg version 2 racks up a rating from me of 4 out of 5 Snowballs!

    

Behind-the-Scenes and Other Useless Rambling:

--- Yeah, my Iceberg (v1) has a rifle that the previous owner painted black???  Ugh... I have been trying to remove it, but they applied it rather thick and it's all crammed in the fine details of the gun.

--- I think another reason I held of on getting the first Iceberg back in the day - is that cartoon where he turned into a whale.  That was just weird and creepy!