G.I. Joe Classified Series Bazooka review – David L. Katzenbogen (No. 62)

It feels writing up this GI Joe Classified Series Bazooka review with no word on how much longer it’ll take before we get his BFF, Alpine, into the line. At least we’ve got Quick Kick en route so it’s not all bad.

Bazooka is one of the few Joes I prefer his cartoon portrayal over his comic book version. That’s probably due to Bazooka being featured in some memorable episodes including my all-time favorite episode, The Funhouse.

He’s also another member of my favorite Joe squad – the 1985 team, which now brings that squad to Airtight, Alpine, Footloose and a true Ver. 2 Snake Eyes away from completion. Minus the vehicle operators like Frostbite, Tollbooth, Heavy Metal and far less likely Admiral Keel Haul. Bazooka already got a Tiger Force figure, so I more or less know what to expect with this figure, but let’s see if Hasbro delivered with the classic colors version of the Joe’s missile specialist.

Package: Bazooka is an oddball in this wave as he’s utilizing the windowless packaging yet unlike his wave mates who have backgrounds with fun Easter Eggs, this is more of a mix of the old packaging just with the unique artwork on the front instead of the side. Some of the artwork is a bit more stylized than I’d like, but I like the art from Anjin Anhut as it fits Bazooka just fine.

Bazooka gets a 4-star rating in Launcher, 3-star in Anti-Armor and Ordinance and a 1-star in Heavy Weapons. Hasbro dropped the bios from the main page and Bazooka didn’t have one added to his bio on Hasbropulse.com either.

The back reflects the newer style with the layout of the accessories. This is helpful so you know everything that’s supposed to come with the figure.

Likeness: Hasbro has done exceptional work bringing the Real American Hero designs to six-inch form. Bazooka is another in an increasingly long line of outstanding modern translations at this larger scale.

I’ve always liked the notion that Bazooka is just so marching to his own beat that he can roll into battle wearing a football jersey. Hawk and Duke get a little lenient on the battle garb, but Bazooka is so effective on the battlefront that they don’t care.

He’s got a great head sculpt, which works perfect for him in the middle of a firefight with BATS or listening to Alpine go on and about another of their wild and crazy exploits to a captive audience of their fellow Joes.

Bazooka has two trigger fingers, which are helpful for aiming the missile launcher on either shoulder.

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Paint: For the most part the paintwork is crisp. This is the biggest downfall to windowless packaging as it’d be easier to choose the version with a slightly tighter paint job.  With my figure the biggest culprit is the hairline isn’t fully painted. That’s an easy enough fix.

I’ve gotten used to the challenges with white paint on anything, so I wasn’t shocked that the jersey stripes didn’t line up properly or have a consistent coverage around the sleeves. At least with Bazooka’s outfit I can just chalk it up to him not sending it to the dry cleaners and just putting it on a regular wash. That helps explain the semi-worn numbering on the front.

It’s too bad the numbering cuts off if you tilt his torso too high. It’s a minor oversight, but worth noting.

The rest of Bazooka’s paint is simple, one-color work with the exception of the mostly clean silver belt buckle. There’s a little slop at the bottom. Would I care if this were the only Bazooka on the shelf? No, but if I had others to choose from and could see I would keep checking for the best version.

Scale: I never really thought of Bazooka as a big tank guy, but I suppose it makes sense seeing as how he’s lugging around a missile launcher on his shoulder and the shells in his backpack.

Bazooka isn’t as tall as Roadblock, Gung-Ho and Sgt. Slaughter, but he’s as wide. That basically means every wave has a big guy and Bazooka makes more sense in Flint’s squad than Shipwreck. Though I wouldn’t mind if Toll Booth also has this mold as well. While he’s shorter than Sarge and Roadblock, he’s still taller than Flint, Snake Eyes and Lady Jaye.

Articulation: Bazooka has a different torso joint than the previous larger size characters, which doesn’t have the crunch piece so much as a tilt back and forth. That’s probably to preserve the look of the jersey?

He still has solid range with the butterfly shoulders allowing him to hold his missile launcher. The double-jointed knees and elbows help with brawling and stable launch poses as well.

Bazooka has:

• head
• neck
• shoulders (butterfly)
• elbow (double-jointed)
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• mid-torso
• torso
• waist
• hips (ball-jointed)
• drop down hips
• knees (double-jointed)
• ankles

Accessories: Bazooka isn’t shortchanged on this category. He’s loaded with a rack of gear conveniently stashed in his footlocker.

He has all the accessories as the RAH figure with the helmet to provide protection from lucky Cobra snipers. It’s well sculpted with a nice amount of detail on the side panels and the band around it. There’s some solid texturing as well.

Next up is his trusty backpack, which has slots designed to stow his missiles. This setup works just as well as the vintage figure and the missiles don’t pop off with a sideways glance.

In another nice touch, two of the missiles have painted detail with one having a yellow caution tape tip and another having a snarling mouth.

Bazooka’s missile launcher also is packed with great detail so it’s not just an olive-green tube. There’s some black on it as well to give it some more color.

Worth It?  The standard price for Joe Classified figures is now $24.99. I took advantage of a Target sale to get him for $21.99. In fairness even at $25 the line doesn’t feel like a bad value thanks to all the extra effort and love the Joe team puts into the figures.

Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Bazooka was a lot of fun to pose and with his excellent accessories and sculpt he makes for one of my favorites from the 85 series so far.

Where to Get It?  This wave is basically gone from retail, but you can still get Bazooka from Amazon or Entertainment Earth.

As an Amazon associate and Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.