The GI Joe Real American Hero wave of 1984 was when the Joes really started to show personality with their clothing. Recondo was the team’s jungle specialist and wore predominantly tan clothing, a hat and mustache that would have made Wild Bill jealous. And he carried a rifle wrapped in duct tape. It was a cool look and made a Joe look a lot less clean and tidy than some of his counterparts.
Recondo was always a fun addition to Joe’s missions when I was growing up, as I always imagined him as a sneaky and cunning fighter. With most of the 84 figures in the GI Joe Classified Series being retired – it was a smaller group – and Recondo having already appeared in the Tiger Force line, it was only a matter of time. That finally came with the latest trio of Retro Card figures.
While he may have been the least expected of the trio, I definitely didn’t overlook Recondo for the more flashy Duke and Scarlett upgrades. Let’s see if Recondo is worth stomping through the toy aisles, or if he’s better left in the jungle.
Packaging: Hasbro has definitely taken the complaints about the flimsy packaging of the first retro series to heart. This box has been significantly improved and is much thicker.
The card image is a reworked version of the original image. I wonder why Hasbro had to rework the old image that looks better than the new one. Scroll to the back to see the vintage index card text and cross-sell with images of Duke and Scarlett. As much as I like the classic retro card, I miss the capabilities of the new packaging.
Thanks to the Tiger Force Recondo figure, we know what those skills are in the CS line. He has a 2 in Light Weapons and Launchers, a 3 in Environmental Specialist, and a 4 in Environmental Specialist: Jungle.
Similarity: Duke and Scarlett received significant reworks with their retro figures. Recondo is just a simple repaint. He had the benefit of being released after collectors expressed their support for 6-inch versions of the RAH designs. And this sculpt is practically an exact translation of the 3.75-inch figure to the larger scale.
Recondo’s head is superbly sculpted. It conveys so much personality of the experienced soldier that Hawk and Duke rely on for every jungle mission. His thick, bushy mustache with curls at the end gives him a little more character. His longer than average hair reflects a soldier who rarely stands in front of high-ranking officials.
Recondo’s shirt has appropriately rolled-up sleeves, with only the top button unbuttoned. His holster hangs to the left, while his untucked shirt has a slight frayed effect thanks to his heavy belt. Note the compass on the left side. He also wears a watch on his left wrist.
He wears a sheath for his machete on his left leg. The “biggest” deviation from the RAH figure is that he wears boots with a top instead of lower-fitting pants.
Paint: Recondo had a pretty reasonable Tiger Force color scheme, but you can’t beat the classic look. Hasbro’s CS team had no trouble getting the colors, and especially the camouflage, just right.
The shirt is a light brown while the pants are a little darker and feature an olive green camouflage pattern. This is some of the best camouflage work Hasbro has done in this line. It is not faded and is easily applied, covering as much area as was seen on the original figure.
There were no issues with the detail work like his eyes, the mustache sculpture, or smaller areas like his compass or clock.
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Scale: Recondo is at the exact same base height as most of the Joes. He’s eyeing his wavemates Duke, Spirit and Mutt and looking up at Roadblock.
Articulation: As a jungle or backyard specialist, Recondo must have superior agility. This is pretty much the norm in the Classified Series, assuming they aren’t wearing a cumbersome flak jacket.
You can get him to do some funny poses, including lifting his hat and slashing with his machete, thanks to the butterfly shoulders.
My figure suffers a little from the flabby upper body. It’s always frustrating to “win” a flabby upper body in the lottery. Luckily, that doesn’t happen to me very often with this figure.
Retro Recondo has:
- Head
- neck
- Shoulders (butterfly)
- Elbow (with double joint)
- wrist
- Wrist hinge
- middle hull
- torso
- waist
- Hip (ball joint)
- Drop your hips
- Knee (with double joint)
- ankle
Accesories: Recondo has a lot of worthwhile equipment.
Most importantly, his floppy hat has a band around the crown that doesn’t get in the way too much and breaks up the pure green look.
He has his M14 EBR rifle and the shrouds are still included. As always, it has some great details. Recondo also gets a smaller VP 9 HK for close combat. Both weapons are a lighter shade of green and the shrouds are painted white.
Recondo also has his backpack. It has some nice details, from the canteen to the sleeping roll. The sleeping roll gets its own paint job.
Finally, it comes with the black old-school stand that makes posing easier.
Is it worth it? The Classified series is the only line from Hasbro where you feel like they pack enough into each figure to justify the $25 price tag. Target had a great sale when they released these figures where you spent $75 and got $15 off. If you got all three retro figures from this wave, you basically got Recondo for free thanks to a $10 gift card. Paying $25 definitely wouldn’t have been a bad deal though.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Flabby torso aside, this is a great version of Recondo with a conscientious approach to making this a classic interpretation of Joe’s jungle warrior.
Where can you get it? Until now, the retro line was available exclusively at Wal-Mart and Hasbro Pulse. To give more collectors access, you can now also purchase Recondo at Target and GameStop. If you prefer the online route, it’s also available at Amazon and Entertainment Earth.
As an Amazon Associate and Entertainment Earth Partner, I earn from qualifying purchases.
