G.I. Joe Classified Series Torch review

With the arrival of Torch one of the great oddities of the G.I. Joe Classified Series has been resolved. Why didn’t the CS team release all of the Dreadnoks in one wave? It’s taken a while, but Torch finally joins his mates Buzzer and Ripper and ready to pillage and otherwise cause mass destruction for Zartan.

This was an Hour 1 pre-order for me — along with Doc — to complete the original three ‘Noks so my expectations were high. Ripper was great. Buzzer was mostly good. How would Torch fare?

Let’s see if this figure lights my flame or gets snuffed out.

Packaging: Torch is my first figure in this new streamlined packaging set up. I preferred the old school plastic window presentation with an image of the figure on the front as well. The plastic window is wide enough to see Torch and most of his accessories. No real danger of anything being swapped or stolen here.

The side is slimmer with the QR code to nowhere still intact and tiny skill stats on the left side. Over on the right, we get the cool drawing of Torch in action — flame throwing spewing hot fire and a more prominent display of his number in the line — 123.

On the back, Torch is in the same spot of the Dreadnoks’ garage as Buzzer and Ripper although it doesn’t seem as smart for him to ignite the flame thrower in it.

His bio is the same as the 1985 Real American Hero figure: Subject was remanded to Borstal Reform School at age 14. Escaped and went to sea in the Merchant Marine where he learned the use of the cutting torch. Torch is an illiterate, unrepentant thug whose penchant for sudden and unexpected violence is matched only by the utter depth of his stupidity.

Streamlining the packaging means the skills stats on the back are about the same size as they were on the side. He’s got a 3 in flamethrower, a 2 in mercenary and mechanical engineering and a 1 in siegecraft.

Likeness: Continuing the trend with the rest of his crew, Torch looks like a polished upgrade from the Real American Hero figure. All of the details from the original file art are sculpted and executed spectacularly.

His head sculpt has a neutral expression, but still conveys plenty of personality with his mustached/muttonchops look. Still, Buzzer and Ripper sell that whole mercenary thug deal with their head sculpt. Even a sneer from Torch would have been welcome.

Torch solves the needless problem created with Buzzer as his glasses are sculpted on. Outside of Ripper who has that creepy contact, there’s no need to look into the Dreadnoks’ eyes.

He’s got the right amount of fluff to his hair held back from drooping into his face with the headband. Torch uses the Dr. Mindbender mold, but his chain-heavy leather vest hides some of the work he’s done to maintain his physique.

The vest has a crazy amount of detail with the chains draped around the cut off sleeve area, the skills and buckles connecting the two sides. It’s got a solid looking leather texture as well. And there’s even studs on the back. His left arm has a studded armband with small chains wrapped around his wrists.

Torch’s studded choker is made more intimidating by the animal skull necklace. The skull fetish continues with the chained-belt buckle. Either leg has a holster on the sides. He still retains the thigh high boots with an equally impressive leather texture to them.

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Paint: Torch’s paintjob is solid. The silver linework with his zippers, studs and buckles turned out better than expected. There is some very minor missing paint apps around the edges of his beard.

To show his love of fire, Torch has red flames tattooed on his wrists. They would look more lifelike if the paint was less sharp and was somewhat faded.

Due to his brown hair and red headband, going with the maroon sunglasses is an interesting choice. I might have stuck with the black from the RAH version. As usual for figures with jeans, I wouldn’t have been upset with some fading or a wash on them. I do like the flames on either back pocket.

Scale: Buzzer, Ripper and Torch are all around the same height in the comics and cartoon. That’s captured here accurately in the CS line as well. It’s nice that they’re all using different bodies and still scaling so nicely with each other.

Articulation: Like the other Dreadnoks, Torch relies on his distance weapons and is more of a brawling brute when ganging up on Joes. His articulation is excellent allowing him to hit deep stances for aiming his flamethrower. Or using his pistols to blast away at Joes from a distance.

But if you need him to hit running away from Joes or riding on his imaginary motorcycle, he won’t have any problem striking those poses either.

Torch 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: Torch is the Dreadnok (Cobra) resident arsonist so his main weapon naturally is his flamethrower.

The CS team had some fun with it and has a skull with its mouth opening for the flamethrower barrel. In another cool twist, the skull’s eyes have translucent flames blasting out them to give it a real hellfire visual. These aren’t removable though so it kind of limits the resting skull face visual.

For the RAH design, his flamethrower is small enough that he could hold in one hand. While the dual grip is more realistic it also stops him from using it while he’s driving his motorcycle. And the tube is just wide enough to warrant consider where Torch will be placed in a Dreadnok display.

There’s a tube to connect the flamethrower to the propane tank backpack. Torch did a little customization writing “Nocks (intentionally spelled wrong) Rule” and writing Xs for his victims. MOBATs maybe?

I also appreciate the CS team mixing up Torch’s flames. There’s a small one to indicate he’s just ignited it.

A medium sized one with a plume of flame jutting out.

Finally, there’s a long trail as if Torch was letting the flame melt a substance for a longer period of time.

The big issue with the flamethrower is it’s made out of a very soft plastic. That lends to some unwelcome bending when he’s got the flamethrower in both hands. It’s best to position it with his left against the trigger instead of using it. The flamethrower is less likely to get the bends this way.

When Torch’s flame is exhausted, he can still battle the Joes with his two pistols. These are decently sized with good detailing as well.

They fit snugly into the holsters on his legs.

Worth It?  While I tend to wait on sales for all the lines I collect, I didn’t have much patience for Torch and Doc, two essential figures at this point in the Classified Series line. I paid the standard $24.99 price for him. He’s certainly cool enough that I don’t have any major buyer’s remorse.

Rating: 9 out of 10

I would have loved a bit more personality out of the head sculpt. Torch is the only one that looks calm and a bit too peaceful. The flamethrower needed to be made sturdier to prevent bending or just so he could hold it with one hand. Otherwise, Torch is another solid addition to the Dreadnoks.

Where to Get It?  Torch is available on Amazon and Entertainment Earth.

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