GI Joe: 2004 FBI Rescue Team

I came across this figure at Joelanta 2012 for an excellent price. I had to buy it. $10.00! I remember when this figure first came out. I think I was still working for Walmart. As the toy department manager - not a good move for a toy addict like me. These troops were at a low price point back then - $14.96. I really liked this figure once I found out the hidden gem inside.

Cool packaging, easily accessible without destroying the package.

Interesting picture of the back. Was it a Gianni Lopergolo? Don't know, that guy had an amazing talent with a camera.

let's take a quick look at the hands for this guy. Swivel and pivots on each wrist. I love the molded gloves, great detail. The right hand had the up and down pivot joint.

Very "handy" for a better grip on weapons.

The left hand had the side-to-side pivot. Again, a great addition to the 12" troops and their ability to hold a weapon.

Do these pivoting wrists seem familiar to the 3 3/4" collectors? yeah, I thought so! the big dudes did it first!

Interesting gear, not too impressive. A pistol with holster. the back of the holster is Velcro. The pistol also has a removable clip and the slide moves on top of the pistol.  

Two smoke grenades or flash bangs - whatever. Velcro pouch.

Looks cool loaded up.

And a neat radio with attached mic. Both the back of the radio and the mic have Velcro pads on the back. Why all the Velcro? Stay tuned.

Interesting head piece here. Night vision head gear? Looks cool!

See that lens cap? I predict that one day the lens cap alone will be worth a fortune. Mainly because it is so small and so easily lost. One day, this piece will be very hard to find!

So here is just the troop. The uniform is quite plain and very baggy. Not much of a big deal. The hidden gem to this figure is that it uses the Super Articulated body style - my personal favorite 12" GI Joe body. For $15, this was a relatively inexpensive way to upgrade my other Joes to this body style. I don't recall how many I bought. Probably most of the ones that came into my department. And yes, I probably lost all of the lens caps.

Another gem to this set was the rubber hood. Excellent job by Hasbro and an important part of my custom Snake Eyes.

Here's the main weapon - a spring loaded MP5 with a launching grenade?

Play value, I guess.

Vision gear on and folded up. The hood doesn't fit particularly well with this head sculpt.

Imaging gear down.

A couple angles to the hood. Excellent uniform piece, but they do decay over time. The rubber begins to break down and can start to split over a larger head sculpt.

All geared up! Looks okay, but the shirt is just so loose and the gear just tends to flop around. It stays secure with the Velcro, but it just doesn't work great together.

Close, but not 21st Century Toys quality with the use of Velcro.

A close up of this particular head sculpt. Another new head sculpt that I had to use in my recreation of the 3 3/4" troops in 12" scale. Can you figure out who he became? Check here to try your luck.

And of course, he has the traditional GI Joe scar. Nearly all the GI Joe head sculpts had the scar. Except for those based on real people.

This was an excellent low cost addition to my troops back in 2004 and I really tried to get as many as I could find. I never liked the gear too much, but it was always cool to upgrade my troops to the Super Articulated body style.