SCC Figure Spotlight - BEACH HEAD (Versions 1, 2 and 3)

"If those snakes had any backbone, I'd be the one to break it!" - Beach Head, 1993.

RANGER - BEACH HEAD  (Version 1)

    By the fifth wave of G.I. Joe figures in 1986, Hasbro began to add new characters from previously used military branches and/or specialties.  Among the 1986 figures we got a new Marine, Snow Trooper, Navy SEAL and so on...  Beach Head was the second character on the team designated as a Ranger, behind Stalker, who had been with the Joes since the beginning in 1982.

    Beach Head's file card describes him as an individual who takes his job on the Joe Team very seriously.  It explains that he is a guy who wakes up at the crack of dawn and puts in a 10-mile run and full physical training session before eats breakfast... and he actually enjoys doing this!?!?  He also enjoys his work in the field, even if its waiting 3 days to ambush enemy troopers that may never even come through.  He is cool, calm and collected and refuses to let anger get the better of him.  

    The figure for Beach Head stood out as he wore a dark green balaclava and was one of the few Joes at the time that wore a mask.  Usually you could see the faces of the good guys.  Often if they were masked when geared up, they had removable helmets or masks.

    Beach Head came with three accessories.  He came with a grey submachine gun, a black ammo case and a black backpack.  The backpack had some exceptional detail.  Among the details sculpted on it, you could see a grappling hook with rope attached to it and a mini-crossbow.

    Beach Head made several media appearances in both the comic and cartoon, including G.I. Joe: The Movie!  He was often depicted as a trainer for new Joes and was even included in the G.I. Joe chain-of-command as fourth behind Hawk, Duke and Flint.  In the cartoon mini-series Arise Serpentor Arise, a joke was made that implied Beach Head didn't smell good because he didn't wear deodorant.

    This figure was great!!!  There was something about Beach Head having the mask on.  You knew he was a "good guy", but it gave the thought that maybe he wasn't above playing a little dirty if he had to in order to accomplish his mission.  For me he took many "stealthy" missions, yet also piloted my Devil Fish boat since he did that in his first appearance in the comics.  For me personally, Beach Head ranks among my Top 10 Joes!  So clearly, Beach Head (v1) snags a sweet rating of 5 out of 5 Deodorant Sticks!!!

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RANGER - BEACH HEAD  (Version 2)

    It took seven years for Beach Head to get an updated figure.  But he finally returned in the 1993 Battle Corps line-up with a new look and accessories.  Some of the elements from Version 1 carried over into version 2.

    The file card stayed relatively the same, which is probably a good thing.  Unfortunately, some updated characters from Battle Corps would get file cards that took some major left turns.  Beach Head’s new file card, however, basically duplicated much of the information from the original. It didn't add anything, but didn’t take anything away either.

    Beach Head now wore a black, non-removable helmet, black goggles and a green mask that covered from his nose all the way down his neck.  I'm not sure if the goggles were part of the helmet or separate.  The mask appears to have a netting-type pattern to it.  From the card art it looks as if the mask is somewhat transparent.  It must be on tight because you can see the outline of his mouth.

    He wore a green vest and had blue shirt sleeves.  He wore green pants with black pistols holstered on each leg.  The shade of green on the pants is slightly off from that of the mask and vest.  On his torso he also had a black harness with grenades, pouches and more on it.  

    Most of his accessories came attached to the standard 90's weapons-tree.  He came with a rifle (previously used by Spearhead), a pistol (Shockwave), a double-pistol (Recoil), a knife (Backblast?) and two missiles.  All these accessories were cast in yellow plastic.  

    His final accessory was his black missile launcher.  The launcher was, in my opinion, one of the better launchers released in the Battle Corps line.  It wasn't fired underhanded like most of them, instead it was fired off the shoulder.  It also was sized better towards the figure and not massive and cumbersome looking.  It also has vents on the sides that were highlighted when the yellow missile is put in.

    This second version of Beach Head, falls short of the greatness of the original figure, but I still like it!  He's still a cool looking figure with nice colors.  

    The only real downfall for this figure is the bad choice in color for the accessories.  The figure's subdued colors are broken up by the obnoxious color of the gear.  I would have been happier if he had better colored, unique gear and a backpack.  Since the missile launcher is actually pretty cool, it would have been great if it had a back-peg on it!

    I didn't like the inclusion of Recoil's double-pistol either.  As Recoil is one of my favorite figures, I always felt that that odd weapon was specifically unique to him.  That's just me though.  I think many disliked the weapon regardless of who it came with or what color it was.

    But the accessory tree and bright colors were just how things were in the last few years of the toy-line.  All in all, this is still a good figure.  That said, I'm going to hit Beach Head (v2) with a rating of 4 out of 5 Deodorant Sticks.  That's pretty good for Battle Corps!

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I have Version 2, so I don't really have plans to get Version 3.  So I got this pic from yojoe.com!

RANGER - BEACH HEAD  (Version 3)

    In 1994, one year after we got Beach Head (v2), we got a third version of the character... sort of...  Unfortunately, at this point in the game, Hasbro was attempting to "freshen up" some older figures to the new waves by changing some decos.  So basically, Beach Head (v3) was the exact same as Version 2, just with a yellow harness instead of black.

    Between the 2nd and 3rd versions, I think there are some card-back differences.  But for the figure, all the other colors are the same and so are the accessories.

    Obviously, the good points about version 2 still exist on Version 3, but I personally didn't really care for this look.  Now it looks less like Beach Head is heading into combat and more like he is wearing a safety vest so he can ride his bicycle at night or maybe help kids cross the street for school.  They could have put a handheld Stop sign on his accessory tree to complete the look!

    There really isn't much to say about this figure.  Beach Head (v3) unfortunately takes a tumble on the rating system and finds himself closer to the bottom of the list for once.  So Beach Head (v3) is going to get only 2 out of 5 Deodorant Sticks.  Oh well...

    Overall, Beach Head was a well-liked character.  Unfortunately, he was still under-utilized in many ways.  I think we could have seen more of him.  Figure-wise, it is a little surprising to me that Beach Head NEVER popped up in any of the many sub-groups Hasbro had to offer. I think he would have been a great addition to Night Force!  Maybe we missed an opportunity as 1995 would have seen the release of the Battle Rangers had the line not been cancelled.  Maybe he was slated for that group... I don't know...

Beach Head (v2) looks good with the accessories of Version 1!!

    So what do you think of Beach Head?  I actually feel silly asking as I'm taking for granted that we all love the character... but maybe not...?  I think Beach Head saw some other releases after 1994.  What is your favorite version?  I'm waiting for a Retro release of this figure!!!