G.I. Joe Classic Collection - Bodies

Bodies

Various ethnicities in addition to Native American and African American were implied through different skin tones and head sculpt variations. These figures offered a higher level of articulation than the Hall Of Fame (HOF) figures offered earlier in the 90's, or the G.I. Joe store exclusives from 1996 (Airborne MP, Battle of the Bulge, Dress Marine, Navy Seal w/raft, Navy Admiral, and others) that were based on the HOF body, with an adaptation of the original 60's head sculpt. and the weapons were more appropriately scaled to the figures. The bodies were also closer in spirit to the original G I Joe of the sixties, articulated in a similar fashion, albeit of a much heavier plastic, with stiff joints which negatively impacted the posability of the figures. The faces featured the trademark scar on the right cheek, and initially only one head mold was used, with the exception of the African American figure. All these early heads had a "flat-top" crewcut look. Later issues after the end of the deluxe windowbox format offered a variety of head molds, although the heads themselves were no longer as proportionate to the body, generally on the small side, including the flat-top version. The hands were also an improvement over the bulky HOF hand design, but still not to the level of the 70's kung-fu grip, and were still somewhat over-sized, with no separation of the fingers (although deft use of an xacto knife easily remedied this aspect). Later issue hands were smaller and more proportionate, some had fingers that pivoted on a pin running through the knuckles. The clothing and footwear was arguably of a more realistic nature than the earlier figures.