SCC Figure Spotlight - METAL HEAD (Version 1 & 2)

"I'm always giving people the eye... the bull's-eye, that is!" - Metal Head, 1994

DESTRO'S ANTI-TANK SPECIALIST - METAL HEAD (Ver. 1)

    In 1988, Destro continued to add to his army of Iron Grenadiers with new troops and vehicles.  Most of the figures released were army-builders like the Annihilators or Ferrets.  Only a few individual characters were under Destro’s employment - Voltar - his General (1988), Darklon - his cousin and Evader Driver (1989) and finally the Anti-Tank Specialist - Metal Head (1990).

    The way I saw it, Destro wasn’t just letting anyone join the Iron Grenadiers…  Most of his recruits came from sources close to him.  His Iron Grenadier soldiers came from his personal bodyguards, Darklon was a relative and I assume Voltar got the job based on his impressive resume.  But there was a question mark where Metal Head was concerned...

    It's a little surprising they didn’t make a new Scrap Iron figure instead.  Scrap Iron was the Cobra Anti-Armor Specialist released in 1984 and his file card mentioned he worked for Destro’s company - M.A.R.S.  Also, in 1989, Hasbro released the H.E.A.T.-Viper, Cobra’s Bazooka Man.  So Cobra had this specialty well-covered.  It would have been an easy move to have Scrap Iron leave to join the Iron Grenadiers at that point.

    Whatever-the-case, Metal Head is a cool addition to the Iron Grenadier forces.  He was referred to as a “walking anti-tank weapon” as he had multiple rocket launchers on him.  He was so obsessed with his job that his mind was always working.  Even at dinner-time his brain was acting like a targeting computer locking in on the food as if he was going to blast it when it passed by.  A weird fact about him is he uses the word "bang" to complete his firing sequences after he's locked on to a target.

    The figure for Metal Head has a black uniform with some red and gray highlights.  The colors go pretty well with the Iron Grenadier color scheme, but he is missing the gold.  His head sculpt has black hair and a goatee and he wears yellow goggles with crosshairs over one eye that he uses for targeting enemy tanks.

    For accessories, Metal Head was heavily armed with three rocket launchers.  One on his back that has a bracket that allows it to slide up to fire over his shoulders.  He also has a launcher that attaches to the side of each leg with a black hose piece running to pegs on the figure's back.  Each launcher has two yellow missiles for a total of 6.  Finally, he also has a gray helmet and gun.

    Unfortunately, Metal Head was released around the time I was checking out of G.I. Joe, so I never bought the figure back in the day.  Oddly enough, he's the ONLY Iron Grenadier figure I have never had... until recently, when I finally picked him up!

    On the downside, a problem with Metal Head is all the pegs this figure has on it - two on his legs for the launchers and 2 on his back for the hoses.  These are all easy breaking points.  The look of the figure is thrown off if you don't have his gear on together.  Minus the helmet though, it looks goofy on him.  He never wore it in any media though, so he looks fine without it.

Metal Head card from the 1991 Impel card series!

    In the end, I really like this figure!  I thought he was a welcome addition to the Iron Grenadier army.  Destro’s army was smaller than Cobra, so it made sense that he would have some specialists that were just individual characters.  This guy had a cool look and I like the idea of him being overloaded with missile launchers and obsessed with hitting his targets.  His personality would come off pretty bizarre in the DIC cartoons (but everything was bizarre in the DIC cartoons), but the look and characterization of the figure is still carries through. So I would give the first version of Metal Head a rating of 4 out of 5 Bang Energy Drinks!  Well done Metal Head!

ANTI-TANK SPECIALIST - METAL HEAD (Ver.2)

    In 1994, the last year of the toy-line, we got an updated version of Metal Head, although now he was working for Cobra.  This is an odd move as Cobra had just updated the H.E.A.T.-Viper the year prior, so it’s not clear why they needed Metal Head as an Anti-Tank Specialist when they had several already filling this role.

    His file card made no mention of his ever working for Destro (who returned to Cobra in 1992) and/or the fate of the Iron Grenadiers.  It also didn't include any information on how he made the move over to Cobra.  My guess would be that when Destro rejoining the evil organization, he simply brought some of his people with him.  

    The new file card did include a lot of information that wasn’t mentioned on the original.  This helped to bring a more colorful personality to the character.  It mentions Metal Head’s real name as Stuart Finlay and that he was from Maryland.  It adds that he is a Hockey Fight Analyst as well as “a suspected member of the secretive Susu-Gar martial arts clan.”  Also it says he has a targeting sight implanted in his left eye now, which sounds like a Dr. Mindbender move if you ask me.

    The figure for Metal Head (v2) had a uniform with black and red (fuchsia?).  He also had silver armor pieces on his head, chest, right glove and boots.  The head sculpt retained the black hair and goatee like the original figure.  Now, however, he has a devious looking smile on his face.  

    He no longer had multiple rocket launchers on his back and legs, he was now reduced to the single hand-held rocket launcher that several Cobra troops carried.  He also came with a purple weapons tree of recycled gear which included a rifle (Rock-Viper), a submachine gun (Annihilator), a pistol (Iron Grenadier), two missiles and a figure stand.

    Unfortunately, the lack of proper accessories hurt the figure a bit.  Without all the rocket launchers on him, he loses the whole "walking anti-tank weapon" angle.  I guess you can pretend that his single launcher does more damage then the smaller ones he originally carried... I don't know.  There is a definite loss of firepower here as he went from 6 launchers to 1.  I do like that a few of his weapons were originally Iron Grenadier weapons... though I don't think that was a deliberate move.  I'll add that I didn’t even mind the purple color of the accessories!?!?

    I have to say though, weapons tree aside, I really liked this figure!  It’s probably my favorite of the 1994 figure line-up.  The new head sculpt is an improvement.  It certainly looks like an updated version of him and the grin is a clever touch as Metal Head is a crafty little punk.  I also like his silver, armored look!  This gives him some protection from the back-blast of his missiles or from his enemies.  The new information on the file card was a nice, welcome addition as well!  I thought this was a great follow-up to the original figure.  

    So I would give Metal Head (v2) another rating of 4 out of 5 Bang Energy Drinks!  If this figure was given the unique accessories he deserved, he would have easily got 5 Stars!  That was the only thing that held him back!  Very impressive!!  

    So, Metal Head versions 1 and 2…  What did you think?  Did you prefer the original, Iron Grenadier figure; or the second, Cobra one?  Did the switch to Cobra bother you?  Let me know what you think!

More tidbits on Metal Head...

--- Metal Head did appear in the DIC era of G.I. Joe cartoons.  He was portrayed as more of a wild, goofball character though.

--- The first 2 pictures of Metal Head (V2) were taken on beautiful Topsail Island, NC.  Yeah... I take action figures on vacation!

--- Seriously, why are there so many pegs on the original figure??  That's a little annoying.