Sub-Teams and Their Presence in G.I. Joe: Part I

By Destro Designs–Viper Den Studios

Some people ain’t down with G.I. Joe sub-teams in the original 3¾-inch line or the G.I. Joe Classified Series for a couple of reasons. And some of those reasons I can roll with.

First, they’re repaints, and some people ain’t about spending that money on something they already have. I’m cool with that.

The economy is circling the drain, and buying food for your family is infinitely more important than toys. Maintaining or even upgrading your family’s quality of life is also more important than toys. So, if you’re squeezing and tightening the belt and saying, “I can’t get me a Tiger Force Duke because I already got OG Duke,” then that’s cool. I can mess with that.

Another reason is something that I struggled with as well. Sometimes there’s such a strong connection to the original look of a figure that it’s hard to imagine them in different colors or even a different sculpt.

A couple come to mind.

When I was a kid, I remember seeing the Night Force Shockwave and Lightfoot two-pack. As cool as it looked, and as cool as the idea was that they belonged to a team called Night Force, I struggled mightily to see Shockwave in anything other than his blues and smidgy yellow. Also, Lightfoot had a drastically different uniform in all muted tones, as opposed to his bright yellow suit and blue helmet, with his red drone out in front.

But I did get them both, and honestly, one of my grail items is a mint-on-card Shockwave and Lightfoot Night Force two-pack.

In the Classified line, I went through something similar. When the Spirit and Low-Light Mad Marauders two-pack started getting some photos passed around, I really averted my gaze. Those two figures have very specialized looks that I couldn’t imagine being messed with.

Spirit had a genuinely unique blue shirt with a set of clothes that just looked perfect for his Native American aesthetic, but also looked perfect for a military man. Low-Light, on the other hand, had the quintessential SWAT-team sniper look. In fact, I feel like he was already dressed in a Night Force uniform as his regular getup.

So, when the Mad Marauders two-pack was floating around, I just kept putting my hand over my eyes and looking away. Then, at some point, I saw a photo done by Shooting the Galaxy’s Matt Cohen, and I was like, “Oh man, these look amazing. I’m gonna have to get this.”

And so I grabbed that two-pack, and from the second I opened it, I absolutely could not believe how incredible they looked.

I have to admit, I think Spirit looks just as good—dare I say, better—than the original. Now, Low-Light doesn’t have quite the same effect, but it is still a completely fantastic uniform.

So, I totally understand if people can’t get past the fact that they’re repaints, or if they simply feel that a sub-team version is lesser than the iconic original version of a particular figure.

There are many other aspects of the sub-team lines that come into play. I’m pretty sure Special Mission: Brazil is the only one to create a new figure specifically for the sub-team. But some of these teams have incredible origins and legitimate reasons to exist.

I’ll explore those in another article.