G.I. Joe Classified Series Outback review – Stuart Selkirk (No. 63)
Hasbro decided to test my patience with Outback. They released him in his Tiger Force attire before releasing him in his original 1987 style. While I was very impressed with Outback, I didn’t want to dive into the Tiger Force subset even though I tried and failed to resist starting a Python Patrol collection.
The wait finally paid off with the release of classic style Outback as part of the wave with Falcon, Cover Girl, Marauders Barbecue and Crimson BAT. Tiger Force Outback has been praised as being one of the best figures in the line so I was excited about checking out his vintage look to see if it’s just as good.
Let’s see if this Outback is a survivor or needs to get lost in the woods never to be heard from again.
Package: The Classified Series is fully switched over to the windowless packaging though the Tiger Force Outback got released with a window. Score another one for the variant.
Hartley Combs provided the artwork for this one and it’s just a “color-corrected” version of the Tiger Force artwork with survival swapped for the Tiger head.
Outback’s stats are as followed: 3-stars in Environmental Specialist, Environmental Specialist: Desert, Environmental Specialist: Jungle and a 2-star in Light Weapons. Annoyingly, Hasbro stopped doing the bios on a separate page and Outback didn’t get one added on his main Pulse order page.
The back reflects the newer style with the layout of the accessories.
Likeness: Hasbro has delivered exceptional Real American Hero update after update as of late with the line. Outback is no different with a tremendous update that just enhances everything about the original figure.
His head sculpt is amazing with great detail around his eyes showing some faint crow’s feet from squinting in the sun for months at a time. His hair has a natural flow and the headband is incorporated into the hair sculpt beautifully.
I think Outback is using a new torso mold. It’s muscular and blank, which I don’t think are parts used with other figures so far. He’s got well defined arms, ideal for a guy left to his own devices in the forests and jungles with no relief date in sight.
Outback’s web gear is faithful to the classic look with big pouches along the waist. There’s impressive detail work here as well with the straps hanging from the buckle like they would in real life.
Paint: I’d seen a lot of vintage Outback figures with the paintjob looking noticeably off from the TF version. While I don’t have the TF one, mine is relatively clean with the eyes — an area that was problematic on many original color versions I’d seen — though the pupils are a bit wider than normal. There were some stray orange red marks on his nose though.
His hair has a nice dirty red look with what was likely a dark brown wash. This doesn’t carry over to his eyebrows and beard, which are lighter although still nicely applied.
Outback’s web gear has two shades of brown, which is a cool touch. I like that his shirt is a dingy white and not a clean, pristine shade. The Survival tampo is neatly arranged though my figure has some overspray from the T-shirt around his biceps and black paint on his wrists.
In a very unexpected bonus, Outback has red hair painted on his forearms and there’s some subtle sunburn marks around his face and arms. That’s the extra mile that shows the Hasbro Joe team’s efforts to be the top line. I’m not sure what happened with the elbow paint, which is mismatched from the arms.
Scale: Outback was a regular size Joe and measures up fine next to Stalker, Duke and that scale figure.
Articulation: Outback should be a get down in the dirt and trees kind of fighter so he needs the maximum amount of poseability possible in the line.
Hasbro hasn’t had much of a problem in this category and he poses very well.
The butterfly shoulders aids for wide shots and mountain scaling pics if so inclined. There’s no problems on the holding the accessories either.
Outback 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: Like most Classified Series figures Outback is loaded on the accessory front.
He was one of the more geared up Joes back in the RAH era before everyone got loaded down with massive cannons and bazooka blasters.
He’s got his larger scale backpack, to store all the gear he needs while he’s in the rough.
I wouldn’t have minded some silver paint along the buckle straps, but that likely wouldn’t work in the budget.
Fitting for a nature survivalist, Outback has a small flashlight and shovel. Like the original figure you can store the flashlight on the left leg strap.
Next up is a small pistol with a wrap around the grip in a nice touch.
The other smaller weapon is a knife with a solid serrated blade.
His main weapon is different from the Koch G3 rifle of the RAH figure. I couldn’t figure out what model this is, but as usual it’s got some great detailing complete with a leather strap with some paint work to indicate some wear and tear.
You can store the accessories, although Outback is capable of holding them all on his backpack and pouches in the included storage locker.
Worth It? The standard price for Joe Classified figures is $24.99. For this line that doesn’t feel outrageous, but it’s nice to find a decent sale. Target clearanced out this wave so I was able to get Outback for $12.49, an excellent price for a figure of this quality.
Rating: 9.7 out of 10
Fix the weird elbows and tighten the pupil paint and this is a perfect figure, but this is a really strong Classified Series figure and one of the best in the line.
Where to Get It? This wave has dried up at retail, but you can still get Outback from Amazon or Entertainment Earth.
As an Amazon and Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.