It snowed just in time for pictures! Woo!
Among the things that makes Madelman so damn entertaining is the ever-present legacy of things like GI Joe Action Team that seems to guide it through many of it’s incarnations.
I’m personally a bit more partial to the Police and BDU-wearing military figures, of course, but there’s a lot of fun stuff that doesn’t need to be done in camo…well, not camo-patterned, anyway.
The Arctic Commando team is an excellent example of something you just don’t get outside of GI Joe or one of it’s neophytes. You get two soldiers, actually, let’s just call them operators, who are decked out in parkas and snow pants, who are trekking across some icy wasteland with their trusty sled dog, in search of…well, anything, really. Could be bad guys, or they could be recovering a crash site, or maybe it’s just good old recon.
Regardless, these men came equipped. Your lead bearded operator has his goggles, poles, M4 Carbine, and ski boots with detachable skis.
The back-up has goggles,helmet, MP5 with detachable suppressor, climbing pack with radio, pickaxe, detachable snow shoes and pack.
And of course, to cart their extra gear, there’s the dog sled.
The figures both sport the standard Madelman articulation, which means single elbows, knees, hinged hips and shoulders, wrists and ankles, and ball jointed head and torso. For this kind of work, that’s plenty of articulation, though these two are a little floppier than most I have.
The gloved hands are a really nice touch, though, and I actually find Beardo here to have a pretty good headsculpt.
The gear is excellent as always. The pack has slots for the radio and pickaxe, as well as a main storage area, and the weapons are the usual solid affairs. The M4 is new to me, though, with the correct shorter barrel and a Aimpoint-style optic on it. I wouldn’t mind some more of those. The uniforms are a nylon-feeling fabric that looks the part really well and offers no trouble in posing.
And while it might be easy to overlook, the sled and dog are great additions, if for no other reason than purely for the fun factor. The harness is also removable, if you just need a gray Timber fill-in.
I’ve said it many times before, but I still really like the packaging for these guys, and the 2 packs are no different. It’s really nice to get a solid look at all the components you’re getting, and I have no doubt this worked well for retail.
As with most of the Madelman offerings, as a collector it’s worthwhile for the gear alone, but sets like this work just simply as good toys. It’s hard not to remember those old Action Team adventures on snow days past. And while the scales and styles change, and my knees hurt if I play in the snow very long, there’s no mistaking that call for arctic adventure.
It probably sounds like an alphorn, right? Just checking.
