One & Done: ALPINE

MOUNTAIN TROOPER - ALPINE

    Alpine, the G.I. Joe Team’s Mountain Trooper, was released in 1985 as part of Series 4.  I would assume that enemy bases would often be located in remote, hard-to-reach locations… so a mountain trooper would be of great value to the team.  Then when you consider that Alpine was one of the few Joes to have a specialty in Mountaineering, he was certainly unique amongst his teammates.

    Alpine’s file card states that in the area he was born, there were mountains all around him.  The mountain barrier gave him a feeling of being cut-off from the outside world.  To break free of this feeling, Alpine took up mountain climbing in his college years.  Eventually he joined the G.I. Joe Team.

    The figure for Alpine looks great with all his sculpted on gear, like the hat and goggles, gloves and the climbing rope across his chest.  He also has perfect colors for his specialty - the olive green, brown and tan colors are perfect camouflage for his mountaineering skill!  

    The accessories are some of the best to ever be included with a figure in my opinion!  Alpine came with a gun, a backpack, a pick ax (which could be stored on the backpack), a grappling hook launcher and a set of grappling hooks with rope.  While the launcher was just one piece and did not shoot, it looked great and was fun for pretend. 

    The hooks and rope, however, had a wealth of play-value!  In the house I grew up, those grappling hooks were constantly strung across the rocks on the fireplace, maybe strung between a few of the potted plants in the living room or from one Joe vehicle to another!!!  There was no limit to how you could use those!

    How do you improve this figure?  I don't really think you can.  The ONLY thing I can come up with is that his backpack has little open gaps that can look a little weird from certain angles.  But that's it,  I can't come up with anything else.

    Alpine is a great figure!  Hands down, one of my favorites!  The colors, sculpt, accessories and even the file card were right on!  He works well with many of the other Joes and vehicles.  Obviously, he fits in any team you have that has something to climb… be it a mountain or the side of the Terror Drome!  You can pair him with Bazooka (they were buddies in the cartoon) or Hit & Run (another with mountaineering ability).  I would give this figure a sweet rating of 5 out of 5 Alpine Yodels!!!  

    What really bothered me though, was that this was such a great character and he NEVER got a second figure in the vintage Joe line!  He didn’t get recolored for Night Force or Tiger Force (he would have been great with either) and he didn’t get an update for the 90’s Battle Corps figures.  Why???  I thought with the spring-loaded accessories the Battle Corps had, Alpine would have been perfect for a launcher that fired a grappling hook with a rope, similar to the one Lifeline (v3) had.

    The figure we got was pretty darn close to perfection...  Maybe Hasbro knew they couldn't top it and they decided to leave well enough alone?  Okay, maybe that's not the reason...  Either way, Alpine stands tall in my my mind as one of the best Joes out there.