When Tiger Force Outback took more than a year from pre-order to arrival, I assumed that the Bazooka/Recondo/Python Officer wave would also be delayed. Fortunately, I was extremely wrong and the wave showed up early! Let’s take a look at Tiger Force Bazooka!
Bazooka comes in the original style plastic window box which features some exciting artwork that wraps around the front and side of the box. The back has a jungle scene with some video screen overlays. I’m still getting the Cobra Island invasion feel from this stuff, but it could be any jungle based mission I suppose. I really do like that Tiger Force logo.
Bazooka comes with a Bazooka, four rounds, a pack, and a removeable helmet. The helmet has some sharp detailing with cloth texture and seam lines and is a great fit and doesn’t feel overlarge like some of these types of helmets can. It’s cast in the brown plastic of the straps and the red paint doesn’t quite cover the brown completely in spots, which normally I would see as a defect, but here it almost gives the helmet the quality of a dark wash.
The backpack is a typical pack in this line, plugging into a hole in the back, but this one stays on better than most. There are four slots on the pack that allow for ammunition storage and the clips can hook onto the Bazooka’s handle for storage there as well. The sculpting does a good job conveying the different materials on the pack, with a hard edges contrasting nicely with squishy cloth pouches. Part of me wishes the pack had straps or there was a removeable strap overlay on the body for a bit more realism, but floating backpacks is just something I’ve gotten used to in the Joe lines.
The Bazooka itself also has a lot of nice detail with lots of little greeblies and some additional padding strapped onto the weapon that gives it a more used and well-worn feel. There is a support handle on the front of the barrel that is angled so the figure can grab it. Usually a secondary handle like that would not be angled, but this base figure is so bulky he can’t really reach across his massive chest to a traditional straight up and down handle. I appreciate that they took the time to make sure the figure could actually hold and use his weapon. The weapon, ammo, and pack are all cast in this gloriously matte military green that I love. It makes me wish the OG 13 characters were more of this solid green, it looks so good. Man, I wish the upcoming Rock ‘N Roll was all this green.
The non-removeable strap is sculpted in a loop that looks good hanging while in firing position, but also works for carrying the weapon on Bazooka’s shoulder. The weapon support handle gets in the way hanging on the right shoulder, but works well on the left. The handle on the top of the weapon did get a little bent out of shape in the package, but I was able to straighten it with a small amount of heat.
The weapon has a removeable back piece so you can load ammunition. You can take it all the way off or just swivel it open. The ammo can slide all the way in and the top part closed. The ammo can also be placed in the front of the bazooka barrel so you can pretend it’s shooting out. When you load it in the front all the way, the tip just pokes out of the barrel.
The figure appears to built around the Roadblock/Gung Ho legs with a new upper body and boots. I don’t really think of Bazooka as overly tall, but the bulk makes sense relatively speaking when Roadblock and Gung Ho are also so massive.
I especially like the expression on his face. With the slight upturn of his mouth and upraised eyebrow he looks like he’s in the middle of a good-natured grumble, probably reacting to one of Alpine’s awful jokes.
The articulation is fairly typical for the line with:
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, hips, wrists, and ankles
- Double hinged knees and elbows
- Ball and socket neck, head, mid-torso, and waist
- Swivel biceps, thighs, and boots
- Hinged butterfly pecs
Out of the box most of the joints moved well, but the hip ball joints were really tight, so I ended up adding some shock oil to those. The ankles are nice because they hinge forward a lot and that’s helpful for crouching and kneeling poses. The range on the double biceps is really good and the wrists hinge up/down. I do miss the neck hinge and like the old school ab-crunch better than a mid-torso wobble, but overall he moves really well for a big guy.
Paint is solid, but typical for modern Hasbro lines where there aren’t any washes or drybrushing. I do like the somewhat worn effect on the jersey numbers, though I feel like his Battle Cat pants could use one or two more yellow stripes. I did notice on these zoomed in shots that the mustache sculpting isn’t entirely covered with the face print.
Overall I’d say this is another home run for the Classified line and I’m ready to plunk down money for the regular version when it comes up for pre-order (which is probably pretty soon since he was shown with Shipwreck and Rock N Roll). He’s a great super-poseable figure and you can feel the thought and care that went into its development. While I am tempted to give him a pistol and holster, the only real improvement I can think of would be a rocket firing effect that you could plug into the Bazooka and one of the rockets. The blast effects from the Viper three pack kind of fit in there with a little poster tack assistance and the Mezco skull person rocket effect works pretty well too.
