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AT Commander's
Air Adventurer Review
My AT Air Adventurer from the GI Joe Collector's Club arrived on 12 August
2002. When I first opened the box, the face of the figure drew my attention.
All of the colors looked pretty light. I checked out the extra head that
came in the box and it, too, appeared light. I don't mean the hair - I mean
the eyes, eyeliner, skin tone - the whole enchilada. Interesting. I'm
sure it was just my 30+ year memory that is crooked. One head had hair
that was slightly lighter in color than the other. The figure in the box
had lighter hair, while the extra head had hair that was a tad darker in
shade. I immediately removed the extra head and plunked it on a clearance
Aussie body, tossed on an ME orange jumpsuit, and a repro shoulder holster
and AT logo (ordered from the Club, of course), and I had an extra Air Adventurer.
Although you'd be hard pressed to tell, the pic to the left is actually
the extra head (the repro Air Adventurer is still in the box)! The giveaway is
the cuffs - the ME uniform has elastic... and the waist tabs found on the ME uniform
but not on the AT repro. The pic above is the REAL repro.
Joe slowly opens the coffin-shaped box that bore his likeness on the lid.
"NOOOOO!" he cried, "I've been CLONED!!!"
In the box is the repro GI Joe Collector's Club AT Air Adventurer. It comes with the groovy AT stuff you'd expect (shoulder holster, Lebel revolver, AT logo); it also comes with an incredibly cool metal AT dogtag (see below). Also included is some litter... stuff like boot removal directions, directions for swapping heads, and a little info sheet.
The metal dogtag is an awesome accessory in this set. The rear of the
dogtag reads: "1970-2000 30 Years of adventure". This seems a bit odd to
me... are these dogtags all 2 years old already?
Regardless, they are pretty cool.
Also included is the Lebel revolver that's individually bagged. The
mold isn't as crisp as the original, but it's still an impressive little
piece. (By way of tangential observation, this might pass nicely for a
Nagant gas-seal revolver if you were building a WWII Russian.) It's a shame
the AT guys weren't equipped with Colt, Smith, or Ruger revolvers. The Dan
Wesson interchangeable barrel revolver that was popular around that time
period would've absolutely REEKED of Adventure Team. C'est la vie. The
Lebels were on hand from the French Resistance Fighter days, so it probably
made economic sense to use the "bought and paid for" molds they already
had. I can't tell if the revolver is molded in silver or if it's painted.
This figure also comes with a tie tack/lapel pin. It's kinda cool. It'd
be even cooler if I had a beard. Alas, it would be out of place on MY tie
or lapel.
Here's an answer to the initial question everyone had in the beginning:
"What 
WAS wrong with the original head and why did they have to be re-done?"
Here are a couple of pics showing the head that came on the figure and
the "corrected" head. The guy with the metal AT dogtag is the one that is
the repro figure - the other guy -without any dog tag - is the spare head
on a TC body. In both of these pics, you can see that the hair color is
slightly lighter. Emphasis on the word "slightly" here. This comparison
suggests that the folks at the Joe Club are reeeeeal sticklers for detail!
I'm impressed!
Here are another couple of pics showing the difference. At left you can
see the difference a little better than in the pic above right. Note that
in the pic above, they're on different sides than at left. That subtle change
in lighting seems to highlight the difference.
Remember, I said the difference in hair color was "slight." How pronounced
it appears seems to depend upon the lighting. To my untrained eye, in the
pic at right, they look practically identical to me!
Club members can buy this figure for $49 shipped. I dunno what the
Non-Club Member price is (because I'm a member). If you're a diehard AT
fan, it's a rockin' good deal. I wasn't really serious about getting
one, but when I learned about the extra head I took the plunge without hesitation.
This is a great figure. Both heads rock. The accessories (uniform, boots, holster, pistol, dog tag, "life-like hair" pin) are great -
esp the metal dog tag.
Siskel and Joebert give this figure Two Thumbs Up!
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Email the AT Commander (atcommander@adventureteam.com) 